What does the Autumn Equinox mean?

The Autumn Equinox is the 16th solar term in the 24 solar terms of the lunar calendar. The time is usually September 22 or 23 every year. The climate in the south begins to fall from this solar term. On this day, the sun reaches the longitude of 180 degrees and shines directly into the earth's equator. So the day is 24 hours, 12 hours each, and there is no polar day and night in the world. Let's take a look at what the Autumn Equinox means.

What does the Autumn Equinox mean?

1. The time of day and night is equal, and the day is shorter and the night is shorter gradually. On this day, the sun reaches 180 degrees longitude and shines directly at the earth's equator, so the 24 hours of the day are divided equally between day and night, each for 12 hours.

2. The climate changes from hot to cool. According to the seasonal division method that began with the Beginning of Spring, the Beginning of Summer, the Beginning of Autumn and the Beginning of Winter in ancient China, the Autumn Equinox divided autumn equally among the 90 days of autumn.

Climatic characteristics of the Autumn Equinox

1. The position of direct sunlight continues to move from the equator to the southern hemisphere, and the phenomenon of shorter days and longer nights in the northern hemisphere will become more and more obvious. The days will gradually become shorter and the nights longer (until the winter solstice reaches the longest night and the shortest day).

2. The temperature difference between day and night will gradually increase, and the range will be more than 10 ℃.

3. The temperature drops day by day, getting colder and colder day by day, and gradually enters the late autumn season. The opposite is true in the southern hemisphere.

The Autumn Equinox and Agricultural production

1. The characteristics of rapid cooling in autumn make the "three autumn" of autumn harvest, autumn ploughing and autumn planting seem particularly tense. The Autumn Equinox cotton boll, tobacco also changed from green to yellow, it is a good time for harvest. North China has begun to sow winter wheat, and the Yangtze River Basin and vast areas in the south are busy harvesting late rice, ploughing and ploughing the land, and preparing for rape sowing.

2. The drought and lack of rain or continuous overcast and rain in the Autumn Equinox's season are the main unfavorable factors affecting the normal progress of the "three Autumn", especially the continuous rain will cause lodging, mildew or sprouting of the crops to be acquired, resulting in serious losses. "Sanqiu" is very busy, and the most important thing is the word "morning". Timely harvest of autumn crops can avoid the harm of early frost and continuous rain, and timely early sowing of winter crops can strive to make full use of the heat resources before winter, cultivate strong seedlings to survive the winter safely, and lay the foundation for high yield in the coming year.

3. "the Autumn Equinox didn't show his head and cut and fed the old cattle." the double-cropping late rice in the south is heading and blooming, which is a critical period for yield formation. The "autumnal equinox" weather formed by low temperature, overcast and rain early is the main threat to blossom and fruiting in double evenings. Forecast and defense work must be done conscientiously.

The Autumn Equinox's Folk Customs

1. Offering sacrifices to the moon in autumn: the Autumn Equinox was once the traditional "festival of sacrificing the moon". As in ancient times, there is a saying that "sacrifice the day in spring and the moon in autumn". Now the Mid-Autumn Festival comes from the traditional "moon festival". According to textual research, the original "Moon Festival" was set on "the Autumn Equinox", but because the date of this day varies from year to year in the eighth month of the lunar calendar, there may not always be a full moon. On the other hand, offering sacrifices to the moon without the moon is a big spoil. Therefore, the "Moon Festival" was later adjusted from "the Autumn Equinox" to the Mid-Autumn Festival.

2. Eating autumn vegetables: in the Lingnan area, the surname of Xie in Cangcheng town of Kaiping, which used to be Siyi (now Heshan is Wuyi), has a non-festival custom called "the Autumn Equinox eats autumn vegetables". "Autumn vegetable" is a kind of wild amaranth, which is called "Artemisia annua" by villagers. On the Autumn Equinox's day, the whole village went to pick autumn vegetables. When searching in the fields, most of them are green and thin, about the length of a slap. The harvested autumn dishes are usually "boiling soup" with fish fillets at home, which is called "autumn soup". There was a jingle: "Autumn soup irrigates the organs and washes the liver and intestines." The whole family, young and old, are safe and healthy. " Since autumn, what people pray for is peace and health in their homes.

3. Send autumn cattle: the Autumn Equinox will arrive immediately, and at that time there will be pictures of autumn cattle from house to house. The picture shows the second opening of red paper or yellow paper printed on the annual lunar calendar solar terms, as well as a pattern of farmers ploughing fields, called "autumn cattle map". The people who send the pictures are all good folk singers, who mainly say something about autumn ploughing and auspiciousness when they do not violate agriculture, and every time they go to a house, they are in a state of immediate affection, say what they see, and make the owner happy and give money. Although the words come out casually, every sentence has a beautiful rhyme. It is commonly known as "talking about autumn", and people who say autumn are called "autumn officials".

4. Sticky Finch beak: the Autumn Equinox, on this day, farmers have a holiday according to custom, each family has to eat tangyuan, and they have to cook more than ten or twenty or thirty dumplings that are not wrapped in the heart, and put them on the edge of the field with a thin bamboo fork, which is called sticky sparrow beak, so as not to destroy the crops. Hoping to stick the sparrow's mouth with tangyuan is of course only the good imagination and wish of peasant friends, but it also shows a truth, that is, tangyuan is relatively sticky, not easy to digest, and should not eat too much.

5. Flying kites: the Autumn Equinox is also a good time for children to fly kites. Especially on that day of the Autumn Equinox. Even adults are involved. The types of kites include Wang word kite, silver carp kite, squint moth kite, Lei Gong insect kite and Yueerguang kite. The big kites are two meters high and the small ones are two or three feet high. There are kite sellers on the market, most of them are small and suitable for children to play, but most of them are pasted by themselves, which is bigger, and they have to compete with each other to see which one is high.