Autumn · No.13
Beginning of Autumn
Li Qiu
Autumn opens while the heat lingers; mornings turn cool, and the first plane leaf lets go.
Beginning of Autumn is the first term of the season, though real cool weather is still weeks away. The sun's path has shifted south, days are shorter, mornings and evenings separate sharply from noon, which stays muggy enough that people call it the autumn tiger. Plane trees begin to drop leaves, cicadas rasp, rice ears bend, cotton opens and maize fills. Farmers watch for both drought and flooding and top-dress the late rice. Families put on autumn weight, eating stewed meat to replace what summer took off, and bite into a watermelon. In the north, chillies and corn are spread on rooftops to dry.
Three pentads
- 1
Cool wind arrives and the heat slowly withdraws
- 2
White dew forms on the grass before dawn
- 3
Cicadas call with a thinner, colder note
What people eat now
watermelon
Biting into a watermelon on the first day of autumn, called biting the autumn, finishes summer's last cool mouthful.
aubergine
Aubergines are tender at the start of autumn; an old line says plant them at midsummer and eat them now.
braised pork
After a summer of poor appetite, northern households braise a pot of pork at the start of autumn to put on weight.
What people wear
After the start of autumn the days stay hot while mornings and evenings cool, so dress for both ends. Keep short sleeves and carry a thin shirt or cardigan to pull on early and late. The old advice is to stay a little cool in autumn, but do not leave shoulders and stomach bare, and switch to long sleeves when the wind rises.