Chapter Eight: The Phenological World (Part II) -- Orioles Sing and Hawks Transform into Pigeons: The Mysteries of Sound and Metamorphosis

I. Orioles Sing: The Oriole's Song of Spring

The second pentad of Jingzhe is "the orioles sing" (canggeng ming). What is a "canggeng"$7 It is the oriole, also known as the yellow warbler (huangli or huangying). With its golden plumage and its clear, melodious song, it is one of spring's most enchanting singers. "Canggeng ming" means that by the second five-day period of Jingzhe, the orioles have begun to sing.

If the first pentad, "peach trees begin to bloom," is Jingzhe's visual marker, then the second pentad, "orioles sing," is another auditory marker -- added to the rumble of spring thunder comes the warbling of the oriole. One robust, one delicate; one majestic, one beautiful: spring thunder is the heroic voice of surging yang qi, and the oriole's song is the limpid voice of stirring vitality. Together they compose the "soundscape" of the earth's revival at Jingzhe.

Why did the ancients select the oriole's song as a phenological marker$8 Because birdsong is one of the most sensitive indicators of seasonal change. The oriole sings as the weather warms -- for courtship, for territorial proclamation. This is essentially an expression of life force being stirred and awakened by the yang qi of spring. A bird sings because the vitality within it surges with the rising yang qi and must be expressed as sound. Thus the oriole's song, like the peach blossom's opening and the dormant creature's awakening, is a manifestation of surging yang qi across different life forms.

The Book of Songs also frequently features the oriole (canggeng). "Qi Yue" ("Seventh Month") of the Bin Feng section has: "In the sunny days of spring, the oriole sings." "Chu Che" ("Dispatching Chariots") of the Xiao Ya section has: "The orioles sing cheche; those gathering artemisia are many." These verses closely link the oriole's song to spring's arrival and the stirring of vitality. In the ancients' experience, hearing the oriole's first song was like receiving a formal invitation from spring -- the earth was not merely reviving; it had begun to "sing."

II. Hawks Transform into Pigeons: A Puzzling Phenological Marker

The third pentad of Jingzhe is "hawks transform into pigeons" (ying hua wei jiu) -- the most extraordinary and thought-provoking of Jingzhe's three pentads. It states that by the third five-day period of Jingzhe, hawks have transformed into turtledoves (or cuckoos).

This obviously does not accord with modern biological knowledge -- how could a hawk possibly turn into a dove$9 The two birds are biologically unrelated. Why, then, did the ancients hold this seemingly absurd view$10

To understand "hawks transform into pigeons," we must return to the ancients' observational perspective. One plausible explanation: around mid-spring, fierce raptors gradually become less visible (some say hawks enter their breeding season and become more secretive; others say they migrate northward), while at the same time, gentle doves become more abundant and active in their calling. Seeing that the birds of prey formerly circling overhead have vanished and been replaced by flocks of doves, and noting certain similarities between hawks and doves in size and flight posture, the ancients conceived the idea that "hawks have turned into doves."

But this explanation touches only the surface. The reason "hawks transform into pigeons" was important enough to be solemnly recorded as a phenological marker is that it embodies a profoundly significant philosophical concept -- "transformation of things" (wuhua), symbolizing the principle of yin-yang transmutation. This requires dedicated discussion.

III. The Philosophy of Transformation: The Insight of Master Zhuang

The character "hua" (transform) in "hawks transform into pigeons" is the key to understanding this phenological marker. In pre-Qin philosophy, "hua" is an extremely important concept, referring to the transmutation and metamorphosis of things. The philosopher who developed the philosophy of "hua" to its fullest was Master Zhuang (Zhuangzi).

Master Zhuang, at the close of the "Qi Wu Lun" ("Discussion on Making All Things Equal"), tells the famous story of the Butterfly Dream: "Once upon a time, Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly -- a fluttering butterfly, content and carefree, knowing nothing of Zhou. Suddenly he awoke, and there he was -- solidly and unmistakably Zhou. He did not know whether he was Zhou who had dreamed he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming it was Zhou. Between Zhou and the butterfly, there must be some distinction. This is called the Transformation of Things (wuhua)."

