Symbols and Traditions of the Xiaoman Festival

The Xiaoman Festival signifies the beginning of the rainy season with significant precipitation.

Xiaoman indicates the beginning of increased rainfall, which tends to be sustained and widespread with heavy precipitation. Xiaoman reflects the climatic characteristic of heavy rainfall: "Xiaoman Xiaoman, the rivers are getting full". Another interpretation is that the seeds of summer crops such as wheat in the north are beginning to plump up, and it is only a small full season, not yet fully full. The current "twenty-four solar terms" came from the method of determining the solar terms based on the position of the sun on the ecliptic of return, which was established more than three hundred years ago.

That is, in a 360-degree circumference of the "ecliptic" (the sun's path of vision on the celestial sphere during the year), divided into 24 equal parts, every 15 ° for 1 equal part to the equinoxes for the starting point of 0 degrees (the order is still listed as the first spring), according to the number of degrees of the ecliptic arranged. That is, depending on the sun from 0 degrees of longitude, when the sun advances 15 degrees for a festival, running a week and back to the equinox, for a return year. According to the sun's yellow longitude divided by the festival, when the sun reaches 60 ° yellow longitude for the "small full".

Tradition of Xiaoman Festival

1, sacrifice to the god of the car

Xiaoman Festival means entering the rainy season, which is characterized by significant precipitation, which begins to increase and often results in heavy precipitation that lasts for a sustained period of time. Xiaoman's "full", referring to the fullness of the rain, Xiaoman season rain, the river to this small to full.

Ancient belief in the spirit of all things, "three gods" corresponding to the "three cars" that is, for the water car car god, oil car car god and silk car god. In the old days, the waterwheel car water drainage irrigation is a major agricultural production activities, the so-called "small full of moving three cars", according to ancient customs, the waterwheel will start in the small full.

2, pray for silkworms

Legend has it that Xiaoman is the birth of the god of silkworms, so Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other areas during the Xiaoman festival there is a pray for silkworms. Chinese farming culture is characterized by "male farming and female weaving". The raw material for women's weaving is mainly cotton in the north and silkworms in the south. Silkworms need to rely on silkworm cocoons and silk, so the rural sericulture is extremely prosperous in southern China, especially in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.