What is the meaning of the Beginning of Spring?

The Beginning of Spring is the first solar term in the 24 solar terms of the lunar calendar. It is called the Beginning of Spring solar terms when the sun reaches 315 °. It is one of the important traditional festivals of the Han nationality. "Li" means "beginning". Since the Qin Dynasty, China has been using the Beginning of Spring as the beginning of the Mengchun season. The Beginning of Spring is divided from astronomy. Let's take a look at what the Beginning of Spring means.

The meaning of the Beginning of Spring

The Beginning of Spring is one of the 24 solar terms, also known as "hitting spring". "Li" means "beginning". In China, the Beginning of Spring is the beginning of spring, and the Beginning of Spring is the one when the sun reaches 315 degrees of longitude on February 4 or 5 every year. The ancients designated the Beginning of Spring as the first of the 24 solar terms. On the Beginning of Spring's day, looking up at the starry sky at seven o'clock in the evening, we can see that the handle of the Big Dipper is pointing northeast, that is, the azimuth of 45 degrees, the direction of what the ancients called Gen (one of the eight diagrams). The Beginning of Spring's "Li" means the beginning, and "spring" means the season, so the Beginning of Spring has the meaning that the solar terms of spring have begun. There are agricultural proverbs such as "hit six or nine heads in spring" and "when Frosts Descent hits winter, 45 days will hit spring". Since the Winter Solstice entered the 45 days of the nine "five Nine", the Beginning of Spring happens to be the beginning of "six Nine."

The Origin of the Beginning of Spring

The old custom of setting up spring is also a traditional folk festival, called "Li Spring Festival". China has been an agricultural country since ancient times, and the key to spring planting and autumn harvest lies in spring. There is a saying that "the plan of the year lies in spring". The old custom the Beginning of Spring is not only an ancient solar term, but also an important festival. According to the record of things, "the Duke of Zhou began to make the Beginning of Spring native cattle, and unearthed cattle were built to show farming sooner or later." Later generations of feudal rulers will hold the ceremony of whipping spring on this day, which is intended to encourage farming and develop production.

For example, the Beginning of Spring happens to be on the first day of the first lunar month, commonly known as "Yue Chaochun", which is rare in a century. People think that the harvest of this year must be good. There is a folk proverb that "it is hard to meet in a hundred years".

The Beginning of Spring as a festival began as early as the Spring and Autumn period, when there were eight seasons: the Beginning of Spring, the Beginning of Summer, the Beginning of Autumn, the Beginning of Winter, the Spring Equinox, the Autumn Equinox, the Summer Solstice and the Winter Solstice. Only 24 solar terms were recorded in the Book of Rites and the Astronomical training of Huai Nan Zi written by Liu an in the Western Han Dynasty.

There were many changes in the calendar before the Han Dynasty, when the Beginning of Spring in the 24 solar terms was designated as the Spring Festival, meaning that spring began. This term lasted for more than two thousand years until 1913, when the national government formally issued a document defining the first day of the first lunar month as the Spring Festival.

Since then, Spring Day has only existed as one of the 24 solar terms and has been handed down to this day.

The climate of the Beginning of Spring

When it came to the Beginning of Spring, people obviously felt that the days were longer and the sun was warmer. Temperature, sunshine and rainfall are often at the turning point of the year and tend to rise or increase. The growth of spring crops is accelerated, and the water consumption of rape bolting and wheat jointing increases, so topdressing should be irrigated in time to promote growth. The peasant proverb reminds people that "the Beginning of Spring and Rain Water arrive, get up early and go to bed late." Spring ploughing has also begun. Although it is spring, it is still very cold in most parts of South China. "Snow is too late for spring, so we wear courtyard trees as flying flowers." These climatic characteristics should be taken into account when arranging agricultural production.

People often love to look for the message of spring: the bud protruding from the wicker is "softer than gold than silk", and the eager grass in the soil is waiting for "spring breeze to still flourish", while people who work hard in the fields for a new harvest are creating real spring with their hands. The Beginning of Spring's solar terms are also popular with farmers because they bring warmth and hope to people. Therefore, there are many weather proverbs about the Beginning of Spring. For example, those based on sunny days are "the Beginning of Spring Qingqing, Rain Water Yun", "the Beginning of Spring Qingqing, a Spring Sunny", and those based on rain and snow are "dripping Spring Rain, overcast and Wet to Qingming Festival", "it snows heavily in Spring, and it rains heavily in a hundred days". Those based on thunder and lightning are "Thunder sets Spring Festival, stinging Rain does not stop", "the Beginning of Spring thunder, one month does not see the sky", and so on. Those based on cold and warm are "standing cold in spring and warm in spring". Based on the wind force, there are "the Beginning of Spring north wind Rain Water more", "the Beginning of Spring east wind warms up early, the Beginning of Spring west wind warms up late" and so on.

The Beginning of Spring's solar terms should prevent the impact of cold wave, low temperature and rain and snow weather on Spring Festival transportation, and rural areas should pay close attention to the field management of overwintering crops, ploughing and loosening the soil, applying returning green fertilizer, and preventing freezing and protecting seedlings.

The custom of the Beginning of Spring

The Beginning of Spring is also known as "hitting the spring", "biting the spring", also known as "reporting the spring". Like many festivals, this festival has many folk customs, such as celebrating and celebrating spring, "beating cattle" and biting spring cakes, spring plates, radish and so on.

"the Beginning of Spring" on this day, Chinese people are used to eating radish, ginger, spring onions and noodle cakes, which is called "biting spring". But different customs in different places have different manifestations. The earliest records show that eating spring cakes in spring. People in the Beginning of Spring on this day to eat some fresh spring vegetables, not only to prevent disease, but also to welcome the meaning of the New year. Tang "04:00 Treasure Mirror" recorded: "the Beginning of Spring, eat lu, spring cake, lettuce, the number 'dish'." It can be seen that the people of the Tang Dynasty have begun to try spring dishes and eat spring cakes. The so-called spring cake, also known as Lotus-Leaf-Like Pancake, is actually a kind of hot noodle pancake-two small pieces of water are oiled in the middle and put together into pancakes, which can be uncovered into two pieces after being cooked and used to eat rolls. Folklore experts said that a bite is not only a mood, but also a kind of tenacity buried in the bottom of my heart to endure hardship, which is a unique custom of the Chinese people.

Relevant experts say that although the beginning of spring is not as grand as it used to be, the Beginning of Spring places people's hopes on this day, so there are still some special ways to welcome the Beginning of Spring, such as "hitting spring", "biting spring", hanging windmills, hiking, and so on.

The custom of hitting spring first came from the palace. It is said that the Beginning of Spring, both inside and outside the palace, should regard it as a festival and celebrate it solemnly. It was said that the clay spring ox standing in front of the palace should be broken on the Beginning of Spring's day. At present, some rural areas still have the custom of beating spring cattle. In front of the Beginning of Spring, he used clay to make a cow, which is called Spring Niu. Women carrying children around Chunniu three times, the old saying that they can not suffer from disease, has become entertainment.

The Beginning of Spring on this day, Chinese people are also used to eating radish, ginger, spring onions and noodles, which is called "biting spring". People in the Beginning of Spring on this day to eat some fresh spring vegetables, not only to prevent disease, but also to welcome the meaning of the New year. Another kind of folk food that bites spring is radish. Because the radish is spicy, it means that the ancients "bite off the grass roots, then Pepsi can be done".