"The Transformation of Things" -- the transmutation of one thing into another. Master Zhuang uses the butterfly dream to show that the boundaries between things are not as sharp as we suppose. Zhuang Zhou can "transform" into a butterfly, and a butterfly can "transform" into Zhuang Zhou. At a deeper level, all things are in perpetual transformation; nothing is permanently fixed.

Master Zhuang also opens the "Xiaoyao You" ("Wandering in Absolute Freedom") with another astonishing "transformation": "In the northern darkness there is a fish called Kun. The Kun is so large that no one knows how many thousand li it measures. It transforms into a bird called Peng." A fish transforms into a bird! With this magnificent imagination, Master Zhuang tells us: "transformation" is a fundamental mode of movement in the cosmos, and the forms of all things can undergo astonishing change.

Within this philosophical vision of "transformation of things," "hawks transform into pigeons" no longer seems absurd. In the ancients' view, hawk and dove are merely different manifestations of the same life force (qi) under different seasonal conditions. In autumn and winter, when the qi of severity prevails, the life force manifests as the fierce hawk. In mid-spring, when the qi of generation prevails, the life force manifests as the gentle dove. The hawk "transforming" into the dove symbolizes the transmutation from "severity" to "generation," from "yin" to "yang" -- precisely the core theme of the Jingzhe solar term.

IV. Hawks Transform into Pigeons: A Phenological Symbol of Yin-Yang Transmutation

Let us situate "hawks transform into pigeons" within the overall context of Jingzhe.

The hawk is a raptor, fierce and deadly, symbolizing the "killing qi" of autumn and winter -- autumn is the season of "the falcon strikes," when all things are harvested and culled. The dove is a gentle bird, mild and peaceable, symbolizing the "generating qi" of mid-spring -- it is active and vocal in spring, consonant with the generation of all things. From hawk to dove, from fierce to gentle, from killing to generating -- this transmutation is a symbol of the qi of heaven and earth turning from the severity and closure of winter to the generation and exuberance of spring.

This is the deeper meaning behind "hawks transform into pigeons" being listed as one of Jingzhe's three pentads. It is not merely an isolated biological observation but a microcosm of a grand cosmic narrative about "yin-yang transmutation." Jingzhe is the critical moment of this transmutation -- the thunderclap of spring, the surging of yang qi, the exit of the severe and the entrance of the generative. And "hawks transform into pigeons" is the most vivid, most concrete phenological symbol that the ancients found for this great transmutation.

More exquisitely still, the autumn phenology contains a phenomenon that is the exact reverse. The Monthly Ordinances records that in mid-autumn, "doves transform into hawks" (jiu hua wei ying)! In spring, hawks become doves; in autumn, doves become hawks -- a perfect circuit of reciprocal transformation. This cycle symbolizes the waxing and waning of yin and yang qi: in spring, yang grows and yin diminishes, so the hawk (yin, killing) transforms into the dove (yang, generating); in autumn, yin grows and yang diminishes, so the dove (yang, generating) transforms back into the hawk (yin, killing). Through this pair of opposite yet complementary "transformations," the ancients depicted the cosmic law of yin-yang cycling and seasonal reciprocation with consummate vividness.

This dialectical understanding of "change and constancy" is pre-Qin philosophy's most profound contribution to the interpretation of the solar terms. It makes us realize that what Jingzhe marks is not the "birth" of something new but the "transformation" of the same life force (qi) between different forms. The hawk has not "died"; it has merely "transformed" into a dove. Winter has not "vanished"; it has merely "transformed" into spring. The qi of heaven and earth has never ceased flowing -- it merely changes its form as it flows. We establish the marker "Jingzhe" precisely to note and remind ourselves of this continuous, subtle, great transformation from yin to yang, from dormancy to action.