End of Heat Customs

Many customs around End of Heat are connected with ancestor worship and welcoming autumn. The solar term often overlaps with the period of the Ghost Festival, popularly known as “七月半”, the “Half of the Seventh Month.”

The festival in early autumn is traditionally associated with celebrating the harvest and thanking the earth. By this time, some crops have already ripened, so people offer sacrifices to their ancestors with newly harvested rice and other produce, reporting the progress of the autumn harvest.

In earlier times, rituals associated with the “opening of the ghost gate” began on the first day of the seventh lunar month and continued until the “closing of the ghost gate” at the end of the month, with various rites of universal deliverance and charity performed throughout. According to tradition, these observances began by opening the ghost gate, followed by raising lantern poles and releasing river lanterns to summon wandering souls. The main rites included erecting altars for universal deliverance, setting up shelters for wandering spirits, and other ceremonies.

Honoring ancestors and welcoming autumn serves both to celebrate the harvest and to thank the earth and one’s forebears. Newly harvested rice, freshly picked melons, and fruit are prepared as offerings. Incense is burned before ancestral tablets, and worshippers bow solemnly as they report the harvest and express gratitude for the protection of their ancestors and the gifts of the land.

Offering newly harvested grains, fruit, and vegetables to ancestors is known as “秋尝”, “autumn tasting.” It is both a report of the harvest and a prayer for favorable weather and good crops in the coming year. Even today, this remains an important period for ancestor worship.

Ancestor worship has an extremely long history in China. Records of autumn sacrifice already existed during the Zhou dynasty. The *Book of Rites · Monthly Ordinances* states:

“是月也，大飨帝，尝牺牲，告备于天子”

showing the importance ancient society attached to autumn ritual.

End of Heat coincides with the harvest season, and people traditionally used newly gathered grain, fruit, and vegetables as offerings to their ancestors in the rite known as “autumn tasting.”

Within traditional Chinese ethics, ancestor worship is an important expression of gratitude toward and remembrance of one’s forebears. The custom closely joins the seasonal calendar with family ethics and reflects the cultural tradition of revering Heaven and following the ancestors.

During End of Heat, ancestor ceremonies may be observed at ancestral halls and cemeteries. Some traditional villages organize collective rites, which visitors may watch from designated areas. It is advisable to check arrangements in advance with local cultural and tourism authorities and to respect the solemn character of the ceremony.

Around End of Heat, Dai communities in Yunnan set up colorful canopies in streets, lanes, and village squares, offer worship to various deities, and gather together to beat gongs and drums, sing, dance, and splash water, praying for favorable weather and abundant harvests.

In places such as Xishuangbanna, water splashing is also practiced during the month between Greater Heat and End of Heat as a way of cooling the body. Water is splashed to lower the temperature and bring a measure of relief from the summer heat.

In Longsheng County, Guangxi, water festivities are likewise held around End of Heat. People splash water both to celebrate the harvest and to symbolically wash away the heat and fatigue of summer, welcoming the cooler autumn season.

Water-splashing customs have a long history among the Dai people of Yunnan. Around End of Heat, when summer heat begins to decline and the autumn harvest approaches, splashing water serves both as a practical way of cooling down and as an expression of hopes for abundance and gratitude toward divine powers.

In form, the custom resembles the Dai Water-Splashing Festival, or Dai New Year, but it occurs at a different time of year. It demonstrates the distinctive way in which ethnic communities combine solar-term culture with local beliefs.

During End of Heat, visitors can travel to Xishuangbanna and other areas of Yunnan to experience water-splashing activities. Local villages sometimes organize festivities around this period, and visitors may participate in designated areas. Light clothing and a change of clothes are recommended.

Setting river lanterns afloat is one of the major customs around End of Heat. River lanterns, also called lotus lanterns, usually consist of a lamp or candle placed on a floating base and released onto rivers, lakes, and the sea on the night of the Ghost Festival.

The custom originally aimed to bring deliverance to those who had drowned and to other wandering spirits. Over time, it developed into a way of mourning deceased relatives and offering blessings to the living.

A passage from Xiao Hong’s *Tales of Hulan River* vividly explains the belief behind the practice:

“七月十五是个鬼节；死了的冤魂怨鬼，不得托生，缠绵在地狱里非常苦，想托生，又找不着路。这一天若是有个死鬼托着一盏河灯，就得托生”。

In southern Fujian, river lanterns are also an important seasonal custom around End of Heat. As the lights drift with the current, they carry remembrance of the dead and blessings for those still living.

The custom has a long history and forms an important part of traditional Chinese water-town culture. Around End of Heat falls the Ghost Festival, and river lanterns are released to offer deliverance to wandering souls, mourn the dead, and pray for peace.

