February 29 of the Gregorian calendar, the twentieth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, commonly known as the Heavenly Wear Festival. According to ancient traditions, this day is regarded as a day to commemorate Nuwa's mending of the heavens in China.
Various celebrations such as pancakes, flatbreads and other customs and activities have been passed down among the people, and through these customs, the good wishes and expectations of the ancient people for good weather and rain, abundant grains, good agricultural harvest, happiness and health are expressed.
Tomorrow is the twenty-first day of the first month, that is, the "Feast of Piercing the Earth". Legend has it that since there is a festival of "mending the sky", then there should be a festival of "mending the land" accordingly. Usually, this day is set on the day after the "Heavenly Piercing Festival", so the 21st day of the first lunar month is the "Earth Piercing Festival", also known as "Piercing the Earth".
Both festivals are closely related to the legend of Nuwa mending the sky, and the earth piercing festival is also to commemorate Nuwa mending the sky. At this time, the ancients were worried that "sky leakage", that is, continuous rain and snow, could adversely affect agricultural production.
It is around the time of the rainy season, which is prone to continuous rain and snow, and the ancients were also worried about the cold of spring. This reflects the ancient people's good wishes and expectations for good weather and good harvests, abundant harvests, and national peace and security in the new year.
Today's earth wears the festival, tomorrow the day wears the festival, the people have a saying: "Look at the sky early on the 21st, and you don't need to ask the gods for a year." What does this proverb mean?
According to traditional customs, both the Ground Piercing Festival and the Heavenly Piercing Festival are to commemorate Nuwa's deeds of repairing the sky. The ancients believed that the "loopholes" that occurred in these two days caused continuous rain and snow, so they held activities such as pancake stalls and flatbread to fill these "loopholes" in order to prevent continuous bad weather.
They believe that the goal of both the Ground and Sky Piercing Festival is to fix these "loopholes" so that the rain and snow will stop continuously. This reflects the good wishes of the ancients for the new year, looking forward to good weather conditions, peace and security, and a bumper harvest of grains.
As for the weather omen of the Ground Piercing Festival, there is a proverb: "The earth pierces through the sky without leakage, and March is just right to plow the fields." ”
The "ground wearing" here refers to the ground wearing festival on the 21st day of the first lunar month, and the "leak" means that the rain and snow are continuous, and the climate is abnormal. This sentence "the ground penetrates the sky without leakage" indicates that the weather is normal, indicating that the spring is coming, the wind and rain are smooth, and the spring flowers are blooming, which is conducive to spring plowing and spring sowing.
As the saying goes, the weather is normal during the Ground Piercing Festival, which indicates that the temperature will warm up in March, and the spring flowers will bloom, which is suitable for farming, which is a good omen for smooth weather and a bumper harvest of grains.
There are still leaks in the ground and the sky, and March will welcome the cold spring. ”
Ancient people had a limited understanding of the weather, believing that heaven and earth were connected and that man and nature were closely related. It is said that the 21st day of the first lunar month is the festival of the earth, and if the weather is cloudy and rainy, there may be a cold spring, so you need to be vigilant and prepared.
Persistent rain, especially around the rainy season, is seen as a crack in the sky and needs to be remedied in time to avoid affecting agricultural production. This day marks the end of the cold winter and the coming of spring, people look forward to the warm sunshine, hoping to avoid the cold spring from affecting spring plowing and spring sowing, and decide to have a good year.
As a result, there is a great desire for warmer weather to create favourable conditions for a bumper agricultural harvest.