Vernal Equinox is the 4th of the 24 solar terms, the 4th of the 6 solar terms in spring. Vernal Equinox is from March 20 (or 21) to April 4 (or 5) every year. Here is my compilation of the origin of the spring equinox and folk activities, I hope it can help you.
Origin of Vernal Equinox
Vernal Equinox, the midpoint of the ninety days of spring. One of the twenty-four solar terms, it occurs every year on the Gregorian calendar around March 20, when the sun is located at 0° of the yellow meridian (the vernal equinox). Vernal equinox on this day the sun is directly above the earth's equator, the northern and southern hemispheres have opposite seasons, the northern hemisphere is the spring equinox, in the southern hemisphere is the fall equinox. The spring equinox is the New Year in Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and other countries, with a history of 3000 years.
"Monthly Order seventy-two wait Jiejie": "February in the middle of the month, the half of the split is also, this is when the half of the ninety days, so it is called the split. Autumn is the same meaning." Spring and Autumn flourish dew - yin and yang in and out of the upper and lower parts of the said: "Spring Equinox, yin and yang half also, so the day and night and cold and heat flat."
Vernal equinox is also a festival and ritual celebrations, ancient emperors have the spring sacrifice of the sun, the fall sacrifice of the moon ritual. The Zhou Ritual of the Son of Heaven, the altar of the sun to sacrifice the sun.
The Book of Rites: "Sacrifice the sun on the altar." Kong Yingda: "It is also called the vernal equinox". Qing Pan Rong ah, "Imperial Capital Years and Seasons": "Spring Equinox Festival, Autumn Equinox Festival of the month, is the country's great ceremony, the people shall not be trespassing.
Folk activities, generally counted as the official start of the green.
Activities include: flying kites, women and children flying kites. And write blessings on the kites hoping that the gods in heaven will see them. Hairpin drinking: men and women, young and old, hairpin flowers. Pick wild vegetables in the wild: Zhu Shuzhen's Ten Songs of Miscellaneous Books on Spring Day: Writing and playing the zither with no mood, and picking vegetables in the green with no mood. In terms of food, there are spring vegetables, spring soup, spring wine and so on.
At the time of the equinox, the point of direct sunlight is on the equator, and the point of direct sunlight continues to move north, so the equinox is also known as the ascending equinox.
Vernal equinox, theoretically, the vast majority of the world's day and night equal length (see morning and evening shadows), the North Pole (90 ° north latitude) and the South Pole (90 ° south latitude) can be observed near the special phenomenon of "the sun in the horizon the whole day to turn around. After the vernal equinox, days are longer and nights are shorter in the northern hemisphere (day is longer than night), and days are shorter and nights are longer in the southern hemisphere (day is shorter than night).
After the vernal equinox, the polar day begins near the North Pole and grows in scope; near the South Pole, the polar day ends and the polar night begins and grows in scope.
Vernal equinox usually refers specifically to the moment when the Sun's apparent yellow meridian is at 0°, around the 15th day of the second month of the lunar calendar (around March 20-21 on the Gregorian calendar).
It also refers to the period of time when the Sun is located between 0° and 15° of the ecliptic, i.e., from the Vernal Equinox until the day before the Ching Ming Festival, which is between March 20 and April 5 on the Gregorian calendar.
What are the folk activities on the vernal equinox
Ancestor Worship
On the vernal equinox in February, people sweep the tombs and worship their ancestors, which is also known as the Spring Festival, and is one of the customs of the vernal equinox. Before sweeping the tomb to hold a grand ceremony of ancestor worship in the ancestral hall, killing pigs, slaughtering sheep, please drummers blowing, by the ritual student read the text of the sacrifice, with the lead in the line of three offerings.
Tomb-sweeping, first of all, sweeping the graves of the founding ancestors and distant ancestors, the whole clan and the whole village should be mobilized, the scale is very large, the team is often up to hundreds or even thousands of people, the founding ancestor and distant ancestor tombs after the sweeping, the room sweeping the graves of the ancestors of the room, and finally the family sweeping the family's private graves.
Vernal equinox egg
"Vernal equinox to the egg is pretty". Legend has it that the spring equinox is the easiest day to stand up the egg, choose a smooth and even, just laid four or five days of fresh eggs, gently on the table to stand it up, although there are quite a lot of failures, but there are also many successes.
According to historical records, the tradition of standing eggs on the vernal equinox originated in China 4,000 years ago, and people celebrated the arrival of spring by doing so. Many places in China hold egg-standing competitions, and the vernal equinox is the best time for egg-standing games.
