There is a Chinese folk saying that the year when there is no beginning of spring throughout the lunar year is called the "blind year" or "widow's year", and it is not advisable to marry in such a year, otherwise it may be detrimental to the marriage or the parties to the marriage. Actually, there is no truth to this statement.
The ancients believed in yin and yang. In a year, according to the art of landscape surveying, two days are divided: the "summer solstice" with the longest sunshine time and the shortest "winter solstice". It is thought that the "summer solstice" is the time when the yang energy is at its peak, and the "winter solstice" is the time when the yin energy is at its peak. A year from the winter solstice, "a yang begins", yang energy slowly rises, to the "summer solstice" reaches the peak, and then the yin energy slowly grows, to the "winter solstice" reaches the peak, year after year.
In the concept of the ancients, yin and yang are not only "qi", but also gods, creators, and human ancestors.
From the seasonal point of view, spring yin minus yang, summer yang, autumn yang decay yin, winter yin sheng, and repeatedly, it can also be said that spring is less yang, summer is old yang, autumn is less yin, and winter is old yin.
In terms of gender, yang is male and yin is female. People can be subdivided into young men, old fathers, young girls, and old mothers. At this time, if the yin and yang of the four seasons are matched with the yin and yang of people, the corresponding four pairs will be obtained, namely, young yang - young man, old yang - old father, young yin - girl, old yin - old mother.
The year without the "beginning of spring" is called the "year of the widow", which is related to the above understanding of the ancients. There is no "beginning of spring" in a year, that is, there is no yang energy coming. No yang is solitary yin, and it is not born. For people, there is no yang, that is, there is no male match, and it is naturally a widow. This is where the so-called "Year of the Widow" comes from.
In fact, the absence of "Lichun" in a certain year is not the way of heaven, but the arrangement of the calendar. The year 2024 is known as the Year of the Widow because in the Chinese lunar calendar, there is no solar term called "Lichun" throughout the year. This scenario occurs 7 times in a 19-year cycle, and 2024 is one of them. The Year of the Goat in 1991, the Year of the Ox in 1997, the Year of the Horse in 2002, the Year of the Rat in 2008, the Year of the Snake in 2013, the Year of the Pig in 2019, the Year of the Dragon in 2024, and so on are all springless years.
Therefore, as long as two people are gracious, every day is a good day, and every year is a happy year!