February 3, 2021 is the arrival of the Spring Festival. The Beginning of Spring, as the first of the twenty-four solar terms, represents the official start of the new year, and the weather will gradually start to get warmer in the Beginning of Spring. So what does the beginning of spring represent? What customs and particularities does it have? Let’s find out together.
: 010:00 to 10:00 on February 3, 2021
The Beginning of Spring is the first of the twenty-four solar terms, also known as the First Moon Festival, New Year's Day, and New Year's Day and New Year's Day. Standing means "beginning"; spring represents warmth and growth. The twenty-four solar terms were originally formulated on the basis of "variable stars". When the handle of the Big Dipper points to Yin, it is the beginning of spring. The current solar terms are determined based on the degrees of longitude of the sun. When the sun reaches 315 degrees of solar longitude, it is the beginning of spring, which occurs from February 3 to 5 of the solar calendar every year.
What day is the beginning of spring?
Spring dish: Spring dish is one of the dietary customs at the beginning of spring. It mainly refers to putting vegetables, lettuce, melon and fruit cakes, and sugar on a plate to make a spring plate (or combination plate) to feed relatives and friends or eat your own vegetables to welcome spring. There are five types of dishes: fruits, vegetables, candies, cakes, and fish bait. The main vegetables include: bean sprouts, radishes, leeks, spinach, lettuce, beans, eggs, and shredded potatoes. Du Fu's "The Beginning of Spring": "On the spring plate, thin lettuce, I suddenly remember when the two Beijing plums will grow."
Spring pancakes: Spring pancakes are thin pancakes made of flour, usually eaten with rolled vegetables. At first, spring pancakes and vegetables were put on a plate, which became a "spring plate". The Song Dynasty's "Sui Sui Guang Ji" quotes the Tang Dynasty's "Four Seasons Treasure Mirror": "At the beginning of spring, we eat radish, spring pancakes, lettuce, and the No. 1 spring plate." Spring rolls (spring silkworms): "Sui Sui Guang Ji": "A wealthy household in the capital, Noodle-making silkworms are called 'official silkworms'. It is also called "exploring spring silkworms" because it is carried out at the beginning of spring. At that time, no one chewed radish, so it was called "biting spring"
What to eat at the beginning of spring
Customs of the beginning of spring
In order to welcome the Spring Festival, we first choose a place in the suburbs of the county. A "spring shed" is built on a piece of land with good feng shui to prepare for the Spring Festival. Spring sheds are usually built on main roads, and people can easily gather around them.
Spring Festival activities are held on the day of the beginning of spring. The specific time is based on the calendar, sometimes in the morning, sometimes at midnight. Generally, Spring Festival activities are held in a mighty guard of honor. The Spring Festival officials line up to show the wind, and they are very impressive. In addition, there are Baozi, Ma Jie, etc., wearing long robes and mandarin jackets, or wearing various fancy clothes, sitting on the wooden barbell carried by the two of them, playing and making people laugh.
1 , Spring Festival
The spring outing begins after the Spring Festival is announced. The gongs and drums teams and honor guards from each village and community walk in the front, and the huge spring cow statue carried by four or eight people walks behind, and the gongs and drums are loud. Firecrackers were fired. The parade was majestic and walked through the surrounding villages, streets and alleys.
After entering the spring parade ground, each spring parade team circled the venue twice and then made arrangements. According to traditional customs, there was a spring announcement platform with newspapers dressed in fancy clothes and holding red and yellow flags. The first newspaper on the platform - "Good Weather", was echoed by the crowd. , "Great Harvest" has been echoed by the masses. The third newspaper "Guotai Minan" has been echoed by the masses.
2. Spring Outing and Spring Festival<. /p>
In traditional folklore, people should hide in spring at the beginning of spring, because the climate begins to change at the beginning of spring, and the new weather will have an adverse effect on some people, and even affect the whole year. Therefore, the custom of avoiding spring appeared among the people. Different places have different customs and taboos, which also extend to various traditional methods and customs of avoiding spring. , it is impossible every day at the beginning of spring
3. Hide the spring
Posting spring cattle is a customary activity that starts before the beginning of spring. According to the traditional practice, the county government ( The county government hires experts and craftsmen to bind paper. Before the spring, they gather in the county town to carefully make the image of the spring cow. They usually use bamboo strips to tie the skeleton of the cow, use spring wood to make the legs, and then paste it with paper and paint. It gives the image of a cow.
