Beginning of Autumn Customs

Putting on autumn weight is the most representative food custom of Beginning of Autumn. After enduring the midsummer period known as “bitter summer,” people traditionally eat something rich and meaty on this day, compensating for the physical depletion of summer with fuller flavors. To “put on autumn weight” means, quite literally, to restore flesh with meat by eating hearty dishes.

In Beijing and Hebei, there is a long-standing folk custom of eating meat on Beginning of Autumn. People prepare stewed meat, hotpot-style sliced meat, red-braised meat, meat-filled dumplings, stewed chicken, and similar dishes as a way of nourishing the body. In old Beijing courtyard households, Beginning of Autumn often meant stewed meat, braised fish, chicken, or duck, with the meat commonly prepared as red-braised pork, plain sliced pork, or homemade soy-braised pork knuckle — all unmistakably substantial dishes.

People in Northeast China commonly eat dumplings on Beginning of Autumn and also observe a playful custom known as “snatching autumn weight”: whoever manages to take a dumpling from someone else’s bowl is said to become strong and healthy. In Shanxi, people traditionally eat millet porridge on the day.

From the perspective of seasonal health preservation, after the exhausting labor of summer, both energy and physical strength are considered greatly depleted. To compensate for that strain, the arrival of autumn becomes a time for slaughtering pigs and sheep and preparing nourishing dishes for oneself and one’s family. Red-braised pork, stewed chicken, duck, white fungus, lotus seeds, lily bulbs, and lotus root all appear on the table, traditionally associated with nourishing yin, relieving dryness, and storing strength for the cold winter ahead.

The custom arose from the ancients’ direct awareness of physical depletion in summer and the desire to compensate for it. During the dog days, heat often suppresses the appetite and people may lose weight, a condition popularly known as “bitter summer.” Once the autumn wind arrives and the appetite returns, people eat something richer in order to increase nutrition.

The custom of eating meat during the dog days can be traced to the Han dynasty. The *Book of Han · Biography of Dongfang Shuo* records the story of Emperor Wu of Han granting meat during the dog days. Putting on autumn weight developed from this broader tradition and became closely integrated with the northern food culture of replenishing the body through meat.

On Beginning of Autumn, seasonal “autumn weight” menus can be found in northern restaurants: stewed meat at old Beijing establishments, dumplings in Northeastern restaurants, and millet porridge in Shanxi are all representative choices. At home, families can also prepare a pot of red-braised pork and share it together. Dumpling restaurants in northern China are especially busy on the day.

Sun-drying the autumn harvest is a distinctive agricultural custom in China with strong regional characteristics. In the mountainous villages of Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, and other regions, complex terrain leaves very little flat ground. Villagers therefore make use of the spaces in front of and behind their houses, as well as windowsills and rooftops, setting up bamboo trays and racks to dry harvested crops.

Freshly gathered chilies, corn, and beans are spread across bamboo trays on rooftops and threshing grounds, turning the village into something resembling a richly colored oil painting.

Over time, this distinctive way of drying agricultural produce developed from an everyday necessity into a traditional rural custom. In Huangling Ancient Village in Wuyuan, Jiangxi, sun-drying the autumn harvest has become a grand celebration of abundance and has evolved into both a cultural symbol and a calling card for rural tourism. Huangling holds a Sun-Drying Autumn Culture Festival around the Double Ninth Festival each year, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors to Wuyuan to admire and photograph the autumn scenery.

The custom originated in the particular geography and agricultural needs of mountain communities. With so little flat land available, villagers had no choice but to use rooftops and windowsills to dry what they had harvested.

Over a long period, this simple agricultural practice gradually developed into a cultural landscape valued for its visual beauty. Sun-drying the autumn harvest is therefore both a continuation of agricultural work and one of the most direct expressions of the joy of abundance.

Around Beginning of Autumn, visitors can travel to Huangling Ancient Village in Wuyuan, Jiangxi, to view the famous displays. Traditional villages in southern Anhui and western Hunan also preserve similar scenes. Visitors can observe and photograph them from designated safe areas, and some scenic sites allow participation in crop-drying experiences.