Kite flying, trekking
"The grass is long and the warblers fly in February day, whisking the embankment willow drunk spring smoke. Children return early from school and are busy flying paper kites in the east wind." Flying kites during the spring equinox is a very ancient spring recreational activity. Children are in the early spring of life, hibernation of a winter, every equinox out of the house, bathed in spring light, breathing fresh air, taking advantage of the warmth of the east wind, running to fly kites.
A heart full of anticipation with a variety of kites paper kites, flying freely in the clear sky, and the vibrant early spring season complement each other.
Vernal equinox health rules
First, clothing increase and decrease degrees, do not wear too little beauty
Vernal equinox, the weather is warming up, especially during the day temperature rises very quickly. The streets of the north are also common at noon when people wear only one piece of clothing, the beauty of the girls are more reluctant to wear bloated, and some even as well as put on the early summer clothing.
Cold from the feet, the first warm and cold, or cover a little better. Young people who love beauty if you must wear less, at least to ensure that the pants, shoes and socks thicker, upper body clothing appropriate thin and light can be.
Wang Hao Hua warm tips: "spring cover autumn freeze" is the wisdom of the ancestors, the summary of experience, in order to be healthy, spring reduce clothing or to slow down some, less, in order to comply with seasonal changes.
Second, adjust the old, prevent new diseases
Spring equinox, Yang Qi has been relatively strong, the recovery of everything, the creatures are also active, a variety of bacteria, viruses in this season of reproduction very quickly, we must pay attention to the prevention of colds, pneumonia, measles and other high-frequency diseases.
This period, it is the time when the wood is strong, accordingly, the power of gold, earth inevitably weakened, so the respiratory system, the digestive system, the probability of the onset of the old disease is relatively large. You must pay attention to the maintenance.
But on the other hand, at this time of the year, yang qi is getting more and more prevalent, in the recurrence of the old disease, pay attention to the conditioning, "because of the situation", take this opportunity to just cure those old problems.
Third, to cope with the spring sleepy trick
Vernal equinox, "spring sleepy" symptoms are becoming more and more obvious, especially in the afternoon every day, the performance is more obvious. If this symptom is not alleviated, it will seriously affect the normal work and study.
1, a little rest after lunch
In the sleepy time, even just a nap for ten minutes, can greatly relieve fatigue. Conditional friends can nap for half an hour, office workers and students, sitting in a chair to take a nap can also be.
2, the night to do some sleep "homework"
After dinner, a little physical activity, is conducive to the body's stretching and relaxation; half an hour before bedtime to give up distractions, mood calm, conducive to sleep.
3, before going to bed, wash your face, wash your feet, rub your feet
Rubbing feet helps to promote the operation of the blood, warming the internal organs, tranquility, eliminate fatigue for a day, conducive to sleep.
Fourth, a balanced diet, yin and yang complementary
Spring equinox diet, it is appropriate to clear complementary not turbid complementary, a large number of qi and blood out of the heavy complementary is not easy to transport, clear complementary is conducive to the light of the clear gas smooth.
1, eat a light diet, eat more fresh vegetables
Eat more fresh vegetables, help the human body should be aware of the season, and natural integration.
Spring bamboo shoots, spinach, celery, leeks, lettuce, green onions, bean sprouts, garlic shoots, mullein, oilseed rape, and other seasonal vegetables, are a good choice. As well as chicken, eggs, milk, yam, lotus seed, silver ear and other nutrient-rich warm food, are suitable for this season to eat.
2, food matching, cooking, pay attention to Yin and Yang complementary
Food cold, hot, warm, cool, flat five properties. In the matching, cooking, should be fully considered.
For example, cooking fish, shrimp, crab and other cold food, add onions, ginger, wine, garlic, vinegar and other hot seasonings, can relieve the cold ingredients of cold; in the consumption of beef and lamb and other hot ingredients, we should be equipped with some nourishing yin ingredients, to achieve the effect of yin and yang complementary.
3, drink more water, more congee, soup
Spring wood is strong, consume relatively large amounts of water, more drinking water, congee, soup, can clear the liver heat to supplement the loss of water in the body.
Fifth, more attention to living
1, to ensure that the indoor air is fresh and clean, reduce respiratory diseases
2, often disinfection, kill the virus
Keep indoor and outdoor hygiene, corners and dark corners of the dirt have to be clean, and often disinfection, kill the virus, reduce the spread of infectious diseases.
3, the movement should not be too intense
From the winter cold to ease over soon, out of the exercise exercise needs to be gradual, not too intense, in order to avoid the body does not adapt.