Ancient Chinese astronomers called the sun's orbit throughout the year the "zodiac." The entire ecliptic is divided into 360 °, and every 15 ° it is listed as a solar term, which is exactly 24 equal parts, forming twenty-four solar terms. When the sun reaches 165° ecliptic longitude, that is, September 7-9 in the Gregorian calendar, it is the white dew festival. White dew is the fifteenth of the twenty-four solar terms, and meteorologically speaking, it is an important seasonality that reflects the temperature changes in nature, indicating that the weather is beginning to really turn cooler.
In the Yuan Dynasty scholar Wu Cheng's "Explanation of the Seventy-Two Waitings of the Moon Order", it is said: "The yin qi of the white dew ,......, gradually becomes heavier, and the dew condenses and whites", which means that the temperature difference between day and night at this time makes the water vapor condense on the surface of the earth or the leaves of plants near the earth to form white water droplets; The ancients also used four hours with five elements, "autumn is golden, golden white", so it is used to describe autumn dew, and it is named "white dew".
As soon as the white dew festival arrives, the sunshine begins to decrease, the intensity of ultraviolet rays decreases, and the cold air goes south from time to time, as the saying goes, "drink the white dew water, the mosquitoes close their mouths" "White dew autumn equinox night, a cold night", all refer to the characteristics of this season.
White dew falls, cool breeze arrives, crystal clear dew quietly tells people that autumn has really arrived
Bailu, perhaps the earliest known festival for many young people in the Jiangnan area, many people will hear the elders humming like a lullaby when they learn to speak: "Bailu is not exposed, shirtless and becomes a pig." This is probably the earliest recognition of white dew at the beginning of man: once the white dew has passed, the autumn mood has become stronger, and it can no longer be willful and greedy. It was not until the children grew older that they realized that bailu was one of the richest of the twenty-four solar terms.
In the Yi Zhou Shu Shi Xun Ji, five days are used as a waiting, and the three waits are stipulated as one section (qi), and the three days of Bailu are expressed as follows: The first wait, Hongyan comes; From north to south also. One wait: big day hong, small goose. Second weather, Xuan Bird Return; Swallows go also. Three seasons, flocks of birds are shy. Shame, grain also. Raise shame in preparation for the winter month. It is said that at this time, the geese wait for the birds to fly south to avoid the cold, the swallows return at this time, and the rest of the birds are stockpiling food for the winter. Just as the so-called cool breeze, white dew falls, cold cicadas chirp, crystal clear dew quietly tells people that autumn has really arrived. "The breeze blows on the pillow mat, and the white dew wets the clothes." Good is the night of the blind date, leak late weather cool. Bai Juyi's beautiful and clear "Cool Night with Nostalgia" tells us the characteristics of the White Dew Festival: the weather turns cool, and dew appears on the grass and trees at night. In the early morning, people can see the dew condensed on the petals and leaves, and the flowers and leaves and the dew reflect each other, which is very beautiful. At this time, the hot summer has passed, the heat is fading, the nasty mosquitoes are gradually disappearing, and most of the areas are high and cool, the clouds are light and the wind is light, and the climate is pleasant. White dew is the season of harvest and the season of sowing.
As soon as the white dew arrives, the first creatures in nature to feel the seasonal change are the migrating birds, the wild geese and swallows fly south to avoid the cold, the birds are busy storing food for the winter, at the same time, the autumn is exposed, the grass and trees gradually change from dark green to yellow, the leaves slowly sway and fall, and the white dew both indicates the natural changes and announces the busyness of farming. For people who have experienced a spring and summer of cultivation and hard work, it is both the harvest season and the time of sowing and cultivation, just as the so-called "white dew has passed the autumn equinox, and the agricultural affairs are busy": the northeast has begun to harvest millet, soybeans and sorghum, and the north China has also begun the autumn harvest season; Cotton from the north and south of the river is spitting; Winter wheat in the northwest and northeast began to be sown; Autumn planting will also be entered in North China, while single-cropping late rice in Huanghuai, Jianghuai and southern regions has been filled with flowers, and double-cropping double-late rice is about to be harvested. Many agricultural proverbs vividly describe the various scenes of the white dew festival: "white dew is white, the grain is full of yellow", "white dew is full of red, yellow and white, and the cotton field is like a sea", "White dew field and thin mud, sweet potatoes grow one skin a day"... This is really a busy season, but also a happy season, because this time the tea producing area is picking autumn tea, the north and south of the river melon fruit fragrance, especially the jujube, walnuts have also reached the most luscious time, people who like to eat dates and walnuts can be feasted - the agricultural proverb "white dew jujube, autumn equinox unloading pear" "white dew walnut, frost picking persimmon", fruity fresh dates and walnuts are particularly sweet people's lives, but also ruddy girls' smiles.
