Lidong, the beginning of winter, is the nineteenth solar term.
As Zi Jinshuang, a poet of the Song Dynasty, depicted in his poem:
The pond is shallower, full of withered lotus. The west wind becomes the north wind.
There is still a little heat left on the surface of the earth, so it is generally not too cold yet. Around this day, animals start to seek places to hibernate. In Chinese culture, it is just a time to hide.
After this day, crops in the north enter the overwintering period, while in the south, it is the best time to plant late-crop winter wheat.
At this time, rain and snow is good for overwintering crops. There’s also a proverb goes that, “if the wheat is covered with three layers of quilts at the beginning of winter, then in the coming year, the farmer will sleep on a pillow of buns.”
