In the recently released "Recommended Books for Graded Reading for Teenagers in Fujian Province" (2022 edition), the two books "Twenty-four Solar Terms in Jiangnan" and "Ancient Arts" published by our company were successfully selected.
"Twenty-Four Solar Terms in Gangnam"
Yuan Jin, Xiao Fang
"Feng Jicai Ancient Village, Ancient Customs/Ancient Art"
Written by Feng Jicai
Speaking of solar terms, "Twenty-four Solar Terms in Jiangnan", as a published book in the "13th Five-Year Plan" national key planning, has been successfully selected as a development project of Zhejiang Provincial Culture and Art Fund in 2021.
What kind of book is it, and can it be linked to so many projects?
"Twenty-Four Solar Terms in Jiangnan" is a traditional humanistic book that systematically explains the solar term culture in Jiangnan.
"The spring rain shocks the spring valley days, and the summer is full of mango and summer and summer are connected. Autumn dew autumn frost falls, winter snow snow winter small big cold." As we all know, the twenty-four solar terms are the time cognitive framework established by ancient Chinese observing the laws of astronomical, phenological, and personnel activities. The twenty-four solar terms in Jiangnan are the time culture designed and passed down by the people of Jiangnan in accordance with the solar system, based on the terroir environment, production and living needs of Jiangnan, and are the crystallization of the experience and wisdom of Jiangnan people on natural time sequence.
People all over Jiangnan arranged their work and life according to this set of times, forming various agricultural affairs and agricultural policies, seasonal actions, health care, diet and entertainment. Through the Folk Festivals and Ritual Activities of Jiangnan handed down from the old times, we can appreciate the concept of "moving according to the times" hidden in traditional Chinese culture, feel the aesthetics of Jiangnan-style life in the cycle of time, and feel the charm of Jiangnan in the transformation of the twenty-four solar terms.
It just so happens that Li Xia is coming soon, I don't know what kind of festival customs are in "Twenty-Four Solar Terms in Jiangnan"?
(This article is excerpted from "Twenty-four Solar Terms in Jiangnan", with deletions)
Kaoru wind brings summer, and all things grow
Lixia, the seventh of the twenty-four solar terms, the first solar term of summer, is celebrated from May 5 to May 7 in the Gregorian calendar.
"Standing", beginning; "summer, false also", "false" means "big".
The Book of Rites and Moon Orders records that during the Lixia period, "the grasshoppers chirped, the earthworms came out, the wang guasheng, and the bitter vegetable show" was born.
At this time, the grasshoppers began to make noise, the slippery body of the earthworms drilled in and out of the soil, the fields in the countryside were covered with melons and vegetables, and everything had faded the green and tender color of spring. The early rice planting area in Jiangnan has begun to plant seedlings, and the silkworm babies have also entered three sleeps and big sleeps, and the harvest is in sight.
"The swallows go to the spring, and the kaoru wind brings the summer." Although there is still some time to go before the meteorological sense of summer, people are accustomed to making Lixia the "first of summer". Since then, the temperature in various parts of Jiangnan has risen significantly, thunderstorms have increased, and the hot and humid rainy season has gradually begun.
In ancient times, on this day, the emperor would lead the civil and military officials to the southern outskirts of the imperial city to welcome the summer, and the dresses, accessories, horses, and flags were all scarlet to express the hope for a good harvest and well-being. Spring is about to pass away, and people can't help but feel sad about spring, so they put wine and feast to send spring home, called "RaoChun". Therefore, there is a poetry cloud: "There is no choice but to go to spring, and the cherry shoots will be returned to spring." (Wu Rongting, "Li Xia")
Spring and summer rotate, increasingly hot, the order of nature; farming is complicated, silkworm affairs are busy, and farming is time. The variety of diets, rich and interesting entertainment and other summer customs are a useful attempt for people to respect the natural time sequence and integrate themselves into it.
1. Weigh the egg on the human chest, and the child "rolls" for a summer
There is a very interesting custom in the summer days - to call people.
To weigh people, you must be able to weigh the traditional pole scale, generally set up a large wooden scale on the open space, hang a chair on the scale hook, and everyone takes turns to sit on it and weigh it. When the person comes to sit on the scale, the scale person adjusts the position of the scale on the rod scale flower star and balances the rod scale, which is commonly known as "beating the scale flower", while saying auspicious words.
When calling the old man, he should say "weigh eighty-seven, live to ninety-one"; when calling a girl, he should say "one hundred and five pounds, and outsiders will come to the door." If the person on the scale is a child, it is said that "the scale spends a dozen and twenty-three, and the small official will go out of the mountain." Qipin County officials should not make mistakes, and the three princes and nine secretaries should also climb."