The practice combines seasonal timing, water-town scenery, and human emotion, reflecting the Chinese tradition of entrusting feelings to material objects.

In southern Fujian and the water towns of Jiangnan, releasing river lanterns around End of Heat remains an important folk rite of remembrance and blessing.

During End of Heat, especially on the night of the Ghost Festival, visitors can travel to Jiangnan water towns or southern Fujian to observe river-lantern ceremonies. Some folk-cultural attractions organize hands-on activities in which visitors make lotus lanterns and release them onto the water. Local schedules should be checked in advance.

For coastal fishermen, the period after End of Heat marks the beginning of the fishing harvest season.

During summer, fishing communities observe a seasonal moratorium in order to protect marine life. Around End of Heat, temperatures on land begin to decline, sea temperatures steadily fall, the breeding season of most fish approaches its end, young fish generally reach the required size for protection, and fish, shrimp, and shellfish mature.

The water remains relatively warm at this time, so schools of fish tend to stay around established fishing grounds, making it an ideal season for catching seafood.

Every year around End of Heat, coastal Zhejiang holds a grand Opening Fishing Festival. Fishermen perform elaborate rites before going to sea, presenting the traditional three sacrificial animals, burning incense, offering prayers, and sacrificing to the sea deity in the hope of safe voyages and boats filled with fish.

After the sacrifice, thousands of sails set out together and ship horns sound across the harbor as fishing vessels head in formation toward the deep blue sea. The scene is spectacular.

The festival expresses not only eager hopes for a rich fishing season but also the accumulated wisdom of generations who have depended upon and lived alongside the sea.

Coastal fishermen have long practiced rites of sacrificing to the sea around End of Heat. The Opening Fishing Festival is closely tied to the production cycle of marine fishing.

Summer is a prime breeding season for marine life, when many fish enter their spawning period and fishing is temporarily suspended. Around End of Heat, the moratorium ends and fishing communities hold grand ceremonies before returning to sea.

The Xiangshan Opening Fishing Festival in Zhejiang is among the most representative and attracts large numbers of visitors every year.

The custom reflects coastal communities’ awe of and gratitude toward the sea, while also preserving the survival wisdom expressed in the idea of living by the sea, respecting the sea, and protecting the sea.

During End of Heat, visitors can travel to Xiangshan, Zhoushan, and other coastal areas of Zhejiang to observe the festival. From designated safe areas near the harbor, visitors can watch the sea sacrifice and the spectacular departure of fishing fleets. Specific dates should be checked in advance with local cultural and tourism authorities.

There is a widespread custom of eating duck at End of Heat. A folk saying goes: “七月半鸭，八月半芋” — duck in the middle of the seventh month, taro in the middle of the eighth.

The ancients believed that ducks were fattest and most nourishing around the middle of the seventh lunar month. Old duck is considered sweet in flavor and cooling in nature, with effects of moistening the lungs, strengthening the spleen, clearing heat, and generating fluids.

As the weather begins to cool after End of Heat, duck meat, considered cooling and sweet, is also associated with nourishing yin, relieving dryness, promoting urination, and reducing swelling, making it suitable for easing residual summer heat and autumn dryness.

Duck can be prepared in many ways, including plain-cut duck, lemon duck, roast duck, and lotus-leaf duck.

Different regions have their own traditions. In old Beijing, people favor lily-and-duck stew, simmering duck with lily bulb and lotus seeds to clear heat and moisten the lungs.

In Jiangsu, families traditionally prepare a duck dish and give a bowl to their neighbors, following the saying “处暑送鸭，无病各家”. Nanjing still preserves the custom of eating duck at End of Heat, with osmanthus duck and salted duck among the city’s specialties.

Eating duck at this time is therefore both a dietary response to autumn dryness and an expression of warm neighborly blessing. The folk saying “处暑吃鸭，无病一夏” conveys people’s earnest hopes for health and peace.

The custom has a long history. The ancients believed ducks in the middle of the seventh lunar month were at their fattest and most nourishing.

From the perspective of traditional Chinese health practice, duck is considered sweet and cooling, with effects of nourishing yin and the stomach, promoting urination, and reducing swelling, making it especially suitable for dry autumn weather.

The custom closely joins seasonal timing with dietary health preservation and reflects both the philosophy of eating according to the season and the idea that medicine and food share a common origin.

On End of Heat, duck dishes can be sampled at restaurants throughout China. Lily duck at traditional Beijing restaurants, Nanjing salted duck, and Suzhou soy-braised duck are all representative choices.

Duck can also be prepared at home and shared with neighbors, recreating the traditional sentiment expressed in “处暑送鸭，无病各家.”

Brewing medicinal tea is a common End of Heat custom in Guangdong and Guangxi. People visit traditional medicine shops and select herbs according to the needs of their household. Common ingredients include mint, honeysuckle, dried tangerine peel, and dwarf lilyturf root.

