Source: People's Daily Economic and Social WeChat public account Chang Qin
clear and bright
Qingming in the 24 solar terms, also known as the "March Festival" or "Qingqing Festival", is also an important traditional festival in China. Before and after the Qingming Dynasty, except for the northeast and northwest regions of the mainland, the average daily temperature in most areas has risen to more than 12 °C, the spring is bright, the willows are green, the warblers and grasses are long, showing a vibrant spring scenery.
Qingming is a sign that measures the length of the "spring neck"
Qingming Festival falls around April 5 of the solar calendar, and the lunar calendar is calculated as the beginning of March. The agricultural proverb says that "February Qingming is green, March Qingming grass is not born", which means that the specific date of Qingming is directly related to the length of the "spring neck".
"'Spring neck' is a colloquial saying in agriculture." Tang Zhiqiang, deputy director of the 24 Solar Terms Research Center of the China Agricultural Museum, said that in terms of solar terms, the "spring neck" generally refers to the period of time after the frozen rivers and the earth after the spring heats up and thaws to the time before the spring sowing. Folk calculations of the length of the "Spring Neck" depend on the specific number of days between the Spring Festival and the Qingming Dynasty.
All the years in which the Qingming Dynasty coincided with the handover in February of the lunar calendar are all "spring neck" short years. Spring is short, spring is early, the temperature is relatively warm, so field crops and grasses will germinate earlier, and they will grow more lush in the qingming. Qingming in the lunar calendar in march year, the "spring neck" is long, the spring is delayed, the temperature warms up slowly, the germination time of field crops and grass trees is delayed, at this time, when it comes to the Qingming Festival, the crops and grasses in the fields will not show too much vitality and greenery.
Before and after the Qingming Dynasty, plant melons and beans. Tang Zhiqiang said that during the Qingming Dynasty, it is suitable for sowing seeds in the field such as melons and beans, as well as the sowing and seedlings of transplanted cotton. At this time, melons and fruits can be sown such as watermelon, melon, melon, etc., vegetables include cucumbers, pumpkins, winter melons, bitter melons, loofahs, etc., as well as some common legume vegetables, such as beans, cowpeas, lentils, beans and so on. "The growth characteristics and growth time of these melons, fruits and vegetables basically have in common, and the suitable temperature for seed germination is basically between 15-30 ° C."
At this time, the number of wheat elongations during the Qingming period in the Jianghuai and Huanghuai river basins has reached about 3 knots, the so-called "Qingming season, wheat long three festivals". Tang Zhiqiang introduced that the jointing period is 1.5-2 cm between the first section of the main stem of wheat, and the base of the wheat is fragile and loud when pinched with his fingers. Previously unmanaged wheat fields can still be rushed to improve moisture, and joint fertilizer or pregnant ear fertilizer can be applied to promote the growth of wheat jointing and upper functional leaves and young ears.
The agricultural machinery service team of Xingzhuang Township, Weishi County, Henan Province, uses drones to spray foliar fertilizer on wheat. Photo by Li Xinyi
Above the tea mountain, the spring scenery is like a painting. Between the clouds and mist, the mountains are green, the water is clear, and the tea fields are horizontal and vertical, and the aroma is refreshing. Before the Ming Dynasty, the tea was emerald green in color and soft in leaf quality, and the tea farmers "pointed their fingers" to pick the tea leaves, and only picked the two young buds at the top of the tea leaves. Because of its high temperature, long growth period and low temperature of the growing environment, Mingqian tea ensures the highest vitamin content in spring tea, that is, the highest nutritional value. Fujian, Anhui, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and other places, the tea picked before the Qingming Festival is Shangchun tea, and the tea picked during the Qingming Festival is Erchun tea.
Tea farmers in Wan'an County, Jiangxi Province, pick Mingqian tea. Photo by Qiu Zhe
Qingming stepped on the green to dig wild vegetables, some to see, some to eat
"The pear blossoms are rising and clear, and the wanderer is looking for spring and half out of the city." Every spring, when the land is returning to the earth and the grass and trees are green, people are excited to go to the suburbs to walk and play. Tang Zhiqiang said that the Qingming season is the flowering period of many flowers, and the flower appreciation of qingming has become an important part of people's outings to the suburbs.
During the Qingming Dynasty, it is time to specialize wild vegetables. People also like to go to the wild to pick all kinds of wild vegetables, cabbage, bracken, wormwood, chicken vine, pulp wheat grass, maran head, goji leaves, toon, yu qian, etc., and then make a variety of green dough, Qingming kun and other foods to taste the new, experience the new green, enjoy nature.
