What do the two summers in the solar terms mean?

The first "summer" refers to the long summer. Long summer is the seventh solar term among the twenty-four solar terms and the first solar term in summer.

Characteristics of solar terms

In ancient China, the long summer was divided into three periods: the first period was the cry of crickets; Second, wait for the earthworm to appear; Third, wait for Wang Guasheng.

That is to say, after the long summer, you can first hear the croak (that is, the mole cricket) croak (that is, the frog) in the field, and then you can see the earthworm digging in the soil, and then the vines of melon begin to climb and grow rapidly.

Long summer tastes the folk custom of new solar terms.

Later generations have a festival in summer, such as tasting new things. For example, there is a saying in Suzhou that "three creations are seen in the long summer", and the three creations are cherries, plums and wheat, which are used for ancestor worship. In Changshu, tasting new foods is more abundant, and there is a saying of "nine meats and thirteen vegetables". Nine meats are crucian carp, salted eggs, snails, chicken, salty fresh, marinated shrimp and cherry meat; Thirteen elements include cherry, plum, wheat silkworm, bamboo shoot, broad bean, spear tip, pea, cucumber, lettuce, grass head, radish, rose and pine flower.

Egg beating game

At noon in the long summer, every household cooks the eggs (the eggs are cooked in shells and cannot be damaged), then they are soaked in cold water for a few minutes, and then they are put on woven net bags and hung around the children's necks. Children will play egg-beating games in groups of three or five. An egg has two heads, the pointed one is the head and the round one is the tail. When you beat eggs, the head of the egg hits the head of the egg and the tail of the egg hits the tail of the egg. Fight one by one, the loser gives up, and finally the high and low are separated.