The twenty-four solar terms are a system of knowledge and practice formed by the Chinese observing the annual movement of the sun, embodying the wisdom of the thought of responding to the times in accordance with the heavens, and are the distinctive mark of the outstanding traditional Chinese culture. 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics opened on the day of the first day of spring, with the opening of the twenty-four solar terms, starting from the "rain water", and ushering in the "beginning of spring", demonstrating the bright hope and firm confidence for the future. In the traditional concept of the Chinese people, the spring is a symbol of the recovery of all things and vitality, has a special status and role.

"New Year's is not as important as spring."

The Beginning of Spring is the first of the 24 solar terms. When the sun reaches 315°of the yellow meridian, it is the first day of the Beginning of Spring. The Collected Explanations of the 72 Pentads of the Monthly Orders: "the Beginning of Spring means the start. The Qi of the five elements, this and that, and now the Qi of the trees in spring has come, so it is called the Beginning of Spring." The four seasons begin with spring. The beginning of spring means the end of winter and the start of spring and all thing. Since ancient times, Chinese people have attached great importance to the symbolism of the beginning. For the traditional Chinese culture that advocates the harmonious coexistence of man and nature, spring is not only the beginning of the natural order of time, but also the beginning of the people "restart" the social life of the beginning of the order of time, not only is a very important season, but also has the identity of the "festival", the folk widely rumored that "New Year is not as important as spring" fully explains the special status and significance of the Beginning of Spring festival in the traditional Chinese festival system.

Spring is divided into three pentads, the first is the "east wind thawing", after the spring, the temperature in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River gradually turned from below zero to above zero, the most prominent characteristic is the melting of snow and ice. Our ancestors believed that the eastern part belongs to the mode of wood, and wood is the source of fire, so the "spring wind" called "east wind", meaning that the weather warmed up in this festival. The second pentad is "hibernating insects wake up", hibernating animals began to wake up after the perception of Yang Qi through the whole winter, but not yet get out of their holes until the hibernation is over. The third pentad is "fish under the ice", in winter, fish lurking underwater to avoid the cold, in spring, along with the rising of Yang Qi, ice is gradually become thinner, and they gradually float, like swimming with ice on their backs.

Colorful rituals and cultural activities

The Beginning of Spring represents vitality and hope, and for thousands of years there have been rich and colorful rituals and cultural activities, the most representative of which is "welcoming spring". It is recorded in the Book of Rites: "On the day of spring, the Emperor leads in person the three ducal ministers, his nine high ministers, the feudal princes (who are at court), and his Great officers, to meet the spring in the eastern suburb, and on their return, he rewards them all in the court." To the Eastern Han Dynasty, both the capital city or local cities, will hold a grand ceremony to welcome the spring, things that use along the travel, such as the vehicles, horses, flags, clothing are all green, this custom has continued to the end of the Qing Dynasty, and is the major rituals and customs activities that jointly celebrated by officials and people.

The most lively of the spring activities is the whipping of spring oxen. Whipping spring cattle, also known as lashing spring cattle, the origin of this custom is very early, Origin of All Things records: "the Duke of Zhou created the custom of making soil cattle at the beginning of spring, used to observe the time of agriculture." In the Sui and Tang dynasties, the spring bullwhip became a fairly common festive ritual activities. Usually, the ceremony of whipping the spring ox was carried out by officials in the county government office, and the spring ox was mostly a clay ox. When the bull passes through the crowd, people will throw beans and hemp at it, which is believed to "pray for a good year". More interesting is that, after the end of the whip spring cow ceremony, people have to scramble for broken pieces of clay cow, it is believed that place them in the livestock circle can keep animal husbandry to prosper, placed in the bedside can make cocoon harvest, placed in the stove will not breed insects and ants, and so on. Cattle is an important tool for traditional agricultural production, the spring season whip spring cattle meant to whip away lazy, declaring the beginning of spring plowing, contains a symbol of encouraging spring plowing, reflecting China's ancient agricultural thinking.

