Lesser Cold (Xiao Han)

As for the origin of the name of the solar term of Xiaohan, it is explained in the collection of the 72 seasons of the moon: "on the December Festival, the cold at the beginning of the month is still small, so the cloud is big at the half of the month." Light cold means that the air conditioner has been cold for a long time. It means that the weather is cold but not to the extreme. It is the solar term indicating the change of temperature, like great cold, slight heat, great heat and summer. The characteristic of the solar term of light cold is cold, but it is not cold to the extreme. After the winter solstice, the cold air frequently goes south, the temperature continues to decrease, and the temperature drops to the lowest during the slight and severe cold of the year.

The weather characteristic of Xiaohan is that it is getting colder and not yet very cold. In the light cold season, the direct point of the sun is still in the southern hemisphere, and the heat in the northern hemisphere is still lost. The heat absorbed during the day is still less than that released at night, so the temperature in the northern hemisphere continues to decrease. There are great differences in climate between North and South China. According to China's long-term meteorological records, the solar terms of mild cold are colder than those of severe cold in northern China; However, for most parts of the south, the severe cold solar term is colder than the minor cold solar term.

In the small cold solar term, the East Asian Trough develops the most powerful and stable, the Mongolian cold high pressure and Aleutian low pressure also reach the most powerful and stable, and the scale of the westerly trough ridge reaches the maximum and matches with the strongest westerly intensity. The cooling process of cold air in the light cold solar term is frequent, but not many reach the cold wave standard.

In northern China, there is a saying that "a little cold is better than a big cold, which is common and not rare", which means that the solar term of a little cold is colder than that of a big cold. This is not unusual. The light cold is generally in the period from February 9 to March 9. The light cold is the coldest period of the year in northern China. After the light cold, the cold air temperature rises slightly. The coldest weather in southern China is on April 9, which is colder than March 9. It is within the solar term of severe cold at April 9, and the severe cold in southern China is colder than the mild cold.

As a folk saying goes, "a little cold is at 239, and the sky is cold and the earth is cold to shake", which shows the cold degree of the solar term of little cold. In the light cold season, most parts of China have entered a severe cold period. The soil is frozen and the rivers are frozen. In addition, the cold air from the North continues to go south and the weather is cold. People call it "count nine cold days". In southern China, although it is not as cold as in the north, the temperature has also decreased significantly. In the south, the coldest time is between mild cold and severe cold and between rain and waking insects. It is dry and cold in the light cold, but wet and cold after the rain.

In ancient China, "Xiaohan" was divided into three periods: "first, Yanbei Township, second, magpies begin to nest, and third, pheasants begin to Robin." The ancients believed that wild geese in migratory birds migrated along Yin and Yang. At this time, Yang Qi has moved, so wild geese began to migrate north; At this time, magpies can be seen everywhere in the north, and they feel the Yang and begin to build nests; The "Robin" of "pheasant robin" means singing. Pheasants will feel the growth of Yang when they are close to 49.

According to the statistics of climate data, the coldest time of the year in most of northern China is the middle of January of the Gregorian calendar (10-20 days); The annual mild cold solar term starts from January 5-7, with a solar term of about 15 days, which is just within the mild cold solar term in the middle of the year; Therefore, for most parts of the north, the slight cold is indeed colder than the severe cold. But for most parts of the south, it is the coldest during the cold solar term; The severe cold solar term generally starts from January 20 (late January), which is the coldest time of the year in the south.

Due to the large span of China's north and South regions, different regions will have different agricultural production in the same small cold solar terms. In the north, there is not much farm work in most areas, and winter break is carried out. The main task is to keep warm in vegetable cellars and livestock houses at home, and make fertilizer. In the south, winter fertilizer should be applied to wheat, rape and other crops. In Hainan and most parts of South China, it is mainly to do a good job in cold prevention and antifreeze, composting and water conservancy. Mild cold and severe cold are the periods with the least rain in a year.

Laba Festival

Laba Festival, that is, the 8th day of December of the lunar calendar, is also known as "magic weapon Festival", "Buddha Chengdao Festival", "Chengdao society" and so on. It was originally a Buddhist festival to commemorate the completion of Sakyamuni Buddha, and later gradually became a folk festival. Laba Festival is mainly popular in northern China. The festival custom is to drink Laba porridge.

Eat glutinous rice

In Guangzhou, Xiao Han eats glutinous rice this morning. Glutinous rice is not just as simple as cooking glutinous rice. It will be accompanied by fried "cured meat" (commonly known as "cured meat" in Cantonese), coriander, scallion and other materials. It tastes very fragrant. "Cured meat" is essential for cooking glutinous rice. On the one hand, it has high fat content and cold resistance; On the other hand, glutinous rice itself is sticky and has a strong smell. It needs to be mixed with some oil to taste delicious.

Count 99 for the winter

Counting nine, also known as winter nine, is an ancient folk method of calculating cold days. The method of counting the number of nine to calculate the cold weather is handed down by word of mouth in China. There is history and lack of records. As for the origin, there is no exact data. Count Nine Songs: "no action in 1929, walk on the ice in 3949, look at the willows along the river in 5969, the river opens in 799, the swallow comes in 899, and the plowing cattle go everywhere."