Beginning of Autumn Poetry

The silvery candlelight shines upon a painted screen steeped in the coolness of autumn. With a small fan of light gauze in hand, she brushes at drifting fireflies. On the palace steps, the night is cool as water; she sits alone, gazing for a long while at the stars of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.

This seven-character quatrain writes the loneliness of a palace woman on an autumn night and is a classic depiction of the first stirring of autumn after Beginning of Autumn. “银烛秋光冷画屏” uses the character “冷”, “cold,” to govern the mood of the whole poem: candlelight, autumn light, and painted screen are placed together to create the chill of the autumn night. “轻罗小扇扑流萤” describes the palace woman using her light silk fan to catch fireflies; the appearance of fireflies is itself a seasonal sign of the transition from summer to autumn. The final two lines, “天阶夜色凉如水，坐看牵牛织女星”, turn coolness into a tactile image through “凉如水”, “cool as water.” The two characters “坐看”, “sitting and watching,” convey the long duration of her gaze. She looks toward the Cowherd and Weaver Girl not only to pass the long night, but also to let their mythic love throw her own abandonment and loneliness into sharper relief. Not a single character explicitly writes sorrow, yet sorrow is present everywhere, restrained and deeply suggestive.

The cries of young crows fade away, leaving the jade screen in an unusual stillness; beside the pillow comes a touch of new coolness, like a breeze stirred by a fan. Waking from sleep, I try to seek the sound of autumn but cannot find where it comes from. I see only parasol-tree leaves covering the steps, bathed in bright moonlight.

This seven-character quatrain uses acute sensory perception to capture the subtle instant when Beginning of Autumn arrives. “乳鸦啼散” describes the evening cries of young crows fading away, indicating that the day is already nearing dusk; “玉屏空” creates a spacious, open feeling within the autumn interior. “一枕新凉一扇风” is the poem’s most delicate stroke. On the day of Beginning of Autumn, the most obvious change is not yet a falling leaf visible to the eye, but the new coolness felt upon the skin. Through the two measured images of “one pillow” and “one fan,” the poet conveys how slight and sudden this coolness is. “睡起秋声无觅处” writes the elusive quality of autumn’s sound, seemingly present yet impossible to locate, while “满阶梧叶月明中” finally confirms autumn’s arrival through a visual image: parasol-tree leaves have fallen across the steps, the classic image behind the idea that one leaf reveals autumn. The poem progresses from hearing to touch and finally to sight, presenting the complete movement of Beginning of Autumn from something felt to something seen.

The seasonal pitch changes, and the new autumn arrives; from this moment, the first signs of decline begin. The lotus is still blooming richly, yet already announces its fading; the willow leaves remain, but their branches have begun to look sparse. The pale sunlight is not dim because clouds obscure it, while the clear breeze feels as though it has come after rain. Raise the curtain, and coolness quietly enters; lift the fan to meet the air, and the summer heat has already begun to recede.

Sikong Shu writes the seasonal changes of Beginning of Autumn with meticulous observation. The opening couplet, “律变新秋至，萧条自此初”, establishes that Beginning of Autumn marks the first movement toward decline; “律变” refers to the changing musical pitch associated with the season. The second couplet, “花酣莲报谢，叶在柳呈疏”, writes the subtle transformations of flowers and trees. Lotus blossoms are still at their height, yet already contain the suggestion of fading; willow leaves still remain, but their foliage has begun to thin. The verbs “报谢” and “呈疏” precisely capture the gradual transition between summer and autumn. The third couplet, “澹日非云映，清风似雨余”, describes the distinctive qualities of autumn light and autumn wind: the sunlight is pale not because clouds obscure it, while the cool breeze feels as refreshing as air after rain. The final “卷帘凉暗度，迎扇暑先除” writes the bodily sensation of heat retreating and coolness emerging through the small details of raising the curtain and meeting the breeze with a fan, making the change of season immediate and tangible.

