Spring Equinox Customs

The Spring Equinox sacrifice to the Sun was one of the most important seasonal ceremonies of the imperial state. Ancient ritual culture emphasized “worshipping the Sun in the morning and the Moon in the evening.” After the Spring Equinox, the days gradually lengthen, the nights shorten, and *yang* energy rises, so sacrifice was offered to the solar deity; after the Autumn Equinox, when nights become longer than days, sacrifice was instead directed toward the Moon. The *Book of Rites* records simply: “祭日于坛”—“sacrifice to the Sun at an altar.” The Tang scholar Kong Yingda explained in his commentary: “谓春分也”, “this refers to the Spring Equinox.” The practice was transmitted through successive dynasties.

The ritual site was generally located in the outskirts of the capital. Beijing’s Altar of the Sun, also known as the Chaori Altar, was the dedicated place where Ming and Qing emperors worshipped the Sun on the Spring Equinox. At sunrise on that day, the emperor proceeded to the altar to perform the “Chaori”, or Morning Audience with the Sun. In years whose Heavenly Stems were jia, bing, wu, geng, or ren, the emperor officiated in person; in other years, officials acted on his behalf. During the Ming, the ceremony included presenting jade and silk, three rounds of libations, seven musical performances, dances by eight ranks of performers, and the grand rite of three kneelings and nine prostrations. The Qing writer Pan Rongbi noted in *Dijing Suishi Jisheng*: “春分祭日，秋分祭月，乃国之大典，士民不得擅祀。” The sacrifice to the Sun may not have ranked as highly as the great sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, but it nonetheless formed part of the most solemn ceremonial order of the state.

At times, emperors also worshipped the First Farmer around the Spring Equinox. In an agrarian society, agricultural production stood at the heart of the state, and such rites likewise expressed the wish to invite auspiciousness and ensure a favorable farming year.

The tradition of sacrificing to the Sun at the Spring Equinox began in the Zhou dynasty. The ancients believed that after the Equinox, *yang* energy rose and therefore required a ritual response expressing reverence and gratitude toward the Sun. During the Yuan dynasty, a dedicated Altar of the Sun was constructed, and the Ming and Qing courts continued the institution.

After the fall of the Qing dynasty, the official imperial rite disappeared, but popular forms of solar worship in Beijing did not vanish entirely. During the past several decades, the long-interrupted state rites dedicated to Heaven, Earth, the Sun, and the Moon have gradually been reconstructed in the capital. At the Spring Equinox of 2012, an imperial Sun Sacrifice was staged again in Ritan Park after an interruption of more than 160 years. Drawing on Qing ceremonial records, performers reconstructed historical costumes, ritual objects, and musical instruments in an attempt to recreate the grandeur of the imperial ceremony. In 2023, the Spring Equinox customs of Wendeng District, Shandong, were included in the municipal intangible cultural heritage list.

On the day of the Spring Equinox, visitors may go to Beijing’s Ritan Park to watch reconstructed Sun Sacrifice ceremonies, usually held in the morning. Ritual music is performed, and spectators may join the symbolic “salute to the Sun” together with the actor portraying the emperor, expressing reverence toward the natural world. Specific schedules are best checked in advance through Ritan Park or Beijing’s cultural and tourism authorities.

After the Spring Equinox, temperatures gradually rise and the natural world returns to life, making it an ideal season for excursions and outdoor activity. Folk tradition often treats the Equinox as the formal beginning of the spring outing season, and kite flying has long been one of its essential pleasures. Ancient Chinese kites were commonly made of silk or paper and shaped like hawks, which is why they were known as “纸鹞” or “纸鸢.” Over time, their forms became increasingly diverse, ranging from character-shaped and fish-shaped kites to moth, thunder-insect, and moon designs; large examples could reach two meters in height, while smaller ones still measured several *chi*.

Kite flying often became a friendly competition to see whose kite could rise highest or travel farthest. The ancients also believed that a kite could “carry away misfortune.” Troubles might be written on the paper kite, and when its string broke, worries were thought to disappear with it into the wind. The Spring Equinox is also an especially good season for children to fly kites, recalled in the famous poetic line “儿童散学归来早，忙趁东风放纸鸢”—children return early from school and hurry to fly paper kites on the east wind. At this time of year the east wind is gentle and steady, creating ideal flying conditions. Weifang, celebrated as the World Capital of Kites, holds a major kite festival each spring.

