Introduction: In the blink of an eye, the year has tumbled from winter straight into summer, skipping the pleasant, mild spring. Spring is now truly just a memory. After the May Day holiday, the weather has suddenly become much hotter. It turns out that the Start of Summer (Lixia) is just around the corner. How has time flown by so quickly? It wasn't long after the New Year, so how is it already summer?!
The Start of Summer occurs on May 5th or 6th of the Gregorian calendar each year. In 2012, it began at 10:20 AM on May 5th, and it is one of the 24 solar terms. It marks the departure of spring and the beginning of summer, so in ancient times, this day was also called the "End of Spring." By custom, people also often regard the Start of Summer as an important solar term when temperatures rise noticeably, the scorching heat is about to arrive, thunderstorms become more frequent, and crops enter their peak growing season.
I. Classic Food for the Start of Summer: Start-of-Summer Eggs
Although traditional food customs for the Start of Summer vary across the country, when it comes to the most classic food for this day, it is the "Start-of-Summer Egg." The day before the Start of Summer, many families begin to cook "Start-of-Summer Eggs," usually boiled with tea leaves or walnut shells. As the eggshells slowly turn red, the whole house fills with a fragrant aroma. The tea eggs should be eaten while hot, served with a good splash of fine wine sprinkled with a little salt. The combination of wine and tea fragrance is both aromatic and flavorful.
In addition to eating eggs, there is another way to play with them. After boiling the eggs, select the whole, unbroken ones and weave them into colorful egg holders with thread, which are then hung on children's chests or from bed curtains. Children also engage in "egg battles" (that is, clashing eggs), which is the most joyful and exciting activity of the day. The winner is the one whose eggshell is strong and does not break.
To learn more about the ways to eat Start-of-Summer Eggs, we recommend the daily feature: The Colorful Life of Eggs The Egg Unbroken, the Flavor Transformed
Why do people eat "Start-of-Summer Eggs"? The custom of "eating eggs on the Start of Summer" has a long history. As the saying goes: "Eat an egg on the Start of Summer, and you won't suffer from summer heat." Legend has it that from the day of the Start of Summer, the weather becomes clear and warm and gradually heats up. Many people, especially children, may experience physical fatigue, listlessness, loss of appetite, and gradual weight loss, a condition known as "summer heat" (zhuxia). The goddess Nuwa told the people that on the Start of Summer each year, if children hang cooked chicken, duck, or goose eggs on their chests, it can prevent summer heat. Therefore, the custom of eating eggs on the Start of Summer has been passed down to this day.
The ancients believed that the round shape of an egg symbolizes a full life. Eating eggs on the Start of Summer could pray for peace during the summer and withstand the test of "summer heat." The Start of Summer usually falls in the fourth lunar month, when "eggs are as cheap as vegetables." People would put eggs into the leftover "Seven-House Tea" to boil them, creating "tea eggs." Later, people improved the cooking method by adding star anise, meat broth, cinnamon bark, and ginger to the "Seven-House Tea." From then on, tea eggs were no longer just a seasonal food for the Start of Summer but became a traditional snack in China.
II. The Custom of "Weighing People" on the Start of Summer
An ancient poem says: "On the Start of Summer, people's weights are measured and recorded; the scale hangs from the beam, with laughter and chatter filling the room." The custom of "weighing people" on the Start of Summer was mainly popular in southern China and originated in the Three Kingdoms period: Legend has it that after Liu Bei's death, Zhuge Liang entrusted his son, Adou, to Zhao Zilong to be sent to Jiangdong, and he asked his stepmother, Lady Sun of Wu—who had already returned to her family home—to raise him. That day was the Start of Summer, and Lady Sun weighed Adou in front of Zhao Zilong. The following year, on the Start of Summer, she weighed him again to see how much weight he had gained, and then wrote a letter to Zhuge Liong to report it, thus forming a custom that spread among the common people. It is said that if one is weighed on this day, they will not fear the summer heat or lose weight; otherwise, they will be plagued by illness and disaster. After the Start-of-Summer meal, a large scale is hung from a beam. Adults hold the scale hooks with both hands and hang their feet in the air to be weighed. Children sit in a basket or on a stool turned upside down, suspended from the scale hook. It is said that being weighed on the Start of Summer can prevent summer heat. If weight is gained, it is called "gaining fortune"; if weight is lost, it is called "losing flesh."
On this day, children are forbidden from sitting on stone steps. If they do, they must sit on seven of them to dispel all illnesses. It is also forbidden to sit on the ground.