When is the Spring Festival in 2023?

Spring Club Day in 2023 is on February 30th of the lunar calendar and on March 2nd of the solar calendar1.

Spring Festival, a traditional festival with a long history, was uncertain in ancient times. Until the Song Dynasty, the fifth day after beginning of spring was regarded as Club Day. During the Spring Festival, Yichun wine is brewed in the pond to offer sacrifices to the God of Gou Mang and pray for a bumper harvest.

In ancient China, the Social Day Festival was held twice a year, divided into "Spring Society Day" and "Autumn Society Day". The Spring Society prayed for the blessing of the social gods, and the grain was abundant. After the autumn harvest, the autumn harvest society reported the good news of the harvest and thanked the gods.

The reasons for worshipping Ju Mang on Spring Club Day;

Ju Mang is the legendary spring god, who is in charge of the growth of trees, and the place where the sun rises is also in charge of Ju Mang. When the ancients worshipped the land in spring, the most important thing was to worship Ju Mang in order to pray for a bumper harvest.

Later, Ju Mang evolved into a shepherd boy in Spring Cattle. However, the Ju Mang in Spring Cattle Map also changes every year, sometimes it is a child, sometimes it is an old man, which is determined according to the annual heavenly stems and earthly branches. Therefore, the "Spring Cattle Map" reflects a year's climate change and crop harvest, so worshiping Ju Mang, that is, praying for a bumper harvest, is an important part of the "Spring Prayer".