The bamboo mat touched by dew feels cool as reeds and bamboo, while the palm-leaf fan moves lightly in the breeze. Since parting from my old friend, time has passed until once again I hear the new cicadas calling. This evening, a cool wind suddenly rises, and the quiet scene awakens deep and secluded feelings. Turning toward the lamp, I see a crane at rest; beyond the bamboo, I hear the sound of a sheng. At night I drink a ladle or two of tea and softly recite several lines of autumn verse. The one I miss is far away, a thousand li beyond, in the city of Changzhou beyond the clouds.

Bai Juyi sets this poem on the evening of Beginning of Autumn and writes of his longing for his friend Liu Yuxi, whose courtesy name was Mengde. “露簟荻竹清，风扇蒲葵轻” uses the cool bamboo mat and the gently moving palm-leaf fan to convey the slight chill of an early autumn night. “一与故人别，再见新蝉鸣” writes the passage of time since parting from his friend. The new cicadas are the cicadas heard at Beginning of Autumn: summer cicadas have not yet fallen silent, while autumn cicadas have begun to call, and amid this transition between old and new, the passing of time feels still more sudden. “是夕凉飙起” marks the seasonal sign of a cool wind first rising on the autumn evening, while “回灯见栖鹤，隔竹闻吹笙” creates a secluded autumn-night atmosphere through the resting crane in lamplight and the sound of the sheng beyond the bamboo. The final “所思渺千里，云外长洲城” directly expresses longing for the distant friend, blending the physical distance of a thousand li with the image of a city beyond the clouds, giving the longing both length and hazy remoteness.

I have only just begun to marvel that the Three Fu periods have ended, and already Beginning of Autumn has arrived. Morning dew glitters with light yet carries a chill, while the cloud-wrapped peaks grow still more wondrous toward evening. The ridges are fragrant with grain already half ripe, while across the distant plains the grasses have begun faintly to wither. Fortunately, we remain within this clear autumn light—why imitate Pan An and grieve needlessly over autumn?

Qiji writes Beginning of Autumn from the detached perspective characteristic of a monk. “始惊三伏尽，又遇立秋时” uses the verbs “惊”, “to be startled,” and “遇”, “to encounter,” to convey both the suddenness and the naturalness of seasonal change. “露彩朝还冷” writes the chill of morning dew, while “云峰晚更奇” writes the extraordinary beauty of evening clouds over the peaks; morning and evening together reveal different shades of autumn within a single day. “垄香禾半熟” approaches the ripening grain through smell, while “原迥草微衰” uses sight to show the first slight decline of grasses and plants. Fragrance and fading stand side by side, expressing autumn’s dual character of harvest and desolation. The final couplet, “幸好清光里，安仁谩起悲”, is the poetic eye of the whole piece. “清光” refers to the clear brightness of autumn, while “安仁” refers to Pan An, or Pan Yue of the Western Jin, whose *Rhapsody on Autumn Feelings* carries a sorrowful response to autumn. The poet, however, says: fortunate to be within such clear autumn light, why imitate Pan An and grieve over autumn? The lines reveal an open-minded attitude that refuses to be ruled by external change.

On an autumn day, I walk alone in search of poetry. The lotus roots and flowers carry a cool fragrance, and the breeze over the water is clear and fresh. Yet when a sudden coolness arrives, I find poetry unexpectedly difficult to compose, so I simply entrust the poetic feeling to the sound of night rain falling through the parasol trees.

Fang Yue takes searching for poetry at Beginning of Autumn as the thread of the poem and writes the subtle change in poetic feeling brought by autumn coolness. “秋日寻诗独自行” opens with an easy sense of leisure: the poet is not walking to reach a destination, but in order to seek poetry. “藕花香冷水风清” captures the season of Beginning of Autumn: the lotus has not yet completely faded and still retains its fragrance, while the breeze over the water already carries coolness. The final two lines, “一凉转觉诗难做，付与梧桐夜雨声”, are the poem’s finest stroke. The poet had expected autumn coolness to awaken poetic inspiration, yet discovers that coolness instead makes the poem difficult to write. He therefore simply entrusts the task of poetry to the sound of night rain among the parasol trees. This witty idea of writing by not writing records both the change of mood brought by autumn coolness and the recognition that nature itself is already poetry, giving the poem a distinct touch of Chan-like insight.
—