The historical story of Spring

Spring, is the first of the twenty-four seasons of the dry calendar, also known as the first of the year, the Spring Festival, the first month of the festival. The dry-branch chronology, to the spring for the first year, the festival for the first month. The "Spring Festival" is based on the ecliptic projection, when the seven stars of the Big Dipper handle points to the cusp of the Spring Festival for the Spring Festival point, that is, the sun reaches 315 ° longitude. Lichun, is the meaning of "beginning"; spring, representing the warmth, growth. As one of the twenty-four solar terms, Lichun, like summer, autumn and winter, reflects the change of seasons, but also means that a new cycle has begun, the beginning of a new year. The ancients attached great importance to the beginning of the year, the Spring Festival to sacrifice the spring god, sacrificing taiyou, honoring the sky law ancestor, which will produce a series of cultural activities such as resignation of the old cloth new, welcome the spring and pray for blessings, and other blessings and pray for the New Year.

Spring, commonly known as spring, marking the beginning of spring, it is the first of the twenty-four solar terms, about the time before and after the Spring Festival. Earlier in the year, folk on the day of spring to hold activities to welcome the spring god. The god of spring is said to be called Jumang, with a human face and a bird's body, who is in charge of spring affairs. In ancient times, "on the day of spring, the son of heaven personally commanded the three dukes and nine secretaries of state, the vassals and great-grandmasters to welcome the spring in the eastern suburb." It can be seen to welcome the spring god is a relatively old customary activities.

China 3000 years ago, there is a "spring" ceremony, "spring" unique folk customs and cultural connotations are quite rich. And not only the Han Chinese attach importance to the "spring", some ethnic minorities have also been this year festival, such as the Bai people called "spring" day for the "Spring Festival", the Dong people in the "Spring Festival", "Spring Festival", "Spring Festival", "Spring Festival", "Spring Festival", "Spring Festival", "Spring Festival", "Spring Festival", "Spring Festival", "Spring Festival". "Spring" this day have played the spring cow dance activities, and so on.

Since the Qin Dynasty, China has been to the spring as the beginning of spring. Spring is divided from the astronomical, and in nature, in people's minds, spring is warm, birds and flowers; spring is growing, plowing and sowing.

The old custom of spring and the traditional folk festival, called "Spring Festival", China since ancient times for the agricultural country, spring planting and autumn harvest, the key in the spring. Proverbs have "a year's plan is in the spring". The old custom of spring, both an ancient festival, but also a major festival. Things recorded in the original record: "the Duke of Zhou began to make the spring soil cattle, cover out of the soil cattle to show the farming morning and evening." Later generations of feudal rulers on this day to hold a whip spring ceremony, intended to encourage farming, development and production.

Such as the spring coincides with the first day of the first month, commonly known as the "year towards the spring", a hundred years hard to come by, the folk believe that this year's harvest is certainly good. There are "a hundred years hard to meet the year towards spring" folk proverb.

Lichun as a festival as early as the Spring and Autumn period, when there is a year of spring, summer, autumn, winter, spring equinox, autumn equinox, summer solstice, winter solstice eight festivals, to the "Rituals - the month of the book and Liu An of the Western Han Dynasty, "Huainanzi" - astronomical training ", there are only 24 records of the festival.

The calendar was changed many times before the Han Dynasty, when the day of Lichun, one of the 24 solar terms, was designated as the Spring Festival, meaning that spring had begun. This called the continuation of more than two thousand years, until 1913, the then National Government formally issued a document, clear every year. The first day of the first month of the year is the Spring Festival.

Since then, the day of spring, only as one of the 24 solar terms exist and inherited to this day.

Legendary stories of Spring Festival

Whenever the Spring Festival, the rural areas can be heard everywhere in the "dong dong sunset", "dong dong sunset" of the spring gongs and drums, and also accompanied by rhythmic singing. Accompanied by the beat of the song, it is someone in the spring.

Legend has it that, during the Ming Dynasty, there is a governor, in the first year of office in the spring, the climate is very cold, and also cold for a long time, although the spring has been a month, the flowers and trees have not seen buds. The governor thought this is not a good sign, he was anxious to see the trees and plants sprouting buds. So, he immediately ordered the people to look for sprouted branches to send to the governor. Whoever delivered them early would be rewarded. The next day, there is a surname Wu and a surname Zhou two people, found a few branches of sprouting poplar wood, sent to the governor's office. When the governor saw it, he was naturally delighted and thought it was a good luck delivery. Wu and Zhou were rewarded by the governor. The governor also asked them to come earlier next year to report spring. Coincidentally, the next year because of the warmer winter, the first day of the first month of spring, Zhou, Wu, two people holding sprouting willow, each into also took a small gong half of the special drums, came to the governor's office to report spring. They knocked on the gong, while singing their own made up some nice auspicious words of flattery. The governor was particularly pleased, and gave Zhou and Wu double the reward. In this way, the news of Zhou and Wu's reward spread to the other people. In the coming year, other people also follow the example of Zhou, Wu two people, groups of people on the Yamen to report spring. When the governor saw that so many people had come, he no longer took out his own money to reward the people. The governor then said to the public: "Spring is a great joy, a year's plan is in the spring, spring back to the earth early, is the blessing of the people. You can worship Wu and Zhou as your teachers, and go to the villages around the townspeople's homes to report spring. This government will, from now on, hold a grand spring welcoming assembly at the time of the spring, and have fun with the people." Since that time, the custom of playing spring has developed everywhere.

Origin of Lichun

Lichun is not only the first of the twenty-four solar terms in the lunar calendar, Lichun is divided from the astronomical, and in the natural world, in the minds of the people, spring means the wind and the sun are warm, the birds and the flowers; spring also means that everything grows, and the farmer sows seeds. Ancient book "qunfang spectrum" on the spring explained as: "stand, the beginning of the building also. Spring qi beginning to establish also." During Lichun, temperatures, sunshine, and rainfall, begin to tend to rise and increase. But all this is just a prelude to spring for most of the country.

Lichun is one of the important traditional Chinese folk festivals. The word "Lichun" means "beginning", and since the Qin Dynasty, China has been using Lichun as the beginning of the spring season. As the saying goes, "A year's plan lies in spring", and since ancient times, Lichun has been a traditional festival. China from the official to the folk are extremely important, the day of spring to welcome spring has more than three thousand years of history. In the spring, the son of heaven personally led the three dukes and nine ministers, the vassals and doctors to go to the eastern suburbs to welcome the spring, and pray for a good harvest.

The late Warring States period of the book "Lu Shi Chunqiu" "December Chronicle", there is a spring, the spring equinox, summer, summer solstice, autumn, autumn equinox, winter, winter solstice and other names of the eight seasons. These eight solar terms are the most important of the 24 solar terms. Marking the change of seasons, they clearly delineate the four seasons of the year. Spring is spring until the beginning of summer, summer until the beginning of autumn is summer, autumn until the beginning of winter is autumn, and winter until the beginning of spring is winter.