Between February 3rd and 5th on the Gregorian calendar every year. Spring and summer, autumn, winter, reflecting the change of seasons, spring marked the winter of all things hidden has passed, began to enter the wind and warmth, all things grow in the spring.
The beginning of spring is the first of the twenty-four solar terms, and it is the beginning of the year in the dry calendar, which is the end of the end of all things and the beginning of the beginning of the end, representing the beginning of all things and the meaning of all things being reborn. The "24 Solar Terms" are based on the rotation of the Big Dipper's seven stars, which rotate in a circular pattern, and the 24 Solar Terms are closely related to the rotation of the Big Dipper. The Big Dipper consists of seven stars: Tianshu (Heavenly Pivot), Tianxuan (Heavenly Xuan), Tiangui (Heavenly Gui), Tianquan (Heavenly Power), Yuhang (Jade Balance), Kaiyang (Open Sun), and Waguang (Rocking Light). The seven stars of the Big Dipper are important stars in the northern hemisphere (our country is located in the northern hemisphere), and the natural rhythms of the corresponding regions in the northern hemisphere also change gradually when the dipper turns to the stars, which has become the basis for judging the changes of the seasons in the ancient times. The position of the handle of the Big Dipper as the standard for determining the month is called Doojian (also known as "moon building"), respectively: the first month to build c, February to build d, November to build zi, December to build ugly. November built son, December built ugly. Doo handle from the east north (c, the eight trigrams of the Burgundy position) to start, clockwise rotation of a circle, the end of December refers to the ugly side, the first month of the following year and back to the c position, the handle of the rotating circle for a cycle, called one of the "years" (Regent), the cycle repeats itself. Stem and branch chronicle to the celestial phenomenon "bucket handle back to the c" for the "spring" (first month), the spring for the first year. The beginning of spring means that a new cycle has begun.
The current "degrees of yellow longitude" festival is also in accordance with sophisticated astronomical calculations. The "24 Solar Terms" (in use since 1645) are divided according to the number of degrees of the sun's ecliptic, each corresponding to a certain position reached by the sun every 15° on the ecliptic, reflecting the sun's influence on the earth. The "ecliptic number method" (also known as the "fixed qi method") is a method of determining the solar energy according to the position of the Sun on the ecliptic, i.e., in a 360-degree circumference of the "ecliptic" (one year), the Sun's position on the celestial sphere is determined by the number of solar energy in the ecliptic. That is, in a 360-degree circle, the "ecliptic" (the path of the sun on the celestial sphere in a year) is divided into 24 equal parts, with every 15° as one equal part, and every one equal part as a solar term, which is exactly 24 solar terms in total. It is the equinox for the 0 degree starting point (sorting on the spring is still listed as the first), according to the number of degrees of the ecliptic program, that is, depending on the sun from the 0 degree of the ecliptic (at the moment the sun shines vertically on the equator), every 15 degrees for a festival, running a week and back to the equinoxes, for a regression year. Ecliptic circumference of 360 degrees, the sun runs on the ecliptic every 15 degrees for a "node", each "node" of the "degrees" equal, "time "The number of degrees is equal, but the time is not. The "24 solar terms" reflect the annual visual movement of the sun, so the dates of the "24 solar terms" in the Gregorian calendar are relatively fixed, and there is no difference of 1-2 days between the two. The "Yellow Meridian Method" divides the solar terms into seasons, beginning with the first day of spring and ending with the last day of the year. When the sun reaches 315° of the yellow meridian for the Spring Festival point, in the annual calendar February 35, the festival.
The spring custom activities inventory:
Hide spring
In traditional folklore, the day of spring should hide spring. Because of the spring this day the climate began to transition, the new air will have a negative impact on some people, or worse, will affect the luck of the year, so the custom of hiding spring appeared. In folklore, different places have different customs and taboos, but also extends a variety of methods and customs to avoid spring.
Traditionally, it is customary not to have verbal disputes on the day of the spring, but to greet the day with harmony and peace of mind. In some places, it is not advisable to move, visit the sick or attend funerals on this day, so as not to attract bad luck and affect the luck of the whole year.
