Beginning of spring is the first of the 24 solar terms, which falls between February 3rd and 5th in the Gregorian calendar every year, indicating the beginning of spring. The period from this day to the long summer is called spring. Beginning of spring this year is on February 3rd.
As the old saying goes: "Establish, build. Spring has come from the beginning, but as far as most parts of the country are concerned, the prelude to spring has not really begun, and there will be a scene of "snow is too late for spring, so it flies among the trees in the courtyard".
In many people's minds, February 4th is usually the right day in beginning of spring, but this year is February 3rd in beginning of spring. Astronomical experts said that 3 beginning of spring is relatively rare, the last one happened at 1897, 120 years ago, and the next one happened at 202 1.
The beginning of spring customs
"beginning of spring" is the first solar term in a year, usually from February 3rd to 5th in Gregorian calendar. It means the beginning of spring, and it also means the beginning of a year's farming activities. beginning of spring has been designated as Farmers' Day in Taiwan Province Province. "Twenty-four solar terms" said beginning of spring: The solar terms in the first month, long summer, beginning of autumn, the past and the past of the five elements continued here, and the breath of spring wood began to arrive, so it was called long summer, which is the same as autumn and winter in long summer. Beginning of spring, Changchun, beginning of autumn and beginning of winter refer to the beginning of the four seasons. Spring planting, summer sowing, autumn harvest and winter storage summarize the whole process of the relationship between agricultural production and climate in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. In climatology, the average daily temperature is above 10 degrees every five days, which is divided into spring. Only when South China is in beginning of spring can it really enter spring.
In ancient times, beginning of spring was divided into three stages:
As soon as the east wind thaws,
When the sting insect starts to vibrate,
Three times, the fish (cheese) is cold.
The east wind is warm and the earth begins to thaw; The stinger wakes up slowly in the hole; Leaves, people. The fish should be cold and crouching at the bottom of the water, but it is warm until the sun shines in the first month, so it is upstream and close to the ice, so it is negative.
China has been an agricultural country since ancient times, and beginning of spring is both a solar term and an important festival. In ancient times, beginning of spring was a day to offer sacrifices to Ju Mang, the spring god in charge of farming, who was also called the Mang God.
Spring Festival Ceremony in Zhou Dynasty: Three days before beginning of spring, the Emperor of Heaven began to fast. At the beginning of spring, he personally led the princes and doctors from three counties and nine counties to the eastern suburb of Bali (Ju Mang lives in the east) to welcome the Spring Festival, and issued a kind order. In Song Dynasty, the Record of Dreams and Beasts recorded that it was the beginning of Qingchun Day when the minister was killed.
The Spring Festival activities entered the palace from the countryside and became mutual worship among officials. The opening ceremony of spring in Qing Dynasty has become an important folk activity that all the people participate in. Lu: Although beginning of spring's ritual of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors is not as good as the first day of the first month of the Sui Dynasty, its scale is higher than that of the winter solstice.
Folk customs of "whipping spring" and "beating spring"
Farmers can't farm without cows. It is the main custom of the Han and Bai nationalities to beat the spring cattle (beating the local cattle, beating the spring and whipping the spring). In beginning of spring, feudal rulers of past dynasties held whipping ceremonies to encourage farming and develop production. Shuowen Jiezi records that the Duke of Zhou began to make local cattle in the spring, and the unearthed cattle were built to represent the farming age. The Year of Yanjing records that the day before in beginning of spring, an official from Shuntianfu greeted the Spring Festival in the spring field outside Dongzhimen. At the beginning of spring, the ceremony was dedicated to the throne of Chunshan, and Shuntianfu was dedicated to a picture of a spring cow. After the ceremony, return to the agency and attract the spring cattle to fight it, which is called spring.
The day before in beginning of spring, two artists crowned the ribbon, one named Chun Guan and the other named Chun Guan. Shouting along the street: Spring is coming, commonly known as "spring". Scholars, farmers, workers and businessmen all bow down when they see Chun Guan. When a person meets a vendor's shop, he can take goods and food at will, and the owner is greeted with a smile. During the Spring Festival, all local government workers were guided by the drum music guard of honor, demanding formal attire, followed by the peasant team, all holding farm tools. I went to the eastern suburbs to meet the mang god and the spring cow, knelt twice and kowtowed six times. The deacon poured the wine and handed it to the CEO. After receiving the wine, the Chief Executive knelt twice and kowtowed six times. Then he bowed in front of the spring cow and welcomed the Mang God and the spring cow back to the city. The next day, the local governor presided over the Spring Festival ceremony, presented the first, second and last three titles, and whipped the spring cattle three times with colorful whips, which was beaten to pieces by many farmers.
