今日立春：关于立春的9个小常识 24 Solar Terms: 9 things you may not know about Start of Spring

The traditional Chinese solar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Start of Spring, the first solar term of the year, begins this year on Feb 4 and ends on Feb 18.

中国传统二十四节气的第一个节气是立春，今年的立春从2月4日开始，2月18日结束。

Start of Spring lifts the curtain of spring. After that everything turns green and full of vigor; people clearly see that the daytime is becoming longer and the weather is becoming warmer.

立春拉开了春天的帷幕。立春之后，万物吐绿，生机勃勃，人们可以明显地发现白天变长了，天气变暖和了。

Here are nine things you should know about Start of Spring.

一起来了解关于立春的9个小常识。

Start of Spring and Spring Festival

立春和春节

As a solar term, Start of Spring had already entered people's lives in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). At that time, there were eight solar terms. According to some experts, the 24 solar terms were used for the first time in books during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), when the Start of Spring was set as the Spring Festival. In 1913, the first day of the first month of the lunar year was mandated as the Spring Festival.

早在春秋时期（公元前770至476年），立春节气就进入了百姓生活。当时只有8个节气。据专家介绍，二十四节气的说法是在西汉时期（公元前206年至公元24年）首次在典籍中出现的，当时立春就是春节。1913年，农历一月的第一天被定为春节。