Vernal equinox is the fourth solar term of 24 solar terms in China. This year's vernal equinox is March 21. I think we all feel it. Before the vernal equinox, the weather has warmed up a lot. After the vernal equinox, we will be ready for summer. We know that the 24 solar terms are regular and have their own customs. Do you know the customs of vernal equinox? Let's follow Xiao Bian to learn.
Vertical egg
On the equinox every year, tens of millions of people around the world are doing the experiment of erecting eggs. It's hard to find out why this "Chinese custom" has become a "world game". But it's easy and fun to play: choose a smooth, well proportioned, fresh egg that has just been born for four or five days, and gently stand it up on the table. Although there are many losers, there are also many winners. Spring is divided into the best time of the egg game, so there is a saying that when the equinox comes, the eggs are pretty. The egg that stands up is not beautiful.
The secret of erecting eggs
Why do eggs stand up easily on the Equinox Day? Although there are many opinions, there are many scientific reasons. First of all, the vernal equinox is a day with the same length of day and night in the northern and southern hemispheres. The earth's axis tilted 66.5 degrees is in a state of relative balance with the earth's orbit around the sun, which is conducive to the erection of eggs. Secondly, the vernal equinox is in the middle of spring. It's neither hot nor cold. It's red and green. It's easy to set up an egg. What's more, the surface of the egg is uneven, with many protruding 'Hills'. The height of the mountain is about 0.03 mm, and the distance between the peaks is between 0.5 mm and 0.8 mm. According to the principle that three points form a triangle and determine a plane, as long as we find three 'Hills' and the triangle formed by the three' Hills', and make the center of gravity of the egg pass through the triangle, then the egg can stand up. In addition, it's better to choose the egg 4-5 days after birth, because the yolk band of the egg is loose, the yolk sinks, and the egg center of gravity drops, which is conducive to the erection of the egg.
There are not only many scientific reasons for erecting eggs, but also many profound philosophical thoughts. Columbus, a famous Italian navigator, discovered the new continent of America by crossing the vast Atlantic Ocean. Some people disapprove of his discovery, and even ridicule it as "purely accidental". At a celebration meeting, Columbus suggested that the ladies and gentlemen at the banquet try to see if the eggs on the table could stand up, but none of them succeeded. Columbus said, watch me perform. He knocked the egg down, the shell broke, and the egg stood up. Then he said, this is what I found. It's really easy, but why don't you?
The smooth curve of the egg is the reason why it is difficult to stand up, and it is also the charm of the egg. Leonardo da Vinci, a famous European Renaissance painter, once spent more than two years in painting egg curves, which laid a solid foundation for his later success in shaping Mona Lisa's mysterious smile. The face is called "face" by Chinese people, and the shape of the face is taken as the standard of beauty or not, which fully shows the excellent aesthetic appreciation level of Chinese people and the aesthetic attribute of the shape of the egg. However, in a long period of time, people have been unable to find the mathematical expression of the egg curve, even mathematicians can only rely on the ruler and compass to approximate the egg curve. No wonder tens of thousands of egg circles as like as two peas have said, no two are the same. Until modern times, mathematicians found the following mathematical equation of egg curve: x ^ 2 / A ^ 2 + y ^ 2 / (KY + b) ^ 2 = 1, where | K | & gt; 1, finally solved the puzzle of egg curve drawing for generations. Today, egg shaped cars, airships, bridges, tunnels, gymnasiums, concert halls and other buildings can be seen all over the world. They perfectly combine science and culture, science and art, science and aesthetics.
Eat spring vegetables
The surname Xie of Cangcheng town in Kaiping, formerly Siyi (now with Heshan as Wuyi), has a non festival custom, which is called 'eating spring vegetables on the equinox'. 'Chuncai' is a kind of wild amaranth, which is called 'chunbihao' by villagers. On that day, the whole village went to pick spring vegetables. When searching in the field, it is usually light green, thin trees, about the length of palm.
Spring vegetables are usually boiled with fish fillets at home, which is called spring soup. There is a doggerel: "spring soup, wash the liver and intestines. The whole family, young and old, is safe and healthy. Since the spring of the year, what people pray for is peace and health in their homes.
The custom of eating spring vegetables has continued until now. Spring vegetables are different in different places. As the name suggests, spring vegetables are spring vegetables. Eating more vegetables in this season can not only supplement nutrition, but also play a role in health care. Spring vegetables include leeks for Yang cultivation, bean sprouts, lettuce, scallions, bean sprouts, garlic sprouts, etc.
Lingnan customs
In the past, there was a custom of eating Wucheng food in Heyi. 'Chuncai' is a kind of wild amaranth, which is called 'chunbihao' by villagers. On that day, the whole village went to pick spring vegetables. When searching in the field, it is usually light green, thin trees, about the length of palm. Spring soup is called "spring soup" and "fish slices" are picked at home. There is a doggerel: "spring soup, wash the liver and intestines. The whole family, young and old, is safe and healthy. Since the spring of the year, what people pray for is peace and health in their homes.
