Spring
Fresh Green
Apr 5–19
Clear and Bright (Qingming) is the fifth solar term of the twenty‑four solar terms, marking the arrival of the sun at the celestial longitude of 15°. It gets its name from the saying “the air is clear and the scenery is bright, and everything is visible.” As the only traditional major festival that serves as both a solar term and a festival, Clear and Bright integrates customs from the Cold Food Festival and the Shangsi Festival. Its core activities are tomb sweeping and ancestor worship, as well as spring outings. This article details its astronomical calendar, phenological characteristics, historical evolution, and significance in guiding farming, and introduces the new trend of modern low‑carbon commemorative practices.
Qingming is one of the twenty-four solar terms, the fifth of the spring season. It occurs when the Big Dipper points to the celestial stem yi and the sun reaches the ecliptic longitude of 15°. The name Qingming derives from the description of this period as having “clear qi and bright scenery, with all things fully revealed.” Qingming is a solar term that reflects the phenological changes of nature: the sunlight is bright, grasses and trees begin to bud and grow, and flowers bloom abundantly — the natural world presents a scene brimming with vitality. In China's southern regions, by this time the air is already clear and the scenery bright; in the northern regions, snowfall ceases, temperatures rise, and spring warmth fills the air.
Qingming embodies both natural and humanistic dimensions — it is both a solar term and a traditional festival. The Qingming festival period falls between April 4 and 6 in the Gregorian calendar, with April 5 being most common, situated at the juncture of mid-spring and late spring. The principal customs include sweeping tombs and offering sacrifices to ancestors, as well as spring outings and excursions into the countryside. Ancestral veneration activities typically extend from ten days before to eight days after the actual day. During this season, all things “cast off the old and embrace the new,” and the earth displays a scene of warm spring brightness. In modern times, the traditions have evolved to include low-carbon practices such as online memorial services and tree-planting tributes.
The Qingming festival originates from the ancestral beliefs and spring sacrificial rites of ancient agrarian civilization. Its formation involved a process of integrating customs from the Cold Food (Hanshi) Festival and the Shangsi Festival. From the Western Han dynasty through the early Qing dynasty, solar terms were determined using the guibiao gnomon shadow measurement method; the current system based on ecliptic longitude has been in use since 1645. In 2006, Qingming was included in the first batch of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list. The farming proverb “Around Qingming, plant melons and sow beans” reflects its guiding role in agricultural production.
