The Large Intestine Jieqi 節氣
Jīngzhé 驚蟄
The Jingzhe solar term occurs on March 5th. It is the time when the hibernating insects awake. Jing,驚, is a picture of respect, or fear: 茍 beating 攵over a horse 馬 . The idea behind this character has to do with startling, or even thunder, which relates back to hexagram 34. The thundering of the seasonal time wakes the insects from their hibernation. The critters that live in the large intestine surely benefit from the symbiotic relationship they share, while at the same time, they must put up with being shaken to perform when necessary.
There are an entire class of insect herbs that are used to treat cancer. The Yangming organs are charged with eliminating toxicity, and when there is pathology, insects that eat shit in nature can be used to eat up the shit in the body.
Chūnfēn 春分
Chunfen is the central divide of spring, known in the West as the Vernal Equinox. On this day, March 21, the sun is exactly at a celestial longitude of 0 degrees. Night and day are of nearly equal length, which is another symbology of halving, just as the Chang Jiang halves China into it’s North and South portions.
The Vernal Equinox marks the middle of springtime and is associated with the earthly branch, Mao, for the large intestine. Mao is a wood stem, another reminder that the large intestine is a metal organ but has much about it that is bursting out like wood.
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