On August 7th or 8th every year, beginning of autumn is considered as the time when the sun reaches 135. Beginning of autumn's "stand" means the beginning, and "autumn" refers to the maturity of crops. Beginning of autumn means that summer will cool down and autumn will begin. This is a solar term that reflects the season.
According to "Twenty-four solar terms": "Autumn is also contending, and things gather here". Beginning of autumn not only indicates that hot summer is coming, but also autumn is coming. It also means that the vegetation begins to bear fruit and children, and the harvest season is here. At this time, early rice harvesting and late rice transplanting in Central China, autumn crops entered an important growth and development period.
Beginning of autumn Sanhou: "A cool breeze; Second, the white dew falls; Three Hou shuddered and laughed, which means that after beginning of autumn, the north wind began to blow in many parts of our country, with a hint of coolness in the wind. Due to the increasing temperature difference between day and night, dew will condense on outdoor plants in the morning. Cicadas are chirping on the branches of the breeze.
Beginning of autumn is usually around August 7th, 8th and 9th in the solar calendar. The twenty-four solar terms are based on the solar calendar, and each solar term has its own fixed position. On these days of the year, the sun will rotate to a specific position of the ecliptic. Generally speaking, a solar term has a deviation of 2 or 3 days. Therefore, in different years, the solar terms in beginning of autumn may be August 7th, 8th and 9th in the solar calendar. ?
What should beginning of autumn custom eat?
1, beginning of autumn eats eggplant.
There is a folk proverb: "summer sowing grows eggplant, beginning of autumn eats eggplant", and beginning of autumn is a good time to eat eggplant. Eating eggplant this season can reduce "excessive internal heat" and eliminate autumn dryness. Moreover, the eggplant just harvested in autumn is called "Kandelia candel", which has a unique fragrance, fresh and tender taste, and tastes better than ordinary eggplant.
There is another legend about beginning of autumn eating eggplant:
It is said that one of the soldiers under General Chang Yuchun stole a cantaloupe from a farmer after Xu Da, the general of Ming Dynasty, laid down Beiping House, the capital of Yuan Dynasty. Chang Yuchun is very strict with soldiers, and soldiers who steal melons should be put to death. At this time, the peasants came out and said that there was a custom in the Yuan Dynasty, and it was not stealing for beginning of autumn to pick melons. Chang Yuchun pardoned the soldiers. Unexpectedly, as soon as the melon pickers in beginning of autumn were innocent, other soldiers began to snatch melons. In order to reward soldiers, Chang Yuchun found a substitute for autumn fertilizer-the only fleshy eggplant among vegetables. Therefore, the custom of eating eggplant in beginning of autumn has been passed down.
2, beginning of autumn posted autumn fertilizer
"Sticking autumn fat" is a traditional custom in beginning of autumn, especially in the north. On this day, northerners will queue up to buy meat to go home and stew it in a pot to make up for the physical deficit after summer. Summer is very hot, people don't want to eat, so many people will lose weight. After entering autumn, the weather is cool and people's appetite increases, so they want to eat some meat to supplement fat, so they have the saying of "sticking to autumn fertilizer"
3. Eat watermelon in Hangzhou
Hangzhou and other places have the custom of eating watermelon in beginning of autumn, which is called eating autumn. This day in beginning of autumn is often the last time to eat watermelon this year-people think that after beginning of autumn, the weather will get cold in the morning and evening, and eating cold food will have an impact on the stomach, so they stopped eating watermelon after beginning of autumn.
4. Shandong eats "slag"
In some places in Shandong, beginning of autumn has the custom of eating "dregs", which means "bean dregs". Beginning of autumn eats bean dregs because of its health function, because eating bean dregs is beneficial to prevent autumn diarrhea. As the saying goes, "beginning of autumn eats dregs without spitting or pulling."
5. Tianjin "bites autumn"
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." "Biting autumn" is popular in Tianjin and other places in beginning of autumn season. People put melons, steamed preserved eggplant and delicious glutinous soup in the yard the day before in beginning of autumn, and eat them in beginning of autumn on the same day to cool off the heat and avoid dysentery.
6. Sichuan drinks "autumn water"
Drinking "autumn water" is popular in eastern and western Sichuan. In early autumn, everyone in the whole family drinks a cup, which is said to cool off the heat, and Qiu Lai won't have a stomachache.
7. Nanjing "gnawing autumn"
During the beginning of autumn solar term in old Nanjing, there was a custom of "gnawing at autumn", and there were some interesting sayings, such as "beginning of autumn's last eighteen pots", which indicated that there was still a long period of heat after beginning of autumn; In addition, there is a distinction between autumn for men and autumn for women in beginning of autumn, and there is a saying that autumn is cool for men and hot for women.
8. Zhejiang eats autumn peaches
Autumn peaches in Zhejiang Province are very popular in early autumn. They are nutritious and auspicious. On this day in early autumn, everyone, whether adults or children, should eat peaches and keep the peach stones after eating. On New Year's Eve, people throw peach stones into the stove and burn them. It is thought that this will eliminate the plague and bring good luck to everyone.
9. Eat longan in Taiwan Province Province.
Autumn is the peak season of longan in Taiwan Province. Local people think that "longan" is "Fuyuan", and eating longan can bring good luck to themselves and their families.
10, Jinhua eats cold cakes.
Eating cold cakes is an indispensable traditional custom in Jinhua citizens' minds, and eating watermelon and cold cakes in early autumn is an indispensable traditional custom. What is a cool cake? Is to boil sweet potato starch into soup and pour it into a bowl. Stay the next morning and form a whole piece. It looks like a round and transparent white jade from a distance, and then it is cut into small pieces and sprinkled with white sugar, vinegar and mint to make it cool and delicious, sweet and sour.