Editor's note: the twenty-four solar terms, as a supplementary calendar for guiding farming in ancient China, are the fruits of the long-term experience and wisdom of the working people in China. This broad and profound scientific and cultural system is one of the quintessence and representatives of the excellent traditional Chinese culture. In order to further carry forward traditional culture, enhance the majority of Internet users' understanding and interest in traditional culture, and further strengthen their cultural self-confidence, a series of themed activities of Xi'an "Online China Festival" and "Xi'an in the solar terms" sponsored by the Xi'an Municipal Office of the CPC Xi'an Municipal Committee launched a series of cultural popular science articles to experience the charm of traditional culture and inherit the new trend of civilization of the times.

"The Nightingale crows the green willows, and the bright moon wakes up in the sky. He loves the ridge head wheat most, and smiles red in the wind." this is the Grain Buds season in the eyes of Ouyangxiu, a writer of the Northern Song Dynasty. The Nightingale crows the willow, the bright moon is in the sky, and the wind blows the wheat waves. Everything is in its best shape.

On May 21, in this homophonic day of "I love you", we ushered in the Grain Buds solar term, the second solar term of summer, which the ancients called the first summer or the beginning of summer.

According to the collection of the seventy-two seasons of the lunar calendar, "in the middle of April, when things are small and full, things are small and full." at this time, the northern winter wheat enters the critical stage of grain filling, and the grain is full but not fully mature. This is the saying of the agricultural proverb "when the grain is small and full, the grain is gradually full"; There is plenty of rain in the south, but the rivers are not overflowing. It is recorded in the agricultural proverb that "small full, small full, rivers gradually full".

"ShuoWenJieZi" points out that "full, overflowing also." as the saying goes, "full advertises losses, modest benefits", "extremes will be reversed", full without loss, full without profit, full without overflow, can be perfect. Therefore, the ancients believed that "Grain Buds" was the best state of life. Grain Buds is not only a solar term, but also a philosophy of life.

"After loquat is yellow, yangmeizi is exactly the farmhouse Grain Budstian", "I love Jiangnan Grain Budstian best, cherry is ripe and fish is fresh in the sea", "the wheat field is green, wheat waves are surging, and the silkworm house is full of cocoons and silk"... Loquat yellow, cherry red, yangmeizi, scholars of all ages, from wheat waves to silkworm reeling, from the beginning of bitter cabbage to the gradual filling of rivers, have recorded the phenological changes of Grain Budstian season with exquisite strokes.

"At the beginning of the wheat ear, the young children are charming, and the mulberry leaves are full of fat. In the Song Dynasty, Ouyangxiu depicted a vivid picture of the farmhouse in the small full season in his four seasons of happy spring and summer in the garden of returning to the field - the wheat ear is at the beginning of the Qi, the mulberry leaves are fat, the eating is in full swing, and the farmers are full of harvest expectations.

"Last night, the jade plate sank into the river, and the night came suddenly with the smell of shepherd's purse and wheat. People of the time only have enough to eat, and don't forget the old bitter vegetables." liuchangqing reminded people in Grain Buds that the days of having enough to eat are hard won, and don't forget the hard life in the past.

The three typical phenology of the Grain Buds solar term are the show of bitter herbs, the death of meadows and the arrival of autumn wheat. In the small full season, bitter herbs flourish and become an important wild vegetable in famine years. There is a proverb that says, "when the spring breeze blows, bitter herbs grow, and the wasteland is a granary." the book of Zhou records: "bitter herbs show on the day of Grain Buds." it is said that in the Han kiln in Xi'an, Wang Baochuan of the Tang Dynasty ate bitter herbs for 18 years, and finally waited until xuepinggui.

"When Grain Buds is full of Qi, how can the grass fade?" the Grain Buds solar term is rich in rain, but some flowers and plants are declining. MICAO is a kind of Yin loving plant. When the solar terms are small and full, the Yang Qi is rising, and MICAO also dies.

"Most of the yellow plum trees in Yingshui are old, and the silkworms in the neighborhood are ripe for wheat in autumn." according to the collection of the seventy-two seasons of the lunar calendar, "autumn comes. The autumn is the time when hundreds of grains are ripe. This time is summer, and the wheat is autumn, so it is also wheat autumn." although the small full season is summer, for the growth of winter wheat, the small full season is autumn. The so-called "wheat autumn" implies "harvest". After the solar term expires, winter wheat will stop growing gradually and harvest only when the climatic conditions permit. Therefore, it is said that "Grain Buds wheat breaks its roots" and "Grain Buds catches up with the sky, while grain in ear catches up with the carving".

In the small full season, the wheat in Guanzhong area is in the middle and late filling stage, and the wheat grains are gradually full but not yet fully mature. On the Shenhe plateau in Chang'an District, Xi'an, which has the reputation of "ten thousand mu granary", the endless golden wheat fields are pale green, looking like a carpet from the air. The wheat fields and the surrounding Qinling Mountains set off each other, forming a picture of super cured rural scenery, which makes people relaxed and happy.

The agricultural proverb goes, "the wheat shoots are yellow, and the woman looks after her mother." in Guanzhong, every year when the wheat is about to mature, the married daughter returns to her mother's house with gifts such as Youxuan steamed buns and yellow apricots before and after Grain Buds, to learn about the wheat harvest preparation, and to comfort her mother's family; After the wheat harvest, the mother visited her daughter's house again, reflecting the family care in the busy farming season and the deep love between mother and daughter. When it comes to the summer harvest, we have to mention the "Guanzhong busy strike". "Busy" means the end of busy farming. In the past, after the summer harvest, farmers would invite relatives and friends to celebrate the harvest by giving banquets and watching dramas, which was no less grand than the Spring Festival. Nowadays, with the development of urbanization, there is a new expression of "busy strike meeting" - Guanzhong busy strike Art Festival. The art festival combines traditional folk customs with modern art to become a cultural brand for Rural Revitalization. The "Guanzhong busy strike" is being reborn in another way.

There is heavy snow after light snow, but there is no "big full" after light full. For the true perfection lies not in reaching the end, but in growing up all the time. There is room in "small" and joy in "full". May your life be like an early summer full, not cold or dry, full of heart, not slow, and move forward bravely.