In ancient China, Beginning of Autumn was an important seasonal turning point, and official institutions observed a ceremony known as “announcing autumn.”

According to Wu Zimu’s Southern Song work *Mengliang Lu*, court astronomers waited beneath a parasol tree. When the wind rose and a leaf fell at the appointed moment, an official would cry aloud: “Autumn — has — come!” This was called announcing autumn.

The ceremony used the falling of a parasol leaf as a phenological sign of autumn’s arrival, cleverly linking a natural phenomenon with formal state ritual. Beginning of Autumn was therefore also known as the “Festival of the Seventh Month.” From the Zhou dynasty onward, the Son of Heaven led the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers to the western suburbs to welcome autumn and conduct sacrificial rites.

The custom can be traced back to the Western Zhou. The Son of Heaven personally led senior ministers, feudal lords, and high officials to the western suburbs to welcome the season.

The Han dynasty continued the practice, including the sacrifice of animals to signify the arrival of autumn and the assertion of martial strength. The transition between summer and autumn was treated as a major seasonal moment in ancient times and consistently received great attention.

The fall of a parasol leaf became an officially recognized material sign of autumn’s arrival and formed the cultural basis of the expression “一叶知秋” — knowing autumn from a single leaf. From the Zhou through the Qing, rites for welcoming autumn continued for nearly three thousand years.

On Beginning of Autumn, one can observe falling parasol leaves and experience the phenological idea of “knowing autumn from a single leaf.” In places such as Beijing, reconstructed ceremonies are occasionally staged during the season, and local cultural-event listings may provide details.

Wearing catalpa leaves is a traditional Beginning of Autumn custom. Because “楸” (*qiu*, catalpa) and “秋” (*qiu*, autumn) are homophones, the ancients placed catalpa leaves in their hair on Beginning of Autumn to welcome the season and pray for peace.

During the Song dynasty, both men and women wore catalpa leaves on this day in accordance with the seasonal order. The Southern Song work *Mengliang Lu* records:

“立秋日，太史局委官吏于禁廷内，以梧桐树植于殿下，俟交立秋时，太史官穿秉奏曰：‘秋来！’其时梧叶应声飞落一二片，以寓报秋意。”

Afterward, ordinary people imitated the practice, and the wearing of catalpa leaves gradually became a popular custom.

The custom was already widespread during the Song dynasty. Because the words for catalpa and autumn sound alike, wearing catalpa leaves symbolized welcoming the season.

It belongs to the same family of seasonal adornment customs as wearing spring-swallow ornaments at Beginning of Spring or pomegranate blossoms at Beginning of Summer. In each case, plants or decorations associated with the season are worn to express awareness of and adaptation to the changing natural calendar.

On Beginning of Autumn, catalpa leaves can be gathered and worn at the temples or pinned to clothing. City residents may look for catalpa trees in parks and use the occasion to experience this custom with a history of more than a thousand years.

A folk custom on Beginning of Autumn is to weigh people using a hanging scale and compare the result with their weight at Beginning of Summer.

Life was not prosperous for many people in earlier times, and extreme summer heat often caused poor appetite. Those who endured the “bitter summer” therefore tended to become thinner. This summer weight loss itself was called *bitter summer*. When the autumn winds arrived and appetites returned, people ate richer foods to increase nutrition and make up for what they had lost.

By the Qing dynasty, the custom had become especially common. From that period onward, people in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, weighed themselves on Beginning of Autumn using hanging scales and compared the result with their Beginning of Summer weight. If some weight had been lost, it was regarded as evidence of “bitter summer,” and the method of replenishing it was called putting on autumn weight.

Weighing at Beginning of Summer and again at Beginning of Autumn created a seasonal system of body-weight observation.

Weighing at Beginning of Summer was intended to monitor how the body changed during summer and prevent seasonal weakness; weighing again at Beginning of Autumn served to assess the results of the “bitter summer” and determine the need for autumn replenishment.