Spring outings and kite flying around the Equinox have very deep roots. Kites have a history of more than two thousand years in China. They were originally used for military communication before gradually becoming a popular form of recreation. The ancients observed that after the Spring Equinox, *yang* energy rose and the east wind strengthened, making it the most favorable season for kite flying.

Within traditional culture, however, flying a kite was more than entertainment. It also carried the hope of releasing misfortune and welcoming good luck. Running through the open landscape and sending a kite into the spring sky harmonized naturally with the vitality of the season itself.

Around the Spring Equinox, kite flyers can be found in parks and public squares throughout China. Kites can easily be purchased and flown in open areas. The annual international kite festival in Weifang, Shandong, is one of the world’s best-known kite gatherings and welcomes international visitors. Many other cities also organize public kite-flying events during the season.

“春分到，蛋儿俏。” Balancing an egg upright at the Spring Equinox is a long-standing Chinese folk custom. The game is simple: choose a fresh egg with a relatively smooth shell and carefully try to make it stand vertically on a flat table. According to popular belief, a well-balanced egg may remain upright for many days. Because day and night are equal at the Equinox, *yin* and *yang* are thought to be harmonized and Heaven and Earth held in balance, making this the easiest day of the year to stand an egg upright.

Tradition recommends using an egg laid four or five days earlier to improve the chances of success. In practical terms, the shell contains tiny protrusions that can form a triangular support, and by carefully adjusting the center of gravity the egg can be made to stand. Today, kindergartens, schools, and community organizations often hold egg-balancing and painted-egg activities, allowing children to experience the custom directly.

According to relevant accounts, the Spring Equinox tradition of balancing eggs originated in China around four thousand years ago, when it was used to celebrate the arrival of spring. The ancients regarded the Equinox as the midpoint of the season, when the weather was pleasant and flowers were blooming, and believed the resulting sense of physical and mental ease made balancing an egg more likely to succeed.

In January 1946, Ye Zhishan recounted a story about egg balancing in the magazine *Kaiming Shaonian*. On Beginning of Spring in 1945, a Mr. Yang reportedly invited seven or eight American journalists and military officers to watch him balance eggs, successfully standing a row of thirty at once. Reports by the American journalists caused considerable curiosity overseas. Today, tens of millions of people around the world attempt the game every year at the Spring Equinox, turning what began as a Chinese seasonal custom into a global game. The saying “春分到，蛋儿俏” has likewise become widely familiar among Chinese communities around the world.

Balancing an egg at the Spring Equinox is one of the easiest Beginning of Spring customs to try. Select a smooth, evenly shaped fresh egg and patiently adjust its center of gravity on a flat surface. Communities, schools, and museums often organize egg-balancing contests and egg-painting activities, and international visitors can participate without difficulty.

The Spring Equinox is an important season for ancestral worship and grave sweeping, a practice known as the Spring Sacrifice. Families first conduct a solemn rite in the ancestral hall and prepare a communal sacrificial feast; once the indoor ceremony is complete, they proceed to ancestral burial grounds to sweep and worship at the graves. Through these elaborate rites, participants pray for national peace, social stability, favorable weather, and agricultural abundance.

Before visiting the graves, the clan holds a formal ceremony in the ancestral hall. Pigs and sheep may be slaughtered, musicians invited to perform, and a ritual master recites the sacrificial text while guiding the participants through the three presentations of offerings. The entire clan and sometimes the whole village then proceed together to the clan cemetery, first sweeping the graves of the founding ancestor and remote forebears. Once these have been honored, the various branches of the lineage separately worship their shared ancestors, after which individual households finally tend the private graves of their immediate family.

In many Hakka regions, spring grave sweeping begins at the Spring Equinox or even somewhat earlier and must be completed by Qingming at the latest. One folk belief holds that after Qingming the gates of the underworld tombs close, leaving ancestral spirits unable to receive further offerings.

Spring Equinox ancestral worship belongs to the broader tradition of “praying in spring and giving thanks in autumn.” As *yang* energy rises and all things return to life, the season becomes a natural time for gratitude, remembrance, and renewed connection with one’s ancestors.

