【The charm of China in the solar terms】

　　The sun and the moon are inseparable, and the festival sequence was separated last night.

Since the beginning of autumn, the lunar year is halfway through, and autumn is officially coming.

　　As one of the traditional "four seasons and eight festivals", the beginning of autumn is an important node of production and life in ancient society.

"Book of Rites Yueling" records that Zhou Tianzi will hold a grand autumn welcoming ceremony on the day of the beginning of autumn.

At this time, the handle of the Big Dipper pointed to the southwest, and the west belonged to white, so Zhou Tianzi personally led the three princes and nine ministers, dressed in white clothes and wearing white jade, to the western suburbs to welcome the autumn weather.

During the Tang and Song dynasties, the officials still followed the ritual system of Taishi Guan announcing the autumn and offering sacrifices to the Five Emperors in the western suburbs.

It can be seen that the ancients respected and attached great importance to Liqiu, Heaven and Earth, and Sheji.

Today, in Anwen Town, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, the folk activities of "beginning of autumn and welcoming blessings" are still inherited. People pray for a good harvest and peace.

　　Although it is already autumn, the yin is gradually rising, and there may be a little bit of coolness when you get up early, but on the whole, the weather is still unbearably hot.

Before and after the beginning of autumn, it was in the middle period, and after the autumn, it was only at the end of the period.

As the saying goes, the big summer and the small summer are not summer, and the beginning of autumn and the end of summer are just summer.

There is also a folk saying that "early autumn, cool; late autumn, hot dead cattle", this year's beginning of autumn is the afternoon, it is still too early to feel the coolness of autumn after the beginning of autumn.

　　In summer and autumn, when melons and fruits are fragrant, and when yin and yang alternate, there is a folk custom of "biting the autumn" to treat the symptoms of summer dysentery.

The popular in the old Beijing-Tianjin area, also known as "gnawing autumn", colloquially means "eat melon", but it is not only that.

"Dijing Sui Jisheng" records that on the day of the beginning of autumn, people should prepare iced melons, steamed preserved eggplant and fragrant glutinous rice juice, and enjoy the whole family in the moonlight on autumn nights to fight against heat and malaria.

Xiangju itself is a good medicine for sweating, relieving heat and warming the stomach.

Similar festivals are also mentioned in the Tang Dynasty document "Quan Yao" in the Four Seasons. On the day of the beginning of autumn, seven capsules of Chixiaodou are swallowed with "Autumn Water", and it is also hoped that it will have the effect of appetizing and digesting, clearing away heat and relieving summer heat, dispelling dampness and detoxifying.

　　In addition, the beginning of autumn also has a tradition of nourishing and nourishing food, commonly known as "posting autumn fat".

The steamed preserved eggplant mentioned above is a reflection of the folk saying "plant eggplants at the beginning of summer, eat eggplants at the beginning of autumn". It is popular to eat small tofu made of minced beans and green vegetables in the beginning of autumn. The buns stuffed with chives hold the stomach crooked. When burning mutton, bring soup, and the mutton noodles are delicious." In order to liven up the festive atmosphere, there is also the custom of "calling people". " effect.

　　The "Autumn Porridge Festival" is held every year in Lingshui Village, Zhaitang Town, Mentougou District, Beijing. According to legend, it is to commemorate the charitable deeds of Liu Maoheng and his son, the leader of Lingshui, in helping the people in the famine years.

In the past, the folk tradition of villagers getting together to cook porridge and "catch the autumn fat" has now become a cultural brand of festival folk tourism in western Beijing.

Tourists and villagers can watch Zhaitang Bangzi Opera and Baiyuyan Song Opera, look back at the local culture and wait for the arrival of golden autumn.

　　Dairy leaves is a special festival that conforms to the time sequence.

It is described in "Tokyo Dream Hualu" that on the day of the beginning of autumn, people of Song Dynasty sold catalpa leaves all over the street. Women and children usually bought them and cut them into various patterns to wear on their temples.

There is also a record of Daiyu Ye in "Peking Customs and Leisure Signs", which is still inherited in Henan, Shandong and other places.

Lingshui Village has a tradition of inserting walnut branches and wearing walnut leaves.

　　Before and after the beginning of autumn, there are two important traditional festivals, one is the Qixi Festival that has just passed, and the other is the upcoming Zhongyuan Festival.

The legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl passed down through the ages has transformed the Qixi Festival from an ancient marriage taboo day into a traditional Chinese romantic Valentine's Day.

In my country's ethnic minority areas, there are similar stories with similar plots.

According to legend, the Yi people had a girl and a boy who loved each other. Because the girl's parents opposed and forced her to marry a wealthy and powerful family, on the day of the beginning of autumn, the girl fled to the mountain and married the boy under the bayberry tree.

Since then, the Yi people have commemorated them by holding the bayberry festival during the beginning of autumn.

A similar story of the Buyi people in Changshun County, Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province tells the story of a man and a woman falling in love with each other, the girl was snatched by the chieftain, and finally the man and woman died in love. Male and female singing, showing joy.

Today's Qixi Festival has become a festival shared by all ethnic groups in China. Although the current ritual of "threading a needle and begging for cleverness" has lost its function, various cultural and creative activities are becoming more and more popular among young people, and Chinese Valentine's Day has further enhanced the romantic economy. shopping mall consumption.

　　The festival connotation of the Liqiu solar term has gradually increased from the initial sacrifice to the heaven and the earth, the society and the crops, and gradually increased the ancestor worship. For example, "Qing Jialu" records that Hangzhou people use "Liqiu watermelon" to worship their ancestors and give gifts to their relatives and friends. Shanxi is also reproduced in "Liqiu". The tradition of worshipping the ancestors at the Liqiu Temple in the Central Jin Dynasty.

In comparison, Zhongyuan Festival is a big festival for ancestor worship. It originated from the "July and a half" festival in ancient times, which was used to comfort ancestors in autumn. Later, due to the integration of Buddhist and Taoist ideas, the connotation of the festival became richer, surpassing the traditional family concept and paying respect Everything has a far-reaching impact.

"The Mid-Autumn Festival is really lively. It's not noisy during the day and night." "Lotus lanterns, lotus lanterns, light up today and throw away tomorrow; lotus lanterns, lotus lanterns, lamps in the stars and water in the sky." The folk proverbs are concise and vivid. Language, inherits the endless festivals and activities for thousands of years.

To this day, Zhongyuan Festival is still one of the most important traditional festivals in China's multi-ethnic and overseas Han cultural circles.

　　The lingering summer days are still long, and the early cool and autumn are still tender.

After the beginning of autumn, the sky and the earth are clear, the vegetation is lush, and the autumn cool is still early.

(Author: Wang Wenchao Unit: Party School of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China)