Slight Heat

Slight Heat is the eleventh solar term of the twenty-four solar terms, the end of the Meridian Month in the Trunk and branch Calendar and the beginning of the Wei Month.The sun reaches 105 degrees in the yellow meridian and intersects on July 6-8 of the Gregorian calendar every year. Heatstroke, which means hot, refers to small heat, which is not very hot yet. Although Slight Heat is not the hottest season of the year, it is immediately followed by the hottest solar term of the year, the Great Heat. There is a saying in the folk that "Slight Heat is a great heat, steamed on top and boiled on the bottom". Since Slight Heat, many parts of China have entered the season with the most thunderstorms.

Slight Heat begins to enter a hot summer, known as the "hot summer", which usually occurs between Slight Heat and End of Heat. It is the period of the year when the temperature is the highest, humid, and stuffy. The monsoon climate is the main characteristic of China's climate. In summer, it is influenced by warm and humid air currents from the ocean, resulting in high temperatures, dampness, and rainfall in many parts of China. Although it is sunny, hot, humid, and rainy during the summer heat season, for crops, the same period of rain and heat is beneficial for growth.

In the past, there was a folk custom of "eating new rice" in southern China during the Slight Heat period, which means that after the Slight Heat period, farmers tasted new rice, milled the newly cut rice into rice, prepared rice for worship to the Five Grains God and ancestors, and then everyone ate and tasted new wine. In the northern region, there is a tradition of eating dumplings on the first day of the year. On the second day of the year, people have a poor appetite and often become thinner than usual, commonly known as "bitter summer". In traditional customs, dumplings are exactly appetizing and appetizing food, and the appearance of dumplings is like yuanbao, meaning "yuanbao hides blessings". Eating dumplings symbolizes full of blessings.