Jīngzhé, 惊蛰, is the 3rd of the 24 solar terms (節氣) in the traditional Chinese calendars. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 345° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 360°. More often, it refers to the day when the Sun is exactly at a celestial longitude of 345°. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around March 5 and ends around March 20.[1][2]
The word 驚蟄 means the awakening of hibernatinginsects. 驚 is to startle and 蟄 means hibernating insects. Traditional Chinese folklore says that during Jingzhe, thunderstorms will wake up the hibernating insects, which implies that the weather is getting warmer.[3]
Each solar term can be divided into 3 pentads (候). They are the first pentad (初候), the second pentad (次候), and the third pentad (末候): Pentads in Jingzhe are
^"24 Solar Terms". Travel China Guide. Retrieved 12 September 2017. In 2017 ... The Waking of Insects (Jing Zhe) Mar. 5th Hibernating animals come to sense
