Origin:

The beginning of spring, also known as "Dachun", is the first of the twenty-four solar terms in China. "Li" means "beginning". The beginning of spring is the beginning of spring. It is the beginning of spring when the sun reaches 315 degrees longitude on February 3 (or 4 or 5) every year. In an astronomical sense, it marks the beginning of spring.

The beginning of spring, like the beginning of summer, the beginning of autumn, and the beginning of winter, are all solar terms that reflect the change of the four seasons. The beginning of spring is a solar term with a slight transition. Although this transition is not very obvious, the trend is that the weather begins to warm up, the most severe cold period is basically over, and people begin to smell the breath of early spring.

Customs:

On the day of "The Beginning of Spring", there is a long history of holding commemorative activities, which began at least 3,000 years ago. At that time, Gou Mang, also known as Mang God, was the god of spring in charge of farming.

The Zhou Dynasty's ceremony to welcome the "beginning of spring" was roughly as follows: three days before the beginning of spring, the emperor began to fast. On the day of the beginning of spring, he personally led the three ministers and nine officials, princes and officials, to the suburbs eight miles east to welcome the spring and pray for a good harvest. The reason for going to the eastern suburbs to welcome the Spring Festival is because the God Jumang worshiped during the Spring Festival celebrations lives in the east. Later, the Spring Festival activities were held not only in the eastern suburbs.

Extended information:

In ancient times, the Jitian ceremony was held on the first day of spring. The content of the Jitian ceremony included prayers to the Earth Mother. Gathering for drinks after the Jitian ceremony was a rudimentary custom of "group worship" and "New Year greetings" in later generations.

Welcoming the Spring Festival is an important event at the beginning of spring. Preparations must be made in advance and a rehearsal is carried out, commonly known as spring performance. Then we can officially welcome the spring on the day of Beginning of Spring. The Spring Festival is held on the day before the beginning of spring, with the purpose of bringing back spring and the God of Jumang. After the beginning of spring, people like to go out for spring outings in the warm spring days. It is commonly known as going out of the city to visit spring and spring outings. This is also the main form of spring outings.

The ancients often affixed the word "Yichun" on the Beginning of Spring, which later gradually developed into Spring Festival couplets, expressing the Chinese working people's good wishes to ward off evil spirits, eliminate disasters, and welcome good fortune.

On the day of the beginning of spring, folk artists will make many small clay cows, called "spring cows", and send them to various households, which is called "spring delivery". In some places, a yellow paper with a picture of a spring cow is posted on the wall. Yellow represents the land, and the spring cow represents farming.