The custom reflects the traditional emphasis on prevention first in matters of health and a sensitive awareness of the effects of seasonal change on the body.

On Beginning of Autumn, people can weigh themselves and record the result, comparing it with their weight from Beginning of Summer. Community centers and cultural institutions sometimes organize traditional weighing experiences during the season.

Biting into autumn, also known as gnawing autumn, is a folk activity associated with Beginning of Autumn. A traditional expression states: “立秋前一日，食西瓜，谓之啃秋” — on the day before Beginning of Autumn, eating watermelon is called “gnawing autumn.”

In some places, the practice is called “biting autumn,” carrying the idea that the oppressive summer has been hard to endure and, with autumn finally arriving, one should symbolically bite into it and hold it fast.

On the day, a watermelon is brought home and the entire family gathers to eat it together, cooling themselves and relieving thirst.

Forms vary from region to region. In Tianjin, people traditionally eat watermelon or muskmelon on Beginning of Autumn, calling it “biting autumn.” It is believed that eating melon at this time can prevent diarrhea in winter and the following spring. Zhang Tao’s Qing-period *Miscellaneous Records of Tianjin · Seasonal Customs* states:

“立秋之时食瓜，曰咬秋，可免腹泻。”

In Zhejiang and other regions, people traditionally eat watermelon together with distilled liquor on Beginning of Autumn, believing that it can prevent malaria. In Jiangsu and elsewhere, watermelon is eaten to “bite into autumn,” and is said to prevent autumn heat rash.

Whether called biting or gnawing autumn, the custom expresses joy at the season’s arrival. A rural saying declares: take one bite at Beginning of Autumn, and the autumn harvest will surely be abundant.

The custom is said to have originated in the Nanjing region during the Ming dynasty. According to tradition, people there once cured skin sores by eating watermelon, and the practice gradually evolved into a Beginning of Autumn custom.

The Qing work *Miscellaneous Records of Tianjin* records the belief that eating melon at Beginning of Autumn can prevent diarrhea, giving the custom the additional meaning of dispelling heat and guarding against illness.

Eating melon thus serves both as a farewell to the summer heat and as a wish for an abundant autumn harvest.

On Beginning of Autumn, families can buy watermelon or muskmelon and gather together to eat it. It is one of the easiest Beginning of Autumn customs to practice. In Tianjin, Nanjing, and other cities, people carrying watermelons for the seasonal custom can often be seen on the streets.

The Autumn Busy Fair is a trading assembly held in some parts of China around Beginning of Autumn to prepare for the coming rush of autumn agricultural work.

Generally held during the seventh and eighth lunar months, the fair serves as a commercial gathering in advance of the autumn harvest.

It commonly includes horse and mule markets, grain markets, agricultural-tool markets, and stalls selling miscellaneous goods, allowing people to exchange production tools, sell livestock, trade grain, and obtain household necessities.

Some Autumn Busy Fairs are combined with temple fairs and include theatrical performances, horse racing, monkey shows, and other forms of entertainment. Their purpose is to facilitate the exchange of agricultural equipment, livestock, grain, and everyday goods.

Today, gatherings of this kind are often broadly described as economic and trade exchange fairs.

The Autumn Busy Fair developed from the rural market traditions of earlier agricultural society. With the harvest approaching after Beginning of Autumn, farmers needed to prepare sickles, baskets, and other harvesting tools, while also exchanging seeds for autumn planting and draft cattle.

The fair emerged as a temporary market meeting precisely these needs. The custom closely connected the seasonal calendar with the rural economy and formed an important part of production and daily life in traditional agricultural society.

Around Beginning of Autumn, visitors can attend Autumn Busy Fairs in rural areas of North and East China. Alongside farm-tool and livestock trading, there are often local opera performances, acrobatics, and regional snacks, offering a vivid experience of northern Chinese rural market culture.

The Autumn She Festival was originally a day for sacrificing to the God of the Land in autumn. It began in the Han dynasty, and later generations fixed the date as the fifth *wu* day after Beginning of Autumn.

