Bearded Grain and Sown Seed: The Farming-Time Philosophy of Mangzhong and the First Stirring of Yin
Drawing on pre-Qin Confucian and Daoist thought, etymology, astronomy, and phenology, this article offers an in-depth reading of Mangzhong (Grain in Ear), the ninth of the twenty-four solar terms. It reveals the farming-time philosophy behind the folk saying "Mangzhong is busy sowing," examines the phenomena of the praying mantis emerging and the shrike beginning to cry at solar longitude seventy-five degrees, and unfolds how the Gou hexagram's "first stirring of yin" marks a cosmic turning point at the very height of yang—inviting readers into the ancient wisdom of racing against time and revering the seasons as one reveres the divine.
Chapter 15: Mythic Archetypes: The Fire of Zhurong and the Spring of the Flower Spirits
I. Zhurong: The Mythic Sovereign of Mangzhong's Virtue of Fire
As discussed above, the Liji's "Monthly Ordinances" names Zhurong as the assisting spirit of the month of midsummer. And Zhurong, as the high-antiquity fire god, is, in his mythic image, precisely the mythic archetype of Mangzhong's "virtue of Fire at its height."
The "Classic of the Regions Beyond the Seas: South" of the Shanhaijing records: "In the south is Zhurong, of beast's body and human face, riding upon two dragons" (南方祝融，兽身人面，乘两龙). Zhurong, of beast's body and human face, rides upon two dragons, guarding the south. This image is charged with primal power: the "beast's body" hints at his connection to the wild forces of nature; the "human face" shows his ability to communicate with humankind; "riding upon two dragons" displays his divine might in commanding supernatural forces. As the sovereign of the south and of summer, Zhurong, in the body of the fire god, presides over the fullness of the virtue of Fire at Mangzhong—filling the world with yang qi, bringing the myriad things to lush growth, ripening the wheat and growing the rice.
The "Classic of the Regions Within the Seas" (海內經) of the Shanhaijing further records Zhurong's genealogy: "The Fiery Sovereign's wife, Ting Yao, daughter of the Red River, bore Yan Ju; Yan Ju bore Jie Bing; Jie Bing bore Xi Qi; Xi Qi bore Zhurong" (炎帝之妻，赤水之子听訞生炎居，炎居生节并，节并生戏器，戏器生祝融). Zhurong is the descendant of the Fiery Sovereign. This links the fire god (Zhurong) directly to the sovereign of Fire (the Fiery Sovereign, Yandi): Zhurong is a continuation of the Fiery Sovereign's bloodline, an inheritor of the virtue of Fire. In Mangzhong, the solar term of which it is said "its sovereign is the Fiery Sovereign, its spirit is Zhurong," the Fiery Sovereign and the fire god are one continuous lineage, jointly presiding over this season when the virtue of Fire is at its fullest.
Zhurong holds yet another title—he is honored as "Huozheng" (火正, "Rectifier of Fire"). The twenty-ninth year of Duke Zhao in the Zuo Zhuan records: "The Rectifier of Fire is called Zhurong" (火正曰祝融). In high antiquity, the "Rectifier of Fire" was responsible for observing the rising and setting of the Fire Star (Antares), thereby determining the season and guiding farm labor. As the spirit of the Rectifier of Fire, Zhurong's duty is thus closely tied to the astronomy of Mangzhong (the Fire Star drawing near to culmination) and to its farm labor (the virtue of Fire holding sway, farm labor at its busiest). At Mangzhong we can see both the Fire Star in the heavens above (the star governed by the Rectifier of Fire) and feel the fullness of the virtue of Fire on the earth below (the virtue governed by Zhurong)—the star in the heavens and the spirit on the earth resonate perfectly within this solar term of Fire's fullness.
II. Gonggong and Zhurong: A Cosmic Metaphor for the Contention of Water and Fire
Among the myths of high antiquity is an important narrative connected to the fire god Zhurong—the battle between Gonggong and Zhurong. This myth provides the mythic archetype for the philosophy of Mangzhong's "Fire at its extremity, with Water (yin) being born."
Gonggong is the god of Water, and Zhurong is the god of Fire. The battle between them represents a cosmic conflict between Water and Fire, yin and yang, winter and summer. This myth exists in multiple versions; in one, after Gonggong is defeated in battle, he furiously butts his head against Mount Buzhou, causing the pillar of Heaven to snap, Heaven to tilt toward the northwest, and Earth to sink toward the southeast—this is said to explain why China's terrain is higher in the northwest and lower in the southeast, and why its rivers all flow toward the southeast.
The deeper meaning of this myth extends far beyond explaining geographical origins. It reveals the eternal contention and mutual transformation of two fundamental forces in the cosmos—Water and Fire, yin and yang. Within the framework of the four seasons, this contention between Water and Fire repeats itself every year: in winter, Water (yin) is full; in summer, Fire (yang) is full; from winter to summer is the process of Fire gradually overcoming Water; from summer to winter is the process of Water gradually overcoming Fire. Mangzhong stands precisely at the moment when Fire (Zhurong) is about to reach its utmost fullness (Xiazhi)—at this time Fire's momentum is at its peak, and Zhurong holds the upper hand.