There are many folk customs that have been passed down in the spring. In the past, people around Zhejiang will go to the countryside in the spring season, and then folded down the pine and cypress branches braided into a circle, worn on the head of the child, people believe that this custom can ensure that the child "a year of health". There are children "wear spring baby" custom in Shanxi and other places in the spring, the spring baby doll-type bag, which is filled with beans, grains, worn by children can eliminate acne rash. After spring, people are often prone to sleepiness there is a folk proverb goes "spring sleepiness, autumn fatigue, summer snooze", the Song Dynasty's Fan Chengda in the Spring Sleepiness poem wrote: "Suzhou has a custom is in the day of spring, the children shouted along the street 'spring sleepy! Those who don't respond are smart". This custom is called "Sell Spring Sleepiness", which means that children call "Sell Spring Sleepiness" along the road when it is not yet daybreak on the first day of spring, and someone’s respond means the purchase of spring sleepy, and children no longer tired from then on. Although this custom is a children's game, it is very cunning, but it does also contain the deep meaning of cautioning children to cherish time.

At the beginning of spring, there is the custom of tasting spring in food, and common foods include radish, spring rolls, spring cakes, and so on, whose symbols are mostly connected with cultural concepts such as "yang," "new," and "birth." The Han Dynasty's People's Monthly Orders states, "Eating lettuce at the beginning of spring has the meaning of welcoming the new year, and drinking congee can enhance harmony." Eating lettuce has the meaning of welcoming the arrival of the New Year. People put lettuce, fruits, cakes, sugar and other things on a plate, thus deriving the custom of eating spring plate. Du Fu wrote in his poem The Beginning of Spring, "When I saw the lettuce in the spring plate, I suddenly recalled the scene of the plum blossoms blooming at the time of the first spring in Chang'an and Luoyang in the past years." The most common custom of biting spring is eating radish. It is written in Yanjing Miscellany: "When spring begins, people eat raw radish, which is called biting spring." The radish that was used in old Pekin was the purple radish, which had a pungent flavor that could drive away springtime sleepiness, replenish Yang Qi, and lift the spirit. The dietary custom of spring embodies the cultural wisdom of following the seasons and nourishing oneself according to the time of the year.
      The 24 Solar Terms are the distinctive symbols of Chinese culture.

The custom of Lichun is an important part of the cultural system of the 24 solar terms. "Spring rain wakes spring with pure grain bequest. Summer grain buds and ears flourish in summer heat. Autumn heat abates with dewy autumn and cold frost. Winter snow, heavy snow, winter cold descends.", is a familiar song to every Chinese since childhood. The 24 solar terms are the distinctive mark of Chinese culture, carrying the genetic code of Chinese civilization and manifesting the wisdom and spiritual pursuit of the Chinese nation. On the basis of extensive research and practice, the Chinese Agricultural Museum took the lead in declaring the 24 solar terms as the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage in 2006, and it was listed as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2016, which has powerfully enhanced the soft power of Chinese culture, and promoted the exchanges and mutual appreciation of the achievements of human civilization. Currently, there are 11 national intangible cultural heritage extension programs for the 24 Solar Terms, including "Jiuhua Spring Festival", "Advising Farmers" in Zhejiang, "Shiqian Spring Telling" in Guizhou, and "Neixiang Lashing Spring Cow" in Henan. "The Opening Ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics embedded the elements of the 24 Solar Terms, highlighting the deep heritage and contemporary charm of the excellent traditional Chinese culture, and interpreting the music of spring played by Chinese culture and human civilization.

A year's plan is in spring, a folk proverb says: "Spring fights for the day, summer fights for the time, the big things in the year should not be delayed." Heaven and earth and landscape awakening of the Beginning of the Spring, is a symbol of vitality, is full of hope, prompting farmers to seize the preparation of farming, children to grow up healthy and study hard ...... happiness is gaining by hard work,  Chinese people will get a good harvest as long as they strive hard.