Some people say that white dew is the most lovely season of the twenty-four solar terms, both "a crane in the clear sky and a row of clouds, it leads poetry to Bixiao", the sky is high and refreshing, and there are "green frost red trees, white dew purple and yellow flowers", the forest is dyed with brilliant and colorful autumn colors, and there are colorful folk customs and endless poetic autumn rhymes.
Lin Fan's "Seasons at Sea" series of white dew, this season in Shanghai, is suitable for coffee under the plane tree
The health of the white dew season is called tonic dew, and on this day people collect dew to brew rice wine, which is conducive to the release of cold air
In the white dew season, although it is still very hot during the day, the temperature difference between day and night begins to increase, so in contrast to the cover from winter to spring, it is necessary to freeze slightly in autumn. Of course, you can't overfreeze your head. In addition, the climate is getting drier and drier, in addition to antifreeze, you should not take autumn dryness lightly. As the saying goes: "Eighteen pots in the heat, white dew do not show the body", it means that it is still very hot in the summer, you must take a bath every day, but after about eighteen days of white dew, the naked body will be cold.
White dew is one of the twenty-four solar terms with a relatively large gap between the north and the south, so it also makes the customs and diets of the north and the south to pass this festival different. For example, in the past, in the north, it was popular to play birds (bird training) before and after the White Dew Festival, and the bird catcher caught the yellow finch, let it stand on the head of the iron rod, and taught it to hold the flag and peck the bell as a game. After being tamed, it can be released and flown back, called the yellow finch. In Tancheng County, Shandong Province, there is still a traditional custom of "white dew, dolls pushing the swallow car to run", the peasant elderly make bright colors and can make a pleasant sound of the small swallow car, let the children push the swallow car to run cold, in order to enhance physical fitness; In addition, choosing to eat sweet potatoes during the white dew season is also a custom that has been passed down in the north for a long time, because the folk believe that eating sweet potatoes on this day will not cause stomach acid.
In the south, there is a custom of "collecting dew" in the white dew festival. Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" of the Ming Dynasty records: "When autumn dew is flourishing, it is collected on a plate and fried like a carrot, so that people can prolong their years without hunger." "Autumn dew on the head of a hundred grasses, collected when not sighing, cures a hundred diseases, quenches thirst, makes people light and not hungry, and the muscles are pleasing." Autumn dew has not Li Shizhen said the miraculous effect of the moment, but "harvest clear dew" has become the most special "ritual" of the white dew season, many health elements combined with the white dew season, Chinese medicine believes that autumn is the best time to nourish the lungs and moisturize the lungs, only to raise the lungs, to winter can be enough kidney qi less sick. Especially after the hot roasting into the day and night temperature difference, dry weather white dew season, more need to strengthen the internal regulation of the body, diet and living smoothly, pay attention to keep warm and dry, drink more water, eat more pears, lilies, almonds and American ginseng, etc., while increasing the intake of sesame seeds, honey, loquat, tomatoes, plums and other soft foods, in order to benefit the stomach and lungs, life and dryness.
The health of the white dew season is called supplemental dew. On this day, people collect dew to make rice wine. It is said that the "White Dew Rice Wine" brewed on this day is transparent in color and mellow in taste, and it is fragrant for a long time. The wine buried for more than ten years is brownish red, fragrant and strong, which can make people drunk for thousands of miles without waking up, and the temperature of the wine contains heat, which is conducive to the emission of cold.
In Fuzhou, bailu day must eat longan, because people think that the effect of eating a longan on this day is equivalent to eating a chicken - the longan before bailu is large and small, sweet and good, and it is indeed better to eat more. In Wenzhou, Bailu collects a variety of herbs with the word "white" such as white hibiscus and white hair bitter vegetables on this day, simmering with white hair black bone chicken, which is said to be particularly nourishing. On Dongtou Island outside the mouth of the Oujiang River, it is customary to eat fresh eel boiled white radish, because the former Dongtou fishery began to catch eels after the autumn, and when it came to Bailu, the eels have gradually become fatter, and the fishing proverb "Osmanthus Jellyfish White Dew Eel" is this phenomenon. Eels are rich in nutrients, and white radish has the effect of "eliminating grain and neutralizing, removing evil heat", and the two are cooked together and complement each other. There is also such an interesting local custom - if there is a child with asthma, bedwetting and other diseases in the family, on the day of white dew, the adults will slaughter chickens or ducks, cook them and put them in a bowl for the child to eat at the fork in the road. After eating, put the empty bowl on one of the roads, while the child returns home from the other road, after which the adult will go to retrieve the dishes. It is said that because the "dew" and "road" of the white dew are homophonous, it means that the disease has left the child from another fork in the road through the white dew day. It is unknown when this custom of Dongtou began, but most of the children with asthma and bedwetting are weak, and the temperature difference between day and night after white dew is large, and eating chicken and duck is naturally tonic for them.