Now some rural areas still have the custom of shooting spring cattle. Before the start of spring, the cows in spring were made of mud, and women took their children around them three times, saying that they would not get sick. At the beginning of spring, an old man in the village symbolically whipped the spring cow three times, and then all the villagers smashed the mud cow and put it back to their farmland. It is popular in Luliang area to write the word "Yichun" on the door with spring cattle soil. Southeast Shanxi is used to coating horns with spring cattle soil. It is said that rinderpest can be avoided. In the south of Shanxi, people pay attention to coating stoves with spring cattle soil, which is said to drive away ephemera. Spring folk songs are popular in Shanxi: spring breeze flows in spring and spring water flows in the spring river. Spring people drink spring wine and spring officials whip spring cattle.
Beginning of spring, a folk artist, made many small mud cows and sent them to every household, which is called "seeing off the spring".
The owner should pay the person who sends the spring water. In some places, there are pictures of spring cattle on yellow paper on the walls. Yellow stands for land, and spring cattle stands for farming. The girl cut the ribbon for the swallow and called it "Spring Chicken", inserted the feathers for the butterfly and called it "Spring Moth", and wrapped the velvet for the staff and called it "Spring Staff". Girls in southeastern Shanxi like to exchange these headdresses. It is said that the main silkworm thrives. Xiangning and other places are used to making small dolls out of silk called "Spring Baby" to wear on children. The northern part of Shanxi pays attention to sewing small cloth bags filled with beans, grains and other miscellaneous grains, which are hung on the horns of cattle, meaning that six animals are prosperous, the grains are abundant, and they are safe and auspicious.
The bride's family in Yuncheng area wants to take back her newly-married daughter, which is called "Spring Festival".
"Biting spring" is a unique custom in China.
On the day of "beginning of spring", people in China are used to eating radishes, ginger, onions and bread, which is called "biting spring". However, different customs in different places have different performances. The earliest record is biting spring and eating spring cakes. People in beginning of spring should eat some fresh vegetables on this day, not only to prevent diseases, but also to welcome the Spring Festival. Tang's "Four Seasons Baojing" records: "beginning of spring eats reed, spring cake and lettuce, and there is no' dish'." It can be seen that people in the Tang Dynasty have begun to try spring vegetables and eat spring cakes. The so-called spring cake, also called lotus leaf cake, is actually a kind of pancake with hot soup noodles-two small pieces of water with oil in the middle are put together to make pancakes, which can be peeled into two pieces after cooking to roll vegetables.
Folklore experts say that a pronunciation is not only a kind of mood, but also a kind of tenacity buried in the bottom of my heart, which is a unique custom of China people.
A healthy beginning of spring
Health care in beginning of spring is mainly about protecting the liver. In terms of work and rest time, people should also conform to the laws of nature, go to bed early and get up early, restrain grumpiness, avoid depression, be open-minded and keep a happy mood. Eat lightly, don't overeat dry and spicy food. At the same time, due to the rising of yang at this time, it is easy to hurt yin, so we should pay special attention to nourishing yin, and we can choose more foods such as lily, yam, lotus seeds and medlar.
There is an old saying: "A hundred herbs germinate, and old diseases germinate." In early spring, the weather turns from cold to warm, and various pathogenic bacteria and viruses are also growing and reproducing. Therefore, early spring is prone to respiratory diseases, especially upper or lower respiratory tract infections in children, including influenza, tonsillitis, bronchitis and so on.
After beginning of spring, the weather is still relatively dry. Drinking scented tea helps to dispel the cold evil accumulated in the human body in winter.
In addition, "spring sleep" makes people tired and depressed. It is necessary to ensure adequate sleep, regular work and rest, moderate exercise, stay up late less, and eat more foods containing vitamin B.