At home, the herbs are carefully rinsed, placed in a pot with water, and slowly simmered until their fragrance fills the room. The strained tea is clear and golden.

Drinking it at this time follows the old saying that one should “eat something bitter as autumn begins.” The tea is used to clear heat and internal fire, aid digestion, disperse food stagnation, and relieve the residual lung heat and dryness of late summer.

During the 1960s and 1970s, city streets also had tea stalls specializing in sour plum drink, giving rise to the saying:

“处暑酸梅汤，火气全退光” — sour plum drink at End of Heat, and all internal fire disappears.

The custom of brewing medicinal tea is said to have originated in the Tang dynasty. At End of Heat, people prepared such drinks with the idea that autumn called for something slightly bitter, beneficial for clearing heat, reducing internal fire, aiding digestion, and relieving lung heat.

The practice closely combines seasonal timing with traditional Chinese health care and reflects the idea that medicine and food share a common origin. At the transition between seasons, medicinal drinks are used to regulate the body and prevent illness.

The hot and humid climate of Guangdong and Guangxi made the custom especially widespread there.

During End of Heat, seasonal herbal teas can be sampled at traditional tea shops in Guangdong and Guangxi. Herbs can also be purchased from traditional medicine shops and simmered at home. Herbal tea shops are common throughout Guangdong and often offer seasonal formulas around this time.

After End of Heat, autumn gradually becomes more pronounced, making it an ideal time to travel into the countryside, welcome the season, and enjoy the changing scenery.

Once End of Heat passes, the oppressive heat begins to cease. Even the clouds appear more scattered and free, unlike the dense masses of cloud seen during the intense heat of summer.

The folk saying “七月八月看巧云” — in the seventh and eighth months, admire the ingenious clouds — expresses this appreciation and also carries the idea of going outdoors to welcome autumn.

It is therefore an excellent season for climbing to high places, looking into the distance, and enjoying the crispness of autumn.

The custom has a long history. The ancients believed that after End of Heat, the skies became high and the air clear, making it one of the best times of year for outings.

The saying “七月八月看巧云” reflects both close observation of autumn cloud formations and a refined aesthetic interest in seasonal change.

The custom embodies a Chinese attitude toward life centered on following the natural season and drawing close to nature.

After End of Heat, people can visit parks, mountains, and scenic areas to enjoy the first signs of autumn. The weather is cooler and the clouds more open, making this a particularly good time for outdoor activity. Many scenic areas also introduce autumn travel programs around this period.

End of Heat coincides with the ripening and harvest of crops, so farming communities traditionally hold ceremonies to thank the God of the Land.

As crops mature, people conduct sacrifices to the land and celebrate the harvest. In some regions, livestock are slaughtered and offerings are taken to local land temples, while in others sacrificial food is scattered directly into the fields.

When ancestors are worshipped at home, newly harvested rice may also be included among the offerings, thanking the ancestors for their protection and reporting the good news of the harvest.

In some places, after burning ritual paper, people cut five-colored paper into narrow strips and wrap them around the heads of ripening crops. Tradition holds that doing so can protect the fields from hail and help secure an abundant autumn harvest.

The custom comes from the ancient tradition of praying in spring and giving thanks in autumn. Spring rites sought abundant crops; autumn rites thanked the divine powers for the harvest.

Around End of Heat, with the autumn harvest approaching, people worship the God of the Land to express gratitude toward the earth and pray for abundance.

The custom reflects the traditional agricultural belief in revering Heaven and honoring the ancestors.

During End of Heat, land-deity rituals may be observed in rural areas. Some traditional villages organize autumn sacrifice ceremonies around this period, which visitors may watch from designated areas.

A saying goes: “处暑秋梨最养人” — autumn pears are most nourishing at End of Heat.

As the season gradually becomes drier, a bite of autumn pear is crisp, juicy, sweet, and refreshing. Pears are traditionally associated with moistening the lungs, clearing dryness, relieving cough, and transforming phlegm, making them a favored seasonal food during End of Heat.

There is also a folk saying: “处暑吃梨，远离秋燥” — eat pears at End of Heat and keep autumn dryness away.

As a seasonal fruit of End of Heat, the custom of eating autumn pears follows the traditional idea that medicine and food share a common origin.

After End of Heat, autumn dryness gradually increases. Pears are considered cooling in nature and sweet in flavor and are associated with moistening the lungs and relieving dryness, making them a natural seasonal food for responding to the changing climate.

The custom also reflects the dietary philosophy of eating according to the season.

During End of Heat, autumn pears can be purchased from fruit shops and eaten fresh, simmered into pear water, or stewed with rock sugar.