Did the peach blossoms in southern Fujian germinate when they were in beginning of spring?

In spring, peach blossoms in southern Fujian are in bloom, and some of them have already blossomed. In ancient times, beginning of spring was considered as one of the most important solar terms in a year. On this day, the Emperor of Heaven held a ceremony of offering sacrifices to the Prince and the Mang God to pray for a bumper harvest. Local officials in southern Fujian will also go to the Xiannongtan in the eastern suburbs on the day of spring to plow and cultivate in public fields.

The beginning of spring customs in southern Fujian

In the past, at the beginning of spring, Minnan officials would go to Ju Mang Temple to hold a ceremony of "whipping spring cattle". "Spring Cattle" takes Sang Mu as the skeleton, sticks reed grass and pastes mud. Four feet tall to imitate the four seasons, eight feet long to imitate eight knots, one foot two feet long to imitate December, and then prepare a wicker whip for cattle, two feet four feet long to imitate the twenty-four solar terms. "One whip is good weather, two whips are good crops, and three whips are beneficial to the country and the people."

In beginning of spring in the Southern Song Dynasty, there were "Hou Yuan * * * welcoming the Spring, giving your house, killing the minister, praising the emerald HongLing, golden rooster and jade swallow, beautifully prepared, and each dish cost ten thousand yuan". In the Qing dynasty, there were also "rich people eat more spring cakes, and women buy more radishes to eat, saying' biting spring' means being sleepy in spring." Now, every household in southern Fujian has the custom of eating spring cakes in the early spring (some areas call them moist cakes).