立春
Lì Chūn · Start of Spring
Each year lands around 2/4 in the Gregorian calendar (the exact date shifts slightly year to year).
Three Hou — five days each
- East wind unfreezes the soil
- Hibernating creatures begin to stir
- Fish rise to the underside of the ice
The 'three hou' (三候) is the traditional five-day-each observation pattern within a single solar term — fifteen days in all.
What this term marks
Li-Chun (Start of Spring) is the first of the twenty-four solar terms. 'Li' means 'beginning'; the qi of spring begins to rise here, and all things start to stir. In BaZi practice, Li-Chun — not Lunar New Year's Eve — is when the year changes.
Folklore & farming
Folk custom 'biting spring' (咬春) — eating raw radish or spring-roll pancakes on this day to greet the new energy. Farmers' saying: 'If you don't plough on Li-Chun, you may as well go begging.'
What it means in a BaZi chart
Li-Chun marks the precise change of the year-pillar (and zodiac sign) in BaZi. Anyone born after January 1 but BEFORE Li-Chun is still in the prior year for BaZi purposes.
Guidance, not prophecy. For reflection, not decision.