It turns out that people's attention to solar terms in the past was mostly related to diet and disease prevention, which was not unrelated to people's concern for their own health. "Food is the most important thing for the people". Beginning of autumn is a very important solar term, and people certainly can't forget to eat it. Therefore, it is deeply loved by the people in Beijing and Hebei. People have a bad appetite in dog days, so many people will lose weight. In the Qing Dynasty, people (mostly children, of course) were weighed by hanging scales, and compared with the weight of Chang Xia to measure their fatness. Losing weight is called "bitter summer". At that time, people often judged health only by being fat and thin. Of course, if you lose weight, you need to make up. The way to make up for it is to go to beginning of autumn, eat delicious food, and "paste the autumn fat". Of course, meat is the first choice, and "stick fat with meat". On this day, ordinary people eat stewed meat, while cultured people eat boiled meat and braised pork, as well as jiaozi, stewed chicken, stewed duck and braised fish.
According to Mr. Feng Chun, besides "sticking autumn fertilizer" in beginning of autumn, "biting autumn" is also popular in Tianjin and other places. Just like "biting spring", people believe that eating melons in beginning of autumn can avoid diarrhea in winter and the following spring. There is such a record in Zhang Dao's "Customs of Tianjin Miscellaneous Notes at the Age of Years" in the Qing Dynasty: "beginning of autumn can avoid diarrhea by eating melons and biting autumn." In the Qing Dynasty, people put melons, steamed eggplants and fragrant soup in the yard the day before in beginning of autumn, and ate them in beginning of autumn to remove the heat in summer and avoid dysentery. As early as the Tang and Song Dynasties, people in beginning of autumn would send 7- 14 adzuki beans from well water on the same day, and they should face the West Railway Station to pray for diseases such as diarrhea in autumn. At present, the dietary customs of beginning of autumn vary from place to place in China. Autumn peaches used to be very popular in Hangzhou. In beginning of autumn, adults and children should eat autumn peaches, one for each person, and keep the stone after eating. On New Year's Eve, the peach pit was thrown into the stove and burned to ashes. It is thought that this will save the plague for a year. Autumn water is also popular in the east and west of Sichuan. Immediately in beginning of autumn (beginning of autumn, the specific time is marked on many old calendars), the whole family will have a drink. It is said that it can eliminate the accumulated heat in summer, and Qiu Lai has no stomachache. In Laixi, Shandong Province, beginning of autumn is popular to eat "dregs", which is a kind of small tofu made of tofu and vegetables. There is a saying that "adults and children don't spit or pull after eating beginning of autumn dregs". So many dietary customs are mostly aimed at preventing dysentery, which shows that workers in China are aware of autumn diarrhea.
"The important ceremony held in early autumn is also very interesting," continued Mr. Bang Chun. Han people attach great importance to beginning of autumn Festival, and the custom of welcoming autumn in beginning of autumn has a long history, and feudal emperors in past dynasties are no exception. As early as the Zhou Dynasty, on the day of beginning of autumn, the Emperor of Heaven personally led the princes and doctors of the three kingdoms and nine nobles to the western suburbs of Beijing to welcome the autumn and offer sacrifices to Shao Gao and Ru Shou. Beginning of autumn, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty wanted to hunt, which showed Qiu Lai's intention to promote martial arts and sacrificed his prey to the ancestral temple. In the Song Dynasty, a plane tree was planted in the inner hall of the court. On the occasion of beginning of autumn, Tai Shigong began to play "Qiu Lai", so he tried to let one or two buttonwood leaves fall to show autumn. Folk wear autumn leaves, or cut the red leaves of heather into petals and put them on the temples. In addition, there is a folk saying that "beginning of autumn is freezing in the cold; Beginning of autumn night, hot cow "ballad. This means that if beginning of autumn is in the morning, it will be cool after autumn; If beginning of autumn is in the first half of the night, it will still be very hot after autumn.
Beginning of autumn is a major solar term that farmers attach importance to. In eastern Shandong, there is a saying that "beginning of autumn will be hungry next spring" to remind people to step up their farm work and strive for a bumper harvest. Lacey's agricultural proverb says, "When it rains, it rains, it is dry, and when it rains, beginning of autumn has a good meal." . There is also a saying that everything gains in July and loses in June and autumn. This means that at the beginning of the autumn in July of the lunar calendar, there is expected to be a grain harvest; If beginning of autumn is in the sixth month of the lunar calendar, there will be a poor harvest. Another example is "the north wind blows before autumn, it rains after autumn, and the north wind dries the river bottom after autumn", which means that the north wind blows before beginning of autumn and it will rain after autumn; If the north wind blows behind beginning of autumn, it may be very dry in winter. For farmers who used to depend on the weather for food, the significance of beginning of autumn is not limited to eating.