Week 07: “Fish Rise From The Ice”

February 12 to February 18 is the seventh week of 2024 in the Gregorian calendar.  During this week, we complete the Solar Term of the Beginning of Spring (Feb 04 – Feb 18), and the micro-seasons for this week are “Bush warblers start singing in the mountains” (Feb 9 – Feb 13) and “Fish Emerge From The Ice” (Feb 14 – Feb 18).

The haiku selected for this week are written by Basho, Issa, Reichhold, Sogi, Kerouac, and Kenko.

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The 24 Solar Terms 

The 24 solar terms were created by farmers in ancient China  (206 BCE and 24 CE) to help guide their agricultural activities. Each solar term is 15 days long and is based on the climate around the city Xi’an, which was the capital of the Han Dynasty (206 BCE to 220 CE). ⁽¹⁾

Beginning of Spring

The Beginning of Spring is the first Solar Term of the new year. While it is still cold in many places, in the southern regions of China the snow has shifted to rain and people have started preparing for the upcoming planting season.

Spring Festival Decorations

The Spring Festival starts with the arrival of the Beginning of Spring. At this time, cities, towns, and people dress in red.  Red is an important color for the Spring Festival because it symbolizes happiness, wealth, and prosperity. 

Door Couplets

One way that people decorate their houses for the Spring Festival is with “Door Couplets” or “Couplets”.  Couplets are red strips of paper with Chinese calligraphy that are pasted on the sides of doorways. 

The writing on the couplet is a poem, and each poem is unique to the household.  These couplets follow traditional rules that include, “both lines must have the same number of characters, the tone pattern of one line must be the opposite of the following line, and the meanings of the two lines must be related.”⁽³⁾  This tradition began in the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279) and continues to be popular today.  

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The 72 Seasons

The 72-season calendar was established in 1685 by Japanese astronomer Shibukawa Shunkai.  Each season lasts for about 5 days and offers “a poetic journey through the Japanese year in which the land awakens and blooms with life and activity before returning to slumber.”⁽⁴⁾

The micro-seasons for this week are “Bush warblers start singing in the mountains” (Feb 9 – Feb 13) and “Fish Emerge From The Ice” (Feb 14 – Feb 18)

Fish in Spring

“Fish Emerge From The Ice” refers to the time in the year when the ice on the rivers, lakes, and ponds, begin to break apart and the fish become active again.  

In Japan, the average temperature in February varies greatly depending on where you are.  In Toyko, the average high is 50 degrees Fahrenheit and the average low is 35.  However, if you are in Sapporo the average high is 32 degrees Fahrenheit and the average low is 20.⁽⁶⁾  So the relevance of this season really depends on your location. 

Lake Turnover

Lake Turnover is when the deep water of a lake begins to mix with the shallow water closer to the surface. This process occurs in the autumn and in the spring when there are significant shifts in the atmospheric temperature.

In the spring, lake turnover happens when the ice that covers lakes and ponds thaws, and there is new open water.  The sun’s rays pass through this open water and start to warm the deeper waters. The increased temperature of the deep water makes it rise toward the surface and thus begins to create cyclical currents.  These currents bring nutrient-dense matter toward the surface, while the sunlight brings the dormant biological organisms back to life. 

With the increase in water temperature brought on by the shifting season, and the available plant life and microorganisms brought on by lake turnover, the fish are drawn out of their deep-water winter retreats and return to the surface.  Fishing is said to be very good at this time of year.⁽⁷⁾ 

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Astronomical Season

February 19, the last day of week seven of 2024, is 59 days past the winter solstice and only 30 days away from the spring equinox (March 19, 2024).  

The Moon Phases

On February 16, the moon reached its First Quarter phase. The First Quarter is 7 days after the New Moon and marks the first quarter of the Moon’s orbit around the Earth

 On February 18, the Moon is in a Waxing Gibbous phase with 70% illumination. It will take another 6 days for us to reach February’s full moon which is on February 24.  

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Seasonal Haiku

.In The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words as selected by Kenkichi Yamamoto, February is considered early spring.  ‘Melting Snow”, “Thin Ice”, and “Ice Flows” are all potential Earth kigo for this week.  

In Jane Reichhold’s A Dictionary of Haiku, “Melting Snow” and “Run-off” are both spring terrestrial kigo and “Fish” and “Minnows” are potential animal kigo.

When checking the World Kigo Database by Dr. Gabi Greve, we find that “Drift Ice”, “Floating Ice” and “Lake with Melting Ice” are all potential kigo for this week.

Now with all this in mind, let’s read some haiku.

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Basho

beginning to melt,
I soak it dry with my brush: 
the pure water spring. 
(translated by David Landis Barnhill)

at dawn
the white of an ice fish
just one inch long 
(translated by Jane Reichhold)

baby sweet fish 
seeing off the ice fish
farewell 
(translated by Jane Reichhold)

Issa

ice melting--
in the threshold
early evening's moon 
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

in one spot
the crows congregate...
snow is melting!  
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

before the gate--
my cane makes a river
of melting snow  
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

Reichhold

the bones the stones
the last snow melts
again a river

Iio Sogi

Snow yet remaining
The mountain slopes are misty
An evening in spring
(translated by Donald Keene)

Kerouac

Snow melting,
    Streams rushing–
Lookouts leave the valley

Kato Kenko

An insect living
in the stone animal’s mouth–
time of melting snow

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Haiku Invitation

This week’s haiku invitation is to write a haiku or senryu that references melting snow or ice.

Share your haiku in the comments below, or post on your page and link back. I can’t wait to read what you write! 

We are halfway through NaHaiWriMo! Feel free to share any insights gained from this practice. 

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Thank You!

About the Haiku

Basho’s haiku were retrieved from “Matsuo Bashō’s haiku poems in romanized Japanese with English translations” Editor: Gábor Terebess.  Issa’s haiku were retrieved from David G. Lanoue’s Haiku Guy.  Iio Sogi haiku was retrieved from The Classic Tradition of Haiku: An Anthology. By Faubion Bowers. . Kerouac’s haiku was retrieved from Kerouac’s  Book of Haikus.  Kato Kenko haiku was retrieved from Haiku Enlightenment by Gabriel Rosenstock. 

Resources

1. “The 24 Solar Terms”; China Educational Tours
2. 24 Solar Terms: 9  things you may not know about Start of Spring; ChinaDaily.com
3. “Chinese Spring Festival Decorations”. visityunnanchina.com
4. 72 Seasons App
5. “Japan’s 72 Microseasons”; Nippon.com
6. “Complete Guide To Visiting Japan In February 2024: Weather, What To See & Do”. Live Japan.com
7. Balgooyen, Warren P. “Seasonal Magic: How Ice Out in Lakes and Ponds Helps Nourish Life”.  Edited by Matt Loosigian, Deb Avalon-King, and Christine Smith. Maine.gov