I have just been informed that tomorrow, or possibly the day after, is the start of summer. This is news to me. I’ve always thought that summer starts when spring ends, some time back in May. 21 June is midsummer’s day to me.
Is this just an American thing? Or has the world always been like this and I’ve been too wrapped up in myself to notice?
yeah, I think you have been mis-informed. Isn’t June 21 the summer solstace, or whatever it’s called i.e. the longest day?
I believe the season did officially start some time back (like may?), but traditionally the true summer weather doesn’t begin until the longest day, so perhaps that is where that percpetion came from.
Of course, down in the other hemisphere the opposite is true - from NOW onwards they start freezing their asses off.
This has got me thinking tho…this year has gone fast.
Midsummer day (summer solstice) is the first day of summer. It’s not something that Americans say, but something you were probably taught already in the 2nd grade (which, I admit, was a long time ago)
[quote=“Notsu”]Midsummer day (summer solstice) is the first day of summer. It’s not something that Americans say, but something you were probably taught already in the 2nd grade (which, I admit, was a long time ago)
[quote=“Bu Lai En”]June 1 is the first day of Summer.
Summer solstice is the longest day of th year.
Brian[/quote]
June 1 might be the first day of your summer holiday but according to astronomers, summer starts with the longest day of the year. Google it if you don’t believe me
I thought that Dragon Boat Festival was a lunar holiday and that’s why it falls on a different day each year. Most annoyingly, it seems to disproportionally land on a Saturday or Sunday :fume:
What seems stanger to me is that Mid-“Autumn” Festival often lands in the summer, including this year - - September 18 - - a Sunday, of course. I know it’s also called Moon Festival, because of the Harvest Moon, so why not stick with that? It only occasionally falls in autumn and certainly never in the middle.
It does seem awfully silly to have the start of summer fall on the longest day of the year. It’s obviously already started by now. I think today should be–well, not the halfway point, but maybe the one-third through summer point?
The council of Agriculture Executive Yuan says that summer starts around May fifth, and autumn starts arounds August seventh.
June 21st is just whoa! summer is really kickin in! day.
It’s 夏至, which means that summer is here.
But 立夏 is before that, on May fifth, which is the beginning of summer.
Autumn is supposed to be from around August seventh to November seventh, so it is roughly around the middle of autumn.
Also note that all these festivals and seperation of seasons were established in the Yangtse river area, so they might be different from the actual time of seasons in Taiwan.