Week 16: “First Rainbows”

April 15 to April 21 is the sixteenth week of 2024.  This week, we complete the Solar Term of Clear and Bright (Apr 4 – Apr 19) and enter the Solar Term of Grain Rain. The micro-seasons for this week are  “First Rainbows” (Apr 15 – Apr 19), and “First Reeds Sprout” (Apr 20 – Apr 24).

Basho, Issa, Buson, and Reichhold wrote the poems selected for this week.  

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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 Xi’an, the capital of China during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE to 220 CE). ⁽¹⁾

Grain Rain

Grain Rain is the sixth Solar Term of the year and the sixth Solar Term of Spring. Guyu(谷雨) is the Chinese name for this season. Guyu means “Grain crops grow fast because of rain”’.⁽²⁾  

Guyu Tea

In parts of southern China during Grain Rain, people drink Guyu Tea. Guyu Tea is tea made on the first day of Guyu. This tea is said to be rich in vitamins and amino acids and will help remove inflammation, improve eyesight, and perhaps, exorcise evil spirits.   

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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  “First Rainbows” (Apr 15 – Apr 19), and “First Reeds Sprout” (Apr 20 – Apr 24).

First Rainbows 

In the winter, our days are short and cold because of the Earth’s orientation to the Sun.  As we move into Spring, the Earth’s orientation shifts resulting in longer days and warmer temperatures.

As the Sun’s rays warm the Earth’s surface, we experience increased evaporation and more moisture in the air. With these temperature shifts, and increased atmospheric humidity, we also get more rain and thunderstorms.  All these factors combine to provide ideal conditions for rainbows.  

To see a rainbow, there needs to be a light source positioned behind the viewer and light must strike an atmospheric water droplet at a  42-degree angle. When the sunlight hits this water droplet, it then undergoes a refraction, or bending, as it enters and exits the droplet. The refraction and reflection of light varies due to the wavelengths of the incoming light.  This variation produces the spectrum of colors seen in a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.^(6,7,8)

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Astronomical Season

April 21, the last day of week sixteen, is 33 days past the spring equinox and 60 days until the summer solstice (June 20, 2024).  

Moon Phases

The Moon reached its first quarter phase at the beginning of this week (April 15). The First Quarter is seven days after the New Moon and marks the first quarter of the Moon’s orbit around the Earth.  After the First Quarter, the Moon shifts to its Waxing Gibbous phase. During the Waxing Gibbous phase, the Moon’s illumination increases until it reaches the Full Moon. On April 21, the last day of this week, the Moon is in a Waxing Gibbous phase with 96.9% illumination. April’s full Moon will occur on April 23.

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Haiku and Kigo 

The kigo, or season word, is one of the key parts of the haiku.  The Yuki Teikei Haiku Society provides us with the following explanation for why we use kigo in haiku. 

“A kigo is a poetic device used in haiku to denote a season; it’s a powerful word or phrase that can conjure up many allusions, historical references, spiritual meanings, and/or cultural traditions. Its use in haiku, a poem of few words, is especially effective because of this power to expand its meaning beyond the literal and to create a larger aura of seasonal mood, historical/ literary context, and/or cultural implications.”⁽⁹⁾

Visit The Haiku Foundation’s “New To Haiku: What is a Kigo?” for more information

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This Week’s Kigo

In The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words selected by Kenkichi Yamamoto, “spring light”, “spring thunder”, and “spring rain” are relevant kigo. 

 In Jane Reichhold’s A Dictionary of Haiku, “rain”, “raindrops”, “showers” and “rainbows” are all potential kigo. 

In the World Kigo Database by Dr. Gabi Greves, “spring rainbow” or “first rainbow” are spring kigo, while “rainbow” by itself is a summer kigo. 

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

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Basho

spring rain— 
blowing back and forth like straw coats, 
river willows 
(translated by David Landis Barnhill) 

laziness 
helped out of bed 
by spring rain 
(translated by Jane Reichhold)

Issa

spring's first rainbow
from the wheat field on my left
to the western snowcaps
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

a good day
for a siesta...
year's first rainbow
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

the little crow
slips so cleverly...
spring rain
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

Buson

Spring rain 
escaping from the walls of houses 
smoke
(translated by Allan Persinger)

Spring rain
an empress reflected in the water
the hazy moon
(translated by Allan Persinger)

I cannot write
in the spring rain — 
how nice
(translated by Allan Persinger)

Reichhold

clouds
drifting into sea foam
rainbows

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Haiku invitation

This week’s haiku invitation is to write a haiku or senryu referencing spring rains.

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

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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. Buson’s haiku was retrieved from Foxfire: the Selected Poems of Yosa Buson, a Translation by Allan Persinger. Jane Reichhold’s haiku were retrieved from the Dictionary of Haiku.

1. “The 24 Solar Terms”; China Educational Tours
2. “6 Solar Terms of Spring”; China Educational Tours
3. “24 Solar Terms: 5 things you may not know about Grain Rain”; ChinaDaily.com
4. 72 Seasons App
5. “Japan’s 72 Microseasons”; Nippon.com
6. “Rainbow”: Wikipedia
7. “Rainbow”: National Geographic Society Encyclopedia 
8. “What Causes a Rainbow?”; SciJinks.gov