How did the custom of egg fighting during the Beginning of Summer come from?

How did the custom of egg fighting during the Beginning of Summer come from?
Introduction: Everyone knows that there are 24 solar terms in my country, and the seventh solar term is the Beginning of Summer during the Grain Rain solar term! Different regions have different customs for the folk solar terms. So where did the custom of egg fighting during the Beginning of Summer come from? Let’s follow the editor to learn more about it below! 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.

The custom of egg fighting

As the saying goes, "If you hang an egg on your chest at the beginning of summer, your child will not suffer from summer heatstroke." This sentence means: If you eat eggs at the beginning of summer, your child will not easily suffer from physical fatigue, weakness in the limbs, loss of appetite, etc. in the summer. It has been passed down to this day and has become a custom in various places.
The Beginning of Summer is the first of the 24 solar terms in the Chinese lunar calendar. The ancients believed that at the Beginning of Summer, "the Big Dipper points to the southeast, and it is the Beginning of Summer. All things grow at this time, so it is named the Beginning of Summer." "Collected Explanations of the 72 Solar Terms in the Lunar Calendar" says: "Li means to establish a new beginning, and Xia means to be temporary. At this time, all things are temporary and growing." The word "temporary" here means "big", and means that the plants sown in spring have grown upright by now, and the lush summer is about to begin.
According to folklorists, the Beginning of Summer was formed in my country more than 3,000 years ago. During the Zhou Dynasty, on the day of the Beginning of Summer, the emperor would personally lead all civil and military officials to the suburbs to "welcome summer", hold sacrificial ceremonies and other ceremonies, and order officials such as the Minister of Education to go to various places to encourage farmers to work hard. In the Ming Dynasty, people had the custom of tasting new food. In the Qing Dynasty, there were even more customs such as offering sacrifices to gods, tasting new food, weighing people, and brewing new tea.
Speaking of tasting new things, it refers to tasting seasonal fresh food at the beginning of summer, such as tea eggs (called Beginning of Summer eggs), green plums, cherries, wheat ears, fresh broad beans, shad, black rice (rice soaked in black tree leaves and cooked), five tiger reds (red dates, black dates, walnuts, longans, lychees), etc. Every time at this time, people become a feast for the hungry hungry and it is quite popular among children.
"Hang an egg on the chest at the beginning of summer, and the child will not suffer from summer heatstroke." This proverb means that if children eat eggs at the beginning of summer, they will be less likely to suffer from physical fatigue, weakness in the limbs, loss of appetite and gradual weight loss in the summer. So when I was a child, every time the summer solstice came, my mother would cook a big pot of eggs and give each of us a few to ensure that all of the children were well-nourished and healthy.
On the day of the Beginning of Summer, people boil eggs. In some places, they even use black tea or walnut shells to boil the eggs, which are called "Beginning of Summer Eggs." Place the eggs in egg nests woven with colored threads and feed them to each other. Either hang it on the child's chest or hang it on the tent.
Children play egg-fighting games, and the one with the strongest and unbreakable eggshell wins. In some places, people tie bracelets for children with five-colored silk threads, which are called "Lixia ropes".
As the saying goes, "Eat an egg at the beginning of summer and you'll gain ten thousand more strength." Even if the egg is broken, no one will be disappointed. Just eat it; it's also a good consolation!
Summary: The above is an analysis of the origin of the custom of egg fighting during the Beginning of Summer. You can refer to it for more information! I hope you like the content of this article!

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