The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms. The Spring Equinox (春分)as the fourth term of the year starts on March 20 and ends on April 3 this year.The Spring Equinox signals the equal(long) of the day and night time. On the Spring Equinox, the sun is( direct ) above the equator. After the equinox, the sun moves northward resulting in gradually longer day time in the Northern Hemisphere and longer night in the Southern Hemisphere.
Here are things you may not know about the Spring Equinox.
Egg-standing games
Standing an egg upright is a popular game across the country during the Spring Equinox. It isold custom that dates back to 4,000 years ago. People practice this tradition to celebrate the coming of spring. It (believe) that if someone can make the egg stand, he will have good luck in the future.
Flying kites
Spring Equinox is a good time to fly kites.ancient times, people did not have good(medicine) resources. So to pray for health, they wrote their medical issues on a paper kite.the kite was in the air, people cut off the string to let the paper kite float away, symbolizing the flying away of diseases. For centuries, flying kites(develop) into a popular game of spring. On the Spring Equinox, people write a blessing on the kite, hoping that the gods in the sky would see it.
Reward farm cattle
On Spring Equinox, farmers will reward cattle with sticky rice balls to express(they) gratefulness. Meanwhile, people will also make sacrifice to birds(thank) them for bringing signals for farm work and to ask them not to eat grains later in the year.
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