The traditional version of "Dragon Raising its Head" on the Spring Dragon Festival on February 2

Today is the second day of the second month in the lunar calendar, which is the traditional version of "The second day of the second month, the dragon raises its head", symbolizing the return of spring and the revival of all things. In the north, the second day of the second month is also called the Dragon Raising its Head Day, the Spring Dragon Festival, and the Farmer's Head Festival. In the south it is called the Outing Festival, and in ancient times it was called the Picking Vegetables Festival. What is the Spring Dragon Festival all about? Let’s see what I know about the Spring Dragon Festival.

The traditional version of "Dragon Raising its Head" on the Spring Dragon Festival on February 2

A folk proverb says: "On the second day of the second month, the dragon raises its head." Around the second day of the second month in the lunar calendar is Jingzhe, one of the 24 solar terms. It is said that on this day, the hibernating dragons will be awakened by the rumbling spring thunder and will raise their heads. Therefore, the ancients called the second day of the second month of the lunar calendar the Spring Dragon Festival, also known as the Dragon Head Festival or the Green Dragon Festival. Therefore, on this day people go to the banks of rivers to worship the Dragon God. The Records of the Customs of China - Shouchun Sui Shi Ji states: "On the second day of the second month, people burn fragrant incense to offer sacrifices to the dragon god." As is known to all, the dragon has been a totem believed in by the Chinese nation since ancient times. So we proudly declare that the descendants of Yan and Huang are the descendants of the dragon. For thousands of years, people have regarded the dragon as a mysterious auspicious animal. "February 2" is the day when the dragon raises its head, so it naturally becomes an important festival among the people, and many customs are also related to the dragon. In fact, the saying "On the second day of the second month, the dragon raises its head" is related to ancient astronomy. In ancient China, the Twenty-Eight Mansions were used to indicate the positions of the sun, moon and stars in the sky and to determine the seasons. Among the twenty-eight constellations, seven of them, namely Jiao, Kang, Di, Fang, Xin, Wei and Ji, form a complete dragon-shaped constellation, and Jiao is like a dragon's horn. Every February, after the spring breeze, the dragon's horn star appears on the eastern horizon at dusk, so it is called "the dragon raising its head."