By this time, the harvest had largely been completed, and both officials and ordinary people performed sacrifices in thanks to the gods. Autumn is the season of harvest, and Beginning of Autumn therefore also became associated with rites honoring the God of the Land. Farmers worshipped the deity during the Autumn She Festival to celebrate abundance and seek continued protection.

In Hunan, Guangxi, and other regions, Autumn She celebrations take place after Beginning of Autumn. A stage is erected before the village land temple, chickens and ducks are slaughtered as offerings, and theatrical troupes perform tunes celebrating the harvest, filling the village with a lively, sweet-smelling atmosphere.

Large sacrificial ceremonies are held to pray that the God of the Land will protect crops and keep the people healthy. The festival is also a time of reunion. During the Song dynasty, customs included eating cakes, drinking wine, and married women returning to their natal homes. In some places today, expressions such as “doing She,” “honoring the She deity,” and “cooking She porridge” still survive.

The custom originated in the Han dynasty. The *Book of Rites · Monthly Ordinances* states:

“是月也，大飨帝，尝牺牲，告备于天子”

revealing the importance and regulation attached to autumn sacrifices in ancient society.

The ancients followed the pattern of praying in spring and giving thanks in autumn: the Spring She Festival sought good harvests, while the Autumn She Festival thanked the gods for them.

Meng Yuanlao’s Song-dynasty *The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendor* gives a detailed account of the festival’s grandeur. From the Han dynasty to the Qing, Autumn She continued for nearly two thousand years and was one of the most important sacrificial festivals of agricultural society.

Around the fifth *wu* day after Beginning of Autumn, Autumn She activities can still be observed in some southern villages. Traditional communities in Hunan and Guangxi preserve sacrificial rites, and visitors may watch ceremonies and village opera performances from designated safe areas.

Some parts of Hangzhou preserve the custom of eating autumn peaches on Beginning of Autumn. On the day, everyone eats one peach.

After the fruit is eaten, the stone is kept until New Year’s Eve, when it is secretly thrown into the stove and burned to ashes. People traditionally believe that doing so can prevent epidemics and disasters for the coming year.

In earlier times, the custom was widespread around Hangzhou. Adults and children alike ate one peach each, saving the stone afterward. Sweet and juicy, the autumn peach was both a seasonal fruit and a carrier of wishes for protection from calamity and for good fortune.

The custom has circulated in the Hangzhou region for a long time and can be seen as a local variation of the broader practice of biting into autumn.

Peaches symbolize longevity and auspiciousness in Chinese culture, so eating one at Beginning of Autumn serves both as a response to the season and as a prayer for health.

Saving the peach stone until New Year’s Eve and then burning it connects Beginning of Autumn with the end of the year, reflecting the traditional idea that time and ritual should have both a beginning and a completion.

On Beginning of Autumn, each person can buy and eat one autumn peach, then keep the stone until New Year’s Eve and burn it as a ritual experience.

In Laixi, Shandong, people traditionally eat “zha”, a soft tofu-like dish made from ground beans and leafy greens.

A folk saying declares: “吃了立秋的渣，大人孩子不呕也不拉” — after eating *zha* at Beginning of Autumn, neither adults nor children will vomit or suffer diarrhea.

The custom places deep wishes for health and safety into simple household ingredients. The dish itself is easy to make: beans are ground into a coarse meal and cooked together with greens, producing something mild, refreshing, and easy to digest.

Eating *zha* is a distinctive Beginning of Autumn food tradition in the Laixi region.

At this time, the summer heat has not completely disappeared and humidity remains heavy. The light dish made from ground beans and greens is traditionally regarded as helpful for regulating the stomach and intestines and preventing diarrhea associated with autumn dryness.

The custom reflects the folk health idea that medicine and food share a common origin.

During Beginning of Autumn, visitors can sample *zha* in the Laixi area of Shandong or prepare it at home using ground beans and leafy greens.

In some regions, “lying down for autumn” is also called “reclining for autumn” or “sleeping autumn.”

