识立春、知习俗 | Know the Beginning of Spring, know the customs

农历正月初一是我国最重要的传统节日–春节，是农历新年，通常在立春前后。在春节期间，我国各族人民都要举行各种庆祝活动。比如家家户户都要挂红灯笼、贴春联、放鞭炮等。出门在外的人们，在春节这一天都尽可能地回到家里和亲人团聚，表达对新一年生活的美好祝福。

The Spring Festival is the most important traditional festival in China. It is the Lunar New Year, usually around the Beginning of Spring. During the Spring Festival, people of all ethnic groups in China will hold various celebrations. For example, every family will hang red lanterns, paste couplets, set off firecrackers and so on. People who are away from home will try their best to return home and reunite with their relatives on the day of the Spring Festival to express their best wishes for the new year.

在立春时，民间会举行各种各样的迎春活动，其中最有意思的要数鞭春牛了。相传远古时东夷族首领少皞率领百姓迁居黄河流域，从游牧转为农耕。少皞派他的儿子句芒负责此事。在立春这天，句芒下令百姓翻土犁田，准备播种，可是悠闲了一冬天的老牛还没回过神来，懒懒地躺在牛栏里睡觉，不听人们的指挥。于是，句芒想了个办法:用泥土塑成牛的形状，让人们用鞭子抽打土牛。呼呼作响的鞭声惊醒了老牛，它们一看自己的同类挨了鞭子，便急忙站起来，听从人们指挥，到田里干活儿了。从此以后，“鞭春牛”便成了立春日的仪式。鞭春牛意味着打去牛的懒惰，为新一年的春耕做好准备。

On the Beginning of Spring, various activities are held to welcome the Spring, among which the most interesting one is the Spring Ox. It is said that in ancient times, Shao Hao, the leader of the Dongyi ethnic group, led his people to move to the Yellow River Basin and changed from nomadism to farming. His son is in charge of the matter. On the day of the Beginning of Spring, Gu Mang ordered the people to turn over the soil and plow the fields to prepare for sowing. However, the old ox, who had been leisurely for a whole winter, had not recovered, lying lazily in the cowshed to sleep, disobeying the commands of the people. So, the sentence mans thought of a way: the shape of the cow with clay, so that people use whips to beat the cow. The whir of the whip woke up the old cow, and they saw their own kind of whip, they quickly stood up and obeyed the command of the people, and went to work in the fields. Since then, the “Spring Ox Whip” has become the ceremony of the Beginning of Spring. Whipping the spring cattle means to beat the lazy cattle and get ready for the spring plowing of the new year.

在立春这一天,人们通常会吃春饼、春卷、生萝卜等食物，称为“咬春”。古人认为咬食生萝卜，吃春饼、春卷能够解除瘟疫。

传说很久以前，当人们准备热热闹闹迎接立春时，突然瘟疫四起，染病的人像喝了酒似的，头重脚轻，甚至连抬手的力气也没有。立春的前一天，一个道人来到了一个村庄。他见村里静得出奇，就来到村边的一户人家门前，敲了半天门，也没人来开。后来他看到一个有气无力的中年人路过，从中年人那里得知大家都染上了瘟疫。道人飞快地跑回观院，刨出一袋贮藏的萝卜，带着萝卜跑到了那个村庄。道人从村中一户人家找到一只大公鸡，拔下几根鸡毛，插在了地上。过了一会儿，插在地上的鸡毛突然动了起来。道人惊喜地喊道:“地气通了!地气通了!”他奔向村庄的每家每户，让人们啃吃生萝卜。结果人们吃了生萝卜之后，病就好了。瘟疫终于被解除了，人们又过上了平静安乐的生活。此后，人们便在立春这天啃吃生萝卜，以求平安。“咬春”的习俗就这样形成了。

On the day of The Beginning of Spring, people usually eat spring cakes, spring rolls and raw radishes, called “biting spring.” The ancients believed that biting raw radish, eating spring pancakes and spring rolls could dispel the plague.

Legend a long time ago, when people are ready to welcome the Beginning of Spring, suddenly the plague everywhere, infected people like drinking wine, top-heavy, and even lost the strength to lift their hands. The day before the Beginning of Spring, a Taoist priest came to a village. He saw that the village was surprisingly quiet, and came to the door of a family in the village, knocking on the door for a long time, and no one came to open. Later, he saw a middle-aged man passing by, and learned from the middle-aged man that everyone was infected with the plague. The Taoist quickly ran back to the temple, dug up a bag of stored turnips, and ran to the village with them. The Taoist found a big rooster from a family in the village, pulled out a few chicken feathers, and stuck it on the ground. After a while, the chicken feathers stuck in the ground suddenly moved. The man cried out in surprise: “The air is clear! The air is clear!” He went from house to house in the village and asked people to nibble on raw turnips. As a result, people ate raw radishes and got rid of sickness. The plague was finally lifted, and people lived in peace again. Since then, people in the Beginning of Spring day started eating raw turnip, in order to Ping An. The custom of “biting spring” was thus formed.

立春时，民间有精心制作纸扎春牛的习俗，寓意五谷丰收。

打春：

指立春这天，用鞭子抽打泥做的春牛，以祈祷丰年。明代于谦有《立春》诗：“击罢泥牛物候新，一鞭分与万家春。”

饮食习俗：

立春时令人们吃春卷、做春饼、赠春盘、食春菜。

At the Beginning of Spring, there is a custom of making paper oxen, which means a bumper harvest of grain.

Dachun:

Refers to the Beginning of Spring day, with the whip made of mud to pray for a bumper harvest. In the Ming Dynasty, Yu Qian wrote the poem “The Beginning of Spring”: “Strike the new phenology of cattle, and ten thousand spring with a whip.”

Eating habits:

In the Beginning of Spring, people eat spring rolls, make spring pancakes, present spring dishes and eat spring vegetables.