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二十四节气之小满:小得盈满 吃苦祈蚕

Lesser Fullness, also known as “Xiaoman” in Chinese, is the eighth solar term of a year. It marks the second solar term of summer. Explanations for Lesser Fullness in southern and northern China are different. In northern China, people believe that during this period, seeds from the grain are becoming full but not yet ripe. While it’s getting steadily hotter and wetter, the wheat and rice grains become fuller. However, in southern China, Lesser Fullness reflects the climatic characteristics of heavy rainfall. As a saying mentions, “A heavy rainfall makes the river full,” the weather during this period will become quite humid with frequent rainfalls.

Timely rain brings hope of a good harvest. Therefore, in some rural areas, people will offer to the deity (神) of the waterwheel as their agricultural irrigation greatly depends on waterwheels for many centuries in China. According to legends, the deity of the waterwheel is a white loong. In the ceremony, people would place fish, meat, and scented candles in front of the waterwheel. The most special ritual is that villagers would spill a bottle of water on farmlands, wishing for sufficient water that a good harvest needs.

In southern China, people celebrate the birthday of the Goddess of Silk on Lesser Fullness. Legends have it that she was the first person to raise silkworms, weave silk and teach people how to manufacture it. During this solar term, the silkworms have cocooned themselves in silver threads of silk, and the cocoons (茧) are harvested for spinning silk reels. To pray for an abundant silk output, ancient Chinese held ceremonies to worship the goddess.

During this term, as temperatures rise, people are encouraged to keep healthy by eating more vitamins. Chinese people collected sowthistle (苦菜) from the wild and cooked it in different ways such as boiling, steaming and making salads. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, vegetables that taste bitter help calm the body in increasingly hot weather. Besides, it is a good time to eat fat fish and shrimps as the rising water level results in abundant freshwater food across China.

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