The custom of autumnal equinox season

The autumnal equinox is one of the traditional 24 solar terms in China. Since ancient times, people have attached great importance to the autumnal equinox solar terms. The more classic customs are offering sacrifices to the moon, worshipping God, eating autumn vegetables, laying eggs, sending autumn cows and sticking birds' mouths. Let's take a closer look ~

1, the autumn equinox celebrates the moon

The autumnal equinox used to be the traditional "Festival of Sacrificing the Moon". For example, in ancient times, there was a saying that "the sun is sacrificed in spring and the moon is sacrificed in autumn". Now Mid-Autumn Festival comes from the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival. According to textual research, the original "Moon Festival" was set on the day of "Autumn Equinox", but there is not always a full moon because of the different days of August in the lunar calendar every year. And the moon without the moon is a big spoil the fun. Therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival was later transferred from the Equinox to the Mid-Autumn Festival.

According to historical records, as early as the Zhou Dynasty, ancient emperors had the custom of offering sacrifices to the sun at the vernal equinox, to the earth at the summer solstice, to the moon at the autumnal equinox, and to heaven at the winter solstice.

Its places of worship are called Ritan, Ditan, Yuetan and Tiantan. It is located in four directions: southeast and northwest. The Moon Altar in Beijing is the place where emperors of Ming and Qing Dynasties offered sacrifices to the moon. The Book of Rites says: "The son of heaven is sunny in spring and autumn is in the evening. The DPRK, the evening of the moon. " The moon here refers to offering sacrifices to the moon at night. This custom is not only pursued by the official court and the upper nobility, but also affects the people with the development of society.

Step 2 eat autumn vegetables

In Lingnan area, Xie's family in Cangzhen, Kaiping used to be four cities (now Heshan is five cities), and there is an unbroken custom called "eating autumn vegetables at the autumnal equinox". "Autumn vegetable" is a kind of wild amaranth, which villagers call "autumn Artemisia". On the autumnal equinox, the whole village went to pick autumn vegetables. When searching in the wild, it is often green and thin, about the length of a palm. Picked autumn vegetables are generally cooked with fish fillets at home, and the name is "autumn soup". There is a jingle: "autumn soup is dirty, wash the liver and intestines." The whole family is safe and healthy. "From autumn to every year, people still pray for peace and health at home.

3. Vertical eggs

Every autumn equinox, tens of millions of people all over the world are doing "vertical egg" experiments. How this toy, which is called "customized by China", became a "world game" is still difficult to verify. However, the game is simple and interesting: choose a smooth and symmetrical fresh egg that has just been born for four or five days, gently stand it up and put it on the table. Although there are many losers, there are also many winners. The autumnal equinox has become the best time for vertical egg games, so there is a saying that when the autumnal equinox arrives, the eggs will be beautiful, but the eggs that stand up will not be beautiful.

Step 4 send autumn cattle

The autumnal equinox is coming soon, and people will send pictures of autumn cows door to door. The Autumn Cattle Map is named "Autumn Cattle Map", which prints the annual lunar solar terms on red paper or yellow paper, and also prints the farmer's ploughing pattern. The pictures are all folk singers, who mainly say things like good luck in autumn ploughing that do not violate the farming season. Every time they go to a house, they say whatever they see until the owner is happy to give money. Although the words spoken are casual, every sentence rhymes beautifully. Commonly known as "Autumn", Qiu Ren is called "Qiu Guan".

Step 5 stick the sparrow's mouth

According to custom, farmers have a holiday on the autumn equinox. Every family should eat dumplings. Ten, twenty or thirty dumplings that don't need to be wrapped are cooked, and a thin bamboo fork is placed on the outdoor ridge beside the field, which is called sticking the sparrow's mouth without destroying crops. Of course, this is just the beautiful imagination and desire of farmers, but it also illustrates a truth, that is, glutinous rice balls are sticky, not easy to digest and should not be eaten more. Tangyuan is mainly made of glutinous rice with other ingredients. Glutinous rice is warm and sweet, and the added ingredients are often high in sugar and calories. Eating a small amount in spring and cold season is helpful to replenish body heat energy, tonify deficiency, regulate blood, strengthen yang and strengthen spleen. But glutinous rice is sticky and difficult to digest, and it is easy to accumulate food if you eat too much. Paired with spicy food such as onion and garlic, it can balance the flagging effect of glutinous rice balls.

Step 6 fly a kite

The autumn equinox is a good time for children to fly kites. Especially on the autumnal equinox, even adults attend. Kites are divided into Wang Zi Kite, Silver Carp Kite, Myxomoth Kite, Leigong Kite and Moon Light Kite. The biggest kite is two meters high, and the smallest one is two or three feet. There are kites on the market, most of which are small and suitable for children to play with, but most of them are posted by themselves. The bigger kites must compete with each other to see which one flies high.

7. Worship God

Worship to God is an act of offering sacrifices to temples and Taoist temples. The folk festivals around the autumnal equinox are: February 15 is Zhang Kai's birthday; Wang Sheng, also known as "Chen", was a warrior in the Tang Dynasty, who made contributions to Zhangzhou and became the patron saint of Zhangzhou after his death. February 19 is the birthday of Guanyin Bodhisattva. Every birthday, many believers will go to Guanyin Temple to worship.

Therefore, worshipping God is a traditional custom in China, which represents our good wishes for the future.

China's traditional customs have lasted for thousands of years, bearing rich cultural connotations, and have been rooted in the blood of the general public and become a part of our lives. We should endow these traditions with a new spirit of the times and realize the code of conduct of connecting the past with the future and serving the present.