二十四节气丨小满至 桑叶正肥蚕食饱

Today marks "Xiaoman", or "Grain Buds", the eighth of the 24 solar terms of a year according to the Chinese lunar calendar. As implied by its English name, Xiaoman is the subtle period of time when the grains are about to ripen but are not quite there yet. The temperature gaps between the south and the north narrow, and summer gradually becomes the most dominant season.

今日小满，这是中国传统二十四节气中的第八个节气。农作物的颗粒在这个时期开始变得饱满，但并未完全成熟，因而叫做“小满”。我国南北温差缩小，大部分地区真正进入了夏季。

On this day in southern China, people worship the God of silkworms for a good harvest.

在南方，人们会在小满节气这天祭拜“蚕神”，以祈求养蚕有个好的收成。

Mulberry leaves grow during this time, and it is recorded in the Worthy Records of the Qing Dynasty that, “When Xiaoman comes, silkworm-raising women cook cocoons and reel silk, working day and night.”

此时桑叶生长，蚕茧结成，正待采摘。《清嘉录》中记载：“小满乍来，蚕妇煮茧，治车缫丝，昼夜操作。”

Sericulture and silk craftsmanship of China, especially in Zhejiang province, have an ancient history.

中国蚕桑文化和丝绸工艺历史悠久，浙江尤为兴盛。

Located in the Grand Canal basin, Linping has always been a famous silkworm town.

临平地处大运河流域，历来是著名的蚕乡。

“As China's national intangible cultural heritage rinsing silk wadding in Linping has a history of more than 4900 years”, Shen Meili, inheritor of rinsing silk wadding skill, told us, the skill has long been passed down  from generation to generation by word of mouth. The process of making rinsing silk wadding includes selection, boiling, rinsing, stripping, stretching and drying.

“浙江临平清水丝绵是一项国家级非物质文化遗产，至今已有4700多年悠久历史”，余杭清水丝绵制作技艺传承人沈美丽介绍，长期以来，这项技艺以口传心授的方式代代相传。其制作工序分为选茧、洗茧、煮茧、漂洗、剥茧、开棉、晒干等。

The spotlessly white and extremely soft rinsing silk wadding here has good elasticity and even thickness without impurity.

这里的清水丝绵色泽洁白，无绵块、绵筋、杂质，手感柔滑，弹性好，厚薄均匀，是劳动人民长期的智慧结晶。

Merchants were attracted due to the Grand Canal’s convenient location for trading since ancient time. During Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, silk was listed as tribute and it was sold to Japan in the Qing Dynasty.

大运河优越的地理位置，也自古让商人们趋之若鹜。唐代开元年间，丝绵就已被列为贡赋，到了康熙年间，更是远销日本。

More than 800 cocoons can only make about 0.5kg of silk, which makes it more precious.

如今，保护与传承这项古老技艺也迫在眉睫。据沈美丽介绍，八百余颗双宫茧只能制作约一斤桑蚕丝，纯手工耗费的人力也让清水丝绵更为珍贵。

The manufacturing craftsmanship of rinsing silk wadding was included in the “catalogue of national representative of intangible heritage culture items” in 2008 and as a sub-item of “China sericulture and silk weaving”, in the Masterpieces of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2009.

作为“中国传统蚕桑丝织技艺”之一的清水丝绵制作技艺在2008年被列入国家级非物质文化遗产代表性名录，并在2009年被列入联合国教科文组织人类非物质文化遗产代表作名录。

Integrating into the charm of Jiangnan water town, sericulture has long become a symbol rooted in people’s memory.

承继着江南水乡的风韵，它早已成为人们心中不可忘怀的记忆符号。