Why does the dragon raise its head on February 2?

This article was reviewed by Shao Lin, a popular science writer of ancient folk literature

Today is the second day of the second month in the lunar calendar, the day when the dragon raises its head, which is a traditional folk festival in my country.

According to legend, "On the second day of the second month, you should shave the dragon's head", so many people will go get a haircut today to get a good start. Besides, "getting a haircut in the first month of the year will kill your uncle", so after a month, most people need to get a haircut.

Do you know why there are sayings like "getting a haircut in the first month of the lunar year will kill your uncle" and "the second day of the second month of the lunar year is the day when the dragon raises its head"? Let's find out with me!

It turns out that "getting a haircut in the first month of the lunar year will cause your uncle to die" is a misunderstanding. At first, it was just used to express the longing for the previous dynasty, which actually meant "missing the old days". After being passed around, it became "dead uncle".

Why does the dragon raise its head on February 2? This has to start with astronomy in ancient times. In order to make it easier for people to observe celestial phenomena, astronomers at that time divided the constellations near the ecliptic into 28 groups, namely the "28 Mansions".

The "Twenty-Eight Mansions" are divided into four groups according to the four directions of east, west, south and north: the Eastern Blue Dragon, the Western White Tiger, the Southern Vermillion Bird and the Northern Black Tortoise. However, in the Eastern group, there are seven more Mansions, namely Jiao, Kang, Di, Fang, Xin, Wei and Ji, which form a dragon-shaped constellation, namely the "Eastern Blue Dragon". Jiao is the dragon's horn. Shortly after nightfall in mid-spring every year, Jiao will appear on the eastern horizon, but the other parts are still hidden below the horizon, so it is called "Dragon Raising its Head".

Now, do you all understand?

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