Regarding the origin of this custom, folklore is related to Liu Chan, the son of Liu Bei during the Three Kingdoms period, "The Unsupportable Adou". According to legend, during the Three Kingdoms period, Liu Bei ordered the military general Zhao Yun to escort his only son Liu Chan to Eastern Wu because of his perennial conquests, and he was raised by Lady Sun. When Liu Chan arrived in the Kingdom of Wu, it was a summer day, and Lady Sun was very happy when she saw Liu Chan, but she was worried about not taking good care of her, and she fell behind the words of her mother. Therefore, Lady Sun weighed Liu Chan with a scale in front of Zhao Yun, and in the summer of the following year, she weighed Liu Chan again, and then informed Liu Bei to show her intention of taking good care of her.
When and where the custom of calling people originated is difficult to trace, and the meaning of calling people in Lixia varies from place to place in Jiangnan. In the Suzhou area, people believe that this move can observe the changes in the body in the summer and maintain health. In the Hangzhou area, people believe that Lixia called people to understand the physical condition of the past year. In the Shanghai area, people think that this move can prevent summer fever and maintain good health.
Mid-Levels Lixia is called a person
Provided by Hangzhou Gongshu Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center
There is a custom of eating eggs in the summer, as the saying goes, "eat eggs in the summer, the stones are trampled", which means that eating eggs in the summer can strengthen the body and prevent the common symptoms of loss of appetite, emaciation and fatigue in the summer heat.
The day before summer, people start boiling eggs. When boiling eggs, add tea leaves or walnut shells to the water, and then add cooking wine, salt, soy sauce, cinnamon, etc., and the eggshell gradually turns red in the boiling soup, filling the house with aroma.
On the day of summer, the elders of the family put the boiled eggs into egg sets woven with colorful silk threads, hung them around the children's necks, and hung them on their chests. It is thought that in this way, it is possible to "roll" (meaning "mix") without illness and disaster for a summer. In some dialects of Jiangnan, "rolling" is pronounced very similarly to "mixed", and this custom is also jokingly called "rolling summer".
LiXia eats eggs
2. Black rice anti-uttle mosquito, beggar rice to cook summer rice
Legend has it that in order to let his hungry mother eat food, His disciple Mu Lian used a leaf called the Southern Candle to mash out the juice to dye the rice and make it into black rice to send, and the hungry ghost saw that the rice was black and did not dare to eat it, so that his mother could eat it. As a result, the folk began to spread the custom of eating black rice before and after the standing summer.
In fact, black rice is a kind of purple-black sticky rice.
LiXia eats black rice without paying attention to the ceremony, only sprinkle some soft white sugar or osmanthus sugar on the black and purple sticky rice, the entrance is sweet, and the children especially love the soft and fragrant taste. As the saying goes, "After eating black rice, the black mosquitoes do not bite". The black mosquito is a common mosquito in the summer, officially known as Aconitum anopheles, the size of a grain of rice, and after being bitten, it is extremely itchy. This method of preventing crow's mosquitoes has been passed down in this way in the folk and is still often mentioned by the elderly.
From the perspective of modern nutrition, black rice is very beneficial to the body. The leaves of the southern candle are flat, the taste is sour, the glutinous rice tastes sweet and warm, and the combination of the two has many effects such as blind black hair, tonifying the kidneys, calming the spirit and suppressing cough, and the taste of black rice is sweet, which is quite suitable for people's spleen and stomach in the summer.
Uchiha rice
When it comes to cooking rice, on summer days, children often go to the countryside in groups and joyfully to cook rice in the open air, called "cooking summer rice". Cooking summer rice, also known as "shaking summer summer rice", is a popular summer cooking activity among children. On summer days, children cook rice in the open air, and after the rice is cooked, "distribute the rice family of the day before, each family has a small bowl, and the rice may be placed on the green plum, cherry, and white water, which is said to be eaten by children, and can avoid the summer clouds." The name of the people at the time is 'burning summer rice'".
According to the custom, the rice, beans, bamboo shoots, etc. used to make the summer meal must be begged by the neighbors. Children can go to other bamboo gardens to dig bamboo shoots and pick beans in the field at will, and when the host family sees it, instead of scolding, they will happily agree. Begging for rice, making fires in the wild, children compare themselves to beggars, such as eating a hundred meals, it seems to be a game, but in fact, it is the wish of their parents to hope that they will be healthy.
