The traditional Chinese calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms. The first one is known as lichun in Chinese, risshun in Japanese, ipchun in Korean, and lập xuân in Vietnamese. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 315° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 330°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 315°. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around February 4 and ends around February 18 (February 19 East Asia time). It is also the beginning of a sexagenary cycle.

Lichun
Woodcut depicting Risshun (Suzuki Harunobu, c. 1768)
Chinese name
Chinese立春
Literal meaningstart of spring
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinlì chūn
Bopomofoㄌㄧˋ ㄔㄨㄣ
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanizationlaahp chēun
Jyutpinglaap6 ceon1
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetlập xuân
Chữ Hán立春
North Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl립춘
Hancha立春
Transcriptions
Revised RomanizationRipchun
South Korean name
Hangul입춘
Hanja立春
Transcriptions
Revised RomanizationIpchun
Japanese name
Kanji立春
Hiraganaりっしゅん
Katakanaリッシュン
Transcriptions
Romanizationrisshun
Solar term
Term Longitude Dates
Lichun 315° 4–5 February
Yushui 330° 18–19 February
Jingzhe 345° 5–6 March
Chunfen 20–21 March
Qingming 15° 4–5 April
Guyu 30° 20–21 April
Lixia 45° 5–6 May
Xiaoman 60° 21–22 May
Mangzhong 75° 5–6 June
Xiazhi 90° 21–22 June
Xiaoshu 105° 7–8 July
Dashu 120° 22–23 July
Liqiu 135° 7–8 August
Chushu 150° 23–24 August
Bailu 165° 7–8 September
Qiufen 180° 23–24 September
Hanlu 195° 8–9 October
Shuangjiang 210° 23–24 October
Lidong 225° 7–8 November
Xiaoxue 240° 22–23 November
Daxue 255° 7–8 December
Dongzhi 270° 21–22 December
Xiaohan 285° 5–6 January
Dahan 300° 20–21 January

Lichun signifies the beginning of spring in East Asian cultures.[1]

Pentads

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Each solar term can be divided into 3 pentads (候). They are: first pentad (初候), second pentad (次候) and last pentad (末候). Pentads in Lichun include:

China
Japan
  • First pentad: 東風解凍
  • Second pentad: 黄鶯睍睆
  • Last pentad: 魚上氷

Date and time

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Date and Time (UTC)
year begin end
辛巳 2001-02-03 18:28 2001-02-18 14:27
壬午 2002-02-04 00:24 2002-02-18 20:13
癸未 2003-02-04 06:05 2003-02-19 02:00
甲申 2004-02-04 11:56 2004-02-19 07:50
乙酉 2005-02-03 17:43 2005-02-18 13:31
丙戌 2006-02-03 23:27 2006-02-18 19:25
丁亥 2007-02-04 05:18 2007-02-19 01:08
戊子 2008-02-04 11:00 2008-02-19 06:49
己丑 2009-02-03 16:49 2009-02-18 12:46
庚寅 2010-02-03 22:47 2010-02-18 18:35
辛卯 2011-02-04 04:32 2011-02-19 00:25
壬辰 2012-02-04 10:22 2012-02-19 06:17
癸巳 2013-02-03 16:13 2013-02-18 12:01
甲午 2014-02-03 22:03 2014-02-18 17:59
乙未 2015-02-04 03:58 2015-02-18 23:49
丙申 2016-02-04 09:46 2016-02-19 05:33
丁酉 2017-02-03 15:34 2017-02-18 11:31
戊戌 2018-02-03 21:28 2018-02-18 17:18
己亥 2019-02-04 03:14 2019-02-18 23:03
庚子 2020-02-04 09:03 2020-02-19 04:57
辛丑 2021-02-03 14:58 2021-02-18 10:43
壬寅 2022-02-03 20:50 2022-02-18 16:43
癸卯 2023-02-04 02:42 2023-02-18 22:34
甲辰 2024-02-04 08:27 2024-02-19 04:13
乙巳 2025-02-03 14:10 2025-02-18 10:06
丙午 2026-02-03 20:02 2026-02-18 15:51
丁未 2027-02-04 01:46 2027-02-18 21:33
戊申 2028-02-04 07:31 2028-02-19 03:26
己酉 2029-02-03 13:20 2029-02-18 09:07
庚戌 2030-02-03 19:08 2030-02-18 14:59
Sources:

Customs

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China

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Lichun traditionally signifies the beginning of spring.[3][4]: 32  Chinese New Year is celebrated around this time. Farmers often celebrate the beginning of Lichun with special village events,[4]: 33–34  worship[4]: 33–34  and offerings to the Taoist and Buddhist gods and ceremonies for a blissful and prosperous new year. People eat chūnbǐng (春餅) on this day, especially in northern China.[3]

According to some schools of Feng Shui, if you are born after Chinese New Years but before or even on the first day of Lichun you are considered the zodiac animal of the previous Chinese lunar year.[5]

In the lunisolar calendar, New Year's Day might be before or after Lichun. A year without Lichun is called 無春年 (no spring year). 無春年 is also known as 寡婦年 (widow year) in northern China or 盲年 (blind year) in southern China. Marriage is believed to be unlucky in a year without Lichun.[6]

In the Republic of China, Lichun has been Farmer's Day since 1941.[7]

In Singapore, there is a practice of depositing money into bank accounts on Lichun which many believe will bring them good fortune.[8]

Korea

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Ipchun is the first season of the new year, so there are many farming-related events.[9]

In Ipchun, families, regardless of the city or countryside, put their writings on walls or thresholds as a blessing event.[9]

These writings are also called Ipchunchuk, Chunchuk, Ipchunseo, Ipchunbang, and Chunbang.[9]

Those who know the letters write themselves, and those who do not know how to write, ask others to write them.[9]

It is said that it is good to attach it at the time of Ipchun, but it is not written in the house where the funeral is held.[9]

About

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Lichun is mentioned in literature, including in Du Fu's (杜甫) shi (詩), simply titled Lìchūn (立春):[4]: 34 

This poem tells us about the traditional custom of eating chūnbǐng (春餅) on this day.

See also

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  • Setsubun (節分), the day before the beginning of each season, celebrated as winter changes to spring in Japan
  • Egg of Li Chun

References

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  1. ^ "Asian Cultures - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics". www.sciencedirect.com. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  2. ^ See also Five elements
  3. ^ a b "Traditional pancakes served up on holiday". China Daily. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d 中國節日的故事 (in Chinese) (1st ed.). Taipei: 將門文物出版社. 2001. ISBN 957-755-300-1.
  5. ^ "Do You Know Which Chinese Zodiac You Belong To?". Feng Shui Beginner. December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  6. ^ "有关寡妇年". zhidao.baidu.com.
  7. ^ Farmer's Day Archived December 13, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "DBS/POSB employees receive February salary on 'auspicious' Li Chun". Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  9. ^ a b c d e "입춘". terms.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved March 28, 2021.

Further reading

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Preceded by
Dahan (大寒)
Solar term (節氣) Succeeded by
Yushui (雨水)