Spring, summer, autumn, harvest and winter, rise at four o'clock, and all things follow. Based on their simple observation of natural phenology, the ancient Chinese formed their own unique calendar and twenty-four solar terms. From this, the sun and moon we see are not only pure natural sun and moon, the four seasons we experience are the four seasons with more connotations, and the heavens and earths we feel are the spiritual worlds.
1
Four seasons wild vegetables
In the past, the impression and cognition of the four seasons was often formed along with the change of seasons, following adults to the suburbs to dig wild vegetables and pick wild fruits. The beginning of February in the Gregorian calendar is the beginning of spring. Although the temperature is not high, people still shrink their hands and feet, wearing cotton jackets, but at the initiative of the elders of the family, even if the next day is cloudy, the family will go out with baskets to dig wild cabbage. At that time, the city was not very large, and in a moment it would go out of the grass houses on the outermost side of the street and into the wheat fields on the outskirts. In the idle fields on the edge of the wheat fields, or on the slopes of rivers with loose soil, wild cabbage is the most abundant. Later, it was found that like kittens and puppies, wild cabbage is also snuggled, and the more frequent human activities are in places, such as wheat fields, river slopes, small roads, and idle cultivated land, the more wild cabbage, the more places where humans do not set foot, but they can not find their figures.
On a cold day, as soon as the sun comes out, the sky immediately warms up. At this time, it has entered the third month of the Gregorian calendar, which is the second month after the spring. At this time, the wild vegetables in the field gradually increased. There is a wild vegetable called toad vegetable has arched out of the ground, its leaves on one side smooth, on the other side like the skin of a toad, protruding many bulging small packets, washing its leaves, in boiling water to fish out, mixed with sesame oil cold mix, smooth taste, very some country style. Nearly half of the wild cabbage in the field has bloomed, at this time the dug back wild cabbage, the fragrance is strong, the leaves can be wrapped in dumplings, the flower stems can be dried to make tea; but digging too much in one place will affect their number on the ground in the next year, according to the ancient tradition of inexhaustible fishing and not shooting the birds of destiny, a piece of wild cabbage on the ground, only choose to dig those tender and leave those that have flowered, so that it will not affect their reproduction in the next year.
The heavens and the earth are getting warmer and warmer, and there are more and more dishes to be picked in the wild. Saving the wild peas is the hottest and wildest kind of wild vegetable that grows, and after a spring rain, there are countless young shoots rising up everywhere in the wild wasteland. At first, it was necessary to slowly approach them, mainly for fear that the raindrops left on their leaves would roll down and wet the clothes, but when they reached out to pinch their tender shoots, they could not avoid the water droplets from rolling on the pants, so they simply stopped scrupulously and just reached out with both hands to pinch the leaves that were tender to the point of melting. The plucked shoots are brought back to the family's kitchen, and they can be spread into shortbread when they are made early, and when the bell lid is opened, a spring aroma of wild peas and rain and dew comes to the nose, and the family talks while eating, and it seems that what is eaten is not wild vegetables, but a memory of the season.
In early summer, there are too many wild vegetables in the countryside to count. Thorny vegetables are one of them. Thorny vegetables are also called period teeth, thorn thistle, its leaf edge is jagged, touch the thorn pull, accidentally will stab the hand, but when the leaf edge of the thorny vegetable can pierce the hand, it means that it is old and not very tasty. The season of wheat ear extraction on the plains is also the time when purslane is at its most fertile. Digging purslane is not called digging, it is called picking, take a small shovel, carry a large basket, and go to the field, the ground, the river slope to pick the purslane. Purslane is rare in the city, can be mixed cold or made into soup to eat, thick and smooth and tender. There are those idle elderly people in the countryside, go to the field to pick purslane, pick too much, just in the boiling water, spread to the abandoned and unused big stone bridge deck to let the sun shine, the entire bridge deck is occupied by purslane, it is really a grand view. After a few storms, the purslane dried up and brought to the city to sell, which could be sold at a good price. Picked back fresh purslane sometimes can not be processed, some people have pigs at home, just cook in a large pot, pour for the pigs to eat, pigs eat full of foam, sweet.
