On the evening of February 4,
The much-anticipated opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics kicked off.
On this day,
Coincides with the "Li Chun" solar terms.
The countdown to the twenty-four solar terms at the beginning,
Let people feel the charm of Chinese culture.
Starting with "rain",
Count down all the way,
The final trip to "Li Chun".
Each solar term corresponds to a verse,
The freeze-frame moment of every season,
It's like a beautiful view.
this
It is known as the "romance of Chinese".
With the freeze frame of "Li Chun",
The opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics officially kicked off,
The dance "Li Chun" made a stunning appearance,
New grass sprouts,
Green stretch,
Green in the middle of the nest,
It means that friends from all over the world are ushering in a new spring together.
Opening ceremony from the first second,
There is a definition of Chinese culture.
On this world-renowned stage,
China's twenty-four solar terms,
An ancient algorithm about age,
Once again, Chinese culture has been popularized within a global perspective.
Twenty-four solar terms,
It is an important part of the continental calendar.
As early as emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's "Taichu Calendar" (104 BC),
The twenty-four solar terms were put into the calendar.
The twenty-four solar terms are more accurately reflected
climatic conditions for agricultural production,
Greatly improved the scientific and efficient production of ancient agriculture,
It has made important contributions to solving the problem of people eating and dressing.
But you know what?
The twenty-four solar terms have a very deep relationship with Shanxi.
Perhaps it was first produced in Shanxi.
The origin of solar terms with Shanxi
Before the formation of the twenty-four solar terms, the arrangement of agricultural affairs required the observation of the stars. Gu Yanwu's "Rizhilu" said: "More than three generations, everyone knows astronomy. July flowing fire, the farmer's words also; three stars in the sky, the woman's words also; the moon away from Bi, the work of the pawns also; the dragon's tail Fuchen, the children's ballad also. "During this period, ordinary people need to look up at the celestial phenomena to determine the seasonal changes in order to arrange production and life.
▲Statue of Emperor Gaopingyan in Shanxi
▲The newly built "Twenty-four Solar Terms Sculpture Column" of the Gaopingyan Emperor Mausoleum
Shennong, Tang Yao and other sages have long been active in the southeastern and southern Jin regions of Shanxi, and the observation and creation of solar terms should have played a huge role. Here the land is fertile, the four seasons are distinct, and the crops grow luxuriantly, which is a very favorable condition for summarizing and refining the solar terms.
According to the history books, the Shennong clan "is positive solar terms, judging cold and warm, thinking that it is the period of morning and evening", according to which it may be speculated that the solar terms were the first of the Shennong clan. The "Yushu Yaodian" has a record of "four zhongzhong". Di Yao ordered Xihe and others to live in five directions in the east, west, south, and north, and were responsible for observing the appearance of the sun and the change of the length of day and night. Therefore, there are records of "star bird in the day" (equinox day and night equinox), "eternal starfire" (summer solstice day and night short), "night in the star void" (autumn equinox day and night equal equinox), "day and short star" (winter solstice night long day and short day), "bird", "fire", "virtual" and "Pleiades" are the star names of the four middle stars in the twenty-eight stars.
This passage shows that during the Yao dynasty, the mainland already had officials who specialized in observing celestial phenomena, using the four stars of "bird, fire, void, and Pleiades" at dusk as a sign to determine the four solar terms of "spring equinox, summer solstice, autumn equinox, and winter solstice".
▲The observation deck of the Tao Temple ruins was restored
Archaeological findings also bear witness to this. The Xiangfen Tao Temple Observatory was built around 2100 BC, located in the worship area on the southeast side of the Tao Temple, with a multi-layer semicircular platform in the shape of a multi-layered semi-circular platform, and a small round platform observation point, combined with the distant mountains as the basis for measuring and formulating the calendar. Archaeologists and astronomers generally believe that the Tao Temple Observatory is an observatory for observing the movement of the sun, which is related to the determination of important solar terms.
This is one of the earliest physical evidence of the continent's solar terms.
From the end of the Spring and Autumn to the beginning of the Warring States period, the four solar terms of Lichun, Lixia, Liqiu and Lidong were produced. The "two to", "two points" and "four stands" are the most important eight qi of the twenty-four solar terms. The earliest complete record of the twenty-four solar terms in the literature is the Western Han Dynasty's "Huainanzi Astronomical Training", which is exactly the same as the current common name and order of the twenty-four solar terms. Long-term observation data of modern meteorology show that meteorological elements such as temperature, air pressure, precipitation, humidity, wind speed and sunshine in the central and southern regions of Shanxi have a very typical coincidence with the 24 solar terms. Taking the twenty-four solar terms as the coordinates can very conveniently reflect the regular changes in climatic conditions from ancient times to the present.
