一直以来都很喜欢读@dbooster老师介绍日本72个微季节Microseason的系列博客。哦，今天已经到了传统24节气的大寒了！很快就到中国的传统农历新年了！
I love reading the series of blogs about 72 Microseasons of Japan from Teacher @dbooster all along. Unconsciously, today has begun Daikan (大寒), the 24th and last solar term (节气), indicating the arrival of Chinese spring festival.
我查了一下日历，今年的春节是2月1日。而立春则是在2月4日，即大寒节日持续到2月3日，和老师讲的一模一样。
According to the Chinese calendar, it shows that Chinese spring festival of 2022 falls on Feb 1st and Ris Chun(立春) of 2022 falls on Feb 4th, which is the same as what Teacher wrote:
Daikan lasts until Feb 3rd.
(But Rin Chun solar term lasts from Feb 4 to Feb 18.)
说来惭愧，如果不是读老师的博客，我居然一直搞不懂立春和春节的关系。我记得小时候，大人们说小孩子的虚岁一般是按立春前后计算，而不是按春节前后计算的。
However, ashamed to say, if not for Teacher's blog, I would not know the relationship between Chinese spring festival and Rin Chun(立春) well. I remember when I was a child, the adults often talked about the nominal age of their kids. Oh, what is the nominal age？It is rather difficult to answer this question for me. In China, people are accustomed to counting the age by both "the nominal age(虚岁)" and "full year of life(周岁)". I guess in west countries people should have never heard of "the nominal age", since few of them know about 24 solar term(节气) and the traditional Chinese calendar. Oh, how to explain "the nominal age"？We can say that once the baby is born, it means he/she is 1 year old in the nominal age, so your nominal age is always your "full age of life" plus 1 year old. Yeah, it sounds very simple. But... my God, sorry, I don't know how to go into details about them in English. In fact, I'm afraid that I will fail to explain them in my native language--Chinese, too.
大人们说小孩子的虚岁一般是按“立春”前后计算，而不是按“春节”前后计算的。如果今年的立春在春节前，那么立春后春节前出生的小孩有福了，他的虚岁只需加周岁一岁；但如果是在立春前的腊月出生，他的虚岁要加周岁两岁。唉，我也解释不好。我只知道，我妹妹出生在腊月，她的虚岁就比周岁多两岁。而和她同年出生的一个小男孩，虽则只比她晚出生了几天，也没过农历新年，但已立春了，他的虚岁就只加周岁一岁。我原来一直不懂这个传统的来源是什么，到今天才算弄懂了。居然是按24节气走的。
（This photo of my sister's birthday dinner was taken just a few days ago. You can see a cute birthday cake, some spicy fish and garlic crayfish, Tofu slices and peanuts. Her birthday is in January--the first month of Gregorian calendar, but belongs to the 12th month--the last month of Chinese lunar calendar. Such an embarrassing date---during the overlap/intercourse of a new year 2022 and an old year 2021! ）
(Sorry. If anyone is interested in reading the above paragraph in Chinese, please use Google Translation by yourself. It is really a huge challenge for me to explain it in English.)
People say that a child's nominal age is usually calculated around the Rin Chun/立春, not the Spring Festival. If Rin Chun/立春 this year is before the Spring Festival, then the child born before the Spring Festival but after Rin Chun/立春 is blessed, since his nominal age only needs to add one year to his full age of life/周岁; However, if he was born in the 12th month but before Rin Chun/立春, his nominal age needs be added by two years. Sorry, I can't explain it well. I only know that my sister was born in the twelfth month/the last month of the Chinese lunar calenda, so her nominal age/虚岁 is 2 years older than her real age/周岁. However, a little boy born in the same 12th month of the same year as her and both before the Chinese Spring Festival, to be exact, just during Rin Chun(立春) and Spring Festival, only needs to add only 1 year to his nominal age. Pitifully I've never understood why and how there was such a difference between them before. Until today I get to know that it is because "the nominal age(虚岁)" especially in Chinese countryside is counted from the beginning of 24 solar terms which starts at the Rin Chun(立春) date, instead of Festival Spring--the beginning of Chinese lunar calendar.
All in all, thanks to the series of blogs on Japanese Microseason so much which make clear how 24 Chinese solar terms(24 节气) work. I read them with the great interest each time. 24 solar terms originated from China, but 72 Microseason is absolutely the original creation from Japan. I dare say that common Chinese have no idea about Microseason. These blogs are just a treasure-trove for my part. I can not only learn about the Japanese customs and nature such as its plants, animals and food in different Microseasons, but also wonderful Haiku matching its Microseason from them. Many times I feel as if I was wandering among the 3 different culture backgrounds(China, Japan and US, since Teacher is a bilingual American.) at the same time while reading them. Isn't it a magic？I, being a native Chinese, unexpectedly figure out the origin of a long, long-term confused Chinese customs through a foreigner teacher. I really can't express my joyfulness and my gratitude to his writings enough.
You explained well. They also used to count age in the same way in Japan. People were 1 as soon as born, and everyone went up another year on new years day, so someone born in the 12th month would be born 1 year old and then shortly be 2 years old on new years. A little strange, so I can see why they switched to the Western way. No one uses the old system anymore in Japan, but I think most people are still aware of it. The Japanese use the Chinese pronunciation for 立春 but they change it a little to make it easier for them to say, making it risshun (ri shun).
Glad you enjoy my microseasons forecast!
Oh, thank you for your encouragement very much. I only try my best to explain it. Yeah, I think in China part of the reason why people still use "the nominal age" is due to 12 Chinese zodiac signs. For example, If you were born in the intercourse of the old year and the the new year, i.e., the 12th month of the old year which is also the January of the new year, your zodiac symbol still belongs to the old year, rather than the new year. And I also learned from your blog that Japan abolished the old calendar and shifted into the western calendar from Meiji period, but 24 solar terms and 72 Microseason still remaining. It is the similar case about Emperor era names in China. Of course, now China has no Emperor era names, since there is no Emperor who exists any more. But in ancient China, even in the very recent history--Qing dynasty, people used Emperor era names which is a very old and long tradition, maybe from Han dynasty or even earlier. I have ever seen the characters: 康熙通宝 in the old copper coins. Kang Xi/康熙 is the Emperor era name in Qing dynasty, and his real name is Xuan Ye/玄烨. So Chinese are not strange to Emperor era names.
There are a lot of zodiac pictures during Chinese Spring Festival. After Feb 1st, it will move into the tiger year of 2022. Oh, it is always the happiest and the most sacred time especially for children.