In midsummer, go to the river embankment to pick mulberries. The memory of the river embankment, those giant mulberries, in midsummer, mulberries hung all over the trees. It became a paradise for birds, and every day at dawn, the birds flew to the trees in groups and in waves to eat mulberries. Mulberries ripen at different times, some ripen earlier, the color is black and purple; some ripen later, the color is dark red; some are about to ripen, the color is red; some are yet to mature, the color is green. The birds are mouthy, they specialize in black and purple to eat, but they do not concentrate on eating, eating one, pecking two, pedaling three, on the embankment under the tree, a black, a red, a black and red, everywhere is a natural ripe fall or bird flocks fall mulberries, described as a mess in a place is very image. But the mulberry tree is probably liked in private, because in terms of the strategy of species transmission, the mulberry tree should be extremely successful, and the flock of birds will bring the seeds of the mulberry tree in all directions. Black and purple mulberries can be eaten when picked, fresh and sweet and delicious; dark red mulberries taste slightly sweet and sour, the flavor is better; green mulberries eat sour raw, you can take home, make steamed bread or add a few grains when you spread the cake early, after cooking, the green astringency is completely gone, but overflows with a pure smell with mulberry flavor.
Dandelions can be harvested from spring to late summer, in fact, there are still dandelions in autumn and winter, but not as much as summer. Dandelions and wild cabbage, the same as the ground, are particularly fond of snuggling people's wild game, where people move, dandelions are particularly many, roadsides, the ground, river embankment, lawn, summer as long as you see one or two bright little yellow flowers, you can basically conclude that it is a dandelion. The roadside in the countryside is a place where dandelions live in clusters, and sometimes to a strange place, turn on a village through the cement road, and the yellow and bright dandelions on both sides of the road are full of blooming dandelions. The dandelions were two or two more bushes, which looked like one, but when they were dug up, they found that they were two. Blanch the dug dandelion leaves, you can cool it, cool it to the fire; the roots are blanched and dried in the sun, and then stored, when drinking tea, occasionally pick one and put it in the teacup, the tea becomes a little bitter, but also has a special style.
The ground is also wild game that can be picked up from spring to autumn. On Sundays after consecutive autumn rains, city dwellers drive to the grassy areas of the suburbs to pick up land. The ground, also known as lichen, ear, and ear fungus, is probably a fungus plant similar to the fungus, especially after the rain in summer and autumn. It takes some effort to come back from picking up the ground from the grass and going home to wash the grass clippings and sand in it. It is common to clean the ground and scramble eggs with fried eggs. A small plate of scrambled eggs was served on the table, and the fresh aroma between the plants after the rain swirled like a breeze, one person and one chopstick, and the dish saw the bottom. In the city's vegetable market, you can occasionally encounter people who sell land, more than twenty yuan a pound, or have not been cleaned. If you only calculate the economic account, then driving to the suburbs to pick up, the cost seems to be higher, and it costs a lot of gas money to go back and forth. But this kind of activity on sundays in early autumn, it seems that what is picked up is not only a few pieces of black soft and slippery land, but also a kind of decompression and lyrical sentiment.
From mid-autumn to cold winter, with the beat of the four seasons, there are fewer and fewer wild vegetables in the fields, and most of the wild vegetables that can be picked and picked are already in spring and summer. Sometimes late dandelions can be seen on the grass or in the warm sun, and they still bloom the iconic bright yellow flowers until it snows and freezes, and their leaves are chocolate-colored, and the flowers are still straight. The land in late autumn is very thick, and it can be found in the meadow until the middle of winter, and after the snow, go to the grass in the wild, pull out the snow, and you can see the ground attached to the dry grass stem, or pasted on the wet ground, clear and bright and with flexible elasticity. Midwinter wild cabbage began to sprout, the cold winter waxing moon can be picked and eaten on the ground; Chinese New Year's Eve night, the family while watching TV while wrapping dumplings, of course, with wild cabbage vegetarian dumplings are fragrant and delicious; eat meat dumplings on the first day of the New Year, wild cabbage can also be the protagonist, with pork and other meat fillings, eat people full of mouth oil, the completion of the year has begun again.