Spring cattle
Then the spring equinox picture appears. The second solar term is called "spring", and the pattern of "red farming paper" should be printed on it. The people who send pictures are all good folk singers. They mainly say that spring ploughing and auspiciousness do not violate the farming time. Every time they go to a family, they are even more improvised. They say what they see until they give money to the owner. Although words come out casually, every sentence has its own rhyme. It is commonly known as "Shuo Chun", and the person who says "Chun" is called "Chun Guan".
Sticky sparrow mouth
On the spring equinox, every farmer has a holiday according to the custom. Every family has to eat dumplings, and they have to cook more than ten or twenty or thirty dumplings that don't need to be wrapped in the heart. They use bamboo forks to place them on the side of the field outside, which is called sticky sparrow mouth, so as not to damage the crops.
fly a kite
It's also a good time for children to fly kites during the equinox. Especially on the equinox. Even adults are involved. There are three types of kites: Wang Zi kite, silver carp kite, MI moth kite, Lei Gong insect kite and Yue Er Guang kite. The bigger one is two meters high, and the smaller one is two or three feet high. There are kites on the market. Most of them are small and suitable for children to play. Most of them are bigger and paste by themselves. They have to compete with each other to see which one is higher.
rites for ancestor-worshipping in spring
On the spring equinox of February, we began to sweep tombs and offer sacrifices to ancestors, also called spring sacrifice. Before sweeping the tomb, a ceremonious ancestor worship ceremony should be held in the ancestral hall. Pigs and sheep should be slaughtered, and drummers should be invited to play. The ritual students should chant the sacrificial rites and lead the three sacrificial rites. At the beginning of spring equinox tomb sweeping, the first thing to do is to sweep the graves of kaijizu and Yuanzu. The whole family and the whole village have to go out. The scale is very large, and the team often reaches hundreds or even thousands of people. After the tombs of kaijizu and Yuanzu were swept, they were divided into different rooms to sweep the tombs of their ancestors, and finally each family swept the private tombs of their families. In most Hakka areas, spring ancestor worship and tomb sweeping begin at the vernal equinox or earlier, and finish at the latest during the Qingming Festival. There is a saying all over the country that the tomb door will be closed after the Qingming Festival, and the ancestors' spirits will not be used.
worship Gods
The folk festivals around the spring equinox include the birthday of kaizhangshengwang on February 15: kaizhangshengwang, also known as chenshengwang, was Chen Yuanguang, a military scholar of the Tang Dynasty. He made great contributions to Zhangzhou and became the patron saint of Zhangzhou after his death. On February 19, the birthday of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. On every birthday, many believers go to all the temples to worship. February 25 Sanshan King's Memorial Day: Sanshan King refers to the mountain gods of Dushan, Mingshan and Jinshan in Jieyang County, Chaozhou Prefecture, Guangdong Province. In the early years, spring was the patron saint of Hakka immigrants from Chaozhou, so the believers were mainly Hakka.
Memorial Day
In the Zhou Dynasty, there was a memorial ceremony at the spring equinox. The book of Rites: "sacrifice the sun on the altar. Kong yingdashu: it means equinox.
The Ritan is located in the east of Ritan Road, Southeast of Chaoyang Gate in Beijing. It is also called chaoritan. It is the place where the emperors of Ming and Qing Dynasties sacrificed to Daming God (the sun) on the spring equinox. The sun is set at the Mao carving of the spring equinox. During the year of a, C, e, Geng and Ren, the emperor makes sacrifices in person, and the rest of the years are sacrificed by officials.
Most of the places for emperors to worship the sun in ancient times were located in the suburbs of Beijing. The altar of Japan was built in Beijing in the Yuan Dynasty. It was built in 1530 A.D. in the ninth year of Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty. It was surrounded by a square outer wall. Before each sacrifice, the emperor came to the hall of fufu in the gate of Beitan to have a rest, and then changed his clothes to the altar of Chaori to offer sacrifices. The altar of the sun is located in the south of the whole building, facing east and West. This is because the sun rises in the East and people have to stand in the West and salute to the East. The altar is round, with a platform of one floor and a diameter of 33.3 meters. It is surrounded by a low wall, and there is a Lingxing gate in the southeast and North. In the west is the main gate, with three lattice star gates to show the difference. In the middle of the wall, a square platform is built with white stone, which is called the altar of worship. It is 1.89 meters high and 64 meters around. When it was built in the Ming Dynasty, the altar was built with red glazed bricks to symbolize the sun of the Ming Dynasty. This was a very romantic arrangement, but in the Qing Dynasty, it was decorated with square bricks, which made the altar inferior.
Although the memorial day can't compare with the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, the ceremony is quite grand. In the Ming Dynasty, when the emperor worshiped the sun, he laid a memorial ceremony for jade and silk, offered three gifts, played seven music, danced eight Yi, knelt three times and worshiped nine times. There are nine items in the ceremony of emperor's Memorial Day in Qing Dynasty, which are ceremonious: Welcoming God, laying jade and silk, offering at the beginning, Yaxian, offering at the end, replying to blessing, car food, sending God and sending Liao. Today's altar of Japan has bid farewell to the era of worshiping the sun and gods, and has become a park for people's leisure and entertainment.