But the profundity of Mangzhong lies in this: at the very moment the fire god Zhurong is about to reach his summit, the water god Gonggong (yin qi) has already, in the deepest recesses, begun his counterattack—this is precisely the "first stirring of yin" in the Gou hexagram. Fire at its extremity, and Water germinates; Zhurong at his fullest, and Gonggong rises again. The war between Gonggong and Zhurong has no final victor; it merely recurs, endlessly, across the cycle of the four seasons. Mangzhong's "Fire at its extremity, with the first yin secretly sprouting" is precisely a critical turning point of this eternal contention between Water and Fire, within the great cycle of Heaven's Way—within the very fullness of Fire, the seed of Water's counterattack has already been sown. This ancient myth, through its grand cosmic narrative, confirms the profound philosophy of Mangzhong—that fullness at its height gives way to the beginning of decline, that yang at its extremity gives rise to yin.
III. The Fiery Sovereign Shennong: The Dual Forebear of the Virtue of Fire and of Farming
Mangzhong's "sovereign is the Fiery Sovereign," and the myth of the Fiery Sovereign (Shennong) is precisely the perfect union of Mangzhong's dual themes of "the virtue of Fire" and "farming."
The Fiery Sovereign's two most widely known achievements are, first, "tasting the hundred herbs" (personally tasting the hundred herbs to discern their medicinal properties, making him the forebear of medicine), and second, "teaching the people to sow and reap" (instructing the people in the cultivation of the five grains, making him the forebear of agriculture). The "Great Treatise, Part Two" of the Zhouyi says: "Shennong arose, and hewed wood to make the plowshare, and bent wood to make the plow handle; with the benefit of plowing and weeding, he instructed all under Heaven" (神农氏作，斫木为耜，揉木为耒，耒耨之利，以教天下). Shennong arose, hewed wood into a plowshare, bent wood into a plow handle, and taught all under Heaven through the benefit of tillage. This establishes the Fiery Sovereign, Shennong, as the founder of agrarian civilization.
Why should this forebear of agriculture be honored as the "sovereign of the virtue of Fire"$18 As discussed above, the character "yan" (炎) is formed of two "fire" characters stacked together, itself carrying the image of blazing flame; and the high-antiquity agricultural technique of "slash-and-burn cultivation" was precisely one that used fire to clear the way—burning off grasses and trees to open fields and enrich the soil. Fire is the forerunner of agriculture; without fire, there could have been no original cultivation. That the Fiery Sovereign is both the sovereign of the virtue of Fire and the forebear of agriculture precisely reflects the inseparability of fire and farming in high antiquity.
And Mangzhong is precisely the solar term where these dual themes of "the virtue of Fire" and "farming" converge—it is both the season of the virtue of Fire at its fullest (its sovereign the Fiery Sovereign, its spirit Zhurong), and the juncture of farm labor at its busiest (Mangzhong means busy sowing, harvesting wheat and sowing rice). The Fiery Sovereign Shennong's dual identity as "sovereign of the virtue of Fire and forebear of agriculture" finds its most perfect embodiment precisely here, in Mangzhong. When the farmer, beneath the blazing sun of Mangzhong (the virtue of Fire), harvests wheat and transplants rice (farming), he is in fact walking the very path opened by the Fiery Sovereign Shennong—carrying out the diligent work of sowing and reaping at the moment when the virtue of Fire holds sway. The farmer of Mangzhong is precisely the plainest heir to the spirit of the Fiery Sovereign Shennong.
IV. The Flower Spirits: The Final Farewell of Spring's Deities
In contrast to the fire god Zhurong, Mangzhong is also connected to another category of deity—the flower spirits. Having discussed above the custom of "seeing off the flower spirits" at Mangzhong, let us further understand the significance of the flower spirits from the perspective of mythic archetype.
The flower spirits are deities presiding over the blooming of the hundred flowers. In folk tradition, there is a "Hundred Flowers Fairy" who presides over all flowers collectively, as well as "twelve flower spirits of the months," each presiding over a different flower. The flower spirits' governance of the flowers means that both the blooming and the withering of flowers lie within the control of the deities—flowers bloom in their own season, and wither in their own season, both expressions of the flower spirits' will.
Seeing off the flower spirits at Mangzhong is, in essence, a farewell to the "deities of spring." Flowers are the most beautiful symbol of spring; the flower spirits are the personification of spring's very spirit. At Mangzhong, when the hundred flowers wither and spring's mood is about to end, seeing off the flower spirits is precisely a reverent farewell to the spirit of spring that is about to depart. This forms a kind of mythic "handover" with the welcoming of the fire god Zhurong (the deity of summer)—the spirit of spring (the flower spirits) exits the stage, and the deity of summer (Zhurong) takes it; the hundred flowers wither, and the virtue of Fire reaches its fullness. Mangzhong is precisely the moment of this handover between the two deities.
This mythic handover of "the flower spirits departing, the fire god arriving" contains a profound seasonal philosophy. It personifies the abstract transition of the seasons (spring departing, summer arriving) as a succession of deities (the flower spirits departing, Zhurong arriving), granting the flow of the seasons a sacred and poetic significance. Through seeing off the flower spirits and honoring Zhurong, the ancients folded themselves into this sacred seasonal handover—they were not passive witnesses to the changing of the seasons, but active participants who, through ceremony, took part in, witnessed, and answered the succession of the spirits of Heaven and Earth. The mythic world of Mangzhong thus contains both the blazing vigor of the fire god Zhurong and the poetic, deep feeling of the flower spirits' farewell; both the agricultural diligence of the Fiery Sovereign Shennong and the dialectic of Water and Fire in Gonggong and Zhurong. These rich mythic archetypes together construct the profound spiritual foundation of Mangzhong.