"Small heat, big heat, steaming up and cooking down." Summer heat is the fifth solar term in summer. Although it is not the hottest time of the year, people in many places can already feel the power of high temperature.

The origin of Xiaoshu

According to the traditional algorithm, Xiaoshu is the end of the meridian month and the beginning of the next month. At this time, the sun reaches 105 ° of the Yellow longitude and meets on July 6-8 of the Gregorian calendar. As for the origin of this solar term, Wu Cheng's "the 72 pentad of the moon" records: "June Festival Heat, is divided into big and small, the beginning of the month is small, the middle is big, now the heat is still small".

Summer heat has the meaning of "hot", small heat is not very hot. However, although the small heat is not the hottest time of the year, the next solar term is the great heat. There is a popular saying that "small heat and big heat, steaming up and cooking down"." The solar term is a concept of time." the summer heat is not a festival, and the custom is not particularly complicated. "After this solar term, the weather begins to become sultry." "A little summer thunder, inverted to do plums.". Before and after the summer heat, in addition to harvesting winter and spring wheat in some areas, agricultural production is mainly engaged in field management, and special attention should be paid to preventing drought, waterlogging and wind disasters.

How to deal with hot weather?

In the face of the hot weather after the small summer heat, people have some conventional practices. The weather is hot in summer. Although there was no refrigerator in ancient times, large families often stored some ice in advance and took them out for use in summer. Some businesses will also cut red bayberry, peach and other seasonal fruits into ice and make them into cold drinks, much like the "ice porridge" now.

Taking advantage of the sunny days before and after the small summer heat and the high temperature, people will seize the time to take out books or clothes that have not been worn for a long time and put them in the sun to dry, which can not only remove the mildew smell, but also prevent the books from being affected by moisture and insects. It is said that jasmine flowers bloom in the summer. In ancient times, women liked to pin jasmine flowers into flower ball and flower belts, which were worn on their heads or pinned on their lapels, with a pleasant fragrance.

How much do you know about eating customs?

Considering the hot weather, people tend to eat light in summer. Some places have the custom of eating lotus root in summer. Lotus root contains a lot of carbohydrates and vitamins, which has the effect of clearing heat and nourishing blood. In daily life, fresh lotus root can be simmered with a small fire, sliced with appropriate amount of honey to eat, it is helpful to calm the mind and fall asleep. People also keep the custom of "eating new rice", that is, people try new rice after the small summer heat. People cook with the newly harvested rice, to sacrifice their ancestors and the "great God of five grains", and also eat new wine. In the city, we usually buy a small amount of new rice, cook it with old rice, and eat some newly marketed vegetables.

Time: July 6, 2020

Source: China News Network