On May 5, 2024, we will usher in the beginning of the summer solar term, the beginning of summer is the first solar term of the mainland summer, the arrival of the beginning of summer marks the official arrival of summer, the south of the mainland begins to enter the rainy season, and crops begin to enter the stage of vigorous growth.
The agricultural proverb says that "the beginning of summer looks at summer", entering the beginning of the summer solar term, winter wheat flowers and filling, rape is about to mature, and the harvest of summer crops has basically settled, so we can roughly judge the quality of the summer harvest crops when it comes to the beginning of summer solar terms.
The beginning of summer is one of the earliest solar terms determined in the mainland, so on the day of the beginning of summer, people will hold various "summer" ceremonies. In ancient times, the emperor would lead the civil and military officials to the suburbs of Beijing to welcome the summer on the day of the beginning of summer, and the monarchs and ministers all wore vermilion dresses to pray for smooth wind and rain, and the peace of the country and the people! The old saying goes, "the eggs are hung on the chest in the beginning of summer, and the children are not in the summer", on the day of the beginning of the summer, the adults will wrap the eggs with braided fabric and hang them on the children's necks, and the eggs will be played in groups of three or five, and finally the eggs will be eaten, which means to eliminate the heat and sickness, eliminate disasters and pray for blessings.
In addition, on the day of Lixia, people will also welcome the summer through the "scale man", people will find a big scale, everyone takes turns to sit on the stool to weigh people, people will say some auspicious words when the scale, such as weighing the old man will say that I wish you a long life and a hundred years old, weighing the child will say that I wish you success in your studies and grow up safely, and the Lixia "scale man" is also to pray for God's blessing.
The beginning of summer is the intersection of spring and summer, and the solar calendar time of the beginning of summer is from May 5th to 7th, such as the time of this year's beginning of summer is 08:09:51 on May 5th, when the sun reaches 45 degrees of yellow longitude. The solar calendar time of the annual Lixia Festival is almost fixed, but due to the influence of the lunar leap month, the time of the lunar calendar throughout the year is long and short (there are 384 days in the lunar year with leap month, and 354 days in the lunar ordinary year), which will lead to a large difference in the corresponding lunar time of the Lixia Festival every year.
According to the experience of our ancestors, the corresponding lunar time of the Lixia Festival is different, which will have different effects on the weather in the future.
The beginning of summer is at the end, and the sauna is in May
Normally, the lunar time of the Lixia Festival is in the beginning of April, but due to the influence of the lunar leap month, the lunar time of the Lixia Festival will be advanced to the third month of the lunar calendar in some years.
According to the experience of our ancestors, if the lunar time of the Lixia Festival is in late March, it indicates that the weather will be very hot in the fifth month of the lunar calendar, steaming and boiling, just like in the sauna.
So is there any truth in the agricultural proverb? The time of the beginning of summer is in late March, which means that it is "early summer", the weather will get hotter and hotter after the beginning of summer, and "early summer" indicates that the hot weather will come early, and we may feel very hot in the fifth month of the lunar calendar (probably corresponding to the sixth month of the solar calendar), so it can be said that the agricultural proverb is very reasonable.
Lixia is in the middle, and the three dogs wear the jacket
Immediately after the beginning of summer, the small full solar term is the "middle air" that represents the fourth month of the lunar calendar, so the lunar time of the small full festival must be in April, so as to prevent the four seasons from being out of touch. There are 15 days in a solar term, so the lunar time of the Lixia Festival will not exceed the 15th day of the fourth lunar month at the latest, and if it exceeds the 15th day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, it needs to leap one month, that is, the leap April. The "Lixia in the middle" here refers to the time of the Lixia Festival in mid-April.
The agricultural proverb says that "the beginning of summer is in the middle, and the three dogs wear the jacket". According to the experience of our ancestors, if the lunar time of the Lixia Festival is in the middle of April (no more than the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar), then this indicates that it will be relatively cool by the dog days. Here, "dog wear" is a more exaggerated expression, referring to the fact that the weather is not very hot.
The beginning of summer is in the middle of April, indicating that the lunar time of the beginning of summer is relatively late, which will lead to the delay of the arrival of hot weather, normally dog days are the hottest time of the year in the mainland, if the hot weather comes late, this will lead to dog days are relatively cool, if you encounter rainy weather, there may be dog days wearing cotton jackets.
So what is the situation of the beginning of summer this year? The time of the beginning of summer this year is on May 5, corresponding to the 27th day of the third month of the lunar calendar, which is obviously "the beginning of summer at the end", belonging to the "early beginning of summer", according to the experience of our ancestors, the hot weather will come earlier this year, and the weather may be very hot in the fifth month of the lunar calendar.
In summary, agricultural proverbs are the experience of our ancestors, which can guide our production and life to a certain extent, but with the global warming, there are more and more extreme weather, so agricultural proverbs may not be so accurate, we can refer to them appropriately.