Grain in Ear (芒种)

Grain in Ear, or Mangzhong, the 9th solar term, falls around June 5th every year. As Poet Lu You of the Southern Song Dynasty depicts in his poem, it is a busy time for farmers as crops such as barley and wheat are ripe and ready to reap.

During the whole year, Mangzhong is the busiest season for farmers. It’s time to plant and to harvest, as well as manage crops. The wheat needs to be brought in quickly, as soon as it is ripe. Likely as not, tornadoes, hailstones and storms are on the way. As rainfall increases, it's time to plant rice and cotton.

Here poet Fan Chengda of Song Dynasty mentions at Mangzhong, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River enter the Plum Rain season, which sees many days of torrential rain and ceaseless humidity. Since it’s around now that plums ripen, the season was therefore called plum rain season.

During this time, in southern China people begin to brew plum wine, sealing the mixture in a bottle for 30 days before drinking. With the rich minerals in plums, the drink is good for health in many ways.

Apart from drinking plum wine, people also came up with other customs to celebrate Mangzhong. As flowers wither, when they find time to celebrate, farmers make sacrifices to the god of flowers, who is departing soon to return next year.

Although Grain in Ear is one of the busiest seasons for farmers, it means continuous working in filed, however, it is also a season filled with harvest, hard work, and hope.

Source:Xinhua News