When is Minor Cold? What is the origin of Minor Cold?

When is Minor Cold? What is the origin of Minor Cold?
Minor Cold is the 23rd solar term among the 24 solar terms, marking the beginning of winter. So when is Minor Cold? What is the origin of Minor Cold? Let’s take a look at the following content!

When is Minor Cold?

The date of Minor Cold in 2021: Tuesday, January 5, 2021, Year of the Rat, Winter Month 22, 11:23:17
Characteristics of the Minor Cold solar term:
The weather is getting colder, but it’s not too cold yet. As the saying goes, "The coldest days are in the 39th day of winter." Since the 39th day of winter is basically within this solar term, there is a saying that "Minor Cold is better than Major Cold." During the Lesser Cold season, most parts of my country have entered a period of severe cold, with the soil frozen and rivers frozen. In addition, cold air from the north continues to move south, and the weather is so cold that people call it the "Nine Days of Cold". Although the temperature in the south of my country is not as cold as in the north, the temperature has dropped significantly. The coldest time in the south is the period between Minor Cold and Rain Water and Waking of Insects. It is dry and cold during the Lesser Cold, and it is wet and cold after the Rain.

What are the customs of the Minor Cold solar term?

1. Eat glutinous rice
There is a Guangdong proverb that goes "It's cold even without wind during the Lesser Cold and Greater Cold", and it is a traditional custom to eat glutinous rice in the morning of the Lesser Cold and Greater Cold to ward off the cold. According to folk tradition, glutinous rice has a higher sugar content than rice. Eating it will make the whole body feel warm and help drive away the cold. According to traditional Chinese medicine theory, glutinous rice has the effect of nourishing the middle and replenishing qi, and it is most suitable to eat glutinous rice in cold seasons.
2. Eat Laba Congee
Another important folk custom during the Minor Cold solar term is eating "Laba porridge". According to ancient books, Laba porridge is cooked with yellow rice, white rice, glutinous rice, millet, peeled date paste, etc., and then dyed with red peach kernels, almonds, melon seeds, peanuts, etc. These foods are sweet and warm, and have the effects of regulating the spleen and stomach, tonifying the middle and replenishing Qi, nourishing Qi and blood, dispelling cold and strengthening the body, and promoting fluid production and quenching thirst.
3. Visit plum blossoms
At this time, the wintersweets are in bud, so choose an ideal scenic spot with plum blossoms to appreciate them carefully. They are so elegant and fragrant that you will feel refreshed and invigorated.
4. Eat vegetable rice
When the Lesser Cold solar term comes, old Nanjing people have the custom of cooking and eating rice. Because vegetable rice is a warm food, it can be regarded as the best food in the cold winter months. If it is paired with hot mutton soup, it can remove moisture, warm the heart and stomach, and replenish yang. It can be called "replenishing the winter in the first nine days of winter."
5. Prepare New Year’s goods
The Minor Cold is the 23rd solar term among the 24 solar terms, so the arrival of the Minor Cold means that our Spring Festival is not far away. Therefore, during the Lesser Cold, the festive atmosphere becomes stronger in many places. Every household has begun to busy themselves with writing Spring Festival couplets, cutting window flowers, going to the market to buy New Year pictures, lanterns, firecrackers, etc., in preparation for the Spring Festival.

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