细雨知春去，一晴焕立夏。立夏，是夏季的第一个节气，也是二十四节气中的第七个节气。“斗指东南，维为立夏，万物至此皆长大，故名立夏也。”立夏表示告别春天，是夏天的开始，因此又称“春尽日”。

The ancient Chinese divided the year into 24 equal parts or solar terms for governing agricultural processes. The “Lixia", or ‘Start of Summer’, is the first summer solar term and the seventh solar term in the traditional Chinese lunar calendar. 

"As red as summer, as red as pomegranate flowers." Lixia says goodbye to spring, and therefore it is also called, "The End of Spring." With the start of summer, heavy showers and thunderstorms increase. Temperatures also rise, making everybody feel the warmth that was missing a few months ago. 

立夏

立夏后，日照增加，逐渐升温，雷雨增多。立夏是表示万物进入旺季生长的一个重要节气。时至立夏，万物繁茂。立夏之时，许多地方有吃“立夏饭”、吃蛋、秤人和尝三新等习俗。

Summer comes after the warm spring. Lixia, or the Beginning of Summer, is an important solar term for when everything begins to grow. During this solar term, many places in China have the tradition of eating a dish called "Lixia Meals," in which there is rice cooked along with red beans, soybeans, black soybeans, mung beans, and petit pois or "five colours rice”.

Others eat eggs, while some have the tradition of eating three types of food: green plums, green wheat, and cherries.

古往今来，在立夏这一天，又会有哪些特别的仪式活动呢？

立夏自先秦便有记载，人们在这天举行盛大的迎夏仪式，以埙、笙、瑟、琴、钟等乐器演奏盛大的乐章，并配以场面壮观的歌舞，以祭拜天、地、祖先及神灵。带着对生存繁衍、生活安定的美好期盼，祈求夏天得以风调雨顺。

后来，音乐在不断的演变中，高山、流水、夏风、虫鸣等自然的声音都融入到音乐旋律中。音乐的美，有天地的根，自然的骨。

Which existing musical traditions relate to the Start of Summer?

The celebration of the Start of Summer traces back to the early Qin Dynasty. In those times, people held grand ceremonies to welcome summer on the first day of this term.

The xun, sheng, seer, qin, bell, and other musical instruments were used to accompany various folk songs and dances to worship heaven, earth, the ancestors, and the gods.

Hoping to survive the year and maintain a stable life, people used to pray for good summer weather. Later,  with the continuing evolution of music, the sound of water, wind, insects, and other sounds from nature gradually integrated with the harmony of lixia's musical pieces.

现在，我们来看看一至五年级的学生，怎样在立夏时节，捕捉到大自然的音乐之美。

Let us now look at how students from Grades 1 to 5 have captured nature's musical beauty during the Start of Summer.

立夏迎夏

立夏的微风、鸟儿的鸣叫，仿佛让我们闻到了田野间的花香，沐浴了初夏独有的日光。怎能不在这美好的时节放声歌唱，迎接夏日的来临呢？ 

The Start of Summer comes with the breeze and the song of birds, as if letting us smell the flowers of the fields, bathing in the early summer daylight. How can we not sing in this beautiful season and welcome the summer?

饮一杯迎接夏天的立夏茶，拿起我们的乐器，在立夏的习俗中探寻二十四节气隐藏的自然旋律。

Let us drink a cup of Lixia tea to welcome summer. Let us also pick up our musical instruments and explore the hidden natural melodies of the 24 solar terms.

立夏·课堂花絮

在课堂中，我们带领学生们一同了解立夏，分享在立夏之时看到的、听到的、感受到的与往日的不同景象与声音。用乐器和人声去模仿在这夏日伊始之际，大自然赋予我们的特别的声音。

During music lessons, teachers led students to understand Lixia. With these lessons, students happily shared natural sounds in their videos, representing the beginning of summer. They also chose musical instruments and voices to perform a variety of musical pieces related to the beginning of summer.

立夏·番外篇

迎夏

五年级的学生不仅在音乐方面展示了自己的立夏感受，在语文老师们的带领下，他们还从立夏朗诵、美食、摄影、习俗、小报这五方面来分享关于初夏的心得。让我们一起来看看吧！ 

Grade 5 students not only showed their feelings about the beginning of summer through music, but also shared their experiences according through five different aspects (recitation, culinary arts, photography, customs, and tabloids) under the guidance of their Chinese teachers. Let's take a look!

“四时天气促相催，一夜薰风带暑来。陇亩日长蒸翠麦，园林雨过熟黄梅。” 作别已逝的春光，接待热情的炽夏，此时节多了些绿肥红瘦。大家可以在立夏这一天饮清凉之茶，食应季之物，增加生活的仪式感；也可以和爸爸妈妈家人朋友一起走向户外，赏郁郁葱葱的槐树，闻茉莉的浓郁花香，听蝼蝈在田间的鸣叫……

"At four o 'clock, the change in weather is accelerating, and the summer wind comes overnight.” During this solar term, people have the tradition of drinking cool beverages and eating seasonal food, increasing the sense of ritual in life.

During the dry days of this solar term, people can go outdoors accompanied by family members and friends to admire the lush sophora trees, smell the rich flowers of jasmine, and listen to the grasshoppers chirp in the field.

不论是音乐，还是二十四节气，都有着人们对生活的真实感触与希冀。音乐记录风物与情感，使人获取情绪与自然之美，节气则寄托着希望，帮助人们更好地生存。音乐和节气带着对美好生活的向往，在自然、生命与时间的根源处交汇共鸣。

如立夏这般，人们用一个个生动传神的词汇描述天地万物的律动，总结为二十四节气，并刻在时间的曲谱上，如跃动的音符般闪烁着智慧的光芒，演奏一曲名为“自然与时间”的交响乐。

Music has recorded the emotions and hopes of people throughout history: their hopes, their fears, their feelings, and expectations towards a new year, nature, and life.

With the yearning for a better life, music and the solar terms resonate at the root of nature and time. People have used vivid words to describe the universe's rhythms, summed up in the 24 solar terms and engraved in the music of the time, like dancing notes flashing the light of wisdom and together forming a symphony called "nature and time”. 

四时流转中，每到一个节点，便留下一个变奏的休止符。立夏已至，宏大的四季交响来到了第二乐章，夏日变奏曲已经启幕。

The Start of Summer has arrived, the grand symphony of the four seasons has come to the second movement, and the variations of summer have been opened for all to enjoy.

文章转载自：【上海青浦区协和双语学校】