Lixia (one of the twenty-four solar terms in China)

Lixia (one of the twenty-four solar terms in China)

Lixia is the seventh solar term in the twenty-four solar terms, and the first solar term in summer, also known as “the end of spring”. At this time, the handle of the Big Dipper points to the southeast, and the ecliptic longitude of the sun reaches 45°. The beginning of summer is an important solar term that indicates that all things are entering the peak season for growth. Almanac: “Dou refers to the southeast dimension, which is the beginning of summer. Everything has grown up here, so it is called Lixia.” After the beginning of summer, the sunshine increases, gradually warms up, thunderstorms increase, and crops enter a stage of vigorous growth.

Li Xia said goodbye to spring and the beginning of summer. Spring is born, summer is long, autumn is harvested, winter is hidden, and when the beginning of summer, all things flourish. Due to China’s vast territory and large north-south span, the natural rhythms vary from place to place. During the beginning of summer, only the areas south of the line from Fuzhou to Nanling in China are in the true sense of summer when “green trees are thick and shaded and summers are long, and the terraces are reflected in the pond”; while parts of the northeast and northwest are just beginning to have the breath of spring. According to the classification standard of China’s modern climatology (climate average temperature), the beginning of summer is when the daily average temperature rises steadily above 22°C.