The beginning of spring is the first of the 24 solar terms, marking the beginning of spring. On this special day, people hold a variety of folk activities, the most representative of which is the spring cow hunting and spring cow dance.
Beating spring cattle, also known as "whipping spring cattle", is a traditional custom of Chinese folk spring. On the day of the beginning of spring, people will whip the spring ox made of paper paste, which means urging the spring ox to go down to the field and pray for good weather and abundant crops. The custom of beating spring cattle has a long history, dating back to the Han Dynasty. According to the "Book of Etiquette of the Later Han Dynasty", the Han Dynasty "On the day of the beginning of spring, the night leakage is not finished for five minutes, all the officials of the Beijing division are dressed in green clothes, and the county and county officials go down to the fighting food order officials to serve the green curtains, set up green flags, and give soil cattle to plough people outside the door to show the people". This shows that in the Han Dynasty, there was already a custom of beating spring cattle.
Dancing the spring cow is another kind of folk activity related to the cow. On the day of the beginning of spring, people perform dance performances in the form of adult cows to pray for a good harvest and good fortune. The custom of dancing spring cattle originated in some regions of southern China, such as Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, and other places. Over time, the custom of dancing the spring cow gradually spread to other regions and became an important part of Chinese folk culture.
However, with the development of modern society and the process of urbanization, not only are cattle becoming scarce, but these traditional folk activities are gradually being forgotten. Many young people can't distinguish between ploughing cattle, and are even more unfamiliar with the customs of beating and dancing spring cattle, and even don't even know the existence of these activities. The disappearance of these folk activities is not only a loss of culture, but also a kind of nostalgia.
On this day of the beginning of spring, let us recall those distant folk customs and feel the charm of traditional culture. At the same time, let us work together to inherit and develop these traditional folk activities, so that our nostalgia will always flow in our hearts.