The busy autumn; festivals of reaping
In northern China, where the four seasons are distinct, summer is incredibly hot, but once the Commencement of Fall arrives, "Cool breezes pass. White dews descend. Cold cicadas drone." This points out that cool days are not far in the offing. Similarly to the Commencement of Spring, the emperor would lead the court officials to the western quarter of the capital city to "welcome the fall." At this time the autumn farming activities went into a phase of decline, and in the north the weather turned cold. There was always some fear that barbarian tribes might "descend south to graze their horses." At this time everyone began to brush up on their martial skills, even actively going out to kill the barbarians or steal the fat horses and goats that they raised!
Fall is the Chinese people's season of war. In the Ming and Ching Dynasties, formal military parades were held on the Descent of Hoar Frost (around October 12). On this day they paid honor to the flag god and inspected the military troops. "Swords and spears bright as snow, banners bright and colorful" accompanied the cold, harsh autumn. It truly carried a sad chill: "The brave warrior goes off, never to return"!
Fall passes and winter arrives. In the Chinese language, the original meaning of "winter" was "the end." It is the season when all life ceases its motion. "The water begins to ice, and the ground begins to freeze." "The Lesser Snow covers the earth; the Great Snow covers the rivers." All kinds of animals look for a place to take shelter from the cold. The sky is wintry, the ground frozen. Only the winter wheat, planted in the deep autumn of the "Cold Dew," is nurtured in the earth, in hope that come spring of next year it will sprout and grow tall.
Winter solstice--birth of the sun
Before the 24 Solar Terms draw to a close, there is still one day that calls for a big celebration--the winter solstice.
According to the observation of the ancients, "Winter solstice day, earthworms join. Five days later, elk horns free. Five days more, water springs move." Translated into common speech, the day of winter solstice is bitterly cold, so frigid that the worms in the ground cluster together for warmth, becoming tangled up in knots. But don't worry. After the winter solstice, the influence of the moon diminishes, and that of the sun increases. Five days after the winter solstice, the elks, considered by the Chinese to be "Yin beasts," will shed their horns upon feeling the increase in Yang energy. Five more days later, the frozen spring waters begin to melt.
Inevitably, on the winter solstice the emperor went to the edge of the capital to perform a ceremony in which he paid homage to the day and the first emperor of China. Among the common folk, every household lit ceremonial incense, revealing again the emphasis that the early Chinese placed on worshipping the heavens and ancestors. Other than that, winter solstice meant a three-day holiday. Everyone put on new clothes and prepared delicacies to eat, to usher in "winter solstice's auspicious new year." On this day northerners ate wonton, and southerners ate dumpling soup. Both dishes are round in shape as symbols of completion and full fortune.
In accordance with the early Chinese belief that in everything new meaning is derived from invisible qualities, the winter solstice represented the climax of Yin power, at which point the physical polarity must be reversed. Because of this "the winter solstice is the birth of Yang [or the sun]." What is interesting is that the ancient civilizations of the West began the new year at the vernal equinox, but the ancient Chinese started counting the new year from the winter solstice.
From this perspective, there is no reason to fear the fact that the sun's influence is remotely transmitted, and the influence of its relative position upon the earth is delayed by a month. There is no need to fear the Lesser Cold and Great Cold which follow at the heels of the winter solstice. Once the Yang energy is born, we might as well patiently wait for the warmth of spring and the blossoming of flowers. Indeed, the simple and naive cosmology of the ancient Chinese contains profound meaning.
[Picture Caption]
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In agrarian society, which depends on the natural elements for its sustenance, the 24 Solar Terms are the foundation of farming activities. This picture, commemorating the Chinese New Year, depicts the custom of "beating the spring cow" at the Commencement of Spring.
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The 24 Solar Terms Fixed Along the Earth's Orbital Plane
(Data courtesy of Liu Chao-min, Civil Aeronautics Administration Meteorological Center)
(Drawing by Lee Su-ling)
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The beginning of June falls right in the middle of the Solar Terms "Little Fullness" and "Husks of Grain"; the annual harvest of wheat in northern China has already grown sturdy and ample. The photo was taken in mainland China's Shandong Province.
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The shed cicada shell is a symbol of the arrival of summer in Taiwan.
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ROC 1994 Seasonal Calendar
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In the middle of July, after the first crop of rice is harvested, farmers can only take a short breather, before they start in on the second crop of rice. (Sinorama file photo)
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Black mullet is the treasure of Taiwan's fisheries industry. All the fishing folk of Kaohsiung know that the period for harvesting mullet roe is only ten-odd days long, falling at the time of the winter solstice. If they can manage a bountiful harvest, they can enjoy a good winter.