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.

中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)二十四節(jié)氣的第一個(gè)節(jié)氣是立春，今年的立春從2月4日開(kāi)始，2月18日結(jié)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.

立春拉開(kāi)了春天的帷幕。立春之后，萬(wàn)物吐綠，生機(jī)勃勃，人們可以明顯地發(fā)現(xiàn)白天變長(zhǎng)了，天氣變暖和了。

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

一起來(lái)了解關(guān)于立春的9個(gè)小常識(shí)。

Start of Spring and Spring Festival

立春和春節(jié)

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.

早在春秋時(shí)期（公元前770至476年），立春節(jié)氣就進(jìn)入了百姓生活。當(dāng)時(shí)只有8個(gè)節(jié)氣。據(jù)專家介紹，二十四節(jié)氣的說(shuō)法是在西漢時(shí)期（公元前206年至公元24年）首次在典籍中出現(xiàn)的，當(dāng)時(shí)立春就是春節(jié)。1913年，農(nóng)歷一月的第一天被定為春節(jié)。