Introduction of solar term activities: What are the characteristics of Xiaoman custom?

Xiaoman is the eighth of the twenty-four solar terms and the second solar term that enters summer every year.

Xiaoman solar term is generally between May 20th and 22nd every year, depending on the sun reaching 60 degrees of the Yellow Meridian.

So, what are the folk customs and characteristics of Xiaoman season? Let's have a look.

"Small fullness" means that the seeds of summer crops are full, but not yet mature, just small fullness, not yet full. At this time of the year, the focus of farming activities is to prevent insects and rainstorms. At this time, there are many timely customs among the people.

One is bitter vegetables. In Xiaoman solar terms, a dish that must be eaten is bitter vegetables, commonly known as bitter vegetables. This is because Xiaoman is prone to wet skin diseases, so his diet should be based on refreshing and light vegetarian food, and he can often eat food with the function of clearing away dampness and heat. Sowthistle is a seasonal vegetable, which has the functions of clearing away heat, cooling blood and detoxifying. Bitter with astringency, astringent with sweetness, fresh with coolness, cool with tenderness, and rich in nutrition. Delicious and healthy.

The second is to grab water and sacrifice to the car god. In the past, irrigation and drainage with waterwheels was an important event in rural areas. As the saying goes, "when a small truck is full, three cars can start", and the water truck is started when a small truck is full. Previously, farmers held a ceremony of "grabbing water" with the village fair as the unit, which was intended to drill in Haining area.

Sacrificing the car god is also an ancient custom in rural areas. It is said that the "Car God" is a white dragon, and farmers will put fish and incense on the bottom seat of the car to worship it before drinking water. What is special is that there is a cup of white water in the sacrifice, which is poured into the field during the sacrifice, which means wishing the water source flourish. The above old customs show that farmers attach importance to water conservancy irrigation and drainage.

The third is to use a villain to move three cars. The three cars here refer to waterwheels, oil trucks and silk trucks. At this time, the crops in the farmland need a lot of water, so the farmers are busy turning water on the waterwheel; The harvested rapeseed is also waiting for farmers to mash it and make it into fragrant rapeseed oil; The farm work in the field can't be delayed naturally, but the silkworm babies at home should also be taken care of carefully. Before and after Xiaoman, silkworms will start to cocoon, and sericulture families are busy reeling silk with silk carts.

It can be seen from the custom of "small man moving three cars" that in ancient times, when the solar terms were small, new silk was about to be listed, and the silk market soon flourished. Silkworm farmers and silk merchants are full of expectations, waiting for the harvest day to come as soon as possible.

The fourth is the birthday of the silkworm god. Xiaoman Festival is said to be the birthday of the silkworm god, so on this day, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, which are famous for raising silkworms in China, are also very lively. Xiaoman Festival is in early summer, when the cocoon takes shape, it is just waiting for reeling. Planting mulberry and sericulture is a traditional sideline in rural areas in the south of the Yangtze River. Silkworm is a treasure and a food source for villagers, and people are full of expectation and gratitude for it. Therefore, this festival is full of rich local customs in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Conclusion: In Xiaoman season, there are unique customs in agricultural production and seasonal diet, which are full of rich Han characteristics and rich and interesting cultural connotations, and deserve people's in-depth understanding.