The Hakka regions attach particular importance to the custom, where the Spring Sacrifice serves as a major institution for maintaining lineage cohesion. By binding seasonal time directly to family ethics, the rite gives concrete form to the Chinese cultural principle of “慎终追远”—treating the dead with reverence and remembering distant ancestors.

During the Spring Equinox, clan Spring Sacrifices may be observed in Hakka regions of southern Jiangxi, western Fujian, and eastern Guangdong. Some traditional villages open to visitors allow ancestral processions and ceremonies to be watched from a respectful distance. Visitors should check local arrangements beforehand and avoid disturbing the solemnity of the rite.

Around the Spring Equinox, a custom developed of going from household to household to deliver Spring Ox pictures. These prints were traditionally made on large sheets of red or yellow paper and carried the year’s lunar calendar and solar terms together with an image of a farmer plowing behind an ox. The people who distributed them were skilled folk singers and speakers who improvised verses about spring cultivation, auspiciousness, and the importance of not missing the proper agricultural season.

At each household, the performer responded spontaneously to the surroundings, composing lines about whatever he saw until the host was delighted enough to offer payment. Though apparently improvised, the words were expected to be vivid, rhythmical, and rhymed. The performance was popularly known as “说春”, “speaking spring,” and the performer as the “春官”, or Spring Official. The Spring Ox picture itself was carefully designed: on red or yellow paper were printed the dates and hours of the annual calendar, the Four Seasons and Eight Seasonal Nodes, associated recommendations and prohibitions, and agricultural images encouraging diligent cultivation.

At the same time, skilled craftspeople also made Spring Ox figures of cloth, flour dough, wood, fine clay, and other materials. Some lay down while others stood; they were painted, given facial features, and decorated with floral motifs. Depending on the material, these Spring Oxen could serve as display objects, edible gifts, children’s toys, or collectible works of folk art.

The custom of delivering Spring Ox pictures can be traced back to the Zhou-era ritual of whipping the Spring Ox. Distributing such images around the Spring Equinox both continued the symbolic tradition of Beginning of Spring and announced that the busiest phase of spring cultivation was about to begin.

In agrarian society, the Spring Ox print condensed the farmer’s entire imagination of a successful year: the plowing farmer and draft animal depicted on the sheet represented the foundation of the household’s livelihood. The custom belongs to the same cultural lineage as whipping the Spring Ox and announcing spring at Beginning of Spring, combining images with recited or sung words to carry agricultural timing into thousands of homes. On the yellowed New Year prints, a smiling cowherd raises a willow switch while a brightly colored divine ox stands proudly beneath golden ears of grain.

During the Spring Equinox, speaking spring performances may still be seen in some rural areas. Folk-culture villages sometimes organize staged visits by “Spring Officials” distributing Spring Ox pictures, allowing visitors to hear the improvised verses and receive a print. Modern reinterpretations are also available in cultural and creative shops as souvenirs.

“粘雀子嘴”, literally “sticking the sparrows’ beaks,” is one of the more imaginative folk customs of the Spring Equinox. Farmers traditionally take a holiday on this day, and every household eats *tangyuan*. In addition, families cook ten, twenty, or even thirty unfilled glutinous-rice dumplings, skewer them on thin bamboo forks or sticks, and place them outdoors along field boundaries and embankments.

The act symbolically seeks to use the stickiness of the dumplings to seal the beaks of birds that might otherwise eat the grain, thereby protecting the crops and praying for a plentiful harvest. The Spring Equinox is precisely when rice sowing begins in many southern regions, and newly scattered rice seed can easily be eaten by birds, posing a serious threat to seedling cultivation. Farmers therefore imagined that the glutinous texture of the dumplings could “stick” the birds’ mouths shut and prevent them from stealing seed.

The custom also carries a social metaphor. Sparrows chatter incessantly, and their noisy beaks are associated with gossip and disputes; “sticking their mouths” can therefore also symbolize quieting troublesome speech and reducing losses and disturbances at the beginning of the agricultural year. Today the practice survives in some community events and urban households, where dumpling dough may be colored with dragon-fruit juice, spinach juice, and other natural ingredients to make the custom more playful.

The custom arose from a very practical agrarian anxiety: birds eating newly sown crops. In earlier periods, when agricultural productivity was low, farmers could afford almost no waste, including grain consumed by birds. The Spring Equinox coincided with newly sown rice seed, precisely when fields were most vulnerable, giving rise to this highly imaginative response—countering pecking with stickiness, using symbolic action to protect the harvest.

