"Flowers and trees control the season, and birds sing to report the agricultural season." Time is rushing, and the great cold in the twenty-four solar terms has come as promised.
When it is very cold, the temperature is very low. In the old days, people took ice and stored it for use in summer. In addition, An Deming, deputy director of the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and vice-chairman of the Chinese Folk Writers Association, said that the Great Cold is the last solar term in the twenty-four solar terms. As the Lunar New Year approaches, there is also a saying that "the Great Cold welcomes the New Year".
Getting ready for Chinese New Year
Dahan, like Xiaohan, is a solar term that indicates the degree of coldness of the weather. From the time point of view, Dahan is on January 20-21 of the Gregorian calendar every year.
The ancients divided the great cold into three phases: "One is for chicken milk; the second is for bird's severe illness; and the third is for water and belly-hardened."
"When it's very cold, it's usually the 'four or nine' season. In ancient times, there was less farm work in winter, and people invented some games, such as the nine-nine-cold elimination map, etc., to kill time." Anderming said.
Among the above-mentioned "cold relief pictures", there are two popular ones, namely dyeing plums and crosswords. For example, draw nine cold plums on white paper, each with nine flowers, one for nineteen and one for a day, and fill a plum blossom with a specific color every day according to the weather.
In terms of diet, writer Liu Yida once said that the old Beijingers in memory like to eat frozen persimmons and frozen sour pears before and after the big cold.
The Great Cold is the last solar term in the twenty-four solar terms.
This solar term often coincides with the end of the year, and some folk customs during the period have more meanings of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new. During the cold season, every household is busy preparing for the Lunar New Year—salting bacon, stocking up on New Year's goods, and buying some new clothes.
"Sweeping the dust, sticking to the New Year's Day, and other activities before the New Year's Day, the time of their appearance coincides with the time period of Dahan. Their formation is not necessarily related to this solar term, but it enriches the cultural content of Dahan." Ender Ming said.
“花木管時令，鳥鳴報農時。”時光匆匆，二十四節氣中的大寒，也如約而至。
大寒時氣溫很低，舊時，人們取冰、藏冰，以備夏日使用。此外，中國社會科學院文學所副所長、中國民間文藝家協會副主席安德明表示，大寒是二十四節氣中的最後一個節氣，臨近農曆新年，也有“大寒迎年”的說法。
準備迎接農曆新年
大寒同小寒一樣，是表示天氣寒冷程度的節氣。從時間上看，大寒於每年公曆1月20—21日交節。
古人將大寒分為三候：“一候雞乳；二候征鳥厲疾；三候水澤腹堅。”也就是說，大寒時氣溫很低，冰可以一直凍到水中央。
“大寒時，通常是進入‘四九’時節。古代，冬季農活比較少，人們發明了一些遊戲，比如九九消寒圖等等，來消磨時間。”安德明說。
上述“消寒圖”中，比較流行的有兩種，即染梅與填字。例如，在白紙上繪製九枝寒梅，每枝九朵，一枝對應一九，一朵對應一天，每天根據天氣實況用特定的顏色填充一朵梅花。
在飲食方麵，作家劉一達曾表示，記憶中的老北京人喜歡在大寒前後吃冰柿子跟凍酸梨，“也會邀三五親朋，圍爐吃火鍋，別有一番風味”。
大寒是二十四節氣中的最後一個節氣，素來有“大寒迎年”的說法。
該節氣往往與歲末時間相重合，期間的一些民俗多了些辭舊迎新的意味。在大寒時節，家家戶戶忙著為迎接農曆新年做準備——醃臘肉、備年貨，再添置些新衣服。
“掃塵、貼年紅等過年前的一些活動，它們出現的時間正好和大寒在時間段上有重疊之處。其形成和這個節氣沒有必然聯係，但是豐富了大寒的文化內容。”安德明稱。
(新華網)