For the old Nanjing people who like to drink tea, it is time to buy Bailu tea. They believe that bailu tea is neither as fresh and tender as spring tea, nor as dry and bitter as summer tea, bailu tea has a unique mellow and fragrant fragrance, not to mention that spring tea is also drunk almost, and bailu tea is just connected.
Interestingly, Bailu is also the day when the Taihu people sacrifice "Waterway Bodhisattva" Dayu. Dayu once dredged the Three Rivers, so that "Zhenze (Taihu Ancient Name) was fixed", so every year on the eighth day of the first lunar month, Qingming, the seventh day of July and Bailu, they had to hold an incense festival to worship The King of Yu, of which the qingming and bailu festivals were the largest, both of which lasted for one week. After the white dew, the fish and crabs are raw, the autumn water is coming, the river overflows, in order to have a calm lake, but also to get a good harvest in the fishing season that comes with the white dew, fishermen on both sides of the Taihu Lake rush to the Yuwang Temple to incense during the white dew season, praying for the blessing of the gods. At the same time, they also worship the god of land, the god of flowers, the girl of silkworms, the god of doors, the god of the house, the god of Jiang Taigong, and so on. During this period, there must be a play that pins people's hopes and yearning for a better life, that is, "Fishing and Killing Families".
After the white dew, the weather turns cooler and the geese fly south, which means that the real autumn has arrived. The picture shows the "Luyan Diagram" created by the Qing Dynasty painter Bian Shoumin
The increasingly thick autumn meaning has left countless sad autumn sentences left by ancient and modern literati, which makes people resonate and empathize
White dew is the watershed between summer heat and autumn coolness, the sky is high and cloudy, it is the news tree of the new autumn, permeated with infinite coolness and the richness of the harvest, just as the poem Saint Du Fu Shiyun: "White dew tuanganzi, early morning scattered horseshoes." The garden opens with stone trees, and the boat crosses into the river. With a few fish music, back whip rapid bird perch. Gradually know the beauty of autumn, the path is afraid of many mysteries. ("White Dew"), the poet Bai Lu stepped on the autumn, not only the autumn reality and autumn scenery are pleasing to the eye, but also the sentence "The path is afraid of many things" makes people feel the poet's fascination with autumn colors so deep that he is worried that he will not be able to find a way back. Song Renluo and his poem "Pan Boat Autumn Huai" poem Yun: "White dew to cool the heat, Dan Feng dot painting autumn." Idle chanting small mountains, returning to the great rivers. The world is full of camps in three caves, and people who enjoy a hill. The canopy window has a good touch, and the moon is long and the political style is rested", which also expresses the appreciation and praise of the beautiful scenery and leisurely state of mind in the autumn. The Republic of China poet Xiao Mengxia's "Cool Night" is even more really pointed out that the cool sleep of white dew is good: "The summer side is too white dew, and the cicadas are half old geese coming to the sky." Tao Sheng is eight feet clear in the water, and sleeps in the cool wind overnight. ”
White dew is also the third festival of autumn, since ancient times when autumn is sad and lonely, the autumn meaning of the white dew season is getting stronger, and it has also become a season for literati to express their feelings. Song Yu sad autumn, with the theme of white dew, borrowed white dew to express nostalgia, ancient and modern literati left countless good sentences of sad autumn. For example, "Sorrow, Autumn is Qi" (Pre-Qin Song Yu's "Nine Debates") and "Where to Synthesize Sorrow?" Depart from the heart of the autumn! ("Southern Song Dynasty Wu Wenying", "Tang Duoling"), it is still particularly easy for people to resonate and empathize.