Although especially associated with the Spring Equinox, similar traditions also appear around the Autumn Equinox in some regions.

Visitors to the rice-growing areas of Jiangnan during the Spring Equinox may see farmers placing skewered glutinous-rice dumplings beside fields. The symbolism can be learned and photographed respectfully. At home, unfilled *tangyuan* can also be prepared and placed in a flowerpot as a playful adaptation of the custom.

“春分吃春菜”—eat spring vegetables at the Spring Equinox—is a custom that has continued for centuries. “Spring greens” is a collective name for tender vegetables available in early spring rather than a single species. In Lingnan, however, the term often refers specifically to a kind of wild amaranth locally known as “春碧蒿.” It sprouts early and grows quickly, so by the Spring Equinox tender plants can be found throughout the countryside.

On the day itself, villagers traditionally go out in large numbers to gather the greens. Once brought home, they are quickly boiled with sliced fish into a soup called “Spring Soup.” A saying declares: “春汤灌脏，洗涤肝肠。阖家老少，平安健康。” Another popular expression says: “春分吃春汤，老少都健康。” Beyond Lingnan’s wild amaranth, seasonal spring greens elsewhere include shepherd’s purse, Chinese toon shoots, and *malantou*.

Eating spring greens at the Equinox is traditionally understood as a way of following the rising *yang* energy of the season and adjusting the body to seasonal change. The weeks around the Equinox are among the richest periods for fresh vegetables. Ancient dietary thought held that liver *qi* becomes vigorous in spring and that eating green seasonal vegetables helps clear the liver, brighten the eyes, and harmonize *yin* and *yang*.

The practice embodies the food philosophy of “不时不食”—do not eat what is out of season. To eat the vegetables of spring in spring is to allow the body to move in step with the natural world.

Around the Spring Equinox, fresh shepherd’s purse, Chinese toon shoots, *malantou*, and other spring vegetables can be purchased in markets and prepared as seasonal soups. Restaurants in Lingnan often feature special menus based on fresh spring greens, while rural areas may offer opportunities to gather edible wild plants, provided they are correctly identified and free from pesticide contamination.

In traditional Beijing culture, the Spring Equinox is associated with eating Sun Cakes, symbolizing “rising higher step by step.” These are small round cakes steamed from rice flour, often stamped with designs of the Sun or the Golden Crow, the mythic bird associated with the solar disk. Their form expresses both the welcoming of the Sun and gratitude for the returning light of spring.

After the imperial Sun Sacrifice, ordinary people also used such cakes to honor the spring sunlight. Many seasonal foods associated with the Equinox evolved directly from sacrificial offerings: what once stood on an imperial altar gradually descended into popular life and became part of the ordinary household table.

The origin of the Sun Cake is closely connected with the Spring Equinox sacrifice to the Sun. Ancient rulers worshipped the solar deity at the Altar of the Sun, and cakes symbolizing the Sun appeared among the offerings. The food gradually entered popular culture and became a characteristic seasonal delicacy of old Beijing.

Its name refers both to its circular solar appearance and to the belief that eating it allowed one to receive something of the Sun’s brightness, blessing, and vitality.

Around the Spring Equinox, Sun Cakes can sometimes be purchased at old-established Beijing pastry shops. Folk-cultural venues may also organize workshops where visitors can learn to make them.

Another Jiangnan custom closely tied to spring cultivation is rewarding the draft cattle. At the Spring Equinox, the animals are about to begin a year of strenuous labor, so their owners feed them glutinous-rice balls as a special treat. The aim is to let the cattle eat well and build strength before they begin pulling plows and harrows, so that they can help cultivate the fields, raise good crops, and secure a successful harvest for the household.

The custom reflects the gratitude and value accorded to draft cattle in traditional Chinese agrarian society. Before mechanization, the ox was among the most important sources of labor available to a rural family. The Spring Equinox marked the full beginning of spring plowing, so feeding the animal at this moment was both a gesture of thanks for its past work and an expression of expectation for the labor ahead.

The practice forms an illuminating contrast with the whipping of the Spring Ox at Beginning of Spring. There, the animal being struck is an earthen or symbolic ox, and the gesture represents urging the agricultural year into motion; at the Spring Equinox, the animal being rewarded is a real working ox, and the act expresses practical gratitude. One custom whips, the other rewards, revealing two complementary sides of the human relationship with agricultural animals.

