Today at 22:59, the first of the twenty-four solar terms is ushered in: Lichun.
For Chinese, Lichun is an important festival, it is the first of the twenty-four solar terms, is the beginning of the new year, is the beginning of a reincarnation, Lichun is a folk festival, to have a sense of ceremony, spring and farming celebrations, will be arranged on this day.
February 3 li chun, rare!
Today is entering the century, following 2017, for the second time on February 3 "Li Chun". Astronomical experts pointed out that all the "Li Chun" in the 100 years of this century was either on February 3 or February 4, of which a total of 39 appeared on the 3rd and 61 appeared on the 4th.
Twenty-four solar terms is a set of meteorological calendars summarized by the ancient ancestors of our country according to the impact of the sun on the earth in a year, and in ancient China, where there was no "weather forecast", the twenty-four solar terms played a very important role.
Lin Yuan, a member of the Chinese Astronomical Society and an expert on astronomy science in Tianjin, introduced that the twenty-four solar terms are divided into 24 segments of the ecliptic, and the sun is set as a solar term every 15 degrees of apparent movement on the ecliptic. Due to the uneven visual movement of the sun on the ecliptic, coupled with the influence of factors such as the leap year system, the conversion of the Gregorian calendar, the precession and complex calculations, the length of time of each solar term is not equal. Take "Lichun", for example, whose dates change between February 3 and 5 of each year in the Gregorian calendar.
Statistics from the 100th year of the 20th century show that "Lichun" only has two days, February 4 and February 5, and there is no February 3, while the statistics of the 100 years of this century show that "Lichun" only has Two days, February 3 and February 4, and no February 5. Among them, "Lichun" appeared 61 times on February 4 and 39 times on February 3. Judging from the situation in the past 200 years, "Lichun" on February 4 is the most common occurrence.
What are the customs of "Li Chun"?
The plan of the year is spring. Li Chun heralds a new beginning, and the customs of this season also carry a strong sense of fireworks and rituals. There is still a custom of "beating spring" in the countryside: whipping mud cattle, intending to prepare for ploughing for the first time in the year, hoping that the wind and rain will be smooth.
On the day of spring, people use thin dough skin, wrap colorful seasonal vegetables, roll into rolls and steam or fry to eat, called "biting spring".
"Li Chun" is only the prelude to spring, after a period of time, the weather will still be cold and warm, to continue to do a good job of warmth do not prematurely reduce clothing, three meals can be appropriately selected, warm and sweet leeks, garlic seedlings, chives, etc., eat less spicy things.
"Li Chun" food to taste
Spring plate is one of the food customs of Lichun, mainly vegetables take lettuce melon and fruit cake sugar put on the plate for spring plate (or pieced into a plate) to feed relatives and friends or eat their own food to welcome spring. There are five main types of fruits, vegetables, candy, cakes and bait on the plate. The main vegetables are: bean sprouts, radishes, leeks, spinach, lettuce, beans, eggs, shredded potatoes. Du Fu's "Li Chun": "Spring on a spring plate with fine lettuce, suddenly recalling the time of the two Beijing plum hair." ”
On the day of Spring Festival, folk have the custom of eating spring cakes. The original spring cake was a kind of pancake made of flour and steamed, and was often eaten with a combination of bean sprouts, spinach, leeks, flour noodles, etc., or eaten with spring cake cabbage.