long summer is the seventh solar term in 24 solar terms, which is from May 5th to May 7th every year. long summer is a festival reflecting seasonal changes, and long summer is also called Mitsuki, early summer, Sophora japonica and Meng Xia.

long summer means that summer will gradually enter people's lives, the temperature is getting higher and higher, the days are getting longer and longer, and cool clothes such as summer clothes are becoming popular. In the vast rural areas, on the one hand, spring crops are growing vigorously, on the other hand, preparations for summer harvest are about to start. After long summer, the days are long and the nights are short, which is suitable for going to bed late and getting up early.

Brief introduction of long summer customs

1. Taste the new

In Changshu, the food that tastes new is more abundant, and there is a saying that "there are thirteen elements in nine meats". The nine meats are crucian carp, salted eggs, snails and quenching (that is, they are cooked on a low fire; A cooking method, processed with various spices, is made into chicken, pickled fresh, marinated shrimp and cherry meat; Thirteen elements include cherries, plums, wheat silkworms (new wheat is kneaded into thin strips and cooked), bamboo shoots, broad beans, spears, peas, cucumbers and lettuce, which can be said to be extremely rich.

2. Fighting Eggs

On this day in long summer, children will soak boiled eggs (with intact eggshells) in cold water, then put them in a net bag woven with colored silk or wool and hang them around their necks. If you meet other children with eggs, you can play the game of fighting eggs together. Each person holds an egg, the tip is the head, the circle is the tail, the egg head hits the egg head, and the egg tail hits the egg tail. Fight one by one. If the egg shell is broken, it will lose, then the loser will eat the egg, and finally the winner will be the egg that is still intact.

3. Weighing people

After lunch, people hang a big wooden scale at the entrance of the village, and a stool is hung on the scale hook. Everyone takes turns sitting on the stool to weigh people. While weighing flowers, the weigher spoke auspicious words. The old man should say, "Weigh eighty-seven and live to ninety-one"; Weighing girl said, "One hundred and five Jin, people from outside find you. Don't be willing, don't be willing, don't be willing, and the champion son has a fate. " ; Weighing the children said, "Weighing a dozen or twenty-three, young officials will grow up. Seven-product county officials should not be guilty, and the three public officials and nine ministers should climb. "