Spring Begins

The beginning of spring is established. The east wind melts the frozen earth.

Spring does not arrive all at once. It begins as a subtle shift in the quality of light, a softening of the air, a first stirring beneath frozen ground. The traditional calendar marks this moment as a signal: prepare the fields, sharpen the tools, turn your attention outward. The work of the year begins quietly, before anyone can see the results.

Lichun, the first of the twenty-four solar terms, occurs when the sun reaches 315° of celestial longitude, typically between February 3 and 5. In the traditional Chinese calendar, this marks the official beginning of spring, even though much of northern China remains cold. This term reflects an astronomical reality — the sun's position — rather than a weather report. The character 立 (lì) means "to establish" or "to stand," and 春 (chūn) means "spring." Together they signal not just a season but an orientation: the year's work is being established. Ancient agricultural societies used this term to begin preparing fields, repairing tools, and planning the planting calendar. Three pentads (候, hòu) describe the term's progression: the east wind arrives, hibernating insects begin to stir, and fish rise to the ice's surface. These are observations from the Yellow River basin and should not be taken as universal. In southern China, spring arrives earlier; in the southern hemisphere, the season is reversed. The solar terms describe a Northern Hemisphere, East Asian experience of seasonal change.

The date is calculated by the Sun’s apparent position, while local weather may arrive earlier or later. In the Southern Hemisphere, the seasonal associations run in the opposite direction. Reading the term as a calendar marker keeps its symbolism useful without turning one regional climate into a universal rule.