Chapter 18: Lichun and the System of the Four Beginnings: The Originating Significance of "Beginning"

I. The Foremost of the Four Beginnings: Lichun's "Originating" Position within the System of Solar Terms

Lichun, Lixia, Liqiu, and Lidong are together called the "Four Beginnings" (四立), each marking the commencement of one of the four seasons. Yet among these four "beginnings," Lichun occupies a unique "originating" (元) position—it is not only the beginning of spring, but the beginning of the year, the true starting point of the entire system of the Four Beginnings, and indeed of the entire cycle of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms.

This "originating" position determines the fundamental distinction between Lichun and the other three Beginnings. Lixia, Liqiu, and Lidong are all changes of season "within" a single year—from spring into summer, from summer into autumn, from autumn into winter; they are "process-based" beginnings within the year. Only Lichun marks the change of year, the turn from "the old year" into "the new year"—it is the "fundamental" beginning between one year and the next. If we compare a year to a life, then Lichun is that life's "birth," while Lixia, Liqiu, and Lidong are the different "stages" of that life's growth. Birth and stages carry different weight. The reason Lichun is invested with the lofty status of "the year's beginning" lies precisely in its bearing the "originating" responsibility of "laying the foundation for the year" and "all things owing their beginning."

The Qian hexagram of the Zhouyi speaks of the Four Virtues "yuan, heng, li, zhen" (originating, prevailing, advantageous, firm and correct), with "yuan" (元, originating) placed first. "Yuan is the growth of goodness" (元者，善之长也) (Wenyan Commentary)—yuan is the beginning and the guiding principle of all goodness. Lichun is precisely the "yuan" of the year—it guides, establishes, and opens the entirety of this year's generative growth. From Lichun's "yuan," to Lixia's "heng" (all things flourishing and growing freely), to Liqiu's "li" (all things harvested and brought to fruit), to Lidong's "zhen" (all things gathered in and returned to correctness)—the Four Beginnings correspond precisely to the cycle of the Qian hexagram's "yuan, heng, li, zhen." And Lichun's "yuan" is precisely the beginning and the root of all of this.

II. The "Four Beginnings" as the Joints of Heaven and Earth's Rhythm: Rise, Continuation, Turn, and Conclusion

Within the entire system of solar terms, the "Four Beginnings" play the role of the "joints" of Heaven and Earth's rhythm. If the "Two Equinoxes and Two Solstices" (the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes, the Summer and Winter Solstices) mark the "extremes" of Heaven and Earth's rhythm (the longest, shortest, and equal divisions of day and night), then the "Four Beginnings" mark the "turning points" of Heaven and Earth's rhythm—the joint-points at which the four seasons' operation turns from one season toward the next.

Lichun, Lixia, Liqiu, and Lidong are precisely like the "rise, continuation, turn, and conclusion" (起承转合) of a piece of writing. Lichun is the "rise"—vital qi first sprouting, the year's commencement; Lixia is the "continuation"—continuing spring's generation into growth, all things flourishing; Liqiu is the "turn"—turning from growth to harvest, the operation of qi shifting, from growth toward gathering in; Lidong is the "conclusion"—the harvest gathered and stored, the year's qi returning to its source, awaiting the coming year's "rise." This cycle of "rise, continuation, turn, and conclusion" is precisely the embodiment of the complete rhythm, within a single year, of Heaven and Earth's qi—"generation, growth, harvest, storage." And Lichun, as the "rise" of this cycle, has an importance that goes without saying—without the "rise," there could be no subsequent "continuation," "turn," or "conclusion"; without Lichun's generative growth, there could be no Lixia's nurturing growth, no Liqiu's harvest, no Lidong's gathering and storage.

Looking deeper still, this "rise, continuation, turn, and conclusion" is not linear, with a fixed beginning and end, but cyclical, ceaselessly generative and regenerative. Lidong's "conclusion" (gathering and storage) is not a termination, but rather the foundation gestating the next Lichun's "rise" (generation and growth)—just as the Winter Solstice's Fu hexagram, "the single yang returns," is gestated precisely within the gathering and storage of the utmost yin (the Kun hexagram). Thus the Four Beginnings constitute an eternally cycling circle, and Lichun is precisely that joint upon this circle which the ancients selected as the "starting point," the joint most brimming with vitality and hope. It is both the beginning of the year and the continuation of the previous year's gathering and storage—it is a new starting point at the terminus, a new generative growth within gathering and storage. This cyclical quality of "ending yet beginning anew, ceaselessly generating and regenerating" is precisely the most fundamental characteristic of the Chinese conception of time.

III. Viewing the Chinese Conception of Time through Lichun: Cycle, Rhythm, and "Generating and Regenerating"

Through our examination of Lichun and the system of the Four Beginnings, we can glimpse the most fundamental characteristic of the Chinese conception of time—it is not linear time in the Western manner (possessing an absolute beginning and end, departing never to return), but cyclical, rhythmic time, ceaselessly generating and regenerating.

Within the Chinese conception of time, time is not a straight line forever moving forward, never turning back, but a circle that completes itself and begins again—spring generating, summer growing, autumn harvesting, winter storing, and then spring generating once more. Lichun, as the "year's beginning" upon this circle, is not, in an absolute sense, a "starting point" (a circle inherently has no absolute starting point), but rather the node, most brimming with vitality, which the ancients selected as most fitting to serve as "the beginning," based upon their value orientation of "valuing generation" and "valuing beginnings." Setting the year's beginning at Lichun, the moment all things owe their beginning, vital qi just sprouting, precisely embodies Chinese culture's fundamental reverence for "generation"—taking "generation" as the beginning, taking "generation" as the root, taking "ceaseless generation and regeneration" as the fundamental quality of the cosmos. The Zhouyi states, "ceaseless generation and regeneration is called Yi" (生生之谓易) (Xici zhuan)—generating and generating again, never ceasing, this is the fundamental nature of "Yi" (change, the cosmos). Lichun is precisely the most concentrated embodiment, at the year's beginning, of this "ceaseless generation and regeneration is called Yi."

This cyclical, ceaselessly generative and regenerative conception of time endows the Chinese people with a distinctive attitude toward life—both cherishing every beginning (valuing beginnings) and remaining at peace with every ending (because every ending is already gestating a new beginning); both striving vigorously to generate and grow at the season of Lichun (the plan for the year is made in spring) and peacefully gathering and storing at the season of Lidong (because gathering and storing is precisely in preparation for the coming year's renewed generation). Generation and storage, beginning and ending, advance and withdrawal—all achieve their deepest reconciliation and unity within this cyclical time. This, perhaps, is the most far-reaching life lesson that Lichun—this "solar term of the year's beginning," this "node at which all things owe their beginning"—can offer us: to treat every beginning with solemn seriousness, in a posture of reverence for life; and to face, with the wisdom of one who comprehends the cycle, every beginning and ending, every flourishing and withering, every advance and storage of life, with equanimity.