The traditional Chinese calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms. The first one is**** known as**** **** in**** Chinese,**** in**** Japanese****,**** **** 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 signifies the beginning of spring in East Asian cultures.

Pentads

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:

Date and time

Customs

China

Lichun traditionally signifies the beginning of spring. Chinese New Year is celebrated around this time. Farmers often celebrate the beginning of Lichun with special village events, worship 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. 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. 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. In the Republic of China, Lichun has been Farmer's Day since 1941. In Singapore, there is a practice of depositing money into bank accounts on Lichun which many believe will bring them good fortune.

Korea

Ipchun is the first season of the new year, so there are many farming-related events. In Ipchun, families, regardless of the city or countryside, put their writings on walls or thresholds as a blessing event. These writings are also called Ipchunchuk, Chunchuk, Ipchunseo, Ipchunbang, and Chunbang. Those who know the letters write themselves, and those who do not know how to write, ask others to write them. 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.

About

Lichun is mentioned in literature, including in Du Fu's (杜甫) shi (詩), simply titled Lìchūn (立春): This poem tells us about the traditional custom of eating chūnbǐng (春餅) on this day.