What is the origin of the Japanese Equinox Festival?

Around September 23 every year, people will usher in the sixteenth solar term of the year-the autumn equinox. In China, the autumnal equinox is a very important node in a year. This day is at the midpoint of autumn, and day and night are basically the same length all over the world. After this day, the temperature difference between day and night gradually increased and the temperature dropped day by day.

In neighboring Japan, the autumnal equinox is also a big day of the year, which is clearly defined as "wishing day" and called "autumnal equinox festival". Then today's old calendar will introduce you to the origin of the Japanese Equinox Festival and the diet of the Japanese Equinox Festival.

In Japan, the vernal equinox, the autumnal equinox, and the three or seven days before and after it are called "the other shore". There are two seasons in a year: spring and autumn, with the other shore around the vernal equinox and the other shore around the autumnal equinox. The famous flowers on the other side are named after they bloom on the other side in autumn.

The origin of Japan's autumnal equinox festival: the day to support ancestors was in the ancient countryside, the vernal equinox was the day to pray for a bumper harvest of grain, and the autumnal equinox was the day to celebrate the bumper harvest of grain. At the vernal equinox, people welcome the souls of ancestors who have become mountain gods from the mountains to the villages. After the vernal equinox, a ceremony will be held to send them back from the village to the mountains. After Buddhism infiltrated into Japan, the autumnal equinox became "the other side of autumn" and became a day to worship ancestors.

"The other shore" is a unique traditional cultural element in Japan. Originally, it was a Buddhist term, meaning "a world free from troubles and realizing everything", that is, the so-called western paradise, which is simply "the world where the gods of the deceased ancestors are located". In order to support the spirit of our ancestors, the Japanese went to sweep graves on this day.

In the past, temples all over Japan held "the other shore meeting" during the "other shore" season, and many families invited monks to recite scriptures and sweep graves for their ancestors. The other shore meeting began in the early days of Heian in Japan and spread widely to ordinary families during the Edo period. On the other shore day, people sweep graves, place fruits, drinks and other things in front of graves, and then worship and pray for their loved ones. Similar to the custom of sweeping graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day, China, the other shore is also called "Japanese Tomb-Sweeping Day".

Japanese diet at the autumnal equinox: On this day, the Japanese will eat something called "imperial grain". The Peony cake eaten by the Japanese at the vernal equinox is made of red beans. These two cakes are actually the same thing, just to distinguish the seasons. One is named after the peony flower, and the other is named after the "best" flower.

At first, eating rice cakes at the autumnal equinox was not really "eating", but a sacrifice to ancestors. Making rice cakes requires glutinous rice, sugar, red beans and other raw materials. In ancient Japan, white sugar was an expensive food, and red red beans were also considered to have the function of "eliminating disasters". It is also a way to pay homage to ancestors to make rice cakes with precious ingredients that can drive away the dirty air in the other shore season.

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