2
Four-hour order
The ancients, especially the ancients of the pre-Qin Dynasty, often called the four seasons four hours. In the Analects of Yang Goods, Confucius said: "When the four hours are practiced, a hundred things are born, and what does the heavens say?" "Zhuangzi Zaiyu" said: "The weather is not harmonious, the earth is depressed, the six qi are not adjusted, and the four hours are not festive." In the Thirty Chapters of the Middle Way, it is said: "The wrong deeds of the four hours are like the generations of the sun and the moon." In the Zhou Yi Yi Chuan Wen Yan, it is said: "It is in harmony with the heavens and the earth, with the sun and the moon, with the four hours in its order, and with the ghosts and gods." "They all call the four seasons the four hours.
The four seasons are natural phenomena that occur due to the different relative positions of the earth and the sun, and are the unchangeable hard environment for human beings to survive so far. Ancient humans paid attention to and observed this phenomenon, pondered the laws of the four seasons brought about by the appearance of the earth, the sun, and the moon in different positions, and eventually formed a different calendar, which was used to guide daily production and life, and also to govern society and adjust the relationship between people.
The calendar used by the ancient Dynasties in China is not the same, but the general trend is the combination of yin and yang; the so-called yin mainly refers to the relationship between the earth and the moon, and the so-called yang mainly refers to the relationship between the earth and the sun. The main differences in the calendar of the Three Dynasties of the Xia and Shang Dynasties are different at the beginning of the year, the Xia Dynasty takes the Meng Chun Moon as the first month, the Yin Dynasty takes the Winter Moon as the First Month, and the Zhou Dynasty takes the Midwinter Month as the First Month. The emphasis on the winter solstice as the starting point of the lunar calendar of the year in the Book of Rites and The Moon Order shows that the calendar before the two Han Dynasties, with the winter solstice day as the beginning of the year, was popular.
In the era of the pre-Qin Dynasty, when the heavens and the earth were simply observed, people felt mysterious and curious about the phenomenon of the operation of the heavens and the earth, so they created and associated many things that existed or did not exist to explain or describe it. In the "Zhou Yi Yi Chuan Say Gua Gua", it is said that the Heavenly Emperor created all things from the east of the "Zhen" gua symbol, all things sprouted neatly in the southeast of the "Xun" gua symbol, all things grew together in the south of the "Departure" gua symbol, all things were arranged in the southwest of the "Kun" gua symbol, all things were happy in the west of the "Hui" gua symbol, all things grew in the northwest of the "Qian" gua symbol, all things labored in the north of the "Kan" gua symbol, and all things matured in the northeast of the "Gong" gua symbol. This passage can refer to the order of the direction from the east to the northeast, or to the cycle of the four seasons, or to the clockwise direction of the sunrise in the morning and not in the twilight. The observations and summaries of environmental phenomena such as the position, the celestial signs, the morning and evening, and the four seasons of the ancient Chinese are all summarized in this seemingly simple bagua azimuth map.
In the "Zhuangzi Tiandao", it is said that "spring and summer first, after autumn and winter, and the order of the four hours", which refers to the normal and distinct four seasons in ancient times. The most complete texts in ancient times that express the concept of Chinese four seasons are the relevant chapters in the Book of Rites and Moon Orders, as well as the Lü's Spring and Autumn and Huainanzi. The "Moon Order" divides the four seasons in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River into Mengchun, Zhongchun, Jichun, Mengxia, Midsummer, Jixia, Midsummer, Jixia, Mid-Autumn, Jiqiu, Jiqiu, Mondong, Midwinter, And Jidong in the order of Mengchun, Zhongchun, And Jichun, and the 12th month of The Moon Order, and there are also descriptions of relevant solar terms and phenology such as Lichun. The so-called solar terms are divided into twenty-four paragraphs according to the position of the sun on the yellow meridian (ecliptic), the sun runs every 15 degrees of time is a solar term, the sun runs 360 degrees throughout the year, a total of twenty-four solar terms such as spring equinox and Qingming, two per month; the ancients also divided the twenty-four solar terms in the Qingming, Lixia, Mangzhong, Xiaoxia, Liqiu, White Dew, Cold Dew, Lidong, Heavy Snow, Small Cold, Lichun, and Sting as "Solar Terms", and the spring equinox, valley rain, small fullness, summer solstice, summer solstice, summer solstice, and summer in the twenty-four solar terms. Summer, autumn equinox, frost, light snow, winter solstice, cold, rain is called "medium gas"; the solar terms and medium gas alternately, each lasting about 15 days, in these 15 days, the phenology will change significantly, agricultural activities must also be followed up at any time, otherwise it will delay the agricultural time.
