Autumn · No.18
Frost's Descent
Shuang Jiang
Nights drop near freezing, white frost settles on the grass, persimmons turn red, and autumn is at its deepest.
Frost's Descent closes the autumn. First frost appears in the Yellow River basin and a single cold night turns the grass yellow. Frost does not fall from the sky: the ground loses heat fast and water vapour freezes straight onto leaf surfaces. Jackals cache food, the last leaves drop, and insects burrow down and go still. Everything that stores, sweet potato and cabbage, has to be in before the frost, and fruit trees are whitewashed. The south eats duck or beef on this day, and persimmons are eaten while they are sweetest. Stew pears, and keep some moisture in the room.
Three pentads
- 1
The last leaves drop and the branches stand bare
- 2
Insects burrow down and lie still until spring
- 3
Frost whitens the grass and melts after sunrise
What people eat now
persimmon
Persimmons only sweeten after the first frost, thin-skinned and full of juice, hanging red like lanterns.
chestnut
Chestnuts drop around Frost's Descent; roasted with sugar in hot sand, a paper bag of them warms your hands.
pumpkin
By Frost's Descent pumpkins are fully ripe, dense and orange inside, sweet whether steamed or simmered into porridge.
What people wear
Frost's Descent is late autumn, frost on the ground at dawn and a cold that gets into your bones. Long johns are no shame now; wear a sweater and coat, and take gloves when you go out. Shed the coat at noon if the sun is good, but put it back the moment it drops, not after you are already cold.