Post by Lady Anastasia on Mar 23, 2008 15:13:58 GMT -5
March 20 or 21 is Shunbun no Hi, or Vernal Equinox Day, a day when the sun crosses the equator making night and day equal in length. It's a national holiday in Japan, a day to commune with nature and to show our affection for all living things.
The seven-day period starting three days before Vernal Equinox Day and ending three days after is called higan. Higan, which also occurs around Autumnal Equinox Day, is - along with New Year's and the bon festival in the summer - a time when we pay our respects to ancestors. Visits are made to the family grave, cleaning it and offering flowers and incense to console ancestral spirits.
Following Vernal Equinox Day, days gradually get longer and nights shorter. There's an old saying that the chill of winter finally disappears after Shunbun no Hi, and temperatures do get higher from around this time. Cherry blossoms - the most popular symbol of spring in Japan - begin to bloom, first in the south and then in the colder parts of the country in the north.
(VERNAL EQUINOX Day)
Like Fall Equinox, Vernal Equinox is one of the most traditional Japanese National Holidays. These holidays seem to have a double origin.
One is the celebration of seasonal change typical of an agricultural society: this is the day when the day-time and the night-time are equal length. The actual date of the Vernal Equinox day may change from year to year due to leap year. Based on the Buddhist teaching, this Vernal Equinox is also called Higan no Chu-Nichi, as is Autumn Equinox on September 23rd.
Many Japanese visit their family tombs on this day in the middle of the week of Higan to pay their respects to their ancestors. People weed their family tombs, and leave flowers, incense and ohagi (sweet rice balls covered with red bean paste). It is tradition that ancestors' spirits prefer round food!
Japanese consider this period the changing of the season, because it is usually around Higan that the cold front hanging over the Japanese islands weakens, and the weather changes to spring. Thus we have a saying
"Atsusa samusa mo Higan made" ("Heat and cold last until Higan").
or
“Hot and cold weather last until the equinox”.
This week-long ceremony takes place on the spring and fall equinoxes, the middle of an important week when the weather is usually very good.
The seven-day period starting three days before Vernal Equinox Day and ending three days after is called higan. Higan, which also occurs around Autumnal Equinox Day, is - along with New Year's and the bon festival in the summer - a time when we pay our respects to ancestors. Visits are made to the family grave, cleaning it and offering flowers and incense to console ancestral spirits.
Following Vernal Equinox Day, days gradually get longer and nights shorter. There's an old saying that the chill of winter finally disappears after Shunbun no Hi, and temperatures do get higher from around this time. Cherry blossoms - the most popular symbol of spring in Japan - begin to bloom, first in the south and then in the colder parts of the country in the north.
(VERNAL EQUINOX Day)
Like Fall Equinox, Vernal Equinox is one of the most traditional Japanese National Holidays. These holidays seem to have a double origin.
One is the celebration of seasonal change typical of an agricultural society: this is the day when the day-time and the night-time are equal length. The actual date of the Vernal Equinox day may change from year to year due to leap year. Based on the Buddhist teaching, this Vernal Equinox is also called Higan no Chu-Nichi, as is Autumn Equinox on September 23rd.
Many Japanese visit their family tombs on this day in the middle of the week of Higan to pay their respects to their ancestors. People weed their family tombs, and leave flowers, incense and ohagi (sweet rice balls covered with red bean paste). It is tradition that ancestors' spirits prefer round food!
Japanese consider this period the changing of the season, because it is usually around Higan that the cold front hanging over the Japanese islands weakens, and the weather changes to spring. Thus we have a saying
"Atsusa samusa mo Higan made" ("Heat and cold last until Higan").
or
“Hot and cold weather last until the equinox”.
This week-long ceremony takes place on the spring and fall equinoxes, the middle of an important week when the weather is usually very good.