OSINCHAE(오신채)-IPCHUN (입춘/ 立春)

입춘

Ipchun

[ 立春 ]

Around February 4 of the Gregorian calendar

Ipchun is the first of the 24 solar terms, and Ipchun is the first day of spring in the new year.

In Korea, there is a custom of eating fresh sprouts(O-sin-chae; the first 5 different sprouts which have survived the cold) on Ipchun. These greens contain five kinds of bitter greens, which means to be healthy in balance and harmony throughout the year by evenly consuming nutrients such as vitamin C, iron, and minerals that were lacking during the cold winter.

오신채 OSINCHAE

What are the oshinchae?

Five kinds of spring onion mountain mustard, angelica plant, water-dropwort sprout, and radish sprout, or eight herbs with strong stimuli such as green onion, garlic, wild chives, radish, and chives (green onion, garlic, chives, chives, rapeseed, chives) Among all, newly sprouted shoots or shoots of water parsley, those with five colors of yellow, red, blue, black, and white were selected to eat the day of ipchun.

ALSO

Osinchae is the Five Foods Forbidden by Buddhism.

Oshinchae is an incomparable material in temples. There are 5 types of garlic, green onion, chives, Korean wild chives and Chinese squill, and most of them are characterized by strong stimulation and a lot of smell. The reason why these foods are forbidden in Buddhism is that they are spicy in nature and have a strong fragrance, which disturbs the mind, interferes with Buddhist practice, and contains ingredients that promote incarnation.