Lixia, the day of the year when summer begins. "Bucket refers to the southeast, Wei is Lixia, everything has grown up here, so the name Lixia also", Lixia's "xia" is the meaning of "big", indicating that the plants sown in the spring have grown upright. People are accustomed to regard Lixia as an important festival for all things to enter the peak season.
In ancient times, great importance was attached to the etiquette of Lixia, and on the day of Lixia, the emperor would lead hundreds of officials to the outskirts of Beijing to hold a summer ceremony. In the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, people have passed away because of the good spring light, and they may have the sadness of cherishing spring, so they prepare wine and food to enjoy, as if sending people away, called RaoChun. Wu Rongting's poem "Li Xia" also said: "There is no choice but to go to spring, and return the cherry shoots to spring." ”
In some places, there is also the saying of "trying new" in the summer, that is, trying three fresh vegetables in the summer. Nanjing refers to the cherries of Xuanwu Lake, the green plums of Gaochun, and the anchovies of Zhenjiang; Suzhou refers to cherries, plums and wheat; Wuxi even divides the "three fresh fruits of the land" (broad beans, amaranth, cucumbers), "three fresh trees" (cherries, loquats, apricots) and "water three fresh" (sea lice, puffer fish, anchovies). Also taste the new fava beans, the so-called "plum crisp cherry ripe, new wheat sweet flavor broad bean fresh". No matter how new he is, tasting the fresh is the pleasure of Lixia.
Image source: Figureworm Creative
"Sending Spring and Welcoming Summer" is a ceremony for folk to bid farewell to spring, welcome the arrival of summer, and bless the health of the hot summer. The "Mid-Levels Summer Customs" in Gongshu District of Hangzhou are very representative.
The customs of The Mid-Levels Lixia are a collection of religious activities, social interactions, entertainment customs, seasonal diets, and market activities, including silkworm flower festivals, lixia ancestor worship, niangniang birthday temple fairs, eating black rice, picking broad beans, weighing people, painting mud cats and so on. The custom of Lixia is widely participated in by local men, women and children, passed down from generation to generation, and also expresses the good wishes of conforming to the heavens and praying for blessings and good fortune. In November 2016, the "Twenty-Four Solar Terms" were inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and Gongshu District became one of the ten representative communities in the country with the "Mid-Levels Summer Custom".
Mid-Levels Black Rice / Photo by Yao Jianxin
Around the beginning of summer, the climate is warm, the crops are growing gradually, and the agricultural affairs and silkworm affairs in the Jiangnan area are gradually entering the busy season. The Mid-Levels area has always planted rice, planted mulberry and raised silkworms, and the local people have accumulated agricultural knowledge and formed festival customs and habits in long-term production practice.
The custom of the mid-mountain mud cat is closely related to the thriving mulberry silkworm industry in the mid-levels. Legend has it that in front of the statue seat in the temple hall of the Mid-Levels Niangniang Temple, there are often black, white, yellow and other colorful divine cats, and it is rumored that as long as you go to the Niangniang Temple to ask for a mud cat to be placed on the silkworm plaque or silkworm frame, you can eliminate the rat infestation and get a good harvest of silkworm mulberry. The form of the mud cat is still double-sided, and the two sides have different looks, one is happy and one is disgusted, and the mouse will be frightened to jump three times when it sees the cat's appearance of not being angry and arrogant. Over time, the mud cat became the treasure of Sannong's town rats, and they regarded the mud cat as the patron saint of silkworm flowers, hoping to eliminate disasters and evil and enrich the family business. Nowadays, the two sides have also been given new meanings such as "looking at the six roads, listening to the eight directions" and "clever and clever".
Mid-mountain mud cat
Establish a summer day to "call people" in order to seek children's purity and happiness, and the elderly's happiness and longevity; run the mountain to get fit; eat "black rice" to ensure summer peace; "mid-mountain mud cat" pray for a good harvest... It not only shows the harmony and harmony between heaven and man, but also pins on the people's expectations for health and prosperity.
At the beginning of summer, everything is shown. There will always be unexpected warmth and endless hope.
Planner: Zhile
Design: Small drop
Edit: Zhile
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