奇速英语

中国传统二十四节气之立秋

Start of Autumn is the 13th of the 24 solar terms. Start of Autumn reflects the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. Although it indicates the beginning of autumn, hot weather will not come to an end. The period of hot days after Start of Autumn, usually lasting for 30 days, is called “Autumn Tiger”. Because of decreasing rainfall, it is even more sweltering during this period than during Major Heat.

On the first day of the Start of Autumn, usually people will weigh themselves and compare their weight to what it was at the Start of Summer. If one has lost weight during the summer, then at the beginning of autumn, he or she needs to flesh out by eating many different kinds of delicious food, especially meat.

In Hangzhou, people eat peaches on the Start of Autumn day. The peach stones are kept until New Year’s Eve and thrown into the stove, burned into ash. People believed that in this way, plagues (瘟疫) could be prevented for the whole year. The Start of Autumn period is harvest time for Taiwan longan. People believe that eating longan will help their later generations become senior officials. In Shandong province, people make dumplings during the Start of Autumn, and they call it “Eating the Autumn”. Most of the families will eat dumplings together after Start of Autumn day. Starting from the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, people in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, have eaten red beans on Start of Autumn day. They take seven to 14 little beans, swallowing them with well water. When taking the beans, one must face west, it is said, so as not to get dysentery (痢疾) during the autumn. During the Qing Dynasty, people would put gourds (葫芦) outside for a day before the Start of Autumn, and ate them on Start of Autumn day to drive off the summer heat. Today people in Tianjin still keep this custom, believing that eating melons such as towel gourd, white gourd and bitter gourd can prevent diarrhea (腹泻) in autumn and the coming winter and spring.