Characterization
Lichun is the first of the twenty-four solar terms, and the belief of characterization was already formed during the Spring and Autumn Period. Kong Yinda Shu: "Where spring and autumn equinoxes, winter and summer solstices, spring and summer for the opening, autumn and winter for the closing, the day of these eight festivals, we must go to the Observatory, the book of the clouds and the color of the clouds. If there is a change in the clouds, it is the year of the demon of auspicious both see, it will be tested afterward, the book, for the preparation of the reason also." This shows that during the Spring and Autumn period in the spring folk festival, climb up to watch the clouds, divination and calculation has begun to form as a custom.
Tour of Spring
After welcoming the spring greetings, the tour of spring began, with the gongs and drums and honor guards of the villages and societies walking in the front, and the huge statue of the spring bull carried by four or eight people walking in the back. Walking and dancing, drums and gongs, firecrackers, the procession is vast, very spectacular, touring the streets and alleys of the surrounding villages.
Ancestor worship
In many areas, the Spring Festival to worship ancestors. For example, the Guangdong Xin'an County Record reads, "Folks have something to do at the ancestral shrine on this day." In the spring of the food offerings to the ancestors are also more special. Henan "Ruyang County Zhi" reads: "Set spring feast, eat spring cake, recommended divination, pear." In some places, the spring festival is called "bite spring".
Whip spring cattle
Whip spring cattle, also known as whip cattle, the origin of the earlier, and then has been preserved, but changed in the spring, prevalent in the Tang and Song dynasties, especially after the Song Renzong promulgated the "soil cattle scripture," so that the whip cattle custom spread more widely, as an important element of folk culture.
The significance of whipping the spring bull is not limited to sending cold air and promoting spring plowing, but also has a certain witchcraft significance. Shandong folk to break the earth cow, people scramble for spring cattle soil, called the spring, to grab the head of the cow for good luck. Plastic spring cow, often in the stomach stuffed with grains, when the cow was broken, the grains flowed out. People laugh and pick up the grains and put them back into their own barns, signaling that the barns are full of grain.
Welcoming Spring
Welcoming Spring is an important activity of the Spring Festival, which must be prepared and preformed beforehand, commonly known as the Spring Festival. Spring is carried out on the day before the first day of spring, the purpose is to bring back the spring and the god Jumang. Jumang is the god of spring, i.e. the god of grass and trees and the god of life. The image of Jumang is a man with a bird's body and a human face, and he is the master of spring affairs. In the Zhou Dynasty, there was a ceremony to welcome spring in the East Hall, which shows that sacrifices to Jumang have been held for a long time. Qing people let Lian wrote "Kyoto Customs" said: "the day before the spring? Welcome the spring cow Mang God into the Office of the House, take the reed shed two, east and west of the south, east set Mang God, west set the spring cow, the image of color, all according to the thousands of branches, allowed to make men and women look at, to the time of the spring? All the service to fight and burn, so it is called playing spring." Then, people will snatch the pieces of the spring bull home, considered auspicious.
Chunshe
Chunshe is the ancient spring day of sacrifice to the land god. In the Zhou Dynasty, it was held on the A day, and later it was mostly held on the fifth E day after the beginning of spring. The Tang Dynasty poet Wang Dai's poem "The Day of the Society" reads, "The shadow of the mulberry tree slants and the spring society disperses, and every family helps the drunken people to return." It can be seen that the ancients attached great importance to the worship of the gods, and later became a custom passed down, meaning that the earth reproduces all things, prayers and sacrifices, in order to pray for the prosperity of the six animals, grains and cereals.
Posted Yichun calligraphy and painting
Spring is here, to the door wall posting Yichun calligraphy and painting, this custom in the Tang Dynasty. According to records: spring day, Chang'an people in the Tang Dynasty often posted on the door to welcome spring wish auspicious words and paintings, the word called "Yichun word", the painting called "Yichun painting", such as "welcome spring" "Spring color is pleasant", "spring is bright", "spring blossoms" and so on.
Wearing spring chickens
Wearing spring chickens is an ancient custom of the people around Tongchuan, Shaanxi Province. Every year, on the day of the first day of spring, a 3-centimeter-long rooster is made out of cloth and sewn onto the top of a child's hat to express the wish of "Chunji (chicken)". Spring Day, women with a line through the beans hanging in the cow's horn, or with hemp beans scattered on the body of the cow, that this can make young children free from measles.