Chunfen

See also: March equinox

The traditional Chinese calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms. Chūnfēn, Shunbun, Chunbun, or Xuân phân 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°. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around 20 March and ends around 4 April (5 April East Asia time). It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 0°.

Chunfen
Chinese name
Chinese	春分
Literal meaning	vernal equinox
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin chūnfēn Bopomofo ㄔㄨㄣ ㄈㄣ Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization chēun fān Jyutping ceon1 fan1 Southern Min Tâi-lô tshun-hun
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	xuân phân
Chữ Hán	春分
Korean name
Hangul	춘분
Hanja	春分
Transcriptions Revised Romanization chunbun
Japanese name
Kanji	春分
Hiragana	しゅんぶん
Transcriptions Romanization shunbun

Solar term

Term	Longitude	Dates
Lichun	315°	4–5 February
Yushui	330°	18–19 February
Jingzhe	345°	5–6 March
Chunfen	0°	20–21 March
Qingming	15°	4–5 April
Guyu	30°	20–21 April
Lixia	45°	5–6 May
Xiaoman	60°	21–22 May
Mangzhong	75°	5–6 June
Xiazhi	90°	21–22 June
Xiaoshu	105°	7–8 July
Dashu	120°	22–23 July
Liqiu	135°	7–8 August
Chushu	150°	23–24 August
Bailu	165°	7–8 September
Qiufen	180°	23–24 September
Hanlu	195°	8–9 October
Shuangjiang	210°	23–24 October
Lidong	225°	7–8 November
Xiaoxue	240°	22–23 November
Daxue	255°	7–8 December
Dongzhi	270°	21–22 December
Xiaohan	285°	5–6 January
Dahan	300°	20–21 January

Pentads

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, 'The dark birds arrive'. 'Dark bird' in this case refers to swallows, which are also making their northward migration.
• Second pentad: 雷乃發聲, 'Thunder sounds', referring to the onset of spring thunderstorms.
• Last pentad: 始電, 'Lightning begins'. This refers to thunderstorms as well, but also to the gradual lengthening of daytime, and the prevalence of sunlight.

Japan

See also: Vernal Equinox Day

A pentad as follows was referred to Japanese traditional calendar presented in a smaller, easy to use, format.

• First pentad: Suzume hajimete sukuu (雀始巣), 'Sparrow begins holding a nest'.
• Second pentad: Sakura hajimete hiraku (桜始開), 'Cherry blossoms open for the first time'.
• Last pentad: Kaminari sunawachi koeo hassu (雷乃発声), 'Distant thunder start to sound'.

Date and time

Date and Time (UTC)

year	begin	end
辛巳	2001-03-20 13:30	2001-04-04 17:24
壬午	2002-03-20 19:16	2002-04-04 23:18
癸未	2003-03-21 00:59	2003-04-05 04:52
甲申	2004-03-20 06:48	2004-04-04 10:43
乙酉	2005-03-20 12:33	2005-04-04 16:34
丙戌	2006-03-20 18:25	2006-04-04 22:15
丁亥	2007-03-21 00:07	2007-04-05 04:04
戊子	2008-03-20 05:48	2008-04-04 09:45
己丑	2009-03-20 11:43	2009-04-04 15:33
庚寅	2010-03-20 17:32	2010-04-04 21:30
辛卯	2011-03-20 23:20	2011-04-05 03:11
壬辰	2012-03-20 05:14	2012-04-04 09:05
癸巳	2013-03-20 11:01	2013-04-04 15:02
甲午	2014-03-20 16:57	2014-04-04 20:46
乙未	2015-03-20 22:48	2015-04-05 02:39
丙申	2016-03-20 04:30	2016-04-04 08:26
丁酉	2017-03-20 10:30	2017-04-04 14:19
戊戌	2018-03-20 16:24	2018-04-04 20:15
己亥	2019-03-20 22:06	2019-04-05 01:51
庚子	2020-03-20 03:54	2020-04-04 07:37
Source: JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System

See also

• Equinox