The word "monthly order" means to grant timely or promulgate government according to time. The so-called timely promulgation or promulgation of government according to time means promulgating calendars and decrees in accordance with the laws of the four seasons of heaven and earth. The promulgation of the calendar, this is because the ancient human understanding of the celestial phenomenon is not high, can not be completely matched by the calendar or the relationship between the sun and the earth or the moon, so it needs to be compensated by setting leap months and other ways, so every year to issue a specific calendar to determine the four seasons of the year and the time of the twenty-four solar terms. The promulgation of government decrees is based on the four seasons and solar terms of the year, and the work processes of the leadership and the people are formulated. For example, in ancient times, the four seasons had to be sacrificed, and on which day to do what kind of sacrifice, there was a fixed time and format, Meng Chun's sacrifice was in the eastern suburbs, Meng Xia wanted to go to the southern suburbs to welcome the arrival of summer, and in a certain month it was ordered not to use female animal sacrifices; in some months it was forbidden to cut down trees, it was forbidden to overturn the bird's nest, it was forbidden to kill young animals, animals that were still in the womb, newborn animals and birds, it was not allowed to kill young animals, and it was not allowed to take bird eggs; in a certain month, it was not necessary to gather people, not to build castles, not to start wars, and so on.
All departments must also have work arrangements for each department, and must not come in a disorderly manner. For example, this month, the agricultural officials of Meng Chun will live in the eastern suburbs, comprehensively renovate the boundaries of the fields, inspect and maintain the farmland roads, conscientiously inspect the fields in small earth mountains, large earth mountains, hillsides, and places with uneven heights and low humidity, arrange grain planting according to the land situation, and teach these knowledge to guide the peasants, and these things must be done by the agricultural officials themselves; the things in the fields have been properly arranged, and after that, the agricultural tax standards must be determined first, and the peasants will not be confused.
Autumn is the season when all kinds of harvests come together, and the work of this month in mid-autumn is completely different from Meng Chun. In the mid-autumn month, officials should inspect the livestock that eat grass and grain, examine whether the livestock are fat or thin, examine the color of the livestock, and ensure that the sacrificial sacrifices selected have been compared and screened, measured in size, and examined for too long and short, and all meet the sacrificial standards; this month, they can build cities, build capitals, dig cellars, and repair granaries; they must also urge the people to harvest crops, be sure to store vegetables, save more grain, etc., encourage the planting of winter wheat, do not miss the time of farming, if someone misses the time of farming, That is the act of committing crimes; this month it is also necessary to let the checkpoints and markets be traded, attract merchants from afar, accept goods, and facilitate the people's livelihood; when people from all over the world gather and people from far away villages come, then the resources and wealth will not be exhausted; if we want to do great things this month, we must pay attention not to violate the way of heaven in the general situation, and we must follow the times and act cautiously according to the existing rules.
It is precisely because the rational knowledge of the ancients is not abundant, so the concept of four seasons is often closely related to perceptual phenology, when there is no concept of how much degree the average temperature of ten days is spring, but when you see the change in the state or behavior of animals and plants, you know that the change of seasons has begun. Meng Chunshi "The east wind thaws, the stinging insects begin to vibrate, the fish on the ice, the otter sacrifices the fish, and the wild geese come." "Mid-spring" begins to rain, peach begins, Cang Gengming, eagle turns into a dove. "Mengxia Shi" grasshoppers sing, earthworms out, Wang Guasheng, bitter vegetable show. "In the summer of the season", the warm wind begins, the crickets live on the wall, the eagles are learning, and the rotten grass is the fireflies. "Meng Qiu Shi" cool breeze, white dew falling, cold cicadas chirping, eagles are sacrificial birds. "In mid-autumn", the wild geese come, the birds return, and the flock of birds raise shame." "Mengdong" water began to freeze, the ground began to freeze, pheasant into the water for a mirage. "In the winter of the season", the geese are north of the country, and the magpies are nesting. "These are the perceptual correspondences between phenology and the seasons and solar terms.
