Is the Spring Festival the Spring Festival as the saying goes?

Playing spring is the common name of beginning of spring, and it is the solar term of spring returning to the earth. It is the first of the 24 solar terms.

Beginning of spring is a traditional festival in China. In the Zhou Dynasty, on this day, the son of heaven personally led Sangong to wait until the eastern suburbs to celebrate the Spring Festival. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, people whipped the cattle in spring and sent Koharu cattle to persuade farmers to plow their fields in spring and pray for a bumper harvest. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there have been eating green vegetables, welcoming local cattle, bathing silkworm eggs and drinking spring tea, which has strong traditional folk customs and local flavor.

The custom of playing spring originated from the palace. It is said that on the day when spring begins, it should be regarded as a festival both inside and outside the palace and should be celebrated solemnly. As early as that day in beginning of spring, we will break the clay sculpture of spring cattle standing in front of the palace. According to historical records, "Duke Zhou only worked as a native cow in spring." In that case, the years are almost as old as our Chinese nation. The book "Kyoto Customs" once recorded that "the headstrong god is located in the east and the spring cow is located in the west" in front of the palace. After the ceremony, "all the soldiers fought and burned, so it was called' playing spring'." At that time, breaking the spring cow meant urging the old cow to plow the fields, and people took the pieces of the spring cow home one after another as a symbol of good luck.

The mountain god mentioned here is the spring god, who is in charge of farming for one year, which is recorded in the Book of Rites and Zuo Zhuan. On this day of spring, in the temple fair in old Beijing, spring cows are usually sold, and the person who leads the cows draws a picture of a mountain god in front. Ordinary people, even if they enter the city, will invite the photos of the spring cow home, which is the same as the clip of the spring cow taking home. They pray to themselves that the god of spring and the cattle of spring will get the blessing of a bumper harvest in a year.