3 Yuan Twenty-Four Solar Terms-Stories, Start of Spring

The Twenty-Four Solar Terms — a system for dividing the solar year developed in the Han dynasty and codified over two millennia of agricultural practice — were inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2016. China's mint has issued coins commemorating individual terms across multiple series since then, each tied to a specific moment in the lunisolar calendar. Start of Spring, or *Lìchūn*, falls around February 4th and marks the theoretical end of winter regardless of actual temperature.

The "Stories" subseries within this broader program pairs each term with associated folk customs rather than purely astronomical symbolism — in this case, the tradition of *yíng chūn*, the ceremonial welcoming of spring.