tomorrow is the spring equinox in the 24 solar terms. It's around March 21. There are many customs among the people. Do you know what the customs of the spring equinox are? The day of the spring equinox is the same length day and night, which is a quite important festival among the people in China. "The moon order 72 waiting for the solution": "in February, the half is divided, which is the half of 90 days, so it is called the part. Autumn is synonymous. 'spring and autumn is full of dew and middot; Yin and Yang go in and out. It's said:' the spring equinox is half of yin and Yang, so it's cold and hot day and night. 'on the day of the spring equinox, the direct sunlight is on the equator, and then it starts to move northward. Let's take a look at the custom of the spring equinox.
The custom of the spring equinox
Spring equinox, one of the 24 solar terms, is March 21 this year. 'the equinox is a combination of yin and Yang. So it's cold and hot day and night. A word "Fen" indicates the boundary between day and night, cold and heat. It is recorded in the lunar calendar that the 'douzhiren' is the equinox, which runs on a Sunday. The northern and southern hemispheres divide day and night equally, and it is also the half of spring, so it is called the equinox. '
In ancient times, the equinox was also a traditional festival, which also left many customs, such as setting up eggs, eating spring vegetables, offering sacrifices in spring, and setting up eggs, among which the most bizarre one was "setting up eggs".
1. Spring egg
It is said that tens of millions of people around the world are doing the experiment of "egg erecting" on the day of spring equinox every year. As early as 4000 years ago, China had a tradition of laying eggs at the spring equinox, which was to celebrate the coming of spring. Later, it gradually evolved into a tradition of praying for good luck.
If you want to succeed in "egg erecting", you can choose a smooth and well proportioned fresh egg that has just been born for four or five days, and try to erect it on a flat table. Although there are many losers, there are many winners. It has been explained that the earth's axis is 66.5 degrees inclined with the equinox and the earth's orbit plane around the sun is just in a relatively balanced state of force, which is very conducive to 'egg erection'. It is said that the stable egg can keep for more than ten days without external interference.
2. Eating spring vegetables
In some areas of Lingnan, there is also a non festival custom on the day of the spring equinox, which is called 'eating spring vegetables at the spring equinox'. Spring vegetable is a kind of wild amaranth, which is called "spring Artemisia". On the day of Spring Festival, people go to pick spring vegetables. When they searched in the fields, they found many green and slender trees about the length of palms.
The spring dishes collected are usually "boiled soup" with fillets of fish, which is called "spring soup". There is also a folksy account: 'spring soup is used to wash the liver and intestines; the family is safe and healthy. 'the plan for a year is spring, when the equinox comes. In the face of the germination of all things, people naturally want to pray for a peaceful house and strong body.
3, Spring Festival
At the spring equinox in February, people began to visit tombs and worship ancestors, also called spring sacrifice. Before the folk tomb sweeping, a grand ancestor worship ceremony should be held in the ancestral hall, in which pigs and sheep are killed. The drummer is requested to play, and the sacrificial articles are read by the rites, and three tributes are led. At the beginning of spring equinox tomb sweeping, the first thing to do is to sweep and sacrifice the tombs of kaijizu and Yuanzu. The whole family and the whole village have to go out on a large scale, often with hundreds or even thousands of people. After the tombs of kaijizu and Yuanzu were swept, the tombs of ancestors in different rooms were swept and sacrificed, and finally the private tombs of families were swept and sacrificed.
In most Hakka areas, spring ancestor worship and tomb sweeping starts at the vernal equinox or earlier, and ends at the latest in the Qingming Dynasty. There is a saying all over the country that the tomb gate will be closed after the Qingming Dynasty, and the ancestors' spirits will not be used.
4. Stick the beak
On the day of spring equinox, farmers have a holiday according to the custom. Every family has to eat Tang yuan. Besides, they have to cook more than ten or twenty or thirty Tang Yuan that don't need to be wrapped in the heart, and put them on the edge of the outdoor field with a bamboo fork, which is called sticking the beak of finches, so as not to damage the crops.
The spring equinox is a good time for children to fly kites. Especially on the Equinox Day. Even adults are involved. The kites are Wang Zi kites, silver carp kites, mite kites, Leigong kites and Yueer light kites. The big ones are two meters high and the small ones are two or three feet high. There are kite sellers in the market, most of them are relatively small, suitable for children to play, but most of them are pasted by themselves. When flying, they have to compete with each other to see which one is higher.
5, Memorial Day
In the Zhou Dynasty, there was a ceremony to worship the sun at the spring equinox. Pan rongbi of Qing Dynasty, Ji Sheng at the age of the emperor's capital, said: 'the sacrifice of the sun at the spring equinox and the moon at the autumn equinox is a great ceremony of the country. Scholars and people are not allowed to sacrifice without permission. 'most of the places where the ancient emperors worshipped the sun were located in the outskirts of Beijing. In the Yuan Dynasty, there was a sun altar. Later, the Ming and Qing emperors worshipped the Daming God (sun) at the sun altar on the day of the spring equinox. During the spring equinox, the emperor offered sacrifices in person in the years of a, C, e, G and Ren, while the officials offered sacrifices for the rest of the years.
The present Temple of the sun in Beijing was built in the ninth year of Jiajing (1530) of the Ming Dynasty. It was the place where the emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties offered sacrifices to the sun god (the ancient "God of the Ming Dynasty"). Since the first year of Longqing (1567) in the Ming Dynasty, five emperors, including Tianqi, Chongzhen, Qianlong, Jiaqing and Daoguang, have come to the temple of the sun to offer sacrifices. After the 23rd year (1843) of Daoguang reign in Qing Dynasty, the activities of "offering sacrifices to the sun" gradually died out, which has been interrupted for more than 160 years.
In the spring equinox season, you can eat more red dates and other spleen nourishing sweets, as well as honey, leek, spinach, and less acid and spicy food. In addition, nut food should be supplemented at least 3 times a week, such as walnuts, peanuts, almonds, peaches, etc., which helps to refresh, dry and itch.