清明 Pure Brightness: spring solar term, April 4-6 清明 · Qīng Míng

Classical attributes

• Solar position: longitude 15°
• Date range: April 4-6
• Season: spring (late spring)
• Type: 節 — Sectional term — month transition
• Month branch: 辰 (Dragon)

Climatic register

Air is clear; warmth steady; the wood-element energy of spring matures into the harvested clarity of the late-spring earth phase. Traditionally the date of the Tomb-Sweeping festival.

Hidden stems of the 辰 month branch

The 辰 earthly branch holds these heavenly stems internally — read in BaZi as the “hidden essence” of the month pillar:

• 戊 (Yang Earth, primary)
• 乙 (Yin Wood, residual)
• 癸 (Yin Water, residual)

BaZi relevance

清明 marks the transition into the 辰 (Chen, Dragon) month pillar. The 辰 month is one of the four 'storehouse' months (土) — periods where multiple elements compress into earth-element holding patterns. For BaZi readers, 辰 month charts are some of the most complex to read because the storehouse holds three elements simultaneously (wood-water-earth).

QMDJ (Qi Men Dun Jia) relevance

Yang dun 4 (the scholar register) opens this term, transitioning into dun 1 (career foundation) and dun 7 (speech / legal register). In the QMDJ system, 清明 falls within the 陽遁 (yang dun, forward-rotating expansion) half-year. The three thirds of this solar term map to 陽遁4局 (upper), 陽遁1局 (middle), and 陽遁7局 (lower) respectively. QMDJ consultations made during 清明 carry the dun-period register stacked on top of the solar-term's seasonal energy.

For chart-aware QMDJ reading of a specific consultation made during 清明, see the 18 Dun Periods reference for the relevant dun-period pages, or book a QMDJ forecasting consultation.

Observed register for 清明 births

清明 marks consolidation after the wood-peak — what was blossoming begins to form structure. Born around 清明 often carries a register of clear-headed organisation and the ability to bring concrete form to creative ideas. The Dragon-month register is dominantly about storage, integration, and patient compounding work.

Why generic Pure Brightness interpretation fails

The solar term is one structural layer of a BaZi chart, not the whole chart. The actual reading for someone born around 清明 depends on the day pillar (the Day Master), the year and hour pillars, the chart's elemental balance, and the upcoming luck pillars. Generic per-solar-term descriptions can name the foundational seasonal register, but they cannot tell you what your specific chart says. Master Sean Chan’s BaZi consultation reads the full chart against your specific question.

• Identify whether your birth or your question's timing falls within 清明 (April 4-6). For BaZi practice, this sectional term marks the month-pillar transition — births before vs. after the exact Pure Brightness timestamp have different month pillars.
• Read the 清明 register against your full chart. The solar term contributes a foundational layer; the rest of the chart determines actionable guidance.
• Plot your chart via the free BaZi Calculator to see how 清明 interacts with your day, year, and hour pillars.
• Book chart-aware reading via BaZi consultation for high-stakes questions. Generic per-term reference is no substitute for the consultation.