Start of Spring (Lichun) 立春
The solar term
The Start of Spring is the first of the twenty-four terms. According to the Book of Rites, on this day the emperor led his court to the eastern outskirts to welcome the spring. The north is still cold, but the days are longer and the winds are shifting.
| Year | Start of Spring |
|---|---|
| 2026 | February 4 |
| 2027 | February 4 |
| 2028 | February 4 |
| 2029 | February 3 |
| 2030 | February 4 |
Dates are for China time (UTC+8); in other time zones the term may fall on a different day.
The three pentads
Each solar term lasts about fifteen days and is divided into three pentads of five days, each named after a sign in nature. In 2027:
The east wind thaws the ice 東風解凍from February 4
Warm east winds begin to melt the ice. The ancients matched the east with spring, so the east wind is the spring wind.
Hibernating insects stir 蟄蟲始振from February 9
Insects sleeping through the winter in their burrows begin to wake and move.
Fish rise beneath the ice 魚陟負冰from February 14
The river ice has not yet gone, but fish rise from the depths to swim just beneath it, as if carrying the ice on their backs.
Hexagrams
In the table of the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar (recorded in the New Book of Tang), the three pentads of Start of Spring belong to three hexagrams:
- first pentad62 Xiaoguo (Small Excess)Marquis
- second pentad4 Meng (Youthful Ignorance)Grandee
- third pentad42 Yi (Increase)Minister
Separately, the twenty-four lines of Kan, Zhen, Li and Dui govern the twenty-four solar terms in turn; Start of Spring belongs to Kan, six in the fourth place.
The hexagram calendar marks the season. It says nothing about fortune and has no bearing on a hexagram you cast. See sources and method.