"Suddenly, the warm wind comes, because of the light heat." Today, we welcome the eleventh solar term of the 24 solar terms - sunstroke. With the continuous high-temperature weather, more and more frequent thunder and rain, the midsummer has begun, and the heat is near.

In the face of the scorching sun, how to eliminate the heat is the most important thing. Today, there are air-conditioning fans. In ancient times, the ancients used to shake the fan gently and lean on the rope bed, shake the fan gently or drink cold drinks or eat ice food. According to the records of menghualu in Tokyo, there are "ice cold Yuanzi", "raw submergence papaya" and "Liangshui litchi paste" on the market in Kaifeng, which are good for relieving summer heat.

Customs

"Shixin" eating noodles, drying clothes, painting and calligraphy

Tasting new rice, eating dumplings, drying calligraphy and painting, drying clothes... In the summer season, there are a lot of timely, rich and interesting folk customs and activities.

In ancient times, people paid attention to "eating new" to welcome the harvest after the heat stroke, that is, every family ate new rice and tasted new wine after the heat stroke. Farmers will grind the newly cut rice into rice and make it into delicious rice, which will be sacrificed to the five grain gods and ancestors, in order to thank the gift of nature and celebrate the harvest.

As the weather gets hotter and drier, people often lose their appetite. In order to relieve summer heat, stimulate appetite and satisfy one's cravings, the folk custom of "toufu dumplings, Erfu noodles, Sanfu pancakes and eggs" has been established. Among them, as early as the Three Kingdoms period, there were records of eating noodles in the Fu day.

According to the records of Wei's spring and Autumn Annals, "the soup cake is eaten in the sun, and the face is bright when the towel is taken to wipe sweat." the soup cake here refers to hot soup noodles. In the records of the age of Jingchu written by Liang Daizong of the Southern Dynasty, it is also written that "on the day of the fall of June, you can enter the soup cake, which is called the fight against evil." In the eyes of the ancients, sweating can drive away diseases, which means "dispelling evil".

In addition, there is a custom of eating lotus root in the summer, while "eel, lotus root and mung bean sprout" are called "three treasures" in the summer, which are all cool and refreshing food.

In addition to these traditional food customs, there are also the customs of "drying red and green on June 6" and "drying clothes on June 6". That is to say, every family takes advantage of the fine weather to "bask in the sun" and dry the clothes, calligraphy and paintings that have been placed in the house for a long time in the sun, so as to remove moisture, mildew and moth.