Editor: Juejia Memory
Contributor: Anonymous netizen
Tomorrow is the winter solstice. It is the day when the sun is farthest from us and the shortest day of the year.
Every year on the winter solstice, I think of my grandpa and the Nine-Nine Cold Relief Picture he left behind.
In fact, my maternal grandfather passed away before I was born. He was a pharmacist. In his early years, he was the general manager of a large pharmacy in Zaozhuang. After the founding of New China, he established a public-private partnership with another pharmacist named Long Xingting to establish the Jusuo Health Center. My mother heard from her grandmother that my grandfather always wore clothes made of silk when he came home, which was very beautiful. But he and my grandma were not getting along in their marriage. My grandma was an illiterate rural woman with small feet. They had no common language and had been quarreling all their lives.
When my grandfather was young, he once met a fortune teller. The gentleman said that everything in my grandfather's life would be unsatisfactory. Unexpectedly, this sentence actually became a prophecy. First, his two favorite children died in infancy, and then he encountered right-wing factions and was repeatedly criticized during the Cultural Revolution. His resolute grandfather couldn't bear the humiliation. He committed suicide by arsenic but was lucky to be saved. Later, he suffered from stomach disease and died of stomach cancer at the age of only 52.
After my grandfather passed away, the medicine books he left behind were sold as scrap by my second grandfather. Unfortunately, all the prescriptions and prescriptions he had collected over the years were lost, leaving no scraps of paper. What was left was only a book of hundreds of family names and a thousand-character text written by him, which my mother regarded as my enlightenment text, and a picture of ninety-nine cold relief written by him.
Hundred Family Surnames and Thousand Character Essay were torn into a mess by me when I was young. The picture of ninety-nine cold relief was actually a calendar that my grandpa prepared for my uncle to use for calligraphy practice. It was collected by my mother at home as a memory.
I remember that on the yellowed and brittle page, there were written the words "Nine-Nine Cold Relief Pictures", with 81 red circles stuck in red ink. On it, it was also written that the sky was dark and cloudy above, and the sky was black and clear below, and there was wind on the left and rain and snow on the right.
My mother said that this picture of ninety-nine cold relief is for my uncle to start practicing calligraphy from the winter solstice. The red circle on it should be painted with ink according to the daily weather conditions, and one stroke should be painted every day. Of course, since you start writing, you can't just paint in the weather, you must practice a few more words.
My mother said that my grandpa learned calligraphy from Han Fengchang. Han Fengchang was the first penman in southwestern Shandong. In that era, wherever bridges were built or monuments were built, Han Fengchang would be asked to write. My grandpa’s calligraphy was only superior to that of his master. However, he was still young at the time and died young before he could be pushed out by his master. The Hundred Family Surnames and Thousand Characters are all written in and lower case , which shows his skill.
In addition to these red circles, my grandpa’s picture of ninety-nine to relieve the cold also wrote the song of ninety-nine to relieve the cold underneath. From nineteen to ninety-nine, it was also a rare handwriting he left in his life. Unfortunately, both the surnames and the picture of eliminating the cold were unfortunately lost when the house was built, and there is no trace of it anymore.
I still vaguely remember the Jiujiu Cold-Resisting Song, and now I copy it below to remember my most beloved grandpa. I wish him all the best in the other world.
From the winter solstice, the Yang of September 1st comes, all things wither and stir in the new wind; the universe is closed in the freezing cold, and the dripping water condenses and freezes into ice.
Jackdaws are rising outside the clouds on twenty-nine, and crystal buds hang upside down in front of the eaves; push the window to look at the mountain and river scenery, and thousands of homes are built with pink makeup and jade.
Sanjiu Qiong Yao is piled up in piles, walking on the snow to find plum blossoms in the green microgreens; the red furnace warm pavilion inscribes new sentences, which immediately makes people return intoxicated.
Forty-nine, clouds and mist lock the horizon, and thick clouds scatter jade sand; the wood door is closed for visitors, and the children are called to clear the snow to make tea.
The buds of Wujiu are growing toward the warmth, and the grass is green wherever the sun rises; the flowers in the south garden are green, and soon the apricot blossoms are red.
Six-Nine Earth Ox hits Beginning of Spring , the characters are glorious and everything is new; every family is happy to have a new year, and every household is happy to receive the rain and dew.
On July 9, the Lantern Festival fireworks are bright, and a precious mirror shines on the mountain city; the lights and the moon shine together, songs are played, and the trees and silver flowers celebrate peace.
Eighty-nine plows and oxen are plowing the fields, and farmers are working hard; adding new colors to the mountains and rivers, and then tracing the blueprint to change the beauty.
On a warm and cold day, there are few wild geese, and in the spring breeze, swallows turn around and hold mud; there are people talking under the swing frame, and everyone takes off their clothes together.
