What does Lidong mean? A detailed explanation of the meaning of the Lidong solar term
Lidong is one of the 24 solar terms of the lunar calendar, falling between November 7 and 8 on the Gregorian calendar each year. It is not only the time for grand harvest sacrifices and abundant-year banquets, but also the season when cold winds begin to rise. It has customary activities such as "Shishuo", "Qin Suishou", "Hanyi Festival" and "Harvest Festival". Let us take a look below at what Lidong means!
What does Lidong mean?
During Lidong, Han Chinese folk custom regards Lidong as the beginning of winter. Li means the beginning of a establishment, indicating that winter starts from this point. Dong means the end, with the implication that crops should be stored away after harvesting, and China also regards Lidong as the beginning of winter. At this time, in the north, it is exactly the first month of winter when "water freezes and the ground begins to freeze", while in the south the weather is like a little Indian summer.
Agricultural activities of Lidong
1. Autumn harvest and winter sowing: Lidong is exactly a great period for autumn harvest and winter sowing. All regions should make full use of clear weather to do a good job in harvesting, sun-drying and air-drying late rice, and ensure the quality of storage. Winter wheat sowing should be carried out promptly, pay attention to listening to weather forecasts, and skillfully use the right timing. Early sowing in the rain is not as good as slightly later sowing while seizing clear weather, so as to ensure sowing quality, strive to overwinter with tillers, prevent jointing within the year, and expand the winter sowing area as much as possible to reduce idle fields. All regions should do a good job in winter sowing, winter water conservancy repair, and winter fertilizer accumulation.
2. Vegetable farming: After Lidong, greenhouse construction should be done promptly. At the same time, do a good job in greenhouse vegetable management. When daytime temperatures are high, the film can be opened on the leeward side for ventilation, and at night attention should be paid to sealing the greenhouse well. In North China and the Huang-Huai region, when the daily average temperature drops to about 4°C and the field soil freezes at night and thaws during the day, seize the opportunity to water wheat, vegetables and orchards with winter water, so as to supplement insufficient soil moisture, improve the field microclimate environment, prevent "drought adding to the severity of cold", and reduce and avoid the occurrence of freeze damage. In Jiangnan and South China, promptly opening good "high-yield ditches" in the fields and doing a good job in clearing ditches and drainage are important measures to prevent winter waterlogging and freezing damage.
3. Livestock farming: For autumn epidemic prevention work for live pigs, focus on booster vaccinations. For farm cattle, strengthen grazing, let them eat enough forage, and carry out a deworming before winter arrives. When grazing, try to let goats eat enough forage to gain more weight. For Angora rabbits, in autumn breeding work, those not yet mated should be mated promptly, and those withgoose raisinghabits should quickly introduce goslings for rearing. Rearing them to 70 days of age just catches the Spring Festival, and they can be sold at a good price.
Folk customs of Lidong
1. Welcoming winter: In the past, it was an agricultural society. After working for a year, people used the day of Lidong to rest and incidentally reward the family for their hard work. The proverb "Lidong supplements winter, supplements the empty mouth" is the best metaphor. In ancient times, on this day, the emperor had the rite of going out to the suburbs to welcome winter, and also had the system of granting winter clothes to all ministers and showing compassion to orphans and widows. Later generations were largely the same.
2. Celebrating winter: Celebrating winter is also called "bowing to winter", and this custom already existed in the Han Dynasty. Cui Ding of the Eastern Han, in the Monthly Ordinances for the Four Classes of People: "On the day of the winter solstice, present wine and dishes, and congratulate and visit rulers, teachers and elders, just as on the first day of the year." In the Song Dynasty, on this day, people changed into new clothes and celebrated and visited one another, just like during the New Year festival. In the Qing Dynasty, "the solstice day was the winter solstice court audience; scholar-official families bowed and congratulated their elders, and also visited one another. Men and women of the common people also had to change into fresh clothes to bow to one another, which was called 'bowing to winter'." Since the Republic of China period, the traditional custom of celebrating winter seems to have shown a trend of simplification. But some activities gradually became fixed, standardized and more universal. For example, winter schools and master-apprenticeship activities are all held in winter.
3. Food customs: At Lidong there is the custom of eating boiled dumplings. At Lidong, when making dumplings, the taste is different from that of Chinese cabbage, and they should also be eaten with vinegar and mashed garlic to truly have a distinctive flavor. Why eat dumplings at Lidong? Because our country is founded on agriculture and attaches great importance to the 24 solar terms. A "festival" is also a new growth point for plants. Harvest in autumn and store in winter; on this day, to improve life a little, people chose "nothing is as delicious as dumplings". Therefore, the Book of Rites contains the saying "eating melons is also a sacrifice to the ancestors".