Li Chun (立春), 2020

With Chinese New Year in 2020 falling early on 25 Jan next year, it is perhaps timely for me to write about next year's Li Chun (立春) now, even before we get to celebrate the Tang Chik festival on the 22nd of this month.

Li Chun or Jip Chun, as it is more commonly called by the Penang Baba Nyonya community, heralds the actual start of the new year according to the Chinese lunisolar calendar. This is the day of the Coming of Spring; when the season is deemed to have turned and Spring is accepted to have begun officially. Astronomically, the sun is calculated to have crossed the 315° longitudinal line in the sky.

The celebration of Chinese New Year Day will vary every year but invariably, Li Chun falls on the fourth day of February although there are some occasions when it is observed on the third day of February. For instance in 2021, Li Chun will fall on the third instead of the fourth.

For next year anyway, Li Chun will fall on 04 February 2020 at 5.05pm. Although it is still 63 days away, it is never too late to prepare for its coming. As usual, my household will ensure that the family rice bucket is filled up with a bountiful supply of uncooked rice to signify abundance for the year, and a new piece of the Chun character (春) is pasted on it. And that's it done for yet another year.

I've been writing about Li Chun in this blog since Year 2007 and you can still read them here:

Li Chun, 2019
Li Chun, 2018
Li Chun, 2017
Li Chun, 2016
Li Chun, 2015
Li Chun, 2014
Li Chun, 2013
Li Chun, 2012
Li Chun, 2011
Li Chun, 2010
Li Chun, 2009
Li Chun, 2008
Li Chun, 2007