"Spring rain shocks the spring valley days, summer is full of mango and summer and summer are connected, autumn dew and autumn frost fall, winter snow and snow are small and cold in winter." Whoever is white-headed old man will not calculate the flow of solar terms, and whoever is unkempt will not recite the solar terms and ballads. The twenty-four solar terms are an astronomical calendar, a phenological and agricultural affair, a cultural folklore, and the inheritance and application of man and nature for thousands of years, and the twenty-four solar terms have become a traditional cultural treasure that never goes out of fashion and never discards Chinese.
Colorful Shanxi festival folklore
After the establishment and development of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms, due to its scientific and practical nature, it has gradually been injected with a large number of folk activities and has become an important part of folk culture. Shanxi folk pay special attention to the festivals such as Lichun, Qingming and Winter Solstice, probably because these festivals have obvious phenological changes, which contain more legends and more customs. In some areas, these festivals have evolved into folk festivals.
In ancient times, Lichun had the custom of whipping spring cattle, the prefectural and county officials wore official clothes, saluted the gods, whipped the spring cattle three times with colored whips, expressing the intention of persuading farmers, so Lichun was also called "playing spring" by the people, and now Lichun is popular to eat spring cakes (biting spring) customs, thin dough cakes are rolled with various colors of vegetables to show vitality.
Spring is the season of hope when everything grows. The spring festival folklore includes entertainment such as kite flying, swinging, kicking football, and stepping on green. Even better, there are many reflections in folk songs around Shanxi. As the Taitani folk song sings, "In February, when the dragon looks up, the eldest sister hears the little sister, the second little sister hears it, the eldest sister kicks (the shuttlecock) the dragon swings its tail, and the second little sister can't kick it." Zuo Quan's folk song "Playing the Swing" is full of cheerful atmosphere: "The sister pedals hard, the sister pedals hard, the three pedals these two pedals a round spray, hit a harrier to turn around, hit really happy." Call the little sister, call the little sister, this time the swing hit the swim faint, our sisters hurry home, the mother knows that it is not successful. ”
During the summer season, there are various temple fairs and markets throughout Shanxi, all of which are aimed at facilitating farmers to purchase agricultural production tools. In the Middle Ages of Jin, there are folk activities such as summer fire before and after the establishment of summer. In the past, this kind of social fire was generally to please the gods and pray for rain. The river song uses the "rain pole pole" to ask for rain, and the folk song sings: "The pole pole is originally a piece of wood, which grows on the loess cliff of Lingshan Mountain." Call the rain pole pole three feet long, please call the dragon to call the rain to bring down the rain. ”
▲ Xinzhou "scratching sheep race" Source: Xinzhou network
The folk customs of northern Jinbei are brave, bold, straightforward, and frugal, and there is no shortage of martial customs. Xinzhou is a famous wrestling town, and during the temple fair, "singing and wrestling, ten miles and eight miles to see." The farmer proverb says, "When autumn is erected, the hoe hook is hung, and the animals are wrestled and released." Many wrestlers compete for a sheep draped in red and colored as the "Scratching Sheep Race", and the winner of five consecutive people is "Good Man", and the winner of six people in a row is "Scratching Sheep Man", who is regarded as a hero and his name is praised in the township. The custom of "scratching sheep race" in Xinzhou has long been included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage.
The folk proverb has the saying that "the winter solstice is as big as the year". The arrival of the winter solstice means that the beginning of the ninth cold day, most parts of Shanxi Province to eat lamb dumplings to raise the yang qi, cold and warm. The winter solstice also marks the natural transformation of yin and yang, "eating winter solstice noodles, a long line a day". Starting from the winter solstice, the nine nine days are called "nine nines". There are songs and ballads, 1929 on the ice, 3949 do not shoot, 5969 along the river to see the willows, 79 rivers open, 89 geese come, 99 plus 19, ploughing cattle everywhere. Ninety-nine hours is already clear in sight, so there is a saying of "nine nine sunny days".
The winter solstice is coming, and hard-working farmers are already preparing for the next year's sowing. In the Jincheng area of Shanxi, there is a unique folk custom of "smashing old pumpkins and making soft rice". The first is to carefully select the old pumpkin that is full and strong, and then the children in the family stand on the kang, use force from a high place, smash it hard, and take the seeds for farming. Subsequently, it is made by simmering soft rice (glutinous millet), pumpkin, sweet potato, red beans, cowpeas, peanuts, persimmon cakes, and red dates over low heat for a long time. Because most of these raw materials are grown in the dry land of mountainous areas, the taste is mellow, and the sticky porridge boiled into it is sweet and bright, which is a good food supplement. Soft rice means a sweet life, and local people often give it as a gift to elders, teachers and neighbors.
