"Little Heat": Little Heat or Great Heat, steaming at the top and boiling at the bottom

"Small heat and great heat, steaming at the top and boiling at the bottom" is a folk proverb, which means: during the two solar terms of small heat and great heat, there is a scorching sun above and moisture transpiration below, and the sky and the earth are like A big steamer, so people have the feeling of "steaming on top and cooking on the bottom". This proverb is a visual expression, explaining that Minor Heat and Great Heat are the hottest seasons in summer.

Indeed, the two solar terms of Minor Heat and Great Heat are the hottest seasons of the year, just like what is said in ancient poems - the red sun is as scorching as fire.

1. The meaning of "Little Heat and Great Heat"

The names of the two solar terms, Little Heat and Great Heat, contain the meaning of "hot".

The ancients said vividly: "Shu means cooking, and it is as hot as boiling things." The meaning of this sentence is: "Shu" means "cooking". When "Shu" comes, the weather will be hot. It has to be like cooking something.

This statement still uses a vivid metaphor, which compares "heat" to "cooking". The real meaning of "summer" is "heat". Therefore, minor heat is mild heat, and major heat is severe heat. Therefore, comparatively speaking, the hottest one is the Great Heat. Of course, the Little Heat is already very hot.

It is for this reason that there are folk sayings such as "Small heat and big heat, steaming at the top and boiling at the bottom", "Small heat followed by big heat, there is no place to hide from the heat", etc., which all illustrate the degree of heat during this period.