3. LiXia tastes three new and sits and eats "Seven Teas"
In the summer, the tea picking is basically completed, and the variety of melons, fruits, vegetables and vegetables on the market is abundant, and people joyfully begin various new tasting activities. "Taste the new", that is, "taste the fresh", that is, to taste the fresh food on the day of the summer. "Qing Jia Lu" Yun: "On a summer day, the family set up cherries, green plums, and spikes of wheat for the gods to enjoy first." Shochu, sake brewing, sea snails, steamed buns, gluten, mustard greens, white bamboo shoots, salted duck eggs and other products are accompanied by soy, and broad beans are also tasted every day. ”
There is a folk saying "Lixia tastes three new". "Three new" can also be said to be "three fresh", there are three fresh ground, three fresh trees and three fresh water. As for the specific content of the "three fresh", it is not the same throughout Jiangnan, but it is similar but small. In the Nanjing area, snails, river shrimp and anchovies are used as water three fresh, amaranth, broad beans and pea cakes are the three freshest, and cherries, green plums and toon buds are the three freshest trees. The suzhou area is slightly different from the Nanjing area, the three fresh ground are broad beans, garlic seedlings, amaranth, and the water three fresh are anchovies, knife fish and puffer fish. People around Wuxi believe that the three freshest fruits of the ground are broad beans, amaranth and cucumbers, the three freshest trees are cherries, loquats and apricots, and the three freshest water are sea gee, puffer fish and anchovies. Shanghainese people say "Lixia tastes three fresh", one says to taste "cherries, broad beans and bamboo shoots", and the other says to taste "plums, sake brewed and salted eggs".
cherry
Hangzhou people will cook tea to give to neighbors, called "Seven Teas".
Mingren Tian Rucheng's "West Lake Tour Zhiyu Xi Dynasty Pleasures" records: "On the day of the establishment of summer, each family cooks new tea, with various colors of fine fruits, and feeds relatives to neighbors, which is called seven teas." At that time, the rich family took this as an opportunity to climb the rich and compete for luxury, the fruits were carved, decorated with gold leaf, and the names of fragrant soup, such as jasmine, forest bird, rose, guirui, Ding Tan, Su Xing, filled with GeRu porcelain Ou, only for one sip. ”
The fruits are exquisite, the tea soup is expensive, the tea set is luxurious, just to let the other party drink a sip of tea, it can be seen that the rich and noble people show off their wealth. Friends and relatives sit and drink seven teas during the summer, which is more likely to be a neighbor and spend the summer.
In the Suzhou area, on this day, the neighbors will take out candied fruit, generally green plums, kumquats, broad beans, peach slices, roses, red dates, and then accompanied by barley tea, cooked together and shared together. Local beliefs believe that after drinking seven teas, it is not easy to grow prickly heat in the summer. In the old days of Zhejiang countryside, the neighbors of the peasant families would give each other beans, rice, and cook porridge, called "seven family porridge", everyone eat seven porridge together, so that the neighbors can work together to start summer cultivation and summer planting.
Seven houses of tea
"Twenty-Four Solar Terms in Gangnam"
Author: Yuan Jin, Xiao Fang
"Twenty-Four Solar Terms in Jiangnan" is a traditional humanistic reading jointly explained by folklore experts Yuan Jin and Xiao Fang on Chinese solar term culture.
Based on the historical culture and natural production of Jiangnan, the work explains the regional culture and folk customs of Jiangnan during the 24 solar terms on the influence of the 24 solar terms on economic production and life and regional cultural characteristics in the Jiangnan region.
From agricultural activities to festivals and celebrations, from food to clothing, it comprehensively shows and summarizes the characteristics of Jiangnan regional culture and folk culture that have been bred with the change of seasons. The book is the first traditional cultural national reading book to interpret the solar terms culture and the humanistic characteristics of Jiangnan after the successful application for the 24 solar terms in the mainland.
"Feng Jicai Ancient Village, Ancient Customs/Ancient Art"
(Click on the book cover to purchase)
Written by Feng Jicai
This book is the crystallization of the ideas of Feng Jicai, the 2018 "Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage Person of the Year", who has been engaged in the protection of Chinese folk cultural heritage for decades, which is not only an innovative and pioneering series of literary works created to continue the roots of excellent traditional culture, but also an action guide for the protection of folk cultural heritage written to every Chinese, which is of extraordinary significance for strengthening cultural self-confidence, enhancing national literacy, and enhancing cultural soft power.
The two books are rich in content, not only presenting the cruel reality of the rapid demise of folk cultural heritage in modern society, recording the process of protection of folk cultural heritage in the wind and snow and the blue wisps of the road, but also showing the fruitful results of the protection of folk cultural heritage under years of efforts.
(Some of the above pictures come from the Internet, invaded and deleted)