It is said that if there is a lot of red and yellow paper on ordinary paste, a "good harvest" will be achieved that year; if it is covered with black paper, the harvest will be bad that year.
After the spring beef sauce is made, a consecration and finishing ceremony is held, that is, the incense table is set up and a worship ceremony is held.
4. Fortune-telling
There is a spring cow made of mulberry wood as the skeleton, which is a "cow" specially used in the custom of "spring cow hunting". On the second day of the winter festival, the soil is made into clay and carved into the shape of an ox. Draw patterns at 4 o'clock, 8 o'clock, 360 degrees, and 12 o'clock. On the day before the beginning of spring, officials and people offered sacrifices on the agreed agricultural altar.
Later, the county deacon plowed the land himself and whipped the "spring ox" to mark the beginning of spring plowing. Next, the masses plowed the fields. While plowing the field, I hit "Spring Cow" and shouted: "Good weather"; 2. Played "Guotai Minan"; "Good Harvest" and other three auspicious words.
From 1010 AD to 1010 AD, homeland rituals held at the beginning of ancient spring included prayers for Mother Earth. Drinking together after the ceremony in the hometown is a primary ritual custom of "group worship" and "New Year greetings" in later generations.
5. Spring Cow Festival
The Spring Festival was a day for worshiping the God of the Earth in ancient spring. Representing Sunday, it will be held on the fifth day after the beginning of spring. : "Because of, Qiuchang, Dongcheng, Chunshe and Qiu Sheng, they were waxed to offer sacrifices to the emperor." Before the Han Dynasty, there was only the Spring Meeting. After the Han Dynasty, there were the Spring Meeting and the Autumn Meeting, which were held around the spring and autumnal equinoxes.
Social Day is mainly used to worship the gods, but also means gathering with neighbors. "Kong Yingda Shu" by Liang Zongba of the Southern Dynasty: "On social days, neighbors formed a comprehensive community to worship mash. For the house under the tree, they first worshiped the gods, and then they celebrated yesterday." Tang Dynasty poet Wang Jia's poem "Liming Hall" : "Sang Zhe's shadow disperses in the spring, and every family supports the drunken people." It can be seen that the ancients attached great importance to offering sacrifices to the country. Later, it became a custom passed down to later generations and became a sacrificial activity, implying the reproduction of all things on the earth. Praying for sacrifices, praying for the prosperity of livestock and abundant grains.
6. Fighting Spring Cows
When spring comes, it is a custom to post Yichun calligraphy and paintings on the door walls of Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty. According to records, at the beginning of spring, people in Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty often posted calligraphy and paintings on their doors to celebrate the Spring Festival. This was called "Yichun character", and the painting was called "Yichun painting".
For example, "Welcome the spring", "Pleasant spring scenery", "Bright spring scenery", "Spring flowers are blooming". Others posted blessing messages on their door lintels to express their wishes for the Spring Festival. People who can draw often draw a picture of "Jingchu's Age" on the lintel.
7. Jitian
Wearing spring chickens is an ancient custom of people in Tongchuan, Shaanxi. In early spring every year, the mother makes a 3 cm long rooster out of cloth and sews it on the child's hat to express her wishes for "Ji Chun (chicken)". At the beginning of spring, women hang beans on the horns of cows with threads, or use madou to remove beans from cows, thinking that doing so will prevent their children from getting measles. The former is called "barnyard grass rash" and the latter is called "scattered rash".
8. Chunshe
Pei Yanzi is an ancient custom of the people in Chang'an and Guanzhong areas. At the beginning of every spring, people like to wear swallows cut out of colorful silk on their chests. This custom began in the Tang Dynasty and is still popular in rural areas today. Because swallows are the messengers of spring and a symbol of happiness and good luck.
Every year in early spring, people like to wear "swallows", especially children, and their parents are ready. They wear it on their chests and dance with joy.
9. Posting Yichun calligraphy and painting
Diamond ears are a traditional custom, among which