"The day dial has reached the cloud pole, and the night sky has been longer since then." The summer solstice is approaching, the sun is almost 90 degrees of celestial longitude, and various places in the northern hemisphere are about to usher in the longest day of the day.
As early as the 7th century BC, the ancients had determined the summer solstice solar term using the method of measuring the shadow of the sun with Tugui. The summer solstice can be regarded as one of the earliest established solar terms among the twenty-four solar terms. "Zuo Zhuan of the Spring and Autumn Period" mentions that "all points, solstice, openings, closings, and clouds must be written down, and they have been prepared for the past", emphasizing the significance of the summer solstice in climate change.
The birth of "Measuring the Sun's Shadow" demonstrates the inseparable relationship between the summer solstice and the sun. On the summer solstice, the sun almost shines directly on the Tropic of Cancer. In places such as Shantou, Conghua, and Fengkai in Guangdong, Guiping in Guangxi, and Mojiang in Yunnan, there may even be a spectacle of "instant shadow" appearing. For the Tropic of Cancer and the areas north of it, after the summer solstice, the direct point of the sun moves southward, which naturally means that "after eating summer solstice noodles, one day will be shorter".
With the movement of the sun, most areas of our country have higher temperatures and sufficient sunshine during the summer solstice. Fast-growing crops have higher demands for precipitation. Therefore, there is a popular saying among the people that "a raindrop on the summer solstice is worth a thousand pieces of gold." And as the folk proverb "summer rains are separated by field ridges", the ground is heated intensely during the summer solstice, and air convection is strong, which makes thunder showers often form from afternoon to evening. The abundant precipitation creates a favorable environment for crops at this time with both water and heat in the same season.
"The Collection of the Seventy-Two Hours of the Moon Order" records: "In the middle of May, summer is false; to the extreme, everything here is false and extreme." During the summer solstice, all things grow. At this time, the summer corn in the vast fields in the north develops strong green seedlings, which are jointed inch by inch under the moisture of the summer rain. The early rice in the south of the Yangtze River and the sorghum in Guizhou and other places have already eared and silken, and the cotton in Xinjiang has also Not to be outdone, they produce flower buds, and crops everywhere show their vitality during the summer solstice.
Regarding the busy farming scene during the Summer Solstice, a farmer's proverb sums it up: "On the Summer Solstice, the hoe cannot rest." Thinning, stabilizing, and replenishing seedlings have become urgent agricultural activities at this time. While crops are growing vigorously, weeds, snakes, insects, and pathogens in the fields are also accompanied by the high temperature and humidity in summer. Paying close attention to cultivating and hoeing the ground is one of the most important measures to increase production during the summer solstice. As the farmer's proverb goes: "If you don't hoe the grass at the roots during the summer solstice, it is like raising a poisonous snake to bite you."
The summer solstice heralds the arrival of the hot summer. The Shanghai farmer's proverb recorded in Xu Guangqi's "Complete Book of Agricultural Affairs" of the Ming Dynasty is "There are clouds in the summer solstice and three days of heat, but there is no rain in the Double Ninth Festival and it is clear in winter." This is a vivid description of the weather after the summer solstice. During the summer solstice, spending time in the summer heat has become an inescapable interest of life for people.
The summer solstice is the starting point of Xia Jiujiu. The Jiujiu song in "Wuzazu" of the Ming Dynasty vividly describes people's daily custom of enjoying the coolness during the summer solstice: "In 1929, the fan never leaves my hand." Fans have become a must-have item for every household to enjoy the coolness during the summer solstice. Every summer, people hold colorful fans and send the cool breeze into their arms. It can be said: "The wind is good to escape the heat, and the quiet night brings coolness."
People in various places in the summer solstice are also quite unique in their diet. As the saying goes, "winter solstice dumplings and summer solstice noodles", the wheat in the northern region has been harvested during the summer solstice, and eating noodles made from new wheat has the meaning of trying something new. In Wuxi, there is a custom of eating wheat porridge in the morning of the summer solstice and wontons at noon, which means harmony. There is a proverb that says: "Reunion with wontons at the summer solstice and reunion at the winter solstice brings together people who are healthy all year round." No matter what the custom is, it carries people's simple prayers for future life, and also contains the vitality and hope that the scene of the summer solstice will be renewed and all things will flourish.
