Lichun

Lichun
Woodcut depicting Risshun (Suzuki Harunobu, c. 1768)
Chinese name
Chinese	立春
Literal meaning	start of spring
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin lì chūn Bopomofo ㄌㄧˋ ㄔㄨㄣ Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization laahp chēun Jyutping laap6 ceon1
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	lập xuân
Chữ Hán	立春
North Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl	립춘
Hancha	立春
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Ripchun
South Korean name
Hangul	입춘
Hanja	立春
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Ipchun
Japanese name
Kanji	立春
Hiragana	りっしゅん
Katakana	リッシュン
Transcriptions Romanization risshun

The traditional Chinese calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms. The first one is known as lichun in Chinese, risshun in Japanese, ipchun in Korean, and lập xuân in Vietnamese. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 315° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 330°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 315°. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around February 4 and ends around February 18 (February 19 East Asia time). It is also the beginning of a sexagenary cycle.

Lichun signifies the beginning of spring in East Asian cultures.^[1]