The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms. The Spring Equinox (Chinese: 春分), as the fourth term of the year starts on March 20 and ends on April 3 this year.
The arival of the Spring Equinox marks that the spring has passed halfway through. We have four seasons in a year and each season has three months. In ancient times, people used“Meng”, “Zhong” and “Ji” to express the three months in each season. For example,spring can be divided into “Meng spring”, “Zhong Spring" and Ji Spring”. “Meng Spring” is also called early spring, and “Ji Spring” is late spring. The Spring Equinox falls right during the mid-spring. The singing birds and the blooming flowers make up a wondrous scenery in spring.
“The Spring Equinox and the Autumn Equinox divide day and night equally. The sun shines directy on the equator, making the northern and southern hemispheres equally divided between day and night on Spring Equinox,daytime becoming longer afterwards, and reaching the longest when the Summer Solstice comes. After that day, daytime shortens gradually until the Autumn Equinox arrives again.
Erect eggs
“Eggs are spinning when the Spring Equinox arrives”. Children are all playing the game of erecting eggs during the Spring Equinox. They will find a smooth and fresh egg and erect it carefully on the table. lt is said that the tilt angle of the earth's axis is so special that it will be much easier for children to erect eggs on the Spring Equinox. Although this statement may not have a scientific basis, let's just have a try!
Eating “Spring Vegetables”
People also have the tradition of eating “spring vegetables" on the Spring Equinox.“Spring vgetablesre a type of wild amaranth, commonly known as“Spring Artemisia”. People go to the field to pick up tender spring vegetables and make "spring soup" together with fish fillet, which can purify the intestines and is beneficial to our health.