Solar terms and agricultural painting

Tomb-Sweeping Day planted melons and beans before and after.

Spring ploughing and spring planting is just that time. "Before and after the Qingming Festival, growing melons was an agricultural proverb. Around Tomb-Sweeping Day, the temperature rises and the rainfall increases, which is the most suitable solar term for raising seedlings and sowing, and crops such as melons, fruits and beans can be planted. It tells people that the spring ploughing season has arrived and the sowing of various crops should be put on the agenda. The solar terms wait for no one, so we must not miss the farming season.

Melon refers to "melon crops" such as melon, wax gourd, pumpkin and various melons, and accurately includes all melons and vegetables belonging to Cucurbitaceae. Beans include beans, cowpeas and lentils on vegetables, and soybeans, mung beans and red beans on crops. According to the temperature required for the growth of these melon beans, it is most suitable to plant them around Qingming.

"Planting melons and beans before and after Qingming Festival" emphasizes the cultivation of melons and beans, but it is not limited to melons and beans. Crops such as corn, sorghum, peanuts, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant also began to be sown before and after Qingming Festival. "Planting melons and beans" generally refers to the beginning of spring sowing.

"Before and after the Qingming Festival, planting melons and beans" is a general range. China has a vast territory, and the climate between north and south is quite different. Therefore, when and what crops are planted in different places is determined by the local climate characteristics, and it cannot be generalized.