When is the beginning of summer in 2020? What are the traditional customs of the beginning of summer in 2020?

The Beginning of Summer is the seventh of the 24 traditional solar terms and the first solar term of summer. The previous solar term is Grain Rain. At the Beginning of Summer, the temperature begins to rise significantly and summer is just beginning. So when is the Beginning of Summer in April 2020?

When is the beginning of summer in 2020?

The arrival of the Beginning of Summer solar term indicates the start of summer, which usually falls between May 5 and 7 of the Gregorian calendar every year.

The 2020 Lixia solar term officially begins at 08:50:23 on Tuesday, May 5, 2020. This day is the 13th day of the fourth lunar month, the day of Wushen in the month of Xinsi.

Currently, there are 182 days until the beginning of summer in 2020.

What are the traditional customs of the Beginning of Summer in 2020?

The traditional customs of the Beginning of Summer that remain in different places are different. Here are some common customs for your reference.

Welcome Summer

The ancients attached great importance to the "Beginning of Summer". In the old days, people held the "Welcoming Summer" ceremony on this day.

In ancient times, the emperor led all officials to welcome summer in the southern suburbs of the capital. The emperor and his subjects all wore vermilion formal clothes and vermilion jade pendants. Even the horses, chariots and flags had to be vermilion to express the hope for a good harvest.

Try something new

In Suzhou, “three new things” appear at the beginning of summer: cherries, green plums and wheat.

There is a saying in Changshu that "nine meat dishes and thirteen vegetarian dishes". The nine meat dishes are crucian carp, salted eggs, pickled vegetables, braised shrimps, etc.; the thirteen vegetarian dishes include cherries, plums, bamboo shoots, broad beans, peas, cucumbers, etc.

Weighing people

In ancient times, people would weigh themselves on the day of the Beginning of Summer, and then weigh themselves again on the Beginning of Autumn to see how much weight they had lost after the bitter summer. In the scorching heat, people sweat profusely, which is the best season to lose weight.

Eat wheat cake

In places like Linhai, people call the beginning of summer "drunk summer" and eat wheat cakes on this day. There is a folk proverb in Wenling: "If you don't eat wheat cakes on the day of the beginning of summer, you will be a human being in vain", which means that if you don't eat wheat cakes on the day of the beginning of summer, you will be a human being in vain, and it is more important than anything else.

People usually use ramie leaves to make wheat cakes, and then use meat, eggs and various vegetables as fillings, and roll them up in the wheat cakes to eat.

Eat Lixia fruit

In Hangzhou, eating Lixia Guoer refers to black rice. Early in the morning, the family would go to the market to buy Nanzhu leaves, soak them in water and rub them, use the juice to soak glutinous rice, and then take them out and steam them in a wooden steamer.

In Guangxi and other places, five-colored beans, including red beans, yellow beans, black beans, green beans, and mung beans, are made together with white glutinous rice to make "five-colored rice", which is called Lixia rice.

Bumping the Beginning of Summer Egg

It is also called fighting eggs. The eggs of the beginning of summer are chicken eggs. When eating the cooked eggs of the beginning of summer, pour good wine on them and sprinkle some fine salt in them. The blend of tea and wine makes them fragrant and tasty.

In addition, the whole unbroken Lixia egg will be placed in an egg holder made of colored thread and hung on the child's chest or on the tent. The children will also touch each other's eggs, and the one with a firm and unbroken eggshell wins, which is exciting and interesting.

Avoid sitting on the threshold

This is an old saying. In the Annals of Taihu County in the 10th year of Daoguang, it is recorded: "On the day of the Beginning of Summer, bamboo shoots and amaranth are used to make soup, and people are warned not to sit on the doorstep or take naps during the day, as it is said that worrying about the summer will cause fatigue and illness." It is said that if you sit on the doorstep on this day, you will feel tired and sick in the summer.

The Annals of Ningguo County in the 1930s recorded: "The beginning of summer. It is used to weigh the body and avoid diseases, which is called not being afraid of summer. It is said that if you sit on the threshold of the door at the beginning of summer, you will be in low spirits for the whole year."

What are the three phases of Beginning of Summer?

A cricket chirps:

On the day of the Beginning of Summer, the first sound that can be heard is the chirping of mantis crickets (also known as mole crickets) in the fields (some say it is the croaking of frogs).

Second phase of earthworm life:

Five days after the beginning of summer, earthworms can be seen digging in the soil.

The third phase of the king melon birth:

After another five days, the vines of the king melon began to climb and grow rapidly.