The summer solstice is an important solar term among the 24 solar terms in China, usually occurring on June 21st or 22nd every year. The summer solstice marks the official start of summer and is the time of year when the days are longest and the nights are shortest. In traditional Chinese culture, the Summer Solstice is regarded as an important festival, and people will hold some celebration activities and customs.
The summer solstice is one of the twenty-four solar terms. Every year around June 21 (20th to 22nd), Douzhiwu begins when the sun reaches 90° of the celestial longitude. It is the earliest solar term to be identified. In the 7th century BC, the ancients used Tugui to measure the sun's shadow. The sun's shadow was the shortest on the summer solstice, so this day was called the "summer solstice".
"Collection of the Seventy-Two Hours of the Moon Order": "In the middle of May...summer is false, extreme, and extreme. Everything here is false and extreme."
"Hanxuetang Jingjie" collected from Cui Lingen's "Three Rites and Righteousness Sect": "The summer solstice is the middle, and the solstice has three meanings: first, it is the peak of Yang Qi, second, it is the beginning of Yin Qi, and third, it is the northern arrival tomorrow. That’s why it’s called arrival.”
On the summer solstice, the sun shines almost directly on the Tropic of Cancer, making the northern hemisphere’s day the longest. The sun never sets all day long in the Arctic Circle and areas north of it, forming the largest polar day zone. After this day, the position of direct sunlight moves southward, the days in the northern hemisphere gradually shorten, and the positions of sunrise and sunset also begin to move southward until the winter solstice. In the Tropic of Cancer and areas north of it, the height of the sun at noon is also gradually decreasing, and the solar shadow is gradually lengthened. However, because the energy radiated from the sun to the ground is still more than the energy radiated from the ground to the air, the temperature continues to rise in a short period of time.
"Zhi" also means the extreme. In the traditional theory of yin and yang, the summer solstice is the solar term when yang energy reaches its peak and begins to accumulate.
The Hexagram of Xiu in the "Book of Changes" is the fifth hexagram, with one Yin rising from the bottom (one Yin is born in the summer solstice, and one Yang is born in the winter solstice), which is the season of the summer solstice. Although the Yang Qi is strong, it has lost its power, and the Yin is growing and the Yang is disappearing.
Like the winter solstice, the summer solstice was also an important traditional festival (solar term) in ancient China, but relatively few modern activities are directly related to the summer solstice (maybe very similar in meaning to the important traditional festival Dragon Boat Festival). But Midsummer Festival is an important festival for residents in Northern Europe and other places (related to the local cold climate).
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"Summer Solstice Festival" was also called "Summer Festival" in ancient times. It is not only an important solar term, but also an important traditional festival among Chinese people. Before the Qing Dynasty, the whole country had a one-day holiday on the summer solstice. In the Song Dynasty, all officials would also have a three-day holiday on the summer solstice. In the Liao Dynasty, "the summer solstice was called the 'Chao Festival', and women would bring colored fans and give them powder bags as gifts." Legacy". The colorful fan is used to drive away heat, and the sachet can repel mosquitoes and suppress odor, which shows that the ancients attached great importance to the summer solstice.
There is a view that the origin of the traditional Chinese festival Dragon Boat Festival originated from the Summer Solstice Festival. For example, "summer solstice is born from yin, winter solstice is born from yang" to explain that the ancient Chinese also used the Dragon Boat Festival, a festival in May of the lunar calendar, to correspond to summer, and used the "winter solstice" of the solar term to correspond to winter, so as to reasonably treat the "winter solstice" , "Summer Solstice" and Dragon Boat Festival may have similar meanings in folk festivals.
Since ancient times, eating noodles during the summer solstice has been an important custom in many places. Since the new wheat has appeared in the summer solstice, eating noodles in the summer solstice also means "trying something new".
On the day of the summer solstice, people will pay attention to their diet to adapt to the climate characteristics of summer. In some places, there are food customs such as eating dumplings and steamed dumplings, which means "summer solstice dumplings celebrate the harvest." In some places, a special kind of rice dumplings are eaten, called "summer solstice rice dumplings", which are filled with various fillings, symbolizing harvest and good luck.
In addition, the summer solstice is also an important node for some traditional customs. For example, in the Jiangnan area, people will row dragon boats collectively on the summer solstice. This is to commemorate the ancient poet Qu Yuan and is also a folk sports activity. In some places, activities such as mountain tours and outdoor outings are held so that people can experience the beauty of summer in nature.
The Summer Solstice has important cultural significance in China, with celebrations and customs used to welcome the arrival of summer and pray for a good harvest and good luck.
As the summer solstice approaches, denentech wishes you happiness and good health.