3
The righteousness of the four seasons is great
"Clouds and rain, products and shapes", it is precisely because the ancients carefully observed the natural phenomenon of "clouds and rain, so that everything takes shape in change", people can further carefully migrate the natural phenomena between heaven and earth to human social life, reaching a super realm of looking up at astronomy, looking down on geography, and looking at humanities. "Clouds and rain" is the cause of heaven and earth, "all things change and shape their appearance" is the result of the cause of heaven and earth in the biological and human worlds; without human beings' experience, perception, observation and imitation of astronomy, geography and the four seasons, human beings cannot clearly understand heaven and earth and know themselves.
"Zhou Yi Yan" said: "Rigid in the middle and soft outside." For heaven and earth, this sentence means that the heavenly dao is strong inside and outside, and the tunnel is soft inside and outside; without inner strength and strength, where there is the outer self-improvement and continuous operation of the heavenly dao; there is no inner yin and generosity, and where there is the external softness, harmony, and nourishment of all things. For the four seasons, this sentence is to say that the four seasons have just soft, rigid and soft mistakes; spring and shun spread, all things recover, summer is fiery and cool, hardship and tolerance, autumn returns to the sky high and cloudy, pleasant and mellow, winter is the turn for ice and snow cold, people are difficult. For human beings, this sentence means that a person should be strong in heart and kind, or strong in heart and gentle on the outside, or strong in heart and indisputable on the outside, or soft in speech and decisive in behavior.
The beauty of heaven and earth in the four seasons has always been admired by the ancients. The so-called heavenly virtue is the virtue of heaven, the characteristic of heaven, and the decisive contribution made by heaven to the survival and growth of all things and human beings. The so-called earth virtue is the virtue of the earth, that is, the characteristics of the earth, and the decisive contribution made by the earth to the survival and growth of all things and human beings. Without the heating of the sun and the rain of the clouds, there would be no growth of all things on the earth; without the bearing and nourishment of the earth, all things would have no place to rely on and no growth.
However, in the ancient Chinese cultural atmosphere, the most important thing is the admiration of heaven and earth and the beauty of the four seasons. Lao Tzu said, "He who knows does not speak, and he who speaks does not know." This is to tell people that the wise do not talk about it, and that the person who talks about it is not the wise. Confucius said, "A gentleman wants to be sensitive to words and sensitive to deeds." "This is to tell people that gentlemen should be cautious in their speech and quick in their actions. "Zhuangzi Zhibei Tour" said: "There is great beauty in heaven and earth without words, there is a clear law at four times without discussion, and all things have a reason without saying." This is to tell people that there is great beauty in heaven and earth but not ostentatious, that the four seasons have definite laws but do not discuss, and that all things have established laws but do not say them. In the eyes of the wise men of ancient China, no matter how strong a person's ability is, how rich his wisdom is, how high his status is, no matter how much he helps others, no matter how much he contributes, he cannot exceed the four seasons and heaven and earth, since the four seasons and heaven and earth that have made such a great contribution to all things and mankind are not beautiful, is it still worth narcissism and boasting?
There are differences between rigidity and softness and rigidity and softness in the four seasons, which is called "one yin and one yang". Spring is coming, everything is sprouting; summer is coming, everything is summering; autumn is coming, everything is ripe; winter is coming, storage and preparation. Since the seasons are like this, shouldn't human beings do things from time to time, and stop at the end of time? If spring comes and you don't farm, and if autumn comes and you don't harvest, is there anything that won't fail? To extend to life, we must also move from time to time, and end with time; when the opportunity comes, we must grasp it quickly; when the time is not ripe, we cannot force it, but we must accumulate thickly and wait for the time to occur.