On Beginning of Autumn, people find a cool place and lie down for a while, expressing the expectation that summer is coming to an end and that the hardest days of oppressive heat are nearly over. One can finally take an afternoon nap and rest properly.

In the simplest possible way, the custom expresses relief at the ending of intense summer heat and welcome for the cooler days of autumn.

The custom developed from people’s experience of the difficult summer. The heat of summer often made restful sleep difficult; once Beginning of Autumn arrived and cool breezes gradually returned, people could finally sleep more comfortably.

It reflects ordinary people’s sensitive awareness of seasonal change and their straightforward wisdom of daily life.

On Beginning of Autumn, one can simply find a shaded, cool place for a short rest and enjoy the first hint of the autumn breeze.

At Beginning of Autumn, the first cooler breezes arrive, making it a good time to stretch the body and move outdoors. The transition between seasons seems almost to create a natural golden period for physical activity.

Among the most pleasurable activities is climbing to high places. Before the leaves have fallen, people follow winding mountain paths upward, allowing body and mind to gradually sense the subtle rhythm of summer changing into autumn.

From ancient times to the present, climbing at Beginning of Autumn has been a poetic way to enjoy the season and feel its pulse. Farmers climbed to elevated places to observe clouds and estimate the year’s harvest, while poets and scholars sought inspiration in the autumn mountains.

From the perspective of regulating body and mind, climbing is also regarded as a seasonal health practice. Ascending step by step, one meets cool mountain winds that disperse the stagnant heat and dampness of summer, while moderate exercise is traditionally associated with promoting the circulation of qi and blood.

The custom of climbing has a long history in China. The ancients believed that after Beginning of Autumn, yang gradually withdraws while yin slowly grows, and that climbing can help the body follow the changing energies of Heaven and Earth while refreshing both body and spirit.

Tang poet Liu Yuxi wrote: “自古逢秋悲寂寥，我言秋日胜春朝” — since ancient times people have lamented the desolation of autumn, but I say an autumn day surpasses spring morning — expressing a positive appreciation of the autumn season.

Around Beginning of Autumn, people can visit mountains and high ground throughout the country to experience the natural transition from summer to autumn. Mountain scenic areas near many cities become busier during this period, so advance planning can be useful.

The Catching Autumn Festival, also known as the Autumn She Festival or Meeting Autumn Festival, is a traditional celebration held on Beginning of Autumn by Miao, Bouyei, and other ethnic communities, especially in Guizhou and Hunan.

In Miao-inhabited areas of Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Chongqing, and elsewhere, people “go to the autumn gathering” on the day, an observance also known as the Miao Catching Autumn Festival. The festival developed from celebrations of the harvest and opportunities for young men and women to socialize.

Its activities are highly varied and include gate-blocking, welcoming the dragon, the eight-person swing, Miao drumming, traditional Miao feats of skill, scarf-and-knife dances, climbing a ladder of blades, and cattle sacrifice. Martial arts, dragon dances, lion dances, performances, and exhibitions were later added.

Celebrations generally last from one to three days. Participants dress in festival clothing and gather on hillsides or festival grounds for ceremonies of welcoming autumn, sacrificing to autumn, celebrating autumn, and sending autumn away.

Among the central events is Miao drumming. When the eight-person swing stops, the person left highest in the air must improvise and sing a Miao song; young men and women also use the occasion to seek potential partners.

According to legend, the festival originated from the story of the Miao youth Baguidare, who built the eight-person swing in order to find a partner.

In 2014, Miao Catching Autumn was included in China’s national list of representative intangible cultural heritage projects. In 2016, as part of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms, it was included in UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

On Beginning of Autumn, visitors can travel to places such as Huayuan, Fenghuang, and Jishou in western Hunan to observe the Miao Catching Autumn Festival. From designated safe areas, visitors can watch the eight-person swing, Miao drumming, knife-ladder climbing, and other performances while experiencing the distinctive autumn festival culture of the Miao people. Specific dates and locations should be checked in advance with local cultural and tourism authorities.