We read The Tang Dynasty Lu Yin's "Tragic Autumn" "The autumn sky is full of geese and the sky is far away, and the tree cicadas are hissing white and cold." The defeated lan under the steps was still angry, and the fan in his hand was gradually unprovoked", and what appeared in front of him was a picture of the autumn scenery from far and near. Another poet of the Tang Dynasty, Yang Shichen, once wrote three poems of "The Matter in the County", one of which reads: "The red clothes are covered with dark incense, and the leaves are white and cold in autumn." The Yue nu has unlimited affection, mo teaches the long sleeve to lean on the dry", the poem outlines the red lotus falling, the scene of the dark incense residue, the Yue nu in the autumn morning dew with the pulse of the single leaning on the dry, abrupt end of the picture highlights the inner feelings of the characters, euphemistically and implicitly express the woman's autumn feelings, as if leaving blank space for people to imagine.
Wang Anshi, a Song dynasty, wrote more than one poem related to Bailu. "Ge Xi Yi" is that he hugged the sick guest in the white dew season, and the prison trip was difficult and the wind and autumn solstice, and he felt it: the lack of moon was faint and leaky, and a light came to illuminate the autumn bed. The sick body is most aware of the wind and dew early, and the dream does not know the length of the landscape. When I sat down, I sang generously, and looked at the heavens and the earth desolate. The cicadas are more chaotic to the ears of pedestrians, and they are hugging the leaves of the sparse trees and half yellow.
In the poem, the decaying scenes such as the lack of moon, lonely lamps, wind dew, cicadas, and sparse trees are superimposed layer by layer, constituting the desolate autumn colors of heaven and earth, combined with the autumn thick in the heart and the lonely state of mind in the heart, and the long dream of returning to the dream makes people feel the poet's infinite sorrow.
The Song Dynasty Liu Kezhuang in "In the Sickness" (the fifth of the nine songs) is even more autumn-like: "Yanguan fan abuse is very cooked, overhearing the eaves of the sick thinking clear." The white dew fell in the calm weather, and the blue clouds were at dusk. An autumn medicine wrapped in cooking, a hundred years old book window is dark and bright. He has no career in his daily sweat, but his poetry can steal a false name. "It's a bit of a bit of "tragic autumn" in Du Fu's "Ascendant". And Yuan Ren Qiuyuan's "Autumn Feeling" written on the eve of Bailu is also similar: "The Ming Dynasty crossed the white dew, and the golden wind rose this night." Under the lamp, leaning on the lone pillow, the hedge root language hundred insects. Where the sycamore falls, the shaft is several empty. The guest is shocked by the autumn half, and the hot and cool letter turns fluffy. ”
During the autumn breeze and white dew season, "dew" has also become an important element of the literati's sense of affection, with multiple intentions. From the hazy confusion in the poem "Crab Leaf Cang, White Dew is Frost" to Li Bai's "Jade Ladder Complaint" ("Jade Ladder Born White Dew, Night Long Invading Luo Socks." But under the crystal curtain, Linglong looking at the autumn moon") of the secluded mian, "Lu" and women are tied to the end. Dew is very pure and beautiful and very feminine, and it is pitiful, so from the "Book of Poetry" "Lu" often appears in famous love stories, and the word "Lu" has become a very commonly used female personal name word - in Wang Shifu's miscellaneous drama "The Tale of the West Chamber", Cui Yingying escorted by the Red Lady to the West Chamber and Zhang Sheng's secret appointment, the Red Lady wants to sing a [Zhuma Listening]: "Not near the noise, the tender green pool hides the sleeping duck; Natural elegance, pale yellow willow with perched crows. The golden lotus damaged the peony bud, and the jade hairpin grabbed the terrier frame. The night was cool and slippery, and the dew was soaking wet with Lingbo socks. The reserved and dignified Lady Shen plucked up enough courage to go to the Gao Tang Covenant, and under the quiet and quiet moonlight, she sneaked on her feet, and even did not care that the dew pearls were soaking through The Lingbo socks, this scene, and Li Hou's main pen "Socks Step Incense Steps, Hand Golden Shoes" Xiao Zhou, how similar to Nair!
Unfortunately, the beautiful morning dew is fleeting, and the beautiful love is often not related to consummation. The ending of the legendary novel "The Legend of Yingying" created by Yuan Shu of the Tang Dynasty is different from the beautiful consummation of "The Tale of the West Chamber", the heroine of "The Legend of Yingying" Cui Yingying bid farewell to Zhang Sheng in Changting, and the infatuated bitter waiting in exchange for Zhang Sheng's chaos and abandonment, while the Southern Tang "sister succeeding sister married" Xiao Zhou was humiliated after Li Yu surrendered to the Song Dynasty, and her husband, who was once the lord of the country, would only write "When is the spring flower and autumn moon, how much does the past know", but he is powerless to protect his beloved woman. In Mr. Cao Yu's "Sunrise", the beautiful and thin heroine, formerly known as "Bamboo Jun", