At 4:33 a.m. on April 20th, we will usher in the last festival of spring , the valley rains.
April 19, 20 or 21 of the solar calendar begins the Guyu solar term, which is the sixth of the twenty-four solar terms and the last of spring. In traditional farming culture, the valley rain festival associates "valley" and "rain", indicating precipitation conditions and "rain and 100 valleys". After the valley rain festival, the temperature rises, the rain increases, and the humidity in the air further increases, which is very suitable for the growth of cereal crops. At this time, the willows fly down, the cuckoos cry at night, and the cherries are ripe, reminding people that it is late spring and early summer is coming.
Gu Yu origin
Valley rain, as the name suggests, is the meaning of sowing valley rainfall, although there is also a "rain" word with the rain festival, but compared to the warm and cold rain festival, the valley rain festival is a pair of "Yang flowers fall out of the rules of crying" of the late spring weather. In the "Seventy-two Waiting Solutions to the Moon Order", it is said, "In the middle of March, since the rain, the earth has pulsated, and now it is raining again in the valley of the water... Gaigu sows seeds at this time, from bottom to top", and the valley is born of rain, hence the name. According to the "Huainan Zi", "Cangjie Character Creation" is an earth-shattering event, and the Yellow Emperor issued an edict in late spring and early summer, declaring the success of Cangjie character creation and calling on the world's subjects to learn it together. Because cangjie created a character for merit and sense of heaven, the Jade Emperor gave the human world a rain of millet to comfort the holy merits, which is now the "valley rain" festival.
Valley rain climate
"Qingming snow, valley rain and frost", the arrival of the valley rain festival means that the cold wave weather is basically over, the temperature rise is accelerated, and the rainfall increases, which is a good season for the growth of all things. The obvious climatic characteristic of the rainy season in the valley is that the precipitation increases significantly, and the valley is born of rain. Willows fly down, cuckoos cry at night, peonies spit out, cherries ripe, and in late spring, everything grows and flourishes.
"When the rain falls, the grain and the fruit are deng.". Rain produces hundreds of grains, reflecting the agricultural climate significance of "valley rain", at this time the precipitation increases significantly, and the rain promotes the growth and development of cereal crops. At this time, the seedlings in the field are first planted and the crops are newly planted, and the rain is most needed to moisturize, so it is said that "spring rain is as expensive as oil". The rainfall in late April is about 30-50 mm, which is beneficial to rice planting and corn and cotton seedling growth. The rainfall before and after the valley rain, "with the wind sneaking into the night, the moisturizer is silent", "Shu day often rains at night, the river sill has been sunny", this kind of night rain and sunny weather, for the growth of large spring crops and small spring crops harvest is quite suitable.
Valley rain farming
In ancient times, people divided guyu into three seasons: the first waiting for Ping to be born; the second waiting for the dove to whisk its feathers; and the third waiting for Dai Sheng to descend on Sang. The meaning of the three weather is that after the valley rain, the rain increases, the duckweed begins to grow, then the cuckoo birds chirp, reminding people to start sowing in the field, and then the mulberry tree begins to see the Daisheng bird, which is a signal that the silkworm baby will grow.
The ancients compiled the experiences and experiences of weather changes and agricultural labor into proverbs that were passed down from generation to generation.
Most of the weather proverbs of gu rain revolve around the theme of rain and no rain, such as "the valley rain is gloomy and heavy, and the summer rain is drenched", "the valley rains rain, there is no dry soil for forty-five days", "the valley rains, the crops are afraid", "the valley rains, the cuckoo is called dry, the last three days are called flooded", "a rain before and after the valley rain, it is like a show to be lifted" and so on.
There are many agricultural proverbs of Gu Yu, and these popular proverbs condense the crystallization of the wisdom of the ancient working people and have a good reference effect on agricultural production. For example: "Valley rain is not idle, spring ploughing is in front of you" "Planting beans during the rainy season of the valley, the south slope and north depression are busy planting fields" "Before and after the valley rain, planting melons and beans", "before the valley rain, good planting cotton", "valley rain does not plant flowers, the heart is like crab crawling", "before the valley rain, after the Qingming, planting flowers is a good time", "the valley rain plants cotton, don't ask people", "Planting sweet potatoes before and after the valley rain, it is best not to spend the summer", "The valley rain plants sweet potato seedlings, a tree can harvest a big basket", "Qingming sees buds, valley rain sees tea" and so on.
Valley rain and customs
Southern Guyu has the custom of picking tea, and it is said that guyu will clear the fire, ward off evil spirits, and see the eyes when the tea is drunk on this day. Therefore, no matter what the weather is on this day, people will go to the tea mountain to pick some new tea and come back to drink.
Northern valley rain food toon, before and after the valley rain is the season of the toon listing, at this time the toon mellow refreshing nutritional value is high, there is "before the rain toon tender as silk" said. Toon has the effect of improving the body's immunity, stomach, qi, anti-diarrhea, emollient, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and insecticidal.
In Baishui County, Shaanxi Province, there is a custom of guyu sacrifice Wenzu Cangjie, "guyu sacrifice cangjie", which is a folk tradition that has been passed down for thousands of years since the Han Dynasty.
The river water of GuYu is also very precious. In the northwest region, in the old days, people called the river water of Guyu "peach blossom water", and it is said that bathing with it can eliminate disasters and avoid disasters. During the Valley Rain Festival, people bathe in "peach blossom water" and hold activities such as shooting and dancing.
The Guyu Festival is popular for banning the five poisons. After the valley rain, the temperature rises, the disease and insect pests enter the high breeding period, in order to reduce the damage of insect pests to crops and people, the farmers enter the field to kill insects, while posting valley rain stickers, praying to drive away najib. This custom is very popular in Shandong, Shanxi and Shaanxi.
