Vernal equinox and solar terms folklore

The vernal equinox is the fourth of the 24 solar terms and an important season for farming. The sun shines directly on the equator of the earth, and day and night are almost equal. In ancient times, it was spring from beginning of spring to long summer, and the vernal equinox was in the middle of three months in spring. Below I have compiled the folk customs of vernal equinox and solar terms for you, I hope you like them!

Vernal equinox and solar terms folklore

1. Vertical egg: Every year on the vernal equinox, tens of millions of people all over the world are doing "vertical egg" experiments. Choose a smooth and symmetrical fresh egg that has just been laid for four or five days, gently stand up and put it on the table. The vernal equinox has become the best time for vertical egg games, so there is a saying that when the vernal equinox arrives, the eggs will be beautiful. The eggs that stand up are very beautiful. What are the customs of the vernal equinox?

2. Eat Spring Vegetables: In the past, there was an unbroken custom in Siyi called "Eating Spring Vegetables at the Equinox". "Spring vegetable" is a kind of wild amaranth, which villagers call "Artemisia chun". On the vernal equinox, the whole village went to pick spring vegetables. When searching in the wild, it is often green and thin, about the length of a palm. Picked spring vegetables are usually boiled with fish fillets at home, which is called "spring soup". There is a jingle that says, "Spring soup is dirty, and it washes the liver and intestines. The whole family is safe and healthy. " Slowly, it became a custom. Since the spring of the year, people still pray for peace and health at home.

3. Spring Festival: At the vernal equinox in February, people began to sweep graves to worship their ancestors, also known as the Spring Festival. At the beginning of the spring equinox grave sweeping, the first thing is to sweep the graves of ancestors and distant ancestors. The whole family and the whole village have to be dispatched on a large scale, and the team often reaches hundreds or even thousands. After the ancestral graves of Kaiji and Yuanzu were swept, they were divided into rooms to sweep the graves of ancestors in each room, and finally each family swept the graves privately. In most Hakka areas, ancestor worship and grave sweeping in spring begin at the vernal equinox or earlier, and must end in Tomb-Sweeping Day at the latest. There is a saying everywhere that after the Qingming Festival, the tomb door is closed, and the ancestors' spirits are not needed.

Characteristics of solar terms in vernal equinox

On the vernal equinox, the sun shines directly at the equator, and day and night are almost equal. Then the direct sunlight position gradually moved northward, and the days were long and the nights were short.

The farther the earth is from the equator, the smaller the noonday angle of the sun, and the less sunlight and heat it gets. Generally, March, April and May are spring in the northern hemisphere and autumn in the southern hemisphere.

During the spring equinox and solar terms, the East Asian trough is obviously weakened, and the trough ridge activity in the westerly belt is obviously enhanced. From Mongolia to the northeast, there are often low-pressure activities and cyclone development. Low-pressure movement causes cold air to go south, and it is windy and windy in the north. When the long wave trough moves eastward, there will be continuous rainy and cold weather due to the intersection of cold and warm air masses.

During the vernal equinox, the daily average temperature in all parts of China rose steadily to above 0℃ except the alpine mountain area and the area north of 45 north latitude. The severe cold has passed, and the temperature rises rapidly, especially in North China and Huanghuai Plain. The daily average temperature rises to above 10℃ almost at the same time as the rainy areas along the Yangtze River and the south of the Yangtze River, entering a bright spring. On the vast land, the willows are green on the shore, the grass is growing in Fei Ying, the wheat is jointing, the rape is fragrant, the peach blossom is red, Li Bai is welcoming the spring, and the yellow is yellow. South China is a scene of late spring. According to the climate law, the precipitation in Jiangnan increased rapidly at this time, and it entered the period of "peach blossom flooding" in spring; In the northeast, north and northwest regions where "spring rain is as expensive as oil", precipitation is still very little, so resisting the threat of spring drought is the main problem of agricultural production.

