202 Time in Spring

Spring is the beginning of spring. The ancients defined beginning of spring as the first of the 24 solar terms. On the day of beginning of spring, looking up at the starry sky at seven o'clock in the evening, you can see that the bucket handle of the Big Dipper points to the northeast, that is, the azimuth angle is 45 degrees, which the ancients called the direction of Gen (one of the eight diagrams).

In nature, the most striking feature of beginning of spring is that everything is beginning to show signs of recovery. Up to beginning of spring, the breath of early spring can be clearly felt in the Tropic of Cancer (Huangchi Jiao Jiao) in China and its south area. Because of China's vast territory, large span between north and south, and different natural rhythms, "beginning of spring" is only a prelude to spring for many areas, and it is still a closed winter.

The beginning of spring customs

Beginning of spring is also called "Da Chun", "beginning of spring" and "beginning of spring". This festival, like many festivals, has many folk customs, such as celebrations and activities to welcome spring, "shooting cows" in spring, and eating spring cakes, spring vegetables and radishes.

According to historical documents, the Spring Festival ceremonies in China were all grand. At this time, beginning of spring has surpassed the function of only marking festivals and climate in the 24 solar terms of the lunar calendar, and has been regarded as a festival. Therefore, many activities and folk customs held around beginning of spring have evolved in history, such as spring baby, spring whip, spring rolls, spring beating, spring wine, spring cattle and so on.