【The charm of China in the solar terms】
When the spring is coming to an end and the grass and trees have faded their green and tender colors, "Lixia" will come.
"Lixia", the seventh solar term in the twenty-four solar terms, is also regarded as the beginning of summer.
At this time, "Douzhidongnan" and "everything has grown up", the sun is high above the head, the sun is full, and the rainy season will follow, which is a good time for crops to grow vigorously.
"Book of Rites Yueling" records that in the beginning of summer, "the grasshoppers sing, the earthworms come out, the king melons grow, and the bitter vegetables show."
The first three sentences happened to be the three candidates for "Lixia" - the mole crickets and grasshoppers began to chirp, the earthworms burrowed out of the soil, and the melons and vegetables on the rural ridges began to bear fruit.
As the saying goes, "Plough in spring, cultivate in summer, harvest in autumn, and hide in winter", if you don't work at this time, when will you stay?
Looking through the folk customs books, in "Jingchu Suiji Ji", "Tokyo Dream Hualu" and "Wulin Old Story", I did not find a special chapter on "Lixia".
Did the ancients not pay enough attention to this solar term?
Not so.
From "Han Han Shu" to "Song History", there are records of "welcoming summer" in the official history.
The description in "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Emperor Xianzong" is quite clear: on the day of the beginning of summer, we welcome the summer in the southern suburbs, and sacrifice the emperor Zhu Rong.
The flags and clothing are all red.
It means that the emperor led the civil and military officials to the southern suburbs of the imperial city to welcome the summer, and held a special ceremony to welcome the Emperor Zhurong. The dress, accessories, horses, and carriage flags were all vermilion to express the hope for a good harvest.
This shows that in ancient times, officials attached great importance to this solar term, which is related to Nongsang.
So what kind of solar term is this in literary writing?
The ancient poets had different attitudes to it.
Spring is about to pass away, and there is a sadness to cherish the spring, so there are Zhao Youzhi's "Yingti spring to worry about thousands of strands, but the butterfly loves the flowers for a few times" ("Lixia"), and Lu You's "Yu Chun is only two or three days, drunk. There are thousands of times of hatred" ("The Two Days Before the Beginning of Summer").
In the coming summer, melons and fruits will gradually ripen, so there is also the tranquility and joy of welcoming summer, such as Sima Guang's "Why not have less fun, and leisure travel is not strange" ("April 13th Li Xia Chengan"), such as Wen Tianxiang's "For a while" The sound of the strings is good, and the world will relieve the sullen wind" ("The Rhythm of Sitting Guests in the Summer in the Mountains").
In the near future, when the literati no longer projected their emotional heights into the changes of the four seasons like the ancient poets, their attitude towards "Lixia" became more clear.
Summer is the hottest season and the deepest taste in Lao She's writings, and Liang Shiqiu's writings are mellow and refreshing.
What is interesting is that the old man Wang Zengqi has a special liking for insects, and he wrote "Insects in Summer": Grasshoppers are "strong and strong" and "just croak"; "The distinction of "squeaky"; dragonfly, green, gray-blue, red; knife beetle, "color and veins are very beautiful."
These all correspond to the description of insects in the "Lixia" Three Hours.
"April 8th" "There are seventy-two Zhuzheng stores in Beijing, the first time to sell boiled wine, and the market is new", "It's the first time the moon eggplant gourd is on the market", "When the fruit is the royal peach, plum, golden apricot, Ringo and the like" Although there is no special record about "Lixia" in "Tokyo Menghualu", there are also records of folk customs at that time.
In some areas, on the day of "Lixia", the long-standing traditions of "hanging eggs", "eating black rice", and "tasting three fresh foods" still continue to this day, indicating that solar terms belong not only to nature, but also to life, which is deeply rooted in our customs. Traditions and Cultures in.
Spring and summer alternate, and the four seasons are in sequence; farming is busy, and sericulture is busy.
Listening to the insects chirping between the heavens and the earth, and serving the ripe melons and fruits on the ridges are the beginning of summer. We try to respect nature and integrate ourselves into the solar terms.
(Author: Han Han)