What is the solar term Beginning of Summer? What are the customs and habits associated with it?
Introduction: The 24 solar terms are one of the calendars that have existed in our country since ancient times. Its existence has played an important role in the development of farming culture. The Beginning of Summer is one of the 24 solar terms and the first solar term in summer. So what is the solar term Beginning of Summer and what are the customs and habits associated with it? Let’s follow the editor to find out. April is also known as Mengxia, Yinyue and Meiyue, so the fourth month in the lunar calendar should belong to the early summer season, allowing you to experience every day of April wonderfully and spend it with beautiful happiness.What is the solar term Lixia?Lixia is the seventh solar term in the twenty-four solar terms of the lunar calendar and the first solar term of summer, marking the official beginning of the Mengxia season. It is when the sun reaches 45 degrees of the ecliptic longitude. When the Dipper points to the southeast, it is the beginning of summer. All things grow at this time, hence the name the beginning of summer."Collection of Explanations of the 72 Lunar Calendars" states: "Lixia is the fourth month of the lunar calendar. The meaning of Li is the same as that of Chun. Xia means temporary. All things are temporary at this time." In astronomy, the Beginning of Summer marks the farewell to spring and the beginning of summer. People usually regard the Beginning of Summer as an important solar term when the temperature rises significantly, the hot summer is approaching, thunderstorms increase, and crops enter the peak growth season. What are the customs and habits during the Beginning of Summer?Summer CeremonyThe "xia" in "Lixia" means "big", referring to the plants sown in spring that have grown upright. In ancient times, people attached great importance to the customs of the Beginning of Summer.On the day of the Beginning of Summer, ancient emperors would lead civil and military officials to the southern suburbs of the capital to welcome the summer and hold a ceremony to welcome the summer. The emperor and his subjects all wore vermilion ceremonial robes and vermilion jade pendants. Even the horses, chariots and flags had to be vermilion to express their prayers for a good harvest and good wishes. In the palace, "the ice melted on the day of the beginning of summer and gifts were bestowed on civil and military officials." The ice was stored in the previous winter and given by the emperor to all officials. In the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, people feel sad about the passing of the beautiful spring, so they prepare wine and food for the joy, as if sending someone off, and this is called a farewell party for spring. Cui Yan said in his fu: "Welcome to the beginning of summer, and the end of spring." Wu Outing also said in his poem "Beginning of Summer": "Spring is gone, so I will send off the cherry blossoms and bamboo shoots to bid farewell to it." In folk culture, people drink cold drinks to cool off on the day of the Beginning of Summer. On the day of the Beginning of Summer, people in the water towns of the south of the Yangtze River have the custom of cooking and eating young broad beans. In some places, there is a custom of weighing people on the day of the Beginning of Summer. New activitiesIn later generations, there are festival activities such as tasting new food during the Beginning of Summer. For example, there is a proverb in Suzhou that "three new things are seen at the beginning of summer", which are cherries, green plums and wheat, which are used to worship ancestors. In Changshu, the food is more abundant. There is a saying that "nine meats and thirteen vegetables". The nine meats are crucian carp, salted eggs, snails, simmered chicken, pickled chicken, braised shrimp, and cherry meat; the thirteen vegetables include cherries, plums, wheat silkworms (new wheat is kneaded into thin strips and cooked), bamboo shoots, broad beans, spears, peas, cucumbers, lettuce, grass heads, radishes, roses, and pine flowers. In Nantong, people eat boiled chicken and duck eggs.Egg Fighting GameAt noon that day, every household boiled whole eggs (the eggs must be boiled in their shells and must not be broken), soaked them in cold water for a few minutes, put them in a woven silk mesh bag, and hung them around the children's necks. The children gathered in groups of three or five to play the egg-fighting game. The egg is divided into two ends, the pointed one is the head and the round one is the tail. When fighting eggs, egg heads fight egg heads, and egg tails fight egg tails. They fight one by one, the