立夏：万物至此皆长大
二十四节气中的中华文化之立夏（中文版）
立夏
作者：徐廷华
进入五月，迎来的第一个节气便是立夏，
也是夏季开始的第一个节气。
“小荷才露尖尖角，早有蜻蜓立上头”，
杨万里的这句诗最能代表立夏时节的景色。
万物在这一季节里，都要长大，走向成熟。
《逸周书·时讯解》中提到：
“立夏之日，蝼蝈鸣。
又五日，蚯蚓出。
又五日，王瓜生。”
说的是这一节气中，
首先可听到蝼蝈在田间的鸣叫声，
接着大地上便可看到蚯蚓掘土，
然后王瓜的蔓藤开始快速攀爬生长，
描述的就是孟夏之初的物候景象。
古代不少文人墨客，也为这个节气写下了很多脍炙人口的诗词。宋代 范成大 在《村居即事》诗中所云：
“绿遍山原白满川，子规声里雨如烟。
乡村四月闲人少，才了蚕桑又插田。”
放眼望去，草树青翠欲滴， 枝头 硕果累累，田野庄稼抽穗，鸟声凋鸣， 虫鸣 潮起，一派生机勃勃的景象。刘禹锡《初夏曲》诗说：
“时节过繁华，阴阴千万家。
巢禽命子戏，园果坠枝斜。
寂寞孤飞蝶，窥丛觅晚花。”
写 春天 的繁花已谢，花朵变成果实坠于枝头，
有几只 蝴蝶 还在花丛中流连，似在寻觅春天，
殊不知已是夏天的开始。
唐太宗 李世民也有首《 初夏 》诗：
“一朝春夏改，隔夜鸟花迁。
阴阳深浅叶，晚夕重轻烟。
弄莺犹响殿，横丝正网天。”
诗句细致地描绘了初夏景物的变化，
一切都体现出初夏万物充满生机的景象。
“麦黄秧碧 百家衣 ，已热犹寒 四月 时。
雨后觅春无一寸， 蔷薇花 发酽胭脂。”
这是杨万里的《初夏》诗。
初夏大地，麦田黄了，秧田碧绿，大地斑驳多色，
虽不是春天，然而蔷薇花却开得正艳。
写尽了人间芳菲四月天的诗情画意。
由此想到 海德格尔 的一句话：“人应该诗意地栖居。”
（《光明日报》2015年05月08日16版）
二十四节气中的中华文化之立夏（英文版）
Start of Summer
In early May, comes the solar term Start of Summer,
which signals the transition of seasons.
Characteristic scenes of this solar term are essentially captured in an ancient poem:
“Emerging from water, the tender lotus sprouts have just come into sight;
When on their tips, the dragonflies already alight.”
This solar term was described in a compendium of Chinese historical documents Yi Zhou Shu
the majority of which date to about fourth century B.C. or perhaps earlier.
According to this ancient book, on the day of Start of Summer,
the chirping of 'louguo’ can be heard, in which 'louguo’ has been explained by later scholars as frog species or mole crickets;
then five days later, earthworms can be seen;
after another five days, the vines of gourds begin to grow.
Throughout thousands of years, Chinese literati have been inspired by the solar term Start of Summer, creating a large number of poems. For instance,
Fan Chengda (1127-1206), known as one of the “four masters” of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) poetry, once presented rural life during early summer：
“All hills and fields are clad in green and streams in white;
Cuckoos shed tears while rain drizzles like vapor light.
The peasants in the fourth moon are busy farm hand;
Having just fed the silkworms, they should till the land.” (Trans. by Xu & Xu 2018).
A Tang Dynasty poet and philosopher Liu Yuxi (772-842),
once wrote a poem titled Tune of Early Summer
“The once vibrant spring blossoms are all gone; […]
Tree branches, with the growing fruits, slightly bow down.
A butterfly is still fluttering around the yard,
Quite lonely, as finding a late spring flower is so hard.” (Trans. by Li 2021)
Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty,
also known as his original name Li Shimin,
presented dynamic early summer scenes in his poem:
“Overnight, comes the season of summer;
Growing fast, are the different flora and fauna.
Emerging, is the color green of various shades;
In sunset, vapory smoke rises and fades.” (Trans. by Li 2021)
Another master of the Southern Song Dynasty, Yang Wanli (1127-1206), once wrote on an early summer day:
“Grain crops dress the fields in golden and green; Scarlet roses are ladies wearing blusher, radiant and keen.” (Trans. by Li 2021)
Just as what the German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) said:“Poetry builds up the very nature of dwelling” (Heidegger, 2001, p.225). All the above ancient Chinese verses not only depict scenes of early summer days, but also reflect the writers’ poetic way of living during the solar term Start of Summer.
连雨不知春去，一晴方觉夏来
春天再见，夏天你好