Today is May 5, 2022, Thursday, the fifth summer of the first month of the fourth month of the lunar calendar. Lixia, the seventh of the twenty-four solar terms of the lunar calendar and the first solar term of summer, indicates the official beginning of the Mengxia season.
The history of the Lixia festival is very long, as early as the end of the Warring States period 2250 years ago, it has been established. Therefore, since then, the summer has become an important festival that heralds the change of seasons and divides the four seasons into summer.
The "Explanation of the Seventy-two Waiting Collections of the Moon Order" records: "LiXia, April Festival. Standing character interpretation see spring. Summer, fake also. Things are false at this time. ”
First, the three summers
As soon as the grasshoppers chirped, the grasshoppers began to chirp. In early summer, frogs begin to chirp and forage by the ponds. The slugs are suitable for warm and humid environments, and with the chirping of the slugs, the taste of summer is stronger.
The earthworms are born, and the earthworms burrow out of the ground. At this time, the underground temperature continues to rise, and when the yang is extremely strong, earthworms also come out to join in the fun.
The three kings were born, and the king melon gradually matured. King melon is a medicinal climbing vine plant specially produced in North China, which grows rapidly in the summer season and bears red fruits in June and July. People pick and give to each other.
2. Customs of Establishing Summer
1. Spring and summer. From ancient times to the present, people believe that "the time of the establishment of summer is the prosperity of all things", and the summer is the symbol of the prosperity and prosperity of all things. Therefore, since the birth of Lixia, people have always attached great importance to the etiquette of Lixia. As far back as the Warring States period more than 2,000 years ago, people created many customs to celebrate "Lixia". At that time, people honored the five sages of the ancient period as the Qing Emperor, the Red Emperor, the Yellow Emperor, the White Emperor and the Black Emperor, and set up various festivals to worship the five sides of the heavens and the earth they controlled and the four seasons of the year. Among them, the Qing Emperor Taihao (hào) was in charge of the East and Spring, while the Red Emperor Shennong was in charge of the South and Summer. Therefore, in the late spring and early summer season, people will hold a grand ceremony of "welcoming the spring and welcoming the summer" to send the Qing Emperor back and welcome the arrival of the Red Emperor. In ancient times, the emperors would lead hundreds of civil and military officials to the suburbs south of the capital on the day of the establishment of the summer to hold various "summer welcome" activities. The exclusive color of the Red Emperor was vermilion, so the courtiers who accompanied the emperor would also wear scarlet dresses and scarlet jade pendants, and even horses and flags would all have vermilion. Ordinary people will plant scarlet flags in front of their doors and windows on the day of Lixia. Lu You wrote in his poem "Li Xia": "The red banner is inserted into the city, and the Eastern Jun returns to the whole house." This means that when the scarlet banner is planted in the windows of the people's homes in the city, it is the time when the Red Emperor has arrived and the Qing Emperor has prepared his car to return. Etiquette reveals both wisdom and the joy of ancient life, and its grandeur also points to the importance of summer.
2. Call people
Calling people is an interesting summer custom. People hung a large wooden scale at the entrance of the village or in the gate, and the scale hook hung a stool, and everyone took turns to sit on the stool to weigh people. The scale man weighs flowers on the one hand and speaks auspicious words on the other. The old man of the scale said, "The scale spends eighty-seven, and lives to ninety-one." The scale child said, "The scale flower is twenty-three, and the small official chief will come out of the mountain."
3. Egg fighting game
The proverb says: "Lixia chest hangs eggs, children do not boil summer", and xiaxia is a common abdominal anorexia in summer. On the day of summer, every household boils eggs, and then puts on a silk mesh bag that has been woven and hangs it on the child's neck. The children would play egg fighting games in groups of three or five. The egg is divided into two ends, with the tip being the head and the round one being the tail. When fighting eggs, the egg head fights the egg head, and the egg tail hits the egg tail. One by one, the breakers conceded defeat, and finally divided the highs and lows.
Third, Lixia health care
After the summer, the temperature begins to rise, the heat falls, the thunderstorm increases, the insects become more active, and the plants begin to grow rapidly. People's yang qi begins to gradually flourish, and metabolism begins to strengthen. In response to the climate change after the summer, we should also make corresponding adjustments in our lives.
1, eat well three things: First, nourish the heart. Fried shrimp with cashew nuts: "Su Qing Dirty Qi Method" On the Time:" "Liver main spring, heart main summer, spleen main long summer, lung main autumn, kidney main winter". The heart is yang, the main yang. The yang of the heart can promote blood circulation and maintain human life activity. Summer metabolism increases, heart load increases, so it is especially important to nourish the heart in summer. In terms of diet, eating nuts often can effectively strengthen the heart and protect the heart.
The second is appetizing and digesting. Cold mix lettuce: summer yang qi is on the outside, yin qi is inside, many people are prone to "bitter summer", loss of appetite, weak spleen and stomach. Therefore, you can eat more fruits and vegetables in summer, and you can also supplement vitamins while appetizing. Lettuce is an easy-to-get home-cooked dish, it is rich in vitamins, through the meridians, sharp five organs, crisp in the mouth, can increase appetite. Moreover, the high potassium content in lettuce can reduce atrial pressure and be beneficial to patients with hypertension and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. In addition, it can also help people sleep.
