Knowledge about the long summer.

Knowledge about the long summer.

Early summer is long, and the south wind is fragrant. Long summer, the first solar term in summer, ushered in at 3: 03 today. "Summer" means "big", and everything grows up from now on. Although the footsteps of spring are drifting away, it may bring a little sadness, but the arrival of summer, where everything grows, will make people feel vigorous vitality.

What is a long summer?

Long summer is the seventh solar term in the twenty-four solar terms of the lunar calendar and the first solar term in summer, which indicates the official start of the summer season. When the sun reaches 45 degrees of the yellow meridian, it is the solar term of long summer. The bucket refers to the southeast, and the dimension is long in summer. Everything has grown to this day, hence the name Long Summer.

The formation history of the long summer.

Solar terms are unique calendars in China, and the most important and earliest solar terms are "four seasons and eight festivals". "Four seasons" refers to spring, summer, autumn and winter. "Eight festivals" refer to beginning of spring, Changxia, beginning of autumn, beginning of winter, vernal equinox, autumnal equinox, summer solstice and winter solstice.

Solar term is the node of climate change and the change of people's production activities. The ancients believed that "two reached extremely cold and two reached extremely hot; Dichotomy, the sum of yin and yang; Four stands, the beginning of growth and collection ",so" eight festivals "is the most important solar term.

When were the four seasons and eight festivals established? Some scholars have suggested that there was no summer in the Western Zhou Dynasty, or there was no summer in the Shang Dynasty before the Western Zhou Dynasty. At that time, there were only spring and autumn, not winter and summer. Winter and summer first appeared, at least after the Zhou Dynasty. Modern scholar Wang Li and writer Liu Shahe hold this view.

To be sure, at least in the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a clear division of four seasons. The Book of Songs written in the Spring and Autumn Period described the scenery of Xia Dong in two seasons many times.

The establishment of the solar term "Long Summer" can be traced back to the Warring States Period. The ancients thought that summer meant big, and the seeds sown in the long summer and spring had begun to grow. Therefore, long summer is a very important node in agricultural society. "The Book of Rites and the Moon Order" records the etiquette and customs of the Zhou Dynasty and the Long Xia Dynasty:

Three days in advance, officials in charge of sacrifices and calendars will tell the emperor that it will be long summer in three days. On the long summer day, the son of heaven rode a red car, rode a red horse, hung a red flag and wore red clothes. He led the doctors of three officials and nine ministers to the southern suburbs to hold a "welcoming summer" ceremony. After returning, he raised a vassal.

Throughout the fourth month of the lunar calendar, the Emperor of Heaven will send officials to patrol the world to persuade farmers to force mulberry, so that they can't afford civil engineering, levy corvees and cut down trees. To ensure agricultural production.

The time when The Book of Rites was written has always been controversial. Some people think it was written during the Warring States period, while others think it was compiled by Confucian scholars in the Han Dynasty. Either way, at least in the Han dynasty, a complete set of etiquette system related to seasons has been formed, from the emperor to the common people, all within the norms of this system.

Warm wind makes tourists drunk is about the long summer.

Why did the ancient emperors wear red clothes and ride red cars to "welcome the summer"?

In the long history, traditional culture has formed a complete system, including astronomy, geography, meteorology, phenology, philosophy and culture. Have been merging and influencing each other.

For example, the five elements, originally put forward by Yin and Yang scholars, were later absorbed and integrated by Confucianism, Taoism and medicine, and gradually became one of the most important concepts in traditional culture. Everything can be explained by five elements.

But if the five elements match the climate season, there will be a problem. There are five elements, but only four seasons. To this end, the ancients separated the last month of summer, called long summer, corresponding to the soil in the five elements. It is generally believed that the book written by Su Wen, the Yellow Emperor of the Han Dynasty, clearly points out that June is a long summer every year. So the five elements correspond to the four seasons.

Spring belongs to wood and the color is green. Summer is fire, its color is red. Long summer belongs to earth and its color is yellow. Autumn belongs to gold and the color is white. Winter belongs to water and its color is black.

The five elements circulate, and the fire begins in long summer, corresponding to red. Therefore, in the Book of Rites, the son of heaven should wear red clothes, ride a red car and ride a red horse.

Another example is heavenly stems and earthly branches, where the twelve earthly branches correspond to one year 12 months, which is equal to the number of earthly branches corresponding to every two solar terms, such as Long Summer and Xiaoman, which correspond to the "four" in earthly branches. There are also differences between these two solar terms. The ancients believed that "festival is the beginning and qi is the foundation", in which long summer is the festival and small fullness is the qi, which is the solar term.

