The story of the twenty-four solar terms: how did the ancients spend the summer of the solstice

"Taste millet in summer and eat zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival" is an ancient dietary custom. "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" records that every year when millet appears in the early May of the lunar calendar, the son of heaven will hold a ceremony to taste millet on the solstice of summer.

In addition, the Book of Songs also contains a poem "There are a lot of millet in a year", which is considered to be a sign that everyone eats corn together to celebrate a bumper harvest in a year.

In addition to all kinds of seasonal snacks, Gao Wei said that there was a "welfare" in ancient summer solstice: before the Qing Dynasty, there were national festivals from summer solstice, and people gathered with their relatives to drink; In the Song Dynasty, officials were given a three-day holiday, which also reflected people's attention to the summer solstice.

"With the appearance of the Dragon Boat Festival, many customs of' summer solstice' have been moved to the Dragon Boat Festival. For example, during the summer solstice, women in Liao Dynasty exchanged fans and sachets. This habit lasted for a long time and then it didn't exist. " Gao Wei said.

There is a folk proverb "winter solstice wonton, summer solstice noodles". In many areas south of the Yangtze River, "eating noodles in summer solstice" is an important custom. There are many kinds of noodles in the south, such as Yangchun noodles, sesame oil noodles and cold noodles, which are mouth watering.

According to the custom of old Beijing, you can enjoy lettuce and cold noodles as much as possible every year from the solstice of summer. When new noodles are on the market, you can try them early, eat some cold food, and reduce the fire and appetizer. On the solstice of summer, noodle shops in the streets and alleys are very popular, and all kinds of noodles are very popular.