Why is there a saying that the dragon looks up on February 2?

It turns out that the second day of the second lunar month, also known as the Qinglong Festival, is said to be the day when dragons look up. This is a traditional folk festival in China, celebrating the "Dragon Head Festival" to show respect for dragons and pray for rain so that God can help ensure a bumper harvest. There is a saying, "On February 2nd, the dragon looked up, and everyone let the small family plow cattle." At this time, the spirit of the sun is rising, the earth is thawing, and spring ploughing is about to begin. When all walks of life are waiting for prosperity, the rise of the dragon symbolizes a good omen. Astronomically speaking, the ancients divided the astrology near the ecliptic into 28 groups, indicating the positions of the sun, the moon and the stars in the sky, commonly known as "Twenty-eight Hostels", as a reference for astronomical observation. "Twenty-eight Hostels" are divided into four groups according to the four directions of east, west, north and south, resulting in "four elephants": Oriental Qinglong, Western White Tiger, South Suzaku and North Xuanwu. When the Oriental Dragon Star appeared on the horizon, it coincided with the rainy solar terms in February of the China lunar calendar, which led to the saying that "on February 2, the dragon looked up".

According to legend, this festival originated from the first Fu period of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors. Fu "attaches importance to farming and farming". On February 2nd every year, "The Queen Mother delivers meals and plows the fields with her own horses" to take care of herself. Later, the Yellow Emperor, Tang Yao, Yu Shun and Yu Xia all followed the example of their predecessors. In the Zhou Wuwang era, this traditional practice was not only followed, but also implemented as an important national policy. Every year, on the second day of the second lunar month, a major ceremony is held to let all civil and military officials personally plow an acre of land. This is the historical origin of the Dragon Head Festival.

The second day of the second lunar month coincides with the arrival of spring, so the ancients took its appearance as a sign of the arrival of spring. In this festival, people are busy preparing farmland, diverting water into the fields, and expelling pests to prepare for the new year. Therefore, it is also an important day to set sail, and people attached great importance to it in ancient times. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, the second day of February was regarded as a special day, saying that it was a day to "welcome wealth". Eating "fruit to welcome wealth" on this day meant eating some snacks, which meant a bumper harvest this year. Bai Juyi, a famous poet, said in a poem: "On February 2 nd, after the rain cleared, the grass buds were born for a while; The light shirt is thin and the horse is young, and the cross is full of words. "

So, corresponding to "the dragon looks up on February 2", do you mean when the dragon looks up? It turns out that this proverb has another sentence among the people, which is called "Long Wei August." It is said that on the second day of the eighth lunar month, Long Xing in the sky also put away the dragon tail, the weather gradually dried up, the grain in the field matured, and people entered the harvest season. There is a saying, "On February 2nd, the dragon heads up and prays for a bumper harvest; On August 2 nd, the village hall was sacrificed, and the dragon was finished and returned. " People will hold a sacrificial ceremony on this day, thanking God for his blessing, the rain and dew of the Dragon King and people for their hard work over the past year. "Dragon heads up in February and ends in August" is a portrayal of people's efforts in the past year.