Li Chun

Beginning of Spring (Li Chun), one of the 24 solar terms, is also known as Hit Spring. Since Li means the beginning, Li Chun refers to the beginning of spring in China. The Beginning of Spring is on February 4th or 5th every year when the sun reaches 315° of ecliptic longitude. A Collective Interpretation of the Seventy-two Phenological Terms wrote, “As the solar term in the first lunar month, Li means to start (the spring), and means the same in the Beginnings of Summer, Autumn, and Winter.” Since then, the breeze of the east wind thaws the snow, hibernating insects are awakened, grasses sprout out of the earth, and the nightingales are back in the air.

In Chinese, “Li” means the beginning, and “chun” is spring, a symbol of warmth and growth.

The Beginning of Spring is determined (and seasons are divided) based on astronomy. Spring represents warmth, birds twittering, flowers perfuming; spring represents growth, seeds sowed, crops cultivated. The period from the Beginning of Spring to the Beginning of Summer is named spring.

The Beginning of Spring is divided into three five days, each with a corresponding representative natural phenomenon.

In the first five days, the ground begins to thaw.

During the 1st 5 days of the beginning of spring, the east wind brings warmth to the earth and the ground begins to thaw.

In the second five days, insects begin to be active.

As the weather warms up, the ground becomes soft, those worms hibernate underground during the winter begin to be active.

In the third five days, fish swim under the shards of ice.

During the 3rd 5 days, the ice in the river begins to melt and the fish begin to swim under the shards of ice.

The flowers that bloom in sequence during the Beginning of Spring are winter jasmine, sour cherry blossom, and purple magnolia.