Lichun

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The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms (節氣). Lìchūn (pīnyīn) or Risshun (rōmaji) (Chinese and Japanese: 立春; Korean: 입춘; Vietnamese: Lập xuân; literally: "start of spring") is 1^st solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 315° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 330°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 315°. In Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around February 4 and ends around February 18 (February 19 East Asia time).

Contents 1 Pentads 2 Customs 3 Popular culture 3.1 Literature 4 Further readings 5 References 6 See also

[edit] Pentads

Each solar term can be divided into 3 pentads (候). They are first pentad (初候), second pentad (次候) and last pentad (末候). Pentads in Lichun including:

China

• First pentad: Dōng Fēng Jiě Dòng (Traditional Chinese: 東風解凍; Simplified Chinese: 东风解冻; literally: "east wind defrost")

  Yuè Lìng Qī Shí Èr Hòu Jí Jiě (月令七十二候集解) explains the name of this pentad:

  It is not called ice frozed in winter met spring wind and dissolved as spring wind defrost, but called east wind defrost, because Lü Shi Chun Qiu said east is belong to wood, and wood generates fire^[1], so air is warm and defrost. (凍結于冬遇春風而解散不曰春而曰東者呂氏春秋曰東方屬木木火母也然氣溫故解凍)

• Second pentad (Traditional Chinese: 蟄蟲始振; Simplified Chinese: 蛰虫始振; pinyin: zhé chóng shǐ zhèn; literally: "hibernated insects become rouse")
• Last pentad (Traditional Chinese: 魚上冰; Simplified Chinese: 鱼上冰; pinyin: yú shàng bīng; literally: "fish swim upward near ice")

Japan

• First pentad: 東風解凍
• Second pentad: 黄鶯睍睆
• Last pentad: 魚上氷

[edit] Customs

Lichun signifies the beginning of spring in East Asian cultures. Chinese New Year is celebrated around the time. Farmers often celebrate the beginning of Lichun with special village events, worships and offerings to gods and ceremonies for a blissful and prosperous new year. In China, People eat chūnbǐng (春餅) on this day.

In lunisolar calendar, new year might be before or after Lichun. A year without Lichun called 無春年 (no spring year). 無春年 is also known as 寡婦年 (widow year) in northern China or 盲年 (blind year) in southern China. Marriage is believed to be infelicity in a year without Lichun.^[2]

[edit] Popular culture

[edit] Literature

Lichun was frequently mentioned in literature. The most famous one is probably Du Fu's (杜甫) shi (詩), simply titled Lìchūn (立春):

春日春盤細生菜
忽憶兩京梅發時
盤出高門行白玉
菜傳纖手送青絲
巫峽寒江那對眼
杜陵遠客不勝悲
此身未知歸定處
呼兒覓紙一題詩

This poem tells us about the traditional custom of eating chūnbǐng (春餅) on this day.

[edit] Further readings

• Yuè Lìng Qī Shí Èr Hòu Jí Jiě (月令七十二候集解) by Wu Cheng (吳澄)

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Setsubun (節分), the day before the beginning of each season, celebrated when winter changes to spring in Japan