The Spring Equinox (Chinese: 春分) is the fourth of the 24 traditional Chinese solar terms and falls on March 20 this year.
The Spring Equinox's "fen" has two meanings, one is "equinox of day and night". On the day of the Spring Equinox, the sun shines directly on the equator so that day and night are of the same length. Another meaning of the Spring Equinox is "seasonal equinox", and the day divides the spring in half on average.
Ancient Chinese divide the fifteen-day solar term of the Spring Equinox into three parts, called "hou", each of which is five days. As the old saying goes, swallows fly back to the north in the first hou; thunder rumbles in the second hou; lightning occurs frequently in the third hou, which vividly reveals the climate feature during the Spring Equinox.
(By Yang Jiming/Qi Qian)