The third is to flatten the liver to go to the fire. Scrambled eggs with bitter melon: The temperature is hot in the summer, people's mood is easy to fluctuate, and they are often irritable and irritable. The activity of human liver function is also gradually active, and it is easy to be on the "fire" and easily cause mood swings. Proper consumption of "bitter" ingredients can clear heat and detoxification, flat liver "to fire", of which the best bitter ingredients are the first bitter melon.
2, drink three things
The first is to nourish the heart and calm the spirit of the lily lotus seed soup. In summer, lilies and lotus seeds can play a role in nourishing the heart and calming the mind. If you're in a bad mood and irritable, try this porridge. Drinking porridge and soup at breakfast and dinner is also very good for the body, which can not only quench thirst, cool and relieve the heat, but also strengthen the spleen and remove dampness and nourish the body.
The second is antihypertensive and disease-proof black sesame crucian carp soup. Crucian carp has a sweet taste and a flat nature, entering the spleen, stomach and large intestine meridian, and has the effect of strengthening the spleen, appetizing, yiqi, water, milk and dehumidification. Black sesame seeds are rich in vitamin E and unsaturated fatty acids, which have a huge effect on maintaining the elasticity of blood vessel walls. In addition, it is rich in α-linolenic acid, which can also play a role in lowering blood pressure and preventing thrombosis. Black sesame seeds also have the effect of tonifying the kidneys, and eating some is good for the body.
The third is to nourish the heart and replenish the spleen and guiyuan porridge. Guiyuan is put into a pot with japonica rice, add the right amount of water, boil into porridge, and add sugar to serve. Guiyuan can nourish the heart and spleen, nourish the blood and calm the spirit. Especially suitable for fatigue and spleen, excessive thinking, thin body, forgetfulness, menstrual irregularities and other symptoms. Long summer is coming, the outer yang and the inner yin, the human body is weak, the most need for warm supplementation, this guiyuan porridge is most suitable for young people who work overtime and stay up late and middle-aged people with high pressure in life.
3. Do three things well
In addition to eating, we should also make corresponding adjustments in our daily lives.
The first is to go to bed late and get up early to ensure a lunch break. According to the characteristics of long days and short nights in summer, our work and rest time should also be changed. Sleeping time at night can be appropriately postponed, but experts recommend that it is best not to exceed eleven o'clock. The morning wake-up time is also slightly earlier than in the spring, and it is advisable to get up at 5-6 o'clock. After the summer, people should increase the lunch break, so that the brain and body can be rested, but the lunch break should not be too long, not more than an hour, do not get up immediately after the lunch break, it is best to lie quietly for 10 minutes.
The second is to replenish water. Summer temperature rises, people sweat more, the body loses more water, metabolism becomes faster, at this time, pay attention to hydration. Drink more water in summer, can not wait until thirst to drink, for the majority of poor digestive function of the elderly, it is best to reduce the amount of water each time, increase the number of drinking water. In addition to drinking boiled water, you can also drink tea, "drink green tea in summer", you can detoxify and diuresis. However, when drinking tea in summer, you should pay attention to not drinking strong tea, not drinking tea on an empty stomach, and avoid the phenomenon of "drunken tea".
The third is to guard against impatience and anger. "Irritability" and "anger" are the most likely to be sad, and after the summer, people's emotions may become irritable with the rise of temperature, and the mood fluctuations are larger. However, anger and irritability are most likely to bring damage to the heart and cerebrovascular systems, so in the summer, we must quit impatience and anger and maintain a peaceful state of mind.
"Red and purple have turned into dust, and the cuckoo sounds in the summer." Spring is over when the flowers of spring are blown down by wind and rain overnight, when the cuckoos are awakened by the heat and begin to chirp. And summer is finally here. Li Xia gave the heavens and the earth a touch of warmth, and also gave the environment in which all things grew, so that all things in heaven and earth were full of the power to grow wantonly. And we, like everything in the world, should also be in this spring and summer social time: meditation and health, based on the present, planting flowers in the heart, and striving to grow, in order to live up to this summer time.
A cicada wakes up the summer, a frog in the light summer of May, is the most beautiful time. Light incense, light warmth. Bidding farewell to the blossoming of spring flowers, ushering in the green grass and trees of summer, flowers have a mission to return, the moon has clouds and sunshine, and people have sorrows and joys, all of which are the laws of life of natural reincarnation. The beauty of Lixia lies in hope. Spring is short and ambiguous, as the beginning of the cycle of the four seasons, it is impossible to get rid of the cold of winter, and it is difficult to see the wind and the warmth of the sun. As a result, people often look forward to the summer after spring, longing for warm sunshine, the green of rice paddies, the fragrance of flowers in the fields, the colorful summer dreams... Brew a pot of light summer time to feed the soul and nourish the love of the years. Let the green hope fill the atrium, let the soft warmth be properly long, let the light summer time, like a clear spring, precipitate gentle, and flow.
Standing in summer, the wind warms the grass and trees in the world, and a note is clear and shallow into the summer. May you be as clear and warm as the breeze, as bright and splendid as a summer flower, as free as a white cloud.
One Point Maple Leaf Anthology