Summer · Solar term
Beginning of Summer
立夏
Protect sleep as evenings extend
Illustration & cultural context · 图画说明
The story inside the image
Regional rice nursery and early-summer fruit
Young rice seedlings and ripening cherries suggest early summer. Checking a nursery bed is a regional farming scene; cherries are a seasonal detail, not a nationwide marker. The rice remains young, clearly distinct from later harvest images.
中文 · 为什么这样画
立夏，查看稻苗而不是提前秋收
秧田里的幼苗、查看秧苗的农人和成熟樱桃共同表现初夏。立夏是传统季节节点，育秧与樱桃属于部分地区的农事、物候选择；稻苗仍嫩绿，不能把这个场景写成水稻已经成熟收割。
An editorial interpretation of regional farming, traditional phenology, or local custom. This is a generated illustration, not a documentary photograph or a forecast for every place.
Daily seasonal care · 夏 · 长
Allow activity while protecting rest and fluids
This term’s practical focus · Editorial application
Protect sleep as evenings extend
If your evenings become longer or busier, keep enough time for sleep. In warm conditions, change exercise timing rather than simply increase effort.
Classical reasoning. The summer chapter describes flourishing, emotional openness, and activity within a longer day. The spring–summer emphasis on nourishing yang does not mean deliberately overheating the body.
Sleep & rhythm
Maintain sufficient sleep even when daylight lasts longer. Keep the sleeping space comfortable and avoid using late evenings to accumulate sleep debt.
Movement & recovery
In hot weather, choose cooler hours or a suitable indoor space, reduce intensity when necessary, and pause rather than push through heat-related dizziness.
Food & fluids
Keep meals regular and varied, and have drinking water available. Follow any prescribed fluid restriction; do not replace meals with juices or herbal drinks.
Mind & emotions
Enjoy company if it suits you, with quiet intervals. A busy social calendar is optional, not an obligation to match the season.
Contemporary daily-care applications, not a prescription unique to this solar term. Adjust to actual conditions and any existing care plan.
Read the complete seasonal guide →01 · Nature & astronomy
A turning point in the year.
This term corresponds to an apparent solar ecliptic longitude of 45°. It is one of the six traditional terms associated with summer. The illustration explores a seasonal cultural scene; it does not determine the astronomical date. Calendar day labels are available for 1901–2099 in UTC+8; exact local transition times are not displayed.
02 · Classical reading
Begin with the season.
夏三月，此谓蕃秀。
Editorial translation: “The three months of summer are called flourishing and abundance.”
This is a passage about the broader season, not a prescription specific to Beginning of Summer. Read our short four-season guide for the main ideas, and adapt daily care to your actual conditions.
Read the seasonal source cardThe reasoning behind a choice.
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Connect this season with yang qi, dampness and digestion, food, and tool suitability. A calendar label alone does not establish a pattern or justify a treatment.