中国范儿 90 芒种：承载收获耕耘希望

Mangzhong (or Grain in Ear) is the third solar term of summer in the twenty-four solar terms. It signifies the beginning of mid-summer. It happens between June 5 and June 7 every year when the sun reaches the celestial longitude of 75 degrees. Literally, Mangzhong means “crops with awn should be harvested soon, and the seeds of crops like millet and rice can be sown”.

Mangzhong has a folk name “busy in sowing”, heralding the busy agricultural activities of farmers. In most parts of China, Mangzhong is the busiest season for farmers: they will have to simultaneously reap the harvest of summer crops, plant fall crops, and take good care of crops that have been planted in the previous spring season. Mangzhong usually witnesses greater amount of rainfall and rising temperature. Such extreme weathers like tornado, hail, strong wind, storm and drought, among other things, are very common during Mangzhong. Wheat has a short maturation period and farmers have to race against time for its harvest, since weather changes tend to have huge impacts on the yield of wheat. To protect the harvest almost at hand, farmers have to move fast during the short window of good weathers to reap, transport, and thresh wheat. In contrast, farmers in the Jiangnan Region are busy in planting rice during Mangzhong, a season usually marked by greater amount of rainfall that is a boon to the growth of rice.

As early as during the Tang Dynasty, farmers across China have spontaneously organized the “Comforting Newly-planted Crops Ceremony” during Mangzhong to pray for good weather and bumper harvests. This custom ushered in its heyday during the reign of the Daoguang Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. In Southern Anhui Province today, this custom got a new name “Comforting Newly-planted Crops Festival”, which has been included on the list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Anhui Province.

In south China, some places have the custom of boiling plum during Mangzhong. Plum generally ripens between May and June each year in South China. But fresh plums are sour and bitter in most cases, flavors that most people just dislike. So, they choose to have plums boiled for better tastes. In the Chinese novel of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao and Liu Bei warmed the wine with boiled green plums when they debated what make men heroes, a story that is still very popular nowadays.

Mangzhong is a hectic time for farmers, who have to toil in the field under huge pressure. It is also a time to reap the harvest and sow the seeds. Mangzhong is a season of hard work and hope. People reap wheat and plant seedlings, with high expectations for a bumper harvest next year. They “comfort the crops” and pray for high yields and peace. This is the way of life of their ancestors, their offspring and themselves.

来源：中国网

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