Gu Yu Sticker, which belongs to a kind of New Year painting, is engraved with the image of the god chicken catching scorpions, the image of the Heavenly Master removing the five poisons or the Taoist runes, and some are also accompanied by text descriptions such as "Taishang Laojun ru law, Gu Yu in March, snakes and scorpions never grow" and "Gu Yu in March, Lao Jun goes down to the sky, hand chi seven star sword, single slash scorpion essence" and other text descriptions. The Valley Rain Stickers in Shandong are generally made of yellow table paper, and the forbidden scorpion charms are drawn with cinnabar and pasted on the walls or scorpion caves, pinning people on the psychology of killing insects, hoping for a good harvest and peace.
Before and after the valley rain is also an important time for the peony flowers to bloom, so the peony flowers are also called "valley rain flowers". "Gu Yu Three Dynasties Look at Peonies", peony appreciation has become an important entertainment activity for people's leisure. So far, Shandong Heze, Henan Luoyang, Sichuan Pengzhou more than the valley rainy season held peony flower party, for people to play and party.
For fishermen, the Valley Rain Festival is popular for sea sacrifices. The rainy season in the valley is the time when the spring sea is warm, and the hundred fish travel to the shallow sea, which is a good day to go to the sea to fish. As the saying goes, "ride the valley rain to the Internet". In order to be able to go to sea safely and return with a full load, the fishermen will hold a sea festival on this day of Gu Yu and pray for the blessing of the sea god. Therefore, the Valley Rain Festival is also called the "Grand Festival" for fishermen to go out to sea to fish. This custom is still popular today in the Rongcheng area of Jiaodong. In the past, fishermen were under the unified management of fishing houses, and sea festivals were generally organized by fishing houses. The offering is a fat pig with a depiled skin, smeared red with cavity blood, ten white noodles, and firecrackers, incense paper, etc. If there is no whole pig in the sea festival organized by the fishermen' partnership, it is replaced by a pig's head or a steamed pig-shaped bounty. In the old days, villages and villages had Tanah Lot Temple or Niangniang Temple, and when the time of sacrifice arrived, fishermen would carry offerings to the Sea Temple and Niangniang Temple to offer sacrifices, and some would carry the offerings to the seaside, beat gongs and drums, set off firecrackers, and face the sea to sacrifice, the scene was very solemn.
Gu Yu · health
>> Chun cover moderately prevent fire
After the valley rain festival, the temperature will rise rapidly, but the temperature difference between day and night is still large, hot at noon, cool in the morning and evening. Therefore, more clothes should be appropriately worn in the morning and evening, and less clothes should be appropriately worn when it is hot at noon. If the temperature exceeds 18 degrees Celsius, there is no need for spring cover, and excessive spring cover is easy to catch fire.
>> diarrhea fire nourishes the liver and protects the spleen and stomach
Valley rain festival, yang qi continues to rise, easy to move the internal heat accumulated in the liver and gallbladder, coupled with windy weather, the temperature rises rapidly, it is easy to hurt the spleen and stomach due to excessive liver wood. Therefore, at this time, you should eat a light diet, eat more digestible foods, eat less spicy foods, protect your spleen and stomach, and meet the hot and humid summer.
>> prevents neuralgia and rheumatism
After the valley rain festival, due to the increase in humidity, it is prone to neuralgia and rheumatism. At this time, you should avoid rain, do not stay in a damp place for a long time, and do not wear wet clothes. Pay more attention to the warmth of the joints and dry more in the sun. If you feel local pain, you can take hot compresses and other methods, such as long-term pain or symptoms can not be relieved, you should seek medical treatment in time.
>> gu rain health tips
Overlook: Standing inside or up a high place, looking into the distance for 5 minutes, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Effect: Can relieve fatigue, reduce psychological pressure, play a role in relieving liver depression.
Massage ten Xuan Acupoints: Massage the center of the tip of the ten fingertips, mainly with a sore feeling. Each finger is 1-2 minutes. Effect: Regulates emotions, pleasant and awakens the mind.
Drinks and delicacies are recommended >>
Stir-fried squid with leeks
Ingredients: 200g leeks Fresh squid 200g Cooking wine a little salt a little pepper a little sesame oil
Directions: Wash and cut the fresh squid from the middle, remove the outer thin skin and fish bones, cut into strips and put in cooking wine and a little salt for later; select the leeks, wash the top knife and cut the inches for later; the fresh squid is blanched in water for later. Heat the pan with oil and stir-fry the leeks over high heat until tender. Add the fresh squid, add salt, pepper and cooking wine and stir-fry a few times over high heat, then drizzle with sesame oil and remove from the pan.
Effect: Beneficial to the liver and spleen, warm in the qi.
Osmanthus bean porridge
Ingredients: 50g red adzuki beans dried osmanthus 3g a pinch of brown sugar
Method: Soak the red adzuki beans in water for 12 hours in advance and set aside; after boiling in water in the pot, add the red adzuki beans, boil on low heat until viscous. Add a pinch of brown sugar when serving.
Effect: Healthy spleen dehumidification, tonify qi and blood.
Pork liver mung bean porridge
Ingredients: mung beans 60g fresh pork liver 100g rice 100g a little salt
Directions: Wash and cut the pork liver into small pieces and set aside. Wash the rice and mung beans and set aside; boil the mung beans and rice in water in a boiling pot, simmer over low heat; when the mung beans and rice are eight ripe, add the pork liver and cook until they are cooked. Add a pinch of table salt when serving.
Effect: Detoxify, nourish blood and nourish liver.
(Hebei News Network Comprehensive People's Daily, Xinhua Net, CCTV Network, Daily News, West China Metropolis Daily)