Chunfen

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See also: Vernal equinox

The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms (節氣). Chūnfēn (pīnyīn) or Shunbun (rōmaji) (Chinese and Japanese: 春分; Korean: 춘분; Vietnamese: Xuân phân; literally: "vernal equinox") is the 4th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 0° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 15°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 0°. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around March 20 and ends around April 4 (April 5 East Asia time).

[edit] Pentads

Date and Time (UTC)
year begin end
辛巳 2001-Mar-20 13:30 2001-Apr-04 17:24
壬午 2002-Mar-20 19:16 2002-Apr-04 23:18
癸未 2003-Mar-21 00:59 2003-Apr-05 04:52
甲申 2004-Mar-20 06:48 2004-Apr-04 10:43
乙酉 2005-Mar-20 12:33 2005-Apr-04 16:34
丙戌 2006-Mar-20 18:25 2006-Apr-04 22:15
丁亥 2007-Mar-21 00:07 2007-Apr-05 04:04
戊子 2008-Mar-20 05:48 2008-Apr-04 09:45
己丑 2009-Mar-20 11:43 2009-Apr-04 15:33
庚寅 2010-Mar-20 17:32 2010-Apr-04 21:30

Source: JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System

Each solar term can be divided into 3 pentads (候). They are: first pentad (初候), second pentad (次候) and last pentad (末候). Pentads in Chunfen include:

China
  • First pentad: 玄鳥至
  • Second pentad: 雷乃發聲
  • Last pentad: 始雷
Japan
  • First pentad: 雀始巣
  • Second pentad: 桜始開
  • Last pentad: 雷乃発声


Preceded by
Jingzhe (驚蟄)
Solar term (節氣)
{{{years}}}
Succeeded by
Qingming (清明)