What folk tales have you heard about Lichun?

The Legend of Lichun 1

Legend has it that during the Ming Dynasty, there was a prefect, in the spring of the first year of his tenure, the climate was very cold, and the time was also very cold, although the beginning of spring has been a month, flowers and trees have not seen germination.

The prefect thought that this was not a good sign, and he was anxious to see the sprouts of trees, plants, flowers, and trees. So, he immediately ordered the people to find the sprouted branches and send them to the prefect. Whoever delivers it early will be rewarded.

The next day, two people, one surnamed Wu and one surnamed Zhou, found a few sprouted poplars and sent them to the prefect's yamen. When the prefect saw it, he was naturally overjoyed and thought that it was auspicious. Wu and Zhou were rewarded by the prefect.

The prefect asked the two of them to come to the spring earlier next year.

Coincidentally, in the second year, due to the relatively warm winter, on the first day of the first month, Zhou and Wu held the sprouted willows, and each took a small gong and a special drum on half side, and came to the prefect's yamen to report the spring together. While beating the gong, they sang some beautiful auspicious flattery that they had made up. The prefect was extremely happy and gave Zhou and Wu double the reward.

In this way, the news of Zhou and Wu's reward spread to other ordinary people.

In the coming year, other people also followed the example of Zhou and Wu, and went to the yamen in groups to report spring. When the prefect saw that so many people were coming, he no longer gave his money to the people. The prefect said to the people:

Spring is a great joy, the plan of the year lies in spring, spring returns to the earth early, is the blessing of all people. You can worship Wu and Tuesday as teachers, and go to the homes of villagers in various villages to report the spring. From now on, this government will hold a grand spring festival in the beginning of spring to enjoy with the people.

Since then, the custom of beating spring has been formed in various places.

Spring. Beginning of spring, New Year's Festival. Stand, build the beginning. The qi of the five elements continues here. And the breath of spring wood begins, so it is called Li. Summer, autumn and winter are the same.

The east wind thaws. Frozen in winter, dissolved in the spring breeze; Those who do not say spring but say the East, "Lü's Spring and Autumn" says: The East belongs to wood, wood, and the mother of fire. However, the temperature is thawed.

The stinging insect begins to vibrate. Sting, hiding also; Vibrate, move also. The hidden insects are all moved because of the qi. Bao Shi said: I didn't move, and in February, I was shocked and left.

Fish Negative Ice. 陟, sheng also. When the fish is cold and warm at the bottom of the water, to the first month of the yang to come, then upstream and close to the ice, so it is said to be negative.

Legend has it that a long time ago, one year before the beginning of spring, a plague broke out, causing everyone to contract with an unspeakable disease.

At this time, a man dressed as an old man came to a village, and when he saw that the villagers were seriously ill, he prayed to Guanyin Bodhisattva of the South China Sea for a cure for the plague. The Taoist closed his eyes and prayed, and the scene of a conversation with Guanyin Bodhisattva during meditation appeared in his mind: Guanyin Bodhisattva told him that when the air is clear, let the villagers and people eat a few mouthfuls of radish, and the plague will be automatically resolved.

The plague was over, and people lived in peace and happiness again. + Since then, the villagers have eaten a few slices of radish on the day of the beginning of spring for peace. The custom of "biting spring" was formed and continues to this day.

Beginning of spring customs: Before the Qin and Han dynasties, the emphasis on etiquette was not the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar, but the beginning of spring. Major worship to the gods and ancestors, blessings and prayers, exorcism of evil spirits, removal of the old and cloth of the new, spring greeting and farming celebrations are all arranged on the beginning of spring and the days before and after, this series of festivals not only constitute the framework of the first festival of the later generations, but also its folk function has been preserved to this day.

In the main ancient traditional festivals, the celebration of worshipping gods and ancestors is a major theme of the festival, and any ancient traditional festival has a strong color of festival sacrifice, and has a set of simple or complicated sacrificial rituals.

In ancient times, in many areas, the beginning of spring was to worship ancestors. For example, Guangdong's "Xin'an County Chronicle" contains: "The people think that there is something to do in the ancestral shrine on the day."

Although the beginning of spring is not as grand as before, but the day of the beginning of spring is entrusted with people's hopes, there are still some folk relics, and there will still be some special ways to welcome the beginning of spring, such as "beating spring", "biting spring", hanging windmills, walking and so on.