defeated one admits defeat, and finally the winner is determined. The winner of the egg head is first, and the egg is called the king; the winner of the egg tail is second, and the egg is called the little king or the second king. There is a proverb: "If you hang an egg on your chest during the Beginning of Summer, your child will not suffer from summer heatstroke." Summer heatstroke is a common summer symptom that includes abdominal distension, loss of appetite, fatigue and weight loss, and children are especially susceptible to it. Lunch is glutinous rice with peas mixed in. There must be special dishes such as boiled eggs, whole bamboo shoots, and shelled peas on the table. In the countryside, eggs are eaten in pairs, bamboo shoots are eaten in pairs, and peas are eaten in any number. According to folklore, people eat eggs with heart-shaped fillings at the beginning of summer. Because eggs are shaped like a heart, people believe that eating eggs can protect the heart and spirit from damage. After the beginning of summer comes the hot summer. In order to prevent the body from losing weight in the hot summer, you should take supplements at the beginning of summer. There is a Sheng proverb that says "wang sheng", which means that people's legs are as strong and powerful as spring bamboo shoots and can travel long distances, implying the use of leg support. The shelled peas are shaped like eyes. Eye diseases were common among the ancients. In order to eliminate them, people ate peas and prayed that their eyes would be as clear as fresh peas and free from disease and disaster throughout the year.Beginning of Summer "Calling People"There is a custom of weighing people after lunch at the beginning of summer. People hang a large wooden scale at the entrance of the village or at the gate, with a stool hung on the hook. Everyone takes turns sitting on the stool to weigh people. The scale operator was beating the scales while saying auspicious words. An old man would say "If you spend eighty-seven on the scale, you will live to ninety-one". The girl on the scale said, "One hundred and five kilograms, the young master's family has come to your house. Don't agree, don't agree, because you are destined to be with the number one scholar." The boy on the scale said, "Twenty-three flowers on the scale, the young master will get married when he grows up. Don't be afraid to get a seventh-rank county official, and it's also easy to marry a duke or a minister." The scale can only be punched from the inside (that is, from the small number to the large number), not from the outside to the inside. According to folk legend, the story of Zhuge Liang is related to Meng Huo and Liu Adou. It is said that after Meng Huo was conquered by Zhuge Liang and surrendered to the Kingdom of Shu, he obeyed Zhuge Liang's orders. Before his death, Zhuge Liang asked Meng Huo to visit the Lord of Shu once a year. The day when Zhuge Liang gave the instructions happened to be the beginning of summer that year, and Meng Huo went to pay homage to A Dou immediately. From then on, every summer, Meng Huo came to Shu to visit as promised. A few years later, Emperor Wu of Jin, Sima Yan, destroyed the Kingdom of Shu and abducted Adou. Meng Huo never forgot the prime minister's instructions and led his troops to Luoyang to visit Adou every year at the beginning of summer. Every time he went there, he would weigh Adou to verify whether Adou was treated unfairly by Emperor Wu of Jin. He threatened that if Adou was treated unfairly, he would rise up in rebellion against the Jin Dynasty. In order to appease Meng Huo, Emperor Wu of Jin cooked glutinous rice and peas as lunch for Adou on the beginning of summer every year. When Adou saw that the pea glutinous rice was sticky and fragrant, he ate twice as much. Meng Huo went into the city to weigh people, and each time he did so, he found that they were a few pounds heavier than the previous year. Although Adou had no special skills, he was like Meng Huo in weighing people at the beginning of summer. Emperor Wu of Jin did not dare to bully him, and he lived a peaceful and happy life, enjoying both good fortune and longevity. Although this legend is different from historical facts, what the people hope for is a peaceful world of "tranquility, happiness, and longevity." The Beginning of Summer will bring blessings to people, and people also pray to God to bring them good luck.Summary: Through the above article, we know the definition of the Beginning of Summer and some customs and habits. I hope you will like the above article. I also hope that you can pay attention to and love our traditional culture! |
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