In rural Jiangnan around the Spring Equinox, visitors may still encounter the gentle sight of farmers feeding glutinous-rice balls to their cattle. Some agricultural tourism sites also organize participatory activities in which visitors can help feed the animals.

In earlier times, the Spring Equinox was also a season for wearing flowers in the hair and drinking wine. Men and women, young and old, might all decorate themselves with blossoms. The period also falls close to the Flower Festival, traditionally associated with the birthday of the flower deity on the twelfth day of the second lunar month and usually not far from the Spring Equinox.

To honor the deity of flowers, communities held Flower Festival celebrations, markets filled with fresh blossoms, and literary gatherings were decorated with abundant flowers. In present-day Beijing, elements of the old Huazhao tradition have developed into various floral exhibitions around the Spring Equinox.

The custom of wearing fresh flowers has existed in China for more than a thousand years and was especially fashionable during the Tang dynasty. At the Spring Equinox, when flowers were just beginning to open, placing blossoms in the hair served both as personal adornment and as praise for the season.

Because the Flower Festival falls close to the Spring Equinox, the two traditions gradually overlapped, giving the season a refined social character combining flower viewing, floral adornment, and drinking gatherings.

Around the Spring Equinox, parks throughout China enter their flower-viewing season, and many cities organize Flower Festival events or exhibitions. Visitors can also wear fresh flowers themselves and experience something of the pleasure once associated with this ancient custom.

In some areas, the Spring Equinox was associated with planting a “fire-preventing herb” on the roof. The plant referred to varieties of fleshy stonecrop, and the ancients believed that growing it above the house could protect the household against fire.

The custom was closely related to seasonal conditions after the Equinox, when temperatures rose and dry winds could increase the risk of fire. Planting the herb thus became a symbolic way of praying for safety within the home.

References to fire-preventing plants occur in a number of old texts. The ancients believed that certain species possessed a spiritual capacity to ward off fire and therefore planted them on rooftops as protection.

Although the practice carried a strong element of folk belief, it also reflected a practical awareness of the heightened fire risk associated with dry spring weather and represents a simple traditional response to that concern.

Around the Spring Equinox, stonecrop and other succulent plants can be grown on a balcony or rooftop as a modern way of experiencing this old household blessing custom.

Anren County in Chenzhou, Hunan, preserves the old Ganfenshe tradition. The traditional gathering centered on three elements: sacrifice, assembly, and trade. By the day of the Spring Equinox itself, the festivities reached their height.

The sacrificial program includes rites dedicated to Shennong and a ceremonial opening of the agricultural season. This opening ceremony forms one of the principal events of the festival, with local communities using traditional labor rituals to commemorate the achievements of the Flame Emperor Shennong, who according to legend created the *lei* and *si* agricultural tools and taught the people to cultivate the land.

Ganfenshe also combines religious rites with the trade in traditional medicinal herbs. Merchants arrive from neighboring Hengshan, Hengnan, Anren, Youxian, Chaling, Zhuzhou, and even from Jiangxi and other provinces. During the Spring Equinox season of 2017, the county attracted more than 200,000 medicine merchants and visitors from Guangdong, Yunnan, Guizhou, and other regions, creating an exceptionally lively gathering. The Anren Ganfenshe tradition has been included in China’s national intangible cultural heritage.

According to local tradition, Ganfenshe can be traced to the Ming dynasty. Agricultural officials, seeking to govern diligently, remain close to the people, and avoid delays to the farming season, designated the Spring Equinox as a trading day so that ordinary households could prepare agricultural tools, draft cattle, seed, and other necessities in time.

Because the Spring Equinox marks the full beginning of spring cultivation, a large gathering at this moment allowed communities both to exchange farming knowledge and to trade tools, cattle, medicinal plants, and other necessities of production and daily life. The custom therefore binds seasonal timing, local economic exchange, and folk belief together in a distinctive regional expression of Spring Equinox culture.

Visitors may travel to Anren County in Hunan around the Spring Equinox to experience Ganfenshe. The event lasts approximately half a month and includes sacrificial ceremonies, local theatrical performances, medicinal-herb trading, and other activities. Specific schedules should be checked in advance through local cultural and tourism authorities.