"Wheat rises at the vernal equinox, and every moment is worth 1000 yuan." In the northern areas with little rain in spring, we should pay close attention to spring irrigation, water saving and jointing fertilization, and pay attention to preventing late frost and freezing injury. South China still needs to continue to do a good job in drainage and flood prevention. Early rice seedling raising in Jiangnan and Jianghuai areas has started, and the weather changes frequently in early spring. Attention should be paid to soaking seeds to accelerate germination when cold air comes, and sowing in sunny days when cold air ends. The experience of the masses says, "A cold tail warms the head, so there is no need to worry about seedlings." According to the weather conditions, strive for 3-5 sunny days after sowing to ensure that all seedlings are sown at one time. Spring tea has begun to sprout, so it is necessary to apply quick-acting fertilizer to control pests and diseases in time and strive for high yield and high quality tea.

"February is the vernal equinox, and planting trees and fertilizing farmland is deep." The vernal equinox is also a good opportunity to plant trees. In ancient poems, there is a saying that "Niu Jiao girls started planting trees in the middle of the night, and it was the vernal equinox in the Ming Dynasty". In the hot busy farming season, we should continue to use our hands to green the mountains and rivers of the motherland and beautify our environment.

The vernal equinox is one of the solar terms reflecting the changes of the four seasons. In ancient China, beginning of spring, Changxia, beginning of autumn and beginning of winter were used to indicate the beginning of the four seasons. The vernal equinox, summer solstice, autumn equinox and winter solstice are in the middle of each season. On the vernal equinox, the sun shines directly on the equator, and the time between day and night is equal all over the earth. Therefore, the ancient vernal equinox and autumnal equinox are also called "equinox", and there is a folk proverb that "vernal equinox and autumnal equinox are equally divided day and night".

After the vernal equinox, the overwintering crops in most parts of southern China entered the spring growth stage. In central China, there is an agricultural proverb, "Wheat starts at the vernal equinox, and every moment is worth a thousand dollars". The temperature in most parts of the south continues to rise, but generally it doesn't rain as fast as the vernal equinox. In late March, the average temperature in northern South China is mostly 13℃ to 15℃, and in southern South China it is mostly 15℃ to 16℃. Most of the plateau has been melted by snow, and the ten-day average temperature is about 5℃ to 10℃. Most areas in South China, such as river valleys, have the highest temperature, with an average of 18℃ to 20℃. In the south, except for the marginal mountainous areas, the average daily temperature rose steadily to above 12℃ in 1978, which is beneficial to planting crops such as rice and corn, and is also very suitable for afforestation. However, before and after the vernal equinox, there is often a strong cold air intrusion in South China, and the temperature drops obviously, as low as 5℃. Sometimes a small stream of cold air comes one after another, forming a low temperature and rainy weather that lasts for several days, which is not good for agricultural production. According to this feature, we should make full use of the weather forecast, grasp the cold tail and warm head, and sow in time.

On the vernal equinox, the sun shines directly at the equator, and day and night are almost equal. The difference is that it is spring in the northern hemisphere and autumn in the southern hemisphere. Then the direct sunlight position gradually moved northward, the solar radiation in the northern hemisphere gradually increased, and the weather became warmer day by day. At the same time, the days get longer and the nights get shorter. The spring equinox solar terms are affected by the intersection of cold and warm air masses, and the rain will also increase.

As the saying goes, "The spring equinox begins with wheat, and the fat and water should follow". A spring rain was warm. After the spring rain, I was busy plowing. The busy farming season in spring is about to begin, and spring management, spring ploughing and spring planting are about to enter a busy stage. After the vernal equinox, overwintering crops enter the growth period, so field management should be strengthened. As the temperature rises rapidly and the water demand is relatively large, farmers should strengthen water storage and moisture conservation.

What does the vernal equinox mean?

The vernal equinox, also known as the "day-to-day" and "day-to-night equinox" in ancient times, occurs on March 19 ~ 22 every year, and the sun reaches 0. According to the "Twenty-four solar terms": "In mid-February, it is divided into half, which is half of ninety days, so it is called minutes." Another "Spring and Autumn"? "Yin and Yang in and out of the first chapter" said: "The vernal equinox, Yin and Yang are also half-phase, so it is cold and hot day and night." Therefore, the significance of the vernal equinox, first, refers to the equal division of day and night, each of which is 12 hours; Second, in ancient times, it was spring from beginning of spring to the long summer, and the vernal equinox happened to be three months in spring, and the spring was equally divided.