The summer solstice has arrived, and when the sky has once again sprinkled the thick green into every corner of the window, the scenery in front of you has experienced a spring and half a summer of combing and soothing, and the landing has become more and more pleasing to the eye: a gradually rising moon rises in the East Mountain, the white Milky Way lies in the azure space, and the stars flash in the Milky Way. On the square of the Old Longan Reservoir, a beam of LED lights swayed in the night, the stalls that attracted customers one after another, the enticing aroma overflowed, all kinds of words were heard endlessly, the shoulder-rubbing people shuttled through it, full of the smell of human fireworks, the hotels embedded in the black and dark forest, the pavilions, pavilions, water pavilions, nine-curved small bridges, the frogs in the pool, the noisy cicadas in the trees, the flying fireflies... All spatial and visual colors intersect and collide with the overwhelming green. All the elements of breathtaking beauty condense and bloom here. Everything in front of you constitutes a charming picture of the summer solstice.
summer solstice. The tenth of the twenty-four solar terms. It is also the fourth solar term of summer. Because of the sun's gravitational field and rotation, the Earth orbits the sun to reach the northernmost point of the year that can be directly hit by the sun, the Tropic of Cancer. From today onwards, the cycle of the Tropic of Cancer has been restarted. The Tropic of Cancer is the dividing line between the tropical and northern temperate zones, known as the "summer solstice line".
Cui Lingen, a doctor of Taichang during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, said: The summer solstice has three meanings: Yang qi reaches its maximum value on this day; yin qi has just appeared. At this time, the northern hemisphere has the longest daylight, while the southern hemisphere has the shortest daylight. The weather in the Northern Hemisphere is getting hotter, but this day is not the hottest time of the year, because the heat on the Earth's surface continues to accumulate at this time, not reaching its hottest time. At this time, the southern hemisphere was at the winter solstice.
In ancient times, after the "summer solstice", the royal ministry of internal affairs opened the summer mode of the imperial court, and took out the ice of "winter, Tibet and summer" to spend the summer. Today, people have long abandoned this primitive way, and air conditioning is the most common expression of this tradition today.
If the twenty-four solar terms are likened to paintings full of ancient Chinese living elements that shuttle between heaven and earth, on the day of the "summer solstice", heaven and earth run impartially in the middle of the spring and autumn equinoxes, and look at it from the perspective of the annual ring, which is exactly halfway throughout the year. If we condense the magnificent ups and downs displayed by the twenty-four solar terms into a person's life, at this time it has passed the summer solstice, whether it is the "I Ching" performed by King Wen of Zhou or the "Tao Te Ching" written by Lao Tzu, we will tell us that life is almost halfway through at this time. All the fire and passion of life has reached its peak at this time. In any case, the summer solstice symbolizes the emergence of an inflection point. According to the saying that "the summer solstice three gengs are several heads and volts", it will soon fall into ambush. And the excitement of life began at this time, there was an almost imperceptible decline, began to slowly move from the state of prosperity to the silence, just like the drama performance on the stage, the state at this time has reached the climax, the extreme, began to slowly move towards the end of the applause.
Although Xiang Hongzuo, a poet of the late Qing Dynasty, was depressed and unhappy in his life, his words were comparable to the first lyricist of the Qing Dynasty, Naran Zhide, and his artistic conception was profound, and he had the most halal and mournful, gentle and elegant characteristics. He is featured in "Qing Ping Le. In the term "Ikegami Naliang", it is written: "The water and the sky are clear, and the courtyard is quiet and the people sell summer." The wax torch wind can not shake the curtain, and the bamboo shadow is half picturesque. Drunk to support the peach sheng, cooked Luo fan cool and light. As soon as the lotus pond rains, the Ming Dynasty is the sound of autumn." Although there is not much ink, it conveys a relaxed, comfortable and peaceful atmosphere in summer. A picture of an elegant summer night is sketched.
Today' home is next to a mountain covered in greenery and a pool of green water. The cool breeze in the evening can easily evoke memories of childhood, although people today can easily enjoy the cool air of the air conditioner, but still can not forget the nights without electric fans many years ago, the mother held the fan in her hand, sitting under the locust tree not far from the door. While lovingly preventing the children snuggling next to them from being bitten by flying mosquitoes, while looking up at the beautiful starry sky, fanning the hot wind that is not cool, and telling the distant story of "sandwich beach".
In 1995, during the summer solstice, I was working as an on-site conductor on a project next to the Xin'an River in Tunxi. During the day, the design intent on the drawings is organized into practice in various ways. At night, it is often a walk alone by the Xin'an River. I threw the tiredness and troubles of the day to the rolling river next to me. Although that experience was lonely, it was very fulfilling, not only subtly improving the pace of work but also quietly raising the vision of life. I still remember one evening, facing the crystal clear Xin'an River and the Ten Thousand Lights of Tunxi on the other side, on a whim, I actually chanted out the verse "God is clear and calms the dance of the clouds, idly walking and pointing to the jiangshan..." I was just in my early 40s that year. Ping Su can't write poetry, why export into chapters, I can't find a reason. Nowadays, it is impossible to write such a stylish poem, and I think that poetry probably follows the arrogance of people and the state of mind at that time.
