What is the solar term in early spring every year?
Every year between February 3rd and 5th in the Gregorian calendar. Beginning of spring, like Changsha, beginning of autumn and beginning of winter, reflects the seasonal changes. Beginning of spring marks the end of the winter when everything is closed and begins to enter the warm and sunny spring.
Beginning of spring, as the first of the "twenty-four solar terms", is the beginning of a year in the official calendar, the beginning of everything, and represents the beginning of everything and the meaning of self-improvement. "Twenty-four solar terms" was originally determined according to the bucket handle rotation direction of the Big Dipper, and the bucket handle rotation was circular, which was closely related to the twenty-four solar terms. The Big Dipper is made up of seven stars: Shu Tian, Tian Xuan, Tianji, Tianquan, Yuheng, Kaiyang and Yaoguang, hence its name. The Big Dipper is an important horoscope in the northern hemisphere (China is located in the northern hemisphere). The natural rhythm of the corresponding area in the northern hemisphere changes gradually when the stars rotate, so it has become the basis for ancient people to judge the seasonal changes. Taking the Big Dipper, the direction pointed by bucket handle, as the standard for determining the month, it is called sword fighting (also known as "Jian Yue"), that is, it is cloudy in the first month and hairy in February. 1 1 month to have a baby,1February to have an ugly one. Bucket handle starts from the north of due east (Yin position, gossip position the day after tomorrow), turns clockwise, pointing to the ugly side at the end of December, and returns to Yin position in the first month of the following year. Bucket handle rotates once as a cycle, which is called one of the "years old" (take), and it goes on and on. In the era of Ganzhi, the astronomical phenomenon "Yin Hui, bucket handle" was regarded as "spring" (the first month), and beginning of spring was the beginning of a year. The beginning of spring means the beginning of a new cycle.
The current "Yellow River Longitude" solar terms are also based on precise astronomical calculations. "Twenty-four solar terms" (used since 1645) is divided into degrees of the ecliptic, and each solar term corresponds to a certain position reached by the sun every time it runs 15 on the ecliptic, reflecting the influence of the sun on the earth. The degree method of the ecliptic (also called "the method of fixing qi") is a method to determine solar terms according to the position of the sun on the regression ecliptic, that is, on a 360-degree circle "ecliptic" (the sun's apparent path on the celestial sphere for one year), it is divided into 24 equal parts, each 15 is 1 equal part, and every 65438+. It starts with the vernal equinox at 0 degrees (ranking first in beginning of spring) and is arranged according to the longitude of the Yellow River, that is, the sun starts from the longitude of the Yellow River at 0 degrees (at this time, the sun shines vertically on the equator), every advance 15 degrees is a solar term, and it returns to the vernal equinox after running for one week, which is a tropic year. The circumference of the ecliptic is 360 degrees. Every time the sun runs 15 degrees on the ecliptic, it is a solar term, and each solar term has the same degree and different time. "Twenty-four solar terms" reflect the annual apparent motion of the sun, so the date of "Twenty-four solar terms" in the Gregorian calendar is relatively fixed, with a difference of 1-2 days. The solar terms divided by "the method of degrees of the yellow meridian" began in the beginning of spring and ended in the great cold. When the sun reaches longitude 3 15, it is the node of beginning of spring, and it is the node of February 35 of the Gregorian calendar every year.
Inventory of custom activities in early spring;
Avoid spring
In traditional folklore, when you come to beginning of spring, you should avoid spring. Because the climate in beginning of spring has begun to change, the new aura will have a negative impact on some people, and more importantly, it will affect the luck of a year, so the custom of hiding from spring has emerged. In the folk, different places have different customs and taboos, which also extends a variety of methods and customs to avoid spring.
The customs left over from tradition should not quarrel with each other on the day of early spring, but should meet in harmony and calm. In some places, it is not appropriate to take activities, visit seriously ill patients or attend funerals on the day of Tibetan spring, so as not to provoke bad luck and affect the luck of the whole year.
