The ancients said: the year's plan is set in spring, the day's plan at dawn.
Tips
history
Recorded in the Liang-dynasty compendium 《纂要》 by Xiao Tong (萧统): '一年之计在于春，一日之计在于晨' — often cited as a paired proverb. Originally advice about agricultural timing, later generalized to any planning.
culture
In agrarian China, spring planting decided the autumn harvest — miss spring and the year was lost. Today it's used as New Year / start-of-year motivation for setting goals.
