In July, the heat faded away. Today's autumn is quiet. The current autumn character is from the fire from the grass, and the autumn character in the oracle bone inscription is from the fire from the insect, like a cricket with long whiskers and feet. Why is the earliest word "autumn" in the mainland related to crickets? Since when did the word "autumn" get rid of the characteristics of insects and change to plant characteristics? As one of the "four seasons and eight festivals" in the past, what are the customs on the day of the beginning of autumn?
Today's autumn, let's talk about "autumn".
Autumn is like a cricket in the oracle bone inscription
What does the autumn character in the oracle bone inscription look like?
"Autumn" in the oracle bone inscription can be said to have its own sound effect: seeing its shape, as if hearing its sound.
Long whiskers and long feet, like crickets, sometimes standing on fire, this is the oracle bone inscription "autumn" character.
Autumn from the fire. When crickets are close to the fire, it means that autumn has come. Crickets are very sensitive to climate change in nature, and the ancients observed the changes in the activities of crickets to determine the flow of the seasons.
It is also said that the "autumn" in the oracle bone inscription looks like a locust. Locusts, like crickets, are insects that often move in autumn. Locusts are phototaxis, so whenever a locust plague comes, farmers light a fire and let the locusts throw themselves into the sea of fire, which can also explain the autumn character from fire.
In the Zhou text, the word "autumn" added plant characteristics. The "autumn" in the inscription is to add a "he" on the basis of the oracle bone inscription, highlighting that autumn is the season when the grain is ripe, but the insects inside have changed into the shape of "turtles". The autumn character composed of three independent glyphs looks too complicated, so Xiao Seal omitted "turtle" and simplified the glyph to "秌". When it came to Lishu, the word "autumn" of "He" on the left and "fire" on the right appeared, and it was used until modern times.
Correlation | Crickets are associated with autumn strength
There is a certain inevitability to use crickets to represent autumn.
Crickets are extremely climate-sensitive insects with an instinct to avoid cold and warmth.
"The Book of Songs· Feng Feng · July" sings in detail the rules of life of crickets.
"In May, the cockroach moves, in June, in the wild, in August, in September, in September, and in October, crickets come under my bed."
In front of "July in the wild", the subject cricket is omitted. They are in the field in July, outside the house in August, inside in September, and under the human bed in October.
In the cool autumn season, crickets chirp in the silent night, as if to remind everyone that the weather is cold, and women hurry to weave cloth to make clothes. Because of this, crickets are also called promoting weaving, which literally translates to the meaning of urging weaving.
The image of a cricket is borrowed to represent autumn, which is a pretense in the oracle bone inscription method.
Wang Shuangqing, deputy research librarian of the Museum of Chinese Characters, said that Xu Shen summarized the methods of making Chinese characters into six types in his "Shuowen Jie Zi", which are pictograms, signifiers, huiyi, shapes and sounds, transfers, and pretenses.
These are basically reflected in the oracle bone inscriptions. Wang Shuangqing said that this can also prove that the oracle bone inscription is the earliest mature writing system found in the mainland so far.
In the beginning of autumn, there was a custom of wearing catalpa leaves
Autumn occupies an important place in the hearts of the Chinese. Autumn is declining, but also mature, slaughtering, and colorful.
"Thousand Character Text" says, "The cold comes and the summer comes, and the autumn is harvested and the winter is hidden." The ancient literati loved to be sad and sad, leaving many famous stories through the ages.
The beginning of autumn and the beginning of spring, the beginning of summer and the beginning of winter are called "four stands", and they are also one of the "four seasons and eight festivals" in ancient times.
The traditional method of dividing the four seasons is to take the "four stands" in the 24 solar terms as the starting point of the four seasons. Therefore, autumn starts with the beginning of autumn, marking the official beginning of the Mengqiu season.
On the day of the beginning of autumn, there are also some interesting folk customs. The Republic of China edition of "Zheng County Chronicles" recorded, "On the day of the beginning of autumn, men and women wear catalpa leaves to respond to the timing, or use heather red leaves, cut petals, hairpin sideburns, and swallow seven red beans with autumn water, commonly known as malaria avoidance."
Although it is not possible to "fold the yellow flowers all over the head", the people of Zhengzhou a hundred years ago wore catalpa leaves on their heads, and the petals cut from red heather leaves were quite romantic.
The 24 solar terms have "three heats", that is, small heat, big heat, and summer heat. And between the great heat and the summer, there is a beginning of autumn solar terms. This also means that the sun is still raging, the heat is still online, and many parts of the mainland are still in the heat.
Therefore, if you want to truly experience the coolness of "cold coming and summer", I am afraid it will take a while. (Liu Ruichao)