有人說，春分是一年中最美的時節。
此時，春暖花開，楊柳青青，草長鶯飛，桃紅李白迎春黃。
春分，古時又稱為「日中」「日夜分」「仲春之月」。
春分作為一年的第四個節氣，今年從3月21日開始，4月4日結束。
春分的英文叫做「the Spring Equinox /ˈiːkwɪnɒks/」。
Equinox是指一年中兩次日夜平分的時刻，即春分或秋分(one of the two times in a year when night and day are of equal length)。
春分這一天，太陽直射地球赤道，晝夜時間相等。
On the day of the Spring Equinox, sun is directly above the equator.
在春分當天，太陽直射赤道。
自此之後，漸漸晝長夜短。
After the equinox, the sun moves northwards, resulting in gradually longer day time in the Northern Hemisphere and longer night in the Southern Hemisphere.
春分過後，太陽向北移動，北半球的白天時間逐漸變長，南半球的夜晚變長。
關於春分，還有很多習俗和講究，一起來看看吧。
燕子北飛
Swallows fly north
The ancient Chinese people divided the fifteen days of the Spring Equinox into three "hou's," or five-day parts.
中國古人把春分的十五天分為三個「候」，每個「候」即五天。
As the old saying goes, swallows fly back to the North in the first hou; thunder cracks the sky in the second hou; lightning occurs frequently in the third hou, which vividly reveals the climate feature during the Spring Equinox.
俗話說：一候玄鳥至，二候雷乃發聲，三候始電;生動地揭示了春分期間的氣候特徵。
立蛋遊戲
Egg-standing games
Standing an egg upright is a popular game across the country during the Spring Equinox. It is an old custom that dates back to 4,000 years ago. People practice this tradition to celebrate the coming of spring.
春分時節，各地都興玩豎雞蛋的遊戲。這一古老習俗可追溯到4000年前。人們借這一傳統慶祝春之來臨。
It is believed that if someone can make the egg stand, he will have good luck in the future.
人們相信，能立起雞蛋的人，一定鴻運當頭。
據分析，春分是玩這個遊戲的最佳時間，因為在這一天，66.5度傾斜的地球地軸與地球繞太陽公轉的軌道平面，剛好處於一種力的相對平衡狀態，有利於立蛋。
放風箏
Flying kites
In ancient times, people did not have good medical resources. So to pray for health, they wrote their medical issues on paper kite. When the kite was in the air, people would cut off the string to let the paper kite float away, symbolizing the flying away of diseases.
古時醫療條件不佳。為祈求健康，人們把所染疾病寫在紙風箏上。風箏高飛時，就剪斷風箏線，讓它隨風飄走，寓意疾病遠離。
Later flying kites developed into a popular game of spring. On the Spring Equinox, people write a blessing on the kite, hoping that the gods in the sky would see it.
後來，放風箏漸漸成為人們在春天愛玩的遊戲。春分時，人們在風箏上寫下祝福，祈願天上神靈能看見。
春分吃春菜
Eating spring vegetables
Eating spring vegetables during the Spring Equinox is a commonly practiced custom in many regions of China. 'Spring vegetables' refers to seasonal vegetables that differ from place to place.
在中國各地都有春分吃春菜的習俗。「春菜」指的是各地不同的時令蔬菜。
The ancient teachings in the Chinese classic, Huangdi Neijing, suggests that people eat seasonal foods to help preserve health and bring good luck.
中國古典名著《黃帝內經》認為，吃時令食物有助養生，帶來好運。
犒勞耕牛
Reward farm cattle
This practice is popular in the southern area of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. As the Spring Equinox comes, farm work starts and both the farmers and the cattle start to become busy. Farmers will reward cattle with sticky rice balls to express their gratefulness.
江南地區流行犒勞耕牛。春分一到，耕牛即開始一年的勞作，農民以糯米糰餵耕牛表示犒賞。
Meanwhile, people will also make sacrifice to birds, to thank them for bringing signals for farm work and to ask them not to eat grains later in the year.
人們還有祭祀百鳥的習俗，一則感謝它們提醒農時，二是希望鳥類不要啄食五穀，祈禱豐年之意。
大好春光，莫要辜負，多出門走走，賞花踏青，享受一年中最美好的時光吧。