Seasons ripe for change

Today, it's popular for Chinese children to raise white and plum silkworms in a paper box, covered with green fresh mulberry leaves.

For them, rearing silkworms is not a way to make a living, but to observe the magic of nature. It's exciting to carefully watch the silkworms grow bigger and bigger after shedding their skin several times, and finally become white oval cocoons.

In southern China, the old custom of xiaoman is to "move three vehicles", referring to waterwheels, oil mills, and silk reeling machines, marking the busy farming season when everyone is working hard.

Farmers irrigate the fields and spin wheels for silk fibers. They pick up the mature vegetable seeds of canola flowers and send them to the mill for cooking oil. Year after year, the Chinese farmers and weavers have been working like this to maintain their family.

"Xiaoman is the most philosophical solar term, emphasizing the importance of the traditional Chinese value of modesty and humility. There is only xiaoman, or 'small full', but no daman, or 'big full' in the 24 solar terms," Guo says.

According to Taoism, the moon begins to wane the moment it becomes full; the water starts to overflow when it becomes full. It means that things will develop in the opposite direction when they become extreme.

Ancient Chinese philosophy believes that, among all the virtues, only modesty can bring people good fortune. An old Chinese saying goes that the modest receive benefit, while the conceited reap failure.

"It's also a note of caution from our ancestors that we should guard against arrogance and rashness," he says.

Contact the writer at xulin@chinadaily.com.cn