Spring First Day of Spring Vernal Equinox – one of the 24 Chinese Solar Terms
Vernal equinox chūn fēn 春分 marks the arrival of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Chūn fēn 春分 is one of the Chinese twenty-four solar terms that falls on the twelve Chinese lunar months. These twenty-four solar terms are made of twelve major solar terms and twelve minor solar terms.
Summer solstice and winter solstice are two major solar terms. The summer solstice is around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival which falls on the 5th day of the 5th month on the lunar calendar. Winter Solstice is the 22nd solar term and it indicates the Lunar New Year is coming. Therefore, in the Chinese culture, people are one year older when it hits Winter Solstice.
At vernal equinox chūn fēn 春分 the Sun’s longitude is zero degrees. The time for the day and the night are nearly equal in length on the vernal equinox and the autumnal equinox.
Happy SPRING! Enjoy the outdoors and keep Mandarin Chinese active with your children! Try out one of the dishes for the spring.
One of the traditional practices for vernal equinox in the Chinese community is to enjoy fresh spring vegetables. Here are four that you may find in a local Asian grocery store. The videos below show you each of the featured vegetables and one dish that includes it.
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Spinach bō cài 菠菜 – Check out what part of spinach Chinese people use to cook this stir-fried dish.
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Toon xiāng chūn 香椿
Another traditional practice for vernal equinox in the Chinese community is to stand the eggs. This is especially a popular activity during the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival that is close to the summer equinox.
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t’s also a time to go on excursions. Learn a new song and sing along on your walk or when you are on the road. Little Duckling is one of the fun Chinese children’s songs that fits this time of the year.
Singing a poem about spring written by Chinese poet Wáng Wéi (699- 761), the Táng dynasty (618-907) can delight young learners with many words they might be familiar with. Video in Mandarin with Zhuyin and traditional Chinese text.
Related Posts and Teaching Resource for Spring
Seasons Spring Literacy Fall Literacy
Chinese Early Literacy – The Very Hungry Caterpillar story and book activity
Chinese Early Literacy – Book: Cang Jie the inventor of Chinese characters First Mandarin Words
Dragon Boat Festival ( Chinese festival close to summer equinox )
Spring Craft – Color Spinner Papercraft
Spring Craft – Flower papercraft
First Day of Spring Equinox