The origin and traditional activities of the Lixia Festival

Lixia, is a festival reflecting the change of seasons, Lixia is the beginning, summer is the season, according to the traditional understanding, this is the beginning of the summer of the year. Generally on May 5 or 6 in the calendar. The following is my compilation of the origin of the Lixia festival and traditional activities, I hope it can help you.

Origin of the Lixia Festival

Once the Lixia Festival arrives, it means that the summer will begin, at this time the temperature rises significantly, the hot summer descending, while the crops are also still Ru exuberant growth, so the summer is a season of growth.

This season, at the end of the Warring States period (239 BC) has been established, heralding the change of seasons, for the ancient times, according to the lunar calendar to divide the four seasons of the beginning of the summer days. For example, the "Yi Zhou Shu - the explanation of the news": "On the day of the first summer, mole crickets are singing. Another five days, earthworms. Another five days, the king melon is born." That is to say, in this solar term, you can first hear the chirping of the mole cricket in the field (or frogs), then you can see the earthworms digging in the earth, and then the vines of the king's gourd begin to climb and grow rapidly, which describes the climatic scenery at the beginning of the Meng Xia period. The "seventy-two lunar months" said: "Li, build the beginning also, summer, false also, things to this time are false large also." Here the "false", that is, "big" meaning, is that the spring planting of plants has grown upright.

The summer season, everything is luxuriant. Ming "Liansheng eight killed and maimed" book wrote: "the day of Meng Xia, heaven and earth began to intersect, all things and show." At this time the summer crops into the late growth, winter wheat flowering and grouting, rape close to maturity, the summer crop year is basically finalized, so the proverb has a "summer to see the summer" said. Rice planting as well as other spring crop management has also entered the busy season. Therefore, our country has always attached great importance to the summer festival.

Traditional activities of the summer festival

Boiled eggs in the summer

As the saying goes: "Eat eggs in the summer, hot days do not resist resistance to summer." Every summer, the weather is warm and sunny and gradually hot, this time, people have to eat boiled eggs or salted duck eggs, that the summer to eat eggs can strengthen the body. The happiest are the children, parents usually weave colorful egg pockets, with the little ones fighting eggs.

Summer ceremony

On the day of the summer, the ancient emperor to rate the civil and military officials to the southern outskirts of the capital to welcome the summer, held a ceremony to welcome the summer. According to records, during the Zhou Dynasty, on the day of the first day of summer, the son of God to personally rate the civil and military officials to the outskirts of the "welcome to the summer" ceremony, and instructed Stuart to go to all over the country to encourage farmers to grasp the ploughing. Ceremony on the government officials all wear vermilion dress, with vermilion jade pendant, even horses, car flag should be vermilion, to express the harvest of hope and good wishes. Palace "start ice on the summer day, give the civil and military ministers". Ice is stored in the previous winter, by the emperor to the hundred officials.

Lixia weigh

Ancient China attaches great importance to the Lixia festival, there are many traditional customs, Lixia weighing this custom is rumored to be in the era of the Three Kingdoms has been. An ancient poem says: "Lixia weighing people light weight number, scale hanging on the beam laughs noisy girl." After weighing people on this day, they would not be afraid of the summer heat and would not lose weight, or else they would be plagued by diseases. Weighing people the origin of this custom, folklore, although there are different versions, but they are related to Liu Bei's son Adou.

Tea in the summer

In the Jiangxi area, there is a custom of drinking tea in the summer, said not to drink tea in the summer, will be a summer of suffering. In the day of the summer, women to gather seven families of tea, *** with the cooking drink, said the summer drinking seven tea, can ensure that the whole summer will not be sleepy. From a scientific point of view, the summer heat, often drink tea, especially cool green tea, can make the summer suddenly canceled, play the role of heat, diuretic detoxification. In addition, the summer temperature is high, the human body lost more water, often drink tea can be timely to replenish water.

Eat chicken intestinal noodles

In Yongding Taipingli, every summer, families have the habit of eating chicken intestinal noodles, each person to hand knead chicken intestinal noodles. At this time, the old man will recite: "long long chicken intestines noodles, everyone has to eat; summer eat the noodles, everyone foot bone healthy." Parents hope that their family members will eat chicken intestines noodles, will become energetic, strong, disease-free, work hard, life long, and so on.

Tasting activities

In folklore, there are also "summer tasting" customary activities. For example, in Suzhou, there is a "summer see three new" proverbs, three new cherries, plums, wheat, used to worship ancestors. Jiangsu and Zhejiang, many people have to eat a bowl of fragrant rice, that is, with red beans, soybeans, black beans, green beans, green beans, mung beans and other five-color beans mixed with white round-grained rice cooked into "five-color rice". After the evolution of the Japanese soybean meat boiled glutinous rice, dishes with amaranth yellow fish soup, said to eat "summer rice".

Notes on summer

1, the diet should be light

By the time of summer, this time the weather is dry, windy and rainy, so people in the body of the water is easy to sweat, breathing, etc. began to lose, coupled with the weather is unpredictable, it is very likely that people will be the case of fire. When the temperature rises, people's appetite will also decline.

Chinese medicine pointed out that in the summer, people should be light, low-fat, low-salt, multi-vitamin diet, mainly adhering to the "increase acidity and reduce bitterness, tonifying the kidney to help the liver, nourishing the stomach" dietary principles, in the summer, we should eat less fish and meat and oily and spicy food. At this time, the body should be supplemented with diluted food favorable nourishment, usually eat more green vegetables, fruits and coarse grains.

2, according to the length of sleep

After the summer began to turn into a long day and short night, people's sleep time will become less and less as the day gets brighter and brighter, so it is very likely that people will be sleep deprived, and now for this situation, we are still going to bed late and getting up early, there may be a sleep tends to be insufficient, you can properly nap at this time to relieve the physical exhaustion. The situation.

Generally speaking, the summer lunch break to 30 minutes to an hour is appropriate, too long instead of feeling tired. After waking up, do not rush to get up, immediately into work or study, because at this time the brain's blood supply is insufficient, there may be a transient functional disorders, so that people feel dizzy, good to lie down again about 10 minutes to get up.

3, anti-spiritual insufficiency

The health experts reminded that, after the summer, the weather turned hot, people are prone to feel irritable and restless, appearing restless. Summer health to do "cessation of anger", avoid great joy and anger, to keep the spirit of quiet, open-minded, relaxed, leisure and happy, smile and always open. In addition, can also do more quiet cultural and sports activities, such as painting, fishing, calligraphy, chess, flowers and so on. People should pay extra attention to the mental conditioning, strengthen the maintenance of the heart, should maintain a pleasant mood, leisure and self-pleasure, avoid violent happiness and sadness, to maintain a clear and happy state of mind.

4, prevent gas deficiency blood heat

After the summer blood heat will bring a lot of discomfort, gas deficiency blood heat will affect people's digestive function. Therefore, each meal should not be too full, leaving enough peristaltic space for the stomach. Return to the person with ease and nature. This year's summer pay attention to cool blood and replenish qi and early to bed and early to rise, is a season in which people store yang qi to strive for a great harvest of the body.

5, to prevent heat and cold

Summer health should pay attention to the prevention of colds and flu, to avoid because of a variety of principles of cold, which is undoubtedly a good health care method to drink more water. In addition, the weather after the summer skyrocketed, do not want to overly cool and blowing air conditioning or fan, otherwise it is very easy to attract heat and cold.