Occupy qi
Beginning of spring is the first solar term among the twenty-four solar terms, and the belief of occupying qi was formed in the Spring and Autumn Period. "The Book of Confucius and Ying Da": "Every spring and autumn equinox, winter and summer solstice, beginning of spring is long and summer is open, and beginning of autumn beginning of winter is closed. Take advantage of these eight days, you must go to the observatory and write about the clouds and things you see. If there is any change in the cloud, it is a demon of the old times, and it will be tested later. The person who wrote this book is also preparing for this. " Therefore, in the Spring and Autumn Period, at the beginning of the folk solar term in spring, climbing clouds and divination calculation have begun to become a custom.
Go for a spring outing
After announcing the good news of the Spring Festival, we began to swim in the spring, with the gongs and drums teams and honor guards from all villages and clubs walking in front, and the huge statue of the spring cow carried by four or eight people walking behind. Walking and jumping, gongs and drums are loud, firecrackers are ringing, and the team is vast and spectacular, and it has traveled all over the streets and alleys of the surrounding villages.
offer sacrifices to ancestors
In many areas, beginning of spring offered sacrifices to his ancestors. For example, Guangdong's "Xin 'an County Records" says: "People are related to ancestral temples. "When I was in beginning of spring, the food dedicated to my ancestors was also very special. The annals of Ruyang County, Henan Province said: "There are spring banquets, spring cakes and pears. In some places, beginning of spring's sacrifice is called "biting the spring".
Whip spring cattle
Whipping spring cattle, also known as whipping earth cattle, originated earlier and has been preserved to this day. However, it was changed to spring in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and it became popular. Especially after Song Renzong promulgated the Classic of whipping earth cattle, the custom of whipping earth cattle spread more widely and became an important part of folk culture.
The significance of whipping spring cattle is not limited to sending air conditioning and promoting spring ploughing, but also has certain witchcraft significance. Shandong folks want to break the local cattle, and people compete for the spring cattle, which is called grabbing the spring and taking the cow's head as the luck. When molding spring cattle, it is often necessary to stuff whole grains into the stomach. When the cow was smashed, the grain flowed out. People smiled and picked up the grain and put it back in their barn, indicating that the barn was full of grain.
winter jasmine
Spring Festival is an important activity that begins in spring, and it must be prepared and rehearsed in advance, commonly known as spring performance. The Spring Festival was held the day before beginning of spring, with the aim of bringing back spring and Ju Mang. Ju Mang is the god of spring, that is, the god of plants and life. Ju Mang's image is a bird with a face. He abides by the rules and is in charge of spring affairs. During the Zhou Dynasty, the East Hall was set up to welcome the Spring Festival, which shows that there is a long history of offering sacrifices to Ju Mang. Qing Jean Lian's "Kyoto Customs" says: "The day before the spring, the buffalo entered the house and the reed shed stood. There are thousands of mountain gods in the east and west, and their images are gorgeous, which are considerable for both men and women. When they arrived in early spring, the servants were burned to death, so it was called the spring battle. " Then, people take the fragments of the spring cattle home as good luck.
Spring sacrifice
The Spring Club is a day of offering sacrifices to the land gods in ancient spring. The Zhou Dynasty was the first day of junior high school, and most of them were held on the fifth day after beginning of spring. Wang Jia, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote the poem "Society Day": "Sang Zheying leaves the Spring Society and everyone is intoxicated." It can be seen that the ancients attached great importance to offering sacrifices to the country, which later became a custom handed down, meaning that the earth breeds everything and prays for sacrifices in order to pray for the prosperity of six livestock and the bumper harvest of grains.
Tieyichun calligraphy and painting
When spring comes, it is a custom to post Yichun calligraphy and painting on the door wall since the Tang Dynasty. According to records, at the beginning of spring, Chang 'an people in Tang Dynasty often posted calligraphy and paintings on their doors, which were called "Yichun characters" and paintings were called "Yichun paintings", such as "Welcome to Spring", "Beautiful Spring" and "Blooming Spring".
Dai Chun chicken
Dai Chun Chicken is an ancient custom of Tongchuan people in Shaanxi Province. Every year, at the beginning of spring, a rooster about 3 cm long is made of cloth and sewed on the child's hat to express his wishes to "Ji Chun". At the beginning of spring, women hang beans on their horns or sprinkle them on cows, thinking that this can prevent children from getting measles.