At four o'clock, everything comes into being. From the four seasons, as well as the relationship between the sun, the moon and heaven and earth, people summed up the philosophical concepts of yin and yang, rigidity and softness, and refined and expanded, becoming the most important concepts and laws in ancient China. In the eyes of the ancients, yin and yang and rigidity and softness are not only omnipresent, but also all-encompassing; not only absolute, but also relative; not only fixed and unchanging, but also extremely negative and cyclical. Winter is extremely cold, it will become warmer, summer heat to the peak, it will turn cooler; life is the same, when it can no longer be smooth, it will be reversed, moldy to no longer moldy, it will rebound.
The Zhou Yi Zhi Shang says: "The original anti-finality, so I know the theory of death and life." This is to tell people that everything starts from the beginning and then returns to the beginning of the end, which is the truth of death and life. Therefore, if things go too well, we must be vigilant against their reversal of unsmooths; and if things do not go well, we must work hard to meet the arrival of reversal with progress and accumulation. "Zhuangzi Zeyang" said: "Yin and yang take care of each other, and cover each other; the four times are generational, and they kill each other." "This is to tell people that yin and yang reflect each other, take care of each other; the four seasons rotate, and each other promotes you to decline and prosper." Favorable circumstances are not eternal, difficulties are not the end, they are only part of the process, only effort and recourse are eternal.
It is precisely because of the ancient sages' observation, thinking, summary, induction and refinement of the sun and moon, heaven and earth, yin and yang, that the sun and moon we see are not only pure natural sun and moon, the four seasons we experience are the four seasons with more connotations, and the heavens and earth we feel are the spiritual world. Confucius said, "The deceased is like a sif, who does not give up day and night", and what has passed away is not just the turbid water in the flood channel of Surabaya during the flood season, but also the emotional water of time, space, sighs, society, life, expectations, resentment, and so on. The natural realm that Confucius expected to enjoy with his disciples, "in the late spring of March, the clothes of spring have been put on, five or six adults, six or seven children, bathing in the Yi water, blowing the wind on the dance platform, singing all the way home" has become not only the keywords of spring, swimming water, children, pulling wind, singing and new clothes, but also a desire and description of an ideal social life.
Lao Tzu said, "The good is like water, and the water is good for all things without controversy, and the evil of all people is evil, so it is more than the Tao." In Lao Tzu's eyes, the highest level of goodness or the highest level of goodness is like water, water benefits all things without competing with it, and is located in a low-lying place that everyone does not want to stay, so the quality of water is very close to the highest rules of the universe. In Lao Tzu's vision, this water is no longer the water of nature, not the water of the earth, not the water of physical and chemical components, not the water that can only quench thirst, but the water of philosophy, the water of literature, the water of emotion, the water of ideas, and the water of nourishing the heart. "Zhuangzi" pursues a kind of fairy-like leisure and tranquility in the four seasons of heaven and earth, and is a transcendent realm of "entering the gate of infinity and swimming in the wilderness of infinity"; in Zhuangzi's vision, traveling between the four seasons of heaven and earth is the reality of life, and swimming outside the four seasons of heaven and earth is the ultimate state of life; keeping the gods and condensing, the body will be healthy; settling in one's heart, the spirit will grow on its own.
It is precisely because the ancient wise men excavated such a rich connotation of heaven and earth and four seasons for us, that in the process of experiencing the four seasons and feeling the heavens and the earth, we no longer seem so shallow, careless and impetuous. When we walk into the wilderness with a bamboo basket, we are not just walking into the wilderness, but we are walking into the hinterland of farming culture; when we see the wind and rain, we know that it is not just wind and rain, it is also the intersection of yin and yang, rigid and soft; when we pick up a piece of land, we are not just picking up a wild game, we also lament the nourishment and nurturing of the earth for all things; when we dig up a cabbage, we know that we are not just digging up a wild vegetable, we will think of the ancestors who tried poison for food safety When we rest near the flowering dandelions, we will remember the principle of inexhaustible fishing; when we walk in the wilderness where there is no one and no one, we will know what it means to be quiet as water and to follow the heavens.
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