Welcome to Qingming — Clear and Bright!
Welcome to 清明 Qingming “Clear and Bright” - the 2-week period after the spring equinox when the luminosity of the longer days brings sunshine, clarity, and a renewed sense of purpose to our lives. Clear and Bright begins on April 4th and finishes right before Easter on April 18th.
This is the beginning of the Dragon Month, which symbolically flies above the world to see everything from a new, clearer perspective. This is a time period that is all about taking in the world around us and enjoying the sensory pleasures of spring – no need to over-think things or get preoccupied with what will happen next. We’re in a beautiful time of the year and - with the support of this seasonal node - we should strive to take things as they come. This is a time to be generous and sociable but also maintain our domestic affairs.
Tung Flower
In the classical texts, this 2-week period is said to be a time to open the doors and windows of the house, do a thorough inspection, and see to maintenance of the household for the spring. It’s a time to be generous with food (as the winter stores can now be used freely with the arrival of spring bounty) and sociable with friends and strangers alike. So have a dinner party, fix up any back-burner projects around the house, and consider the following smaller periods within this seasonal node:
The 5-day periods within “Clear and Bright” are as follows:
Tong shi hua 桐始華 – Tung Trees Begin to Blossom
This is broadly symbolic of all late-spring trees coming into bloom, and the general fecundity of this moment of the year. Tung trees specifically are interesting to single out because they are entirely toxic from seeds to leaves to wood to flower, nevertheless their oil has been indispensable in water-proofing boats for millenia. So the emergence of a beautiful flower from this toxic-yet-very-useful tree is a symbol of the beautiful transformation taking place at this time of year, when even poisonous plants display their brightest colors. This is an invitation for us to do the same - to blossom from a place of self-acceptance and self-love to let our true self shine without self-consciousness in this period of the year.
Tianshu hua wei ru 田鼠化為鴽 (Field Voles Transform Into Quails)
A colorful description of how Quails, after spending the winter months holed up in dense shrubs, begin to come out and display their courtship behaviors and vocalizations - perhaps this refers to a belief that the field Voles seen coming out of the same brush as Quails had somehow metamorphosed into birds! This is very much in keeping with the Month of the Dragon energy of drama, transformation and boldy stepping out into the world.
Hong shi jian 虹始見 (Rainbows Begin to Appear)
Again a symbol of the ascendent Yang/Light energy of this time of year. We see rainbows as the Spring rain continues but more and more sun is shining even through the downpours. It signifies turning our hopes towards the bright, beautiful bounty that is coming from all of our work through the winter and patience throughout the spring for sunny, warm days and a bountiful harvest and garden.