use of the に in 一番に, and about て form

Question

Hi can someone help me to figure out what that に in 朝起きて一番に is doing? I´m confused. is it indicating an absolute time, or is it making it an adverbial for what comes next? and also, all the て forms is the connective -and-?

朝起きて一番に中庭に集まって家族みんなで太極拳をします

Answer 1

This 一番に is an adverb that means "first(ly)". に is a particle that makes the previous word adverbial. For example 永遠 means "eternity" and 永遠に means "eternally". 元気 means "energy/spirit" and 元気に means "energetically". Likewise, 一番 means "number one" or "the first/top", and 一番に is its adverbial version.

Those te-forms are just connecting several actions, namely 起きる, 集まる, and (太極拳を)する.

• 彼は一番に到着した。
  He arrived first. / He was the first to arrive.
• 朝起きて一番に中庭に集まって家族みんなで太極拳をします。
  The first thing my family do in the morning is gather in the courtyard and do tai chi together.