Twenty four solar terms of the lunar calendar

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: 24 solar terms of the lunar calendar

Applicant: Suichang County, Zhejiang Province

Item No.: 516

Project No.: Ⅹ - 68

Time of publication: 2011 (the third batch)

Category: folk customs

Region: Zhejiang Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Suichang County, Zhejiang Province

Protection unit: Suichang Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center

Introduction to the 24 solar terms of the lunar calendar

Applicant: Suichang County, Zhejiang Province

Banchun persuading farmers is a form of greeting spring culture in the traditional agricultural civilization preserved in Suichang County, Zhejiang Province. "Ban" is the same as "ban", and "ban Chun" is the spring order issued by "persuading farmers" to encourage farming. Since ancient times, county-level officials in Suichang have held spring whip etiquette, issued spring decrees and advised farmers to cultivate when spring ploughing is coming, which is called "ban Chun advised farmers".

Tang Xianzu (1500-1616), a famous writer in the Ming Dynasty, issued the "spring ploughing order" to the people of Suichang in 1593, and wrote two poems of banchun. The folk custom background of his famous opera "Peony Pavilion - persuading farmers" is based on Suichang. After the Republic of China, the official activities of persuading farmers were stopped, while the folk activities of persuading farmers were still held. On the spring day, people in urban and rural areas prepare incense candles, sacrifice heaven and earth (gods), insert plum blossoms, and fire firecrackers to show "welcome the spring". This custom continues to this day. Local people regard the beginning of spring as a new year.

In the late 1970s, the villagers of Datian village spontaneously resumed the banchun agricultural exhortation ceremony, including parade, offering offerings, lighting candles, offering sacrifices to the ancestors, inviting the God of goumang, arranging flowers, enjoying wine, whipping spring cattle, firing firecrackers, ploughing in the field, handing out spring cakes, etc. In 2009, the activity base of "banchun persuading farmers" was established in Datou village, Datuo Town, and the "folk custom museum" was established to collect the material materials of farming culture.

The project is a valuable legacy of traditional folk rituals of agricultural civilization with a long history in China. It is of great significance to inherit the fine traditions of the Chinese nation and carry forward the national spirit. It also has important historical and folkloric research value.