Introduction to Minor Heat
Minor Heat, Xiaoshu in Chinees, is the 11th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 105° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 120°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 105°. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around July 7 and ends around July 22 (July 23 East Asia time). The ancient people thought that it was not the hottest time during the Minor Heat period and then named it the Minor Heat. There is also a song with the lyrics “the Minor Heat is not hot but the Major Heat.” which means that the hottest period is coming but the extremely hot point has not arrived yet.
Customs in Minor Heat
1. Old traditions in Minor Heat In the past, having fresh grains was one of the main traditions among the folks in China. The pronunciation of having fresh grains in Chinese resembles the sound of surviving hardship, which means the first day of going through hardship. A saying in Chinese involves different kinds of food: dumplings, noodles, the Chinese tortilla and scrambled eggs. Dumplings are the traditional and household food among Chinese. When the dog day comes, people tend to lose their appetites, and dumplings can refresh people’s feeling toward food. People in Shandong Province enjoy having cucumbers and boiled eggs to live through it. Folks in Xuzhou City like to eat mutton when the days come. This custom can be dated back to Yao and Shun Dynasty. It is said that one bowl of mutton soup will keep the doctors away. Lotus roots are all the rage among the folks. There are plenty of carbohydrates, vitamins, and dietary fibers in lotus roots. You will gain great benefits from having lotus roots with honey. There is a Chinese saying which goes that the finless eel on the day of Minor Heat is as good as ginseng. Eels are habituated to live in the mud and the eels are quite nutritious and delicious on the day of Minor Heat and they can function as the pills to cure some diseases.
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