When wrapping Amigo, the whole family came together. Photo by Sun Xueyun
Qingtuan is a traditional snack eaten during the Qingming Festival in the Jiangnan region, made of wormwood juice and glutinous rice flour, and the taste is sticky and soft, with a grassy aroma. Wild vegetables during the Qingming Dynasty have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects, which can help treat respiratory diseases such as cough and asthma and skin problems such as hives and pimples. Eat more to prevent diseases, so people like to make green dough and moxa to eat.
The wormwood in the fields of Gannan, Jiangxi, is the raw material for the Hakka snack Amy Kueh. Suichuan County, Jiangxi, has nearly half of the Hakka population, and still retains the custom of eating Amy-kueh during the Qingming Dynasty. Plants such as mugwort leaves and white-headed oysters are dried with water and glutinous rice flour, and then made into various shapes of agents, wrapped with bacon hoarded for the New Year, bamboo shoots that have broken new ground, home-made pickled dried beans and other fillings, and sweets can also be wrapped with granulated sugar. Amy kueh of various shapes is then steamed in a steamer basket that is placed in a pot, and when the pot is uncovered, the aroma of wormwood and filling comes to the nose and tempts to taste.
Washed wormwood. Photo by Yuan Hygiene
Nowadays, a variety of wild vegetables have become a delicious dish on the table of more and more people, and have become the "new money bags" of farmers. "Wild toon is in short supply, and the market prospects are good." Looking at business opportunities, Pu Guobin, a farmer in Bizhuang Village, Falu Town, Shuangbai County, Yunnan Province, returned to his hometown and built a red oil toon planting base. "Newly planted toon is harvested 1-2 times a year, and can be harvested 2-3 times after 3 years, with an average yield of up to 140 kilograms per mu, an average price of 150 yuan / kg, and an output value of 21,000 yuan per mu." Pu Guobin was full of spring breeze.
Flying kites in The Qingming Dynasty is a tradition and a very international style
In addition to enjoying the beautiful spring scenery of flowers and willows, kite flying is also a favorite activity. Tang Zhiqiang said that Qingming is an ancient folk festival, and kite flying is one of the entertainment activities invented by the working people on the mainland, which has a history of more than 2,000 years. "Children return from school early, busy taking advantage of the east wind to release paper kites" in the "paper kites" refers to kites.
First of all, why did the "paper kite" have a new name "kite"? Chen Yi of the Ming Dynasty said in the "Inquiry record • Kite" that the fifth generation of Li Yi put paper kites, on the head of the kites, and used bamboo as a flute to make the wind sound, such as kites, commonly known as kites. It is named "kite" because it can make a sound like a kite.
Why do everyone love to fly kites during the Qingming Season? "The wind of spring rises from the bottom up, and the paper kites rise from it, so there is a Qingming release of the harrier", which is the explanation of the Qing Jia Lu. The economic and social jun invited experts to translate the scientific truth: spring is the period of the largest heating range, at this time the number of clouds in the sky is small, and the ground warms up rapidly due to heating, resulting in the rise of the air flow, forming a hot and warm atmospheric knot, so it provides enough lift for kite flying.
When you think of kites, do you think of a city? Weifang, Shandong. Weifang is known as the capital of kites, and kites have become a unique cultural symbol and city card of the local area. "Fine production, traditional production, stable flight", this "small kite" in Weifang has grown into a large industry, starting the whole country and going to the world.
Weifang kite. Photo by Wang Chunxu
According to statistics, at the first kite meeting in 1984, there were only 20 kite and related product manufacturers in Weifang, and the annual sales income of kites was only more than 200,000 yuan. Today, the local enterprise has developed to 120 companies, employing more than 30,000 people, with an annual output of more than 200 million kites and sales revenue of 2.4 billion yuan.
Weifang kite. Photo by Liu Jitian
Kites are not only sold globally, but also profoundly affect the whole world. According to research, kites were transmitted from China to Korea and Japan in the 10th century AD, and to Europe around the 12th century, which had an important impact on scientific and technological inventions. Franklin invented the lightning rod and the Wright brothers invented the airplane, both of which are credited with kites. In the lobby of the Museum of Astronautics in Washington, D.C., there is a Chinese kite, and on the kite there is a line: "The earliest human flying machine is a Chinese kite and rocket."