The origin of spring, the origin of the Spring Festival and the beginning of spring

The Spring Festival on January 31, 2014 is the first day of the first lunar month of the Jiawu year. The Spring Festival is an important traditional solar term . Among the folks, the period from Laba Festival on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is considered as part of the Spring Festival activities.

As a traditional festival of the Chinese nation, the Spring Festival has a long history, which can be traced back to the Yu Shun era. It has gone through four thousand years. With the changes of the times, the festival time has also changed a lot. The most recent confirmation was in July 1913 (the second year of the Republic of China), when the then Minister of the Interior of the Beijing government presented a report on the four seasonal holidays to President Yuan Shikai, saying: " According to the old custom of our country, the four seasonal festivals should be clearly stipulated. It is proposed to designate the first day of the lunar calendar as the Spring Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival as the Summer Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival as the Autumn Festival, and the Winter Solstice as the Winter Festival. All our citizens should have a rest, and public servants should also be allowed a day off."

However, Yuan Shikai only approved the first day of the first lunar month as the Spring Festival and agreed to the regular Spring Festival holidays, which was implemented from the following year (1914). From then on, the beginning of the lunar year was called "Spring Festival".

The beginning of spring in 2012 is 6:03 on February 4th. The Beginning of Spring is an important solar term, the first of the 24 solar terms, marking the beginning of spring. The sun reaches 315 degrees of ecliptic longitude. In ancient times, the beginning of spring was often regarded as a festival. The zodiac sign of birth is based on the Beginning of Spring. In the year of Jiawu, the Beginning of Spring is the beginning of the Horse sign. So, although those born on the first day of the first lunar month can be said to be horses according to lunar calendar customs, they are still snakes in terms of numerology.

Because the lunar calendar is based on the lunar phase cycle, and because the lunar phase cycle and the solar year have a non-integer relationship, leap year adjustments are made based on the early or late date of the Spring Festival. The solar terms accurately reflect the position of the solar year.

The beginning of spring comes shortly after the Spring Festival, and the climate in southern China generally becomes warmer. Festivals also bring festive colors. I wish all my friends a happy family and all the best in the new year.