Today is the spring equinox of the twenty-four solar terms.
"The spring equinox is also half of yin and yang, so the day and night are equal and the cold and summer are flat." On the day of the vernal equinox, the sun shines directly at the Earth's equator, and the day and night are almost equal. After the spring equinox, the days around the continent begin to grow longer and longer, the climate is gradually milder, and the rain is getting more and more abundant, which is a good time for farming.
Farmers in Tongxin County, Wuzhong City, Ningxia, sow wheat when they grab the farmers (Photo by Yang Zhisen, Xinhua News Agency)
Farming is busy during the spring equinox
The spring equinox has three seasons: "one waits for the birds to arrive, the second waits for thunder to sound, and the third waits for the first electricity." The Twenty-Four Solar Terms and The Agricultural Equinox also states: "During the spring equinox, the earth is more intense in spring, the temperature rises, and the rainfall increases. ”
"A spring rain is a warm, after the spring rain is busy ploughing the field", after the spring equinox, spring pipe, spring ploughing, spring planting... It is about to enter a busy phase. "The spring equinox wheat gets up, a moment is worth a thousand gold" "The spring equinox wheat gets up, and the fat water should follow closely"... These agricultural proverbs are telling people that during the spring equinox, they should water the wheat seedlings in time, apply joint fertilizer, and control diseases and insect pests, so that the wheat can be abundant and high-quality.
The wind and rain during the spring equinox are very soft and gentle, which is not only a "good helper" for spring ploughing, spring sowing and spring planting, but also a good predictor of agricultural affairs. Zhang Bo, a researcher at the Beijing National Cultural Center Construction Research Institute of Beijing Union University and the Beijing Studies Research Base, told reporters that the agricultural proverb "The spring equinox with rain is a good year" is based on the spring equinox precipitation to predict the year; The agricultural proverb "the spring equinox is south wind, first rain and then drought" and "the spring equinox morning reports the southwest wind, typhoon insect pests have a case" is based on the wind of the spring equinox to predict the weather, natural disasters and so on.
The spring equinox sacrifice prays for a good harvest
The ancients paid attention to the "spring prayer and autumn report", that is, praying for the wind and rain to be smooth during spring ploughing, and thanking the gods for protecting the harvest during the autumn harvest. According to Zhang Bo, the "Spring Prayer and Autumn Newspaper" is usually held on The Spring Society Day and the Autumn Society Day. Chunshe Day is the fifth day after the establishment of spring, usually in the second month of the lunar calendar, similar to the spring equinox.
On The Day of the Spring Shrine, people worship the god of the land and the god of grain, that is, the god of sheji, and pray for the abundance of grain; On the day of the spring equinox, there is a custom of "festival day", and it is also hoped that by worshipping the sun god, a good harvest will be prayed for a year.
In addition, the spring equinox will also worship other gods, such as the Hunan Anren Society to worship shennong, and form a traditional folk event of "catching up with the branch". "The 'division' in 'rushing branches' refers to the spring equinox, and the 'society' refers to the spring society." Zhang Bo said that the Hunan Anren "catch-up branch" generally lasts 7 to 10 days, and is named after the spring equinox and spring festival, which has a history of more than 1,000 years. In the long-term development process, the local people have formed customs such as worshipping god farmers, opening medicine markets, preparing farming, and eating medicinal food.
How much is known about the customs of the spring equinox
Busy farming during spring ploughing (Photo by Zhang Peng/Guangming Photo)
The spring equinox has arrived, and the cattle have begun a year's labor. Some customs of the spring equinox are also related to the cultivation of cattle. In the Jiangnan region of mainland China, there is a custom of "treating and cultivating cattle", and people feed the cattle with glutinous rice balls and reward them for their diligent work day after day.
In addition, the spring equinox also has customs such as sacrificing birds and sticking to the mouth of the finch, which is intended to hope that birds will not peck at grains and destroy crops. In Ya'an, Sichuan, people protect their crops in a somewhat special way. "The villagers will rest their families on the day of the spring equinox." Zhang Bo explained that the villagers could not go to the fields and vegetable gardens, otherwise there would be a phenomenon of birds pecking at the crops in the future.
During the spring equinox, farmers are busy with spring ploughing and spring planting. For urban people who are not engaged in agricultural production, how to experience the beauty of the "spring equinox"?
Zhang Bo said that the plan of the year lies in the spring, whether it is farmers or ordinary people, they should pay their hard work in the spring. In addition, eating spring vegetables, participating in the "egg stand" game, going out to go out and walking in the green are also good ways to feel the charm of the "spring equinox", "everyone may wish to go into nature and enjoy the beautiful spring colors." Zhang Bo said.
(Guangming Network reporter Zhang Qian)