Xiaoman (or Lesser Fullness) is a symbolic time of year as it speaks to one of the most culturally important crops of East Asia, Rice. Here, the character man (full) typically refers to the immaturity of grains in an ear of cereal at this time of year, but it can also refer to the flooding of a rice field, due to the torrential Summer rains which hit the subtropical regions of Southern China. These particularly wet times of year have been essential to the farming of rice for thousands of years as the crops flourish in highly moist soils. The flooding waters also kill weeds and often attract fish who live off pests and leave droppings as natural fertilizer. Xiaoman marks the coming of great abundance, but also hard work ahead. The symbolism of a flooded rice paddy in this instance can serve to us as a reminder of our need to nourish ourselves as the rains do the paddies during this busy and active season.
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