Summer solstice "and can't forget the midsummer night of that year, Fengtai County Huajia lake ferry, because the day's ferry broke down, people back home are waiting, more and more people are pressing black, there are me and a group of builders returning from the construction site. In the process of waiting, I don't know who took the lead in singing a song, and then more and more people sang, and the tens of thousands of lights of Zhangji Mine being built behind them seemed to be the chasing lights of the stage, shining on the builders of the black pressure. It also shines on the huge "stage" of the bustling ferry port. After many years, every time we think of the ferry that has disappeared from the map and the magnificent scene that night, we still have the feeling of pride in participating in the second round of development of the Huainan mining area, in that boiling years, we may be too much pursuit of speed and results, forgetting that the process is the most worthy of nostalgia and having such a simple truth. Now that we have left the mine, we still have the feeling of a military song at the American Military Academy at West Point, which has a strong sense of historical heritage, "Veterans don't die, they just quietly disappear."
In the old age, people naturally have less light madness in their minds, and there is no deep sorrow in their feelings. When I am alone, I often ask myself, where has time gone in those years? If you think about it, it is probably the favor of heaven that is still flowing in the blood is a factor in the genes of coal miners. The country is so big, but we have chosen to wait for this narrow and long mining land, and reverently do normative actions for the development of the coal industry. There is no time or energy to think of something else. It took me a few years to understand that the enrichment of life experiences and the quiet decline of human body functions are closely intertwined. The kind of recession that we later perceive begins that year, that month, the time of the summer solstice.
The root meaning of the word "decadence" is usually negative, but according to the Chinese literati Yu Dafu, there is brilliance hidden in decadence, and decadence is an alternative beauty pursued by the pop frontier. In my eyes, the "summer solstice" is not decadence, but the beginning of decadence. Of course, this kind of decadence only refers to the weakening of the spirit in the human body. The summer solstice is not the hottest, but it is the beginning of a hot day. The summer solstice is also not a volt day, but it is related to the ambush, according to the traditional saying, the first volt in 2021 should start from July 11 and end on July 20.
Among the twenty-four solar terms, the summer solstice is one of the most philosophical solar terms, which not only contains the "three talents" of the "heaven and earth people" advocated by King Wen of Zhou, but also perfectly interprets the philosophical principles contained in Lao Tzu's words more than 2,500 years ago: "Human Law Earth, Earth Law Heaven, Heaven Law Dao, Dao Law Nature". What is the Way of the Three Talents? If expressed in bright and concise language, the transformation of "yin and yang" summarizes the changes in the heavens and their laws. The "rigidity and softness" summarizes the changes in vientiane on the earth and their laws. The ideological context of "benevolence and righteousness" summarizes the changes in the world and their laws. And "human law and earth, earth law and heaven, heaven law tao, and Dao law nature" expresses the profound meaning of man's life and labor and reproduction according to the earth; the earth depends on the heavens and alternates cold and summer to nurture all things; and the heavens operate and change according to the great "Tao". In a word, if people want to live well, live transparently, it is useless to learn from anyone, the most fundamental thing is to study with heaven and earth, to learn from nature, to abandon all delusions, to conform to nature, not to be insulted, so that they will succeed, and will they live moist and comfortable.
The summer solstice festival, a crystallization of experience and wisdom derived from the Yellow River Basin, a symbol soaked in the wisdom of ancient Chinese civilization. The beauty between heaven and earth at night casts a layer of psychedelic colors on the midsummer night, bringing people the imagination of the clouds steaming xiawei. Everyone has a unique emotion for summer to a greater or lesser extent, it is like a stage that can satisfy the props and moods in your mind. No wonder Shakespeare, the most prominent poet in the history of English literature and theater in the European Renaissance, named one of his comedies of lovers eventually becoming dependents and pursuing perfect love as "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
The summer solstice has arrived, and I heard the familiar sound of cicadas chirping in the forest, and when I habitually went to look for the traces of cicadas, unconsciously, there was a hallucination in my consciousness that "when I grabbed that cicada, I thought I could catch the whole summer", I suddenly realized that the summer solstice in my childhood had a feeling of being in a trance...
The summer solstice has arrived, and it not only symbolizes fiery hope, but also contains cold vigilance. Although the summer solstice has arrived, life is not yet over. Many of the beauty of life, in addition to relying on the guidance and call of nature, more importantly, we must have our own attachment and desire for life.
Liu Xinjiang, June 20, 2021, revised on the eve of the "summer solstice".