In the time of the reincarnation of the four seasons, our ancestors left a wise saying: "Raise three nines in winter, practice three dogs in summer." These eight characters are like a guide to life, revealing the ancient wisdom of adapting to nature and recuperating the body and mind.
Let's talk about this "winter raising Sanjiu" first. The third "nine days" after the winter solstice is the "three nines", which is the cold moment when the north wind is howling and dripping water into ice. As the old saying goes, "3949, frozen pigs and dogs to death", which shows its coldness. However, it is in this season of frozen snow dance that people must know how to "raise". First, keep warm, put on a cotton jacket and scarf, and build a stove in the house to prevent the cold from taking advantage of the loopholes. The second is food supplement, stew a pot of hot mutton soup, accompanied by brown sugar ginger tea, warm the stomach and heart, and let the body accumulate energy to resist the cold. The third is to recuperate, go to bed early and get up late, reduce outdoor activities, and give the body enough time to rest, just as crops are dormant in winter and ready for spring.
Let's talk about "summer practice dogs". When the summer is as hot as fire, the earth is like an oven, and the "dog days" come as scheduled. At this time, "summer meets three dogs, steaming up and cooking down", sweat like rain has become a daily routine. But the older generation said that the more the heat wave rolls, the more you must "practice". In the early morning or evening, choose a shady place, play Tai Chi, dance square dance, let sweat take away the moisture in the body, and enhance physical fitness. The second is the cultivation of patience, in the face of the scorching heat, not impatient or impatient, calm and naturally cool, take the opportunity to temper the will, and cultivate the mentality of not being alarmed. The third is dietary conditioning, which is mainly light, melons, fruits, vegetables, and mung bean soup take turns to relieve the heat and maintain health, so that the body can adapt to the high temperature environment.
Look, isn't this the philosophy of life of our common people? Conform to the changes of the four seasons, store energy to keep warm in winter, and actively respond to it in summer, regardless of cold or heat, all of them are health-oriented and intelligent life. The 2024 dog days schedule is released! Which day will it be hot? Suggestion: Know early and prepare early!
Dog days are the most representative period in the scorching summer, which is closely connected with the two important solar terms of summer solstice and the beginning of autumn and the "Geng day" in the ancient Ganzhi Chronicle method.
Let's get to know "Geng Day" first. In the ancient Ganzhi discipline, the "Ten Heavenly Stems" (A, B, C, D, E, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, and Gui) and the "Twelve Earthly Branches" (Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai) are skillfully combined to form 60 cyclic combinations, that is, a complete sequence of stems and branches will appear every 60 days. In this sequence, "Geng days" appear every 10 days, and there are six of them.
There is a mantra here: "The summer solstice is three geng and the head is counted, the summer solstice is four geng is counted in the middle volt, and the autumn is one and the last is counted." ”
It means that the head is from the third Geng day after the summer solstice. For example, if the day of the summer solstice is the day of Bingchen, then the third day of Gengchen (such as Gengchen day) is found next, which is the starting point of Toufu.
Zhongvolt: After the close joint volt, it is counted from the fourth Geng day after the summer solstice. For example, if the head volt ends on the Gengwu day, the next Gengshen day is the beginning of the middle volt.
Last day: Wait until the first Geng day after the beginning of autumn to come, marking the beginning of the end of the day, and the second day is the end of the dog days. For example, if the day of the beginning of autumn is the day of the Lunar New Year, the first Geng day will start the end of the day, and after another 10 days to the Gengshen day, the dog day will officially end.
In 2024, for example, the dog days are as follows:
Ambush (Toufu): Starts on Gengchen Day on July 15 and lasts for 10 days until July 24.
Nakafushi: Debuts on July 25 and lasts for 20 days until August 13.
Last: After the beginning of autumn, it starts on August 14 and lasts for 10 days until August 23.
Interestingly, the length of dog days is not fixed. The first and last volts are always 10 days, but the middle volt is sometimes 20 days long, and there are only 10 days, the key depends on when the third Geng day after the summer solstice appears. This year coincides with the "expansion" of the dog days, and the entire dog days reach 40 days.
Folk wisdom tells us: "Autumn is cold, and autumn is so hot that it is crying." This means that if the beginning of autumn coincides with the first day of the year (i.e., the first day of the end of the autumn), then the autumn is cool and pleasant, but if the beginning of the autumn season does not begin until after the beginning of the autumn, then not only the summer is extremely hot, but the autumn may also have the phenomenon of "autumn tigers", and the high temperature will continue. 2024 belongs to the latter, and it seems that heatstroke prevention and cooling will be the theme of life for some time to come.
Meteorologists have also warned that 2024 could be hotter than usual and extreme weather events could increase due to the El Niño weather phenomenon. Therefore, it is particularly important to take measures to prevent heatstroke in advance and maintain a cool and comfortable living environment. The dog days of 2024 will run from July 15 to August 23 and last for a total of 40 days.