How much do you know about the custom of the autumn equinox and solar terms?

What are the traditional customs of autumnal equinox? Let's give you a detailed introduction:

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 imperial court and the upper nobility, but also gradually 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 usually boiled with fish fillets at home, which is called "autumn soup". There is a jingle: "autumn soup is dirty, wash the liver and intestines." The whole family is safe and healthy. "Since autumn, 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 look good." The eggs that stand up are very beautiful.

Step 4 send autumn cattle

The autumnal equinox is coming soon, and people will send pictures of autumn cows door to door. The picture is printed with red paper or yellow paper on the lunar solar terms all the year round, and also printed with farmers' ploughing patterns, which is called "Autumn Cattle Map". 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, it is only the farmers' beautiful imagination and desire to stick dumplings on sparrows' mouths, but it also illustrates the truth that dumplings are sticky, difficult 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 at the autumnal equinox. Even adults are involved. 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, many of which are smaller than others' and suitable for children to play with, but most of them are posted by themselves, and the bigger ones have to compete with each other to see which one flies high.

7. Worship God

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. On February 25th, Sanshan King Sacrifice Day: Sanshan King refers to Dushan, Mingshan, Jinshan and other mountain gods in Jieyang County, Chaozhou Prefecture, Guangdong Province. In the early years, Chaozhou Hakka immigrants were patrons in autumn, so the believers were mainly Hakkas.