▲Jincheng district, Shanxi,
On the winter solstice there is a unique folklore of "smashing old pumpkins and making soft rice"
Source: Yuejin City
Inherit and excavate the culture of solar terms
For thousands of years, the twenty-four solar terms culture has been passed down endlessly, and a very moving Hakka folk song sang:
Spring flowers bloom Rain comes to drench Sting spring thunder Frogs call the spring equinox
Qingming plough field Gu Yu spring tea Lixia ploughing field Small full of irrigation
Mango seeds look at the fruit, summer solstice look at the grass, small summer valley ripening, summer busy harvest
Before the autumn, plant the beans in the summer field, and the white dew is evenly distributed
Autumn equinox to see the grass before the cold dew frost drop a cold stand in the winter to fight grass
Little snow idle waiting for the winter year, small cold year big cold reunion
There have also been many poems and songs about the twenty-four solar terms in history, the most representative of which is the "Lyrics of the Festival Song" by Ma Rufei, a Suzhou lyricist in the late Qing Dynasty:
The plum in the West Garden is spring first, and the cloud town is full of light and rain.
Stinging first river leaping carp, spring equinox butterfly dream flower.
When flying a kite in the Qingming Dynasty, Gu Yu Xixiang was good at raising silkworms.
Peony pavilion summer flowers scattered, jade hairpin small full of cloth in front of the court.
Across the creek, the fisherman is happy, and the righteous man is with the summer solstice field.
Xiao Xia Bai Luo was shirted, and wangjiang pavilion was sleeping in the wind.
Autumn sunflowers bloom, in the summer West Building to listen to the evening cicadas.
There is zero white dew in the emerald garden, and the autumn equinox folds the laurel moon day.
Rotten dry mountain cold dew frightened the geese, frost fell on the red beach of reed flowers.
Li Dong drank from the Qilin Pavilion and embroidered the poems of Xiao Xue.
The red stove is warm in the snow, and the pipa is lazy to play on the winter solstice.
Xiao Han was lying high in handan dreams, and a bunch of snow drifted in the air to make a big cold.
This commentary is a pun on the meaning of the poem, combining the twenty-four solar terms and the names of twenty-six plays. The festivals, the name of the play and the seasonal phenology are all in one.
From observing astronomical changes, the relationship between heaven and earth, and the relationship between heaven and man, the solar terms have summarized and produced a calendar that guides production and life, forming a unique time knowledge system of Chinese, which is the wisdom of Chinese and living in harmony with nature, and an important window for understanding traditional culture.
For Shanxi's colorful solar term culture, it can be inherited and excavated from the following aspects:
The first is to widely inherit the wisdom of being close to nature and conforming to nature. The solar term culture contains a simple concept of natural environmental protection, and with the rural customs and folk customs as the carrier, it is passed down from generation to generation and is a very meaningful cultural theme, which can not only be used as an important part of family and social education, but also has a place in primary and secondary school education.
The second is to protect and shape the tangible carrier of solar term culture. The ruins of the Ancient Tao Temple Observatory have attracted attention at home and abroad, and with moderate protection and development, it will become an important base for the popularization of ancient astronomy. Mr. Zhang Hao, who is famous for his research on the Hou Ma Meng's book, absorbed the essence of the Shadowless Stone Table of Guyang City as said by the Nangong of the Tang Dynasty and the architectural ideas of Guo Shoujing of the Yuan Dynasty, and after repeated measurement and calculation, designed and made a model of the "Shadowless Tower" (also known as the "Measuring Scale") suitable for construction in the Taiyuan area. The tower shadow changes regularly with the change of the solar terms, and the tower shadow disappears by the summer solstice. When the conditions are met, if the cultural model of Mr. Zhang Hao is put into practice, the ruins of the Ancient Tao Temple Observatory and the new scenery of the taiyuan shadowless pagoda can be reflected in each other, highlighting Shanxi's profound cultural heritage.
Third, it is advisable to attach importance to the development of solar terms cultural products. In the contemporary Chinese world of life, the guiding function of the "twenty-four solar terms" for agricultural affairs has gradually weakened, but it still has a strong cultural significance and social function. There have been literary and art groups that have created large-scale dance dramas with the theme of the twenty-four solar terms, interpreting the interaction of heaven, earth, people and flowers, showing the continuation of Life and the flow of years in the Chinese style, which has been well received after the performance, which shows the depth of the influence and the strength of the survival of the twenty-four solar terms. Shanxi's cultural tourism department should take this as a lesson and vigorously develop relevant cultural products to make the festival culture shine with new brilliance.
see! Shanxi Museum 24 solar terms poster
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Wen | Ren Kai
The main source of the article | Shanxi Daily
The title of this article is added by the editor
Picture | CCTV People's Daily Shanxi Museum network
The copyright of graphics and texts belongs to the original author or institution
Edited | Shanxi Evening News All-Media Editor Nanlijiang
Audit | Fang Tianji
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