Another example is gossip, which corresponds to four seasons, and there are exactly two in each season, so there is no need to adjust it. In terms of climate, the ancients deduced the "eight winds" from gossip. The ancients divided the wind in a year into eight kinds, which changed every 45 days, corresponding to the eight diagrams respectively. On the day of long summer, it corresponds to the divination of "Xun" in the southeast, and the Book of Changes says, "Xun, southeast also, governs long summer". According to Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals, "the southeast wind is called the smoky wind, also known as the Qingming wind" and "the warm wind makes tourists drunk", which is a scene blown by the smoky wind in the long summer season.

Why did Xia become the representative name of the Chinese nation?

Summer is synonymous with summer, Xia Dynasty and the Chinese nation. Since the Zhou Dynasty, the ancients called themselves Huaxia, Hua, Xia, and Midsummer.

Why do these concepts all use the same word "Xia"?

In Shuo Wen Jie Zi, it is said that "Xia belongs to China" and Xia is synonymous with China people, which is its original meaning. In Shuo Wen Jie Zi, "China" refers to the ancient Central Plains generation, that is, the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River with Henan as the center. Judging from the deciphered Oracle Bone Inscriptions, the word "Xia" is an obvious human form, with head and eyes, hands and feet. If it is related to summer, such as summer, from the factory to the summer, we are all alone in an empty big room.

Xia Hou to extend the meaning of "big". Er Ya said "Summer is great", and Justice in the Spring and Autumn Period and Zuo Zhuan said that "China has a great gift, so it is called summer".

So how did "summer" change from "China people" and "big" to synonymous with summer? Ming Shi, written at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, said that the "summer" in summer was false. This statement has been recognized by many people, but it has been opposed.

One of the most obvious reasons is that if the original meaning of "Xia" is "people from China", it means that the concepts of "people" and "China" appeared earlier than the concepts of the four seasons. This is obviously unconvincing. As a result, Zhengzitong, which appeared in the Ming Dynasty, put forward a completely opposite statement: "There were four summers in ancient times, and all meanings were borrowed."

With the in-depth study of ancient Chinese characters, some modern scholars have suggested that the upper part of the word "Xia" in bronze inscriptions is a human head and arm, but the lower part of the glyph has the shape of a farm tool besides legs and feet, indicating that "Xia" is not just a "China person" but a "China person engaged in agricultural production", which is consistent with the agricultural civilization of China for thousands of years. However, this statement has not been highly recognized.

The story of zi gong: the story of changxia.

"Taiping Yulan" said, "Set up a summer, have a cool breeze, give money and silks, and pay tribute to princes", which means to take out money and make friends with princes. What I'm talking about here is the gossip in the Book of Changes, which leads to "Wang Dangshun's Eight Styles, Eight Politics and Eight Diagrams". However, this also leads to an old story, that is Zigong.

Among Confucius' disciples, Zi Gong is the richest. It is recorded in Historical Records that he "married and rode, tied silks and coins to hire princes, and wherever he went, he fought with them", which means that he is an expensive horse, and when he went to a country, he made friends with princes with silks and coins, and the princes were treated equally. Sima Qian believes that Zigong is one of the most important promoters of Confucius' fame in the world.

Speaking of long summer, there is a strange tradition that has been circulating for quite a long time. In the south of the Yangtze River, there is a custom of "calling people" or "calling people" in the long summer. On this festival, people weigh themselves with big scales. At the beginning of autumn, weigh again and observe the weight change in summer. There is an ancient poem that says this custom: "Long summer weighs people and smiles on the scales."

According to legend, this custom appeared in the Three Kingdoms period. Legend has it that after Zhuge Liang subdued Meng Huo, he was sent to worship Shu Wang Dou in the long summer every year. Later, Adou was captured by the State of Jin, but Meng Huo persisted. Because he was worried that the State of Jin would mistreat Adou, he weighed Adou every time he went. In order to appease Meng Huo, Emperor Wu of Jin used glutinous rice and peas to make lunch for Adou every summer. Glutinous rice is sweet, and Adou eats more every time. Meng Huo weighed himself and gained weight.

In addition, there is a legend that Liu Bei's wife, Mrs Sun, once took Adou to Jiangdong for a long time. Before leaving, she weighed Adou, then said it once a day, and wrote a letter to Liu Bei to show her gratitude for his upbringing.

No matter what kind of legend, weighing people in the long summer, like all kinds of holiday customs, is to talk about good luck and peace. In the past, people were weighed by hanging scales, which could not move inward, but outward, that is to say, they could only increase, not reduce, just to leave a good impression. There are different auspicious words for old people or children. For example, an old man said that he weighed 87 and lived to 91; When weighing children, he said, "Weigh a dozen or twenty-three, and small officials will grow up." The weighing girl in the inner room also has something to say, such as "105kg, people outside will find you". Of course, in ancient times, the eldest daughter could raise 105 Jin, which shows that this family is definitely not short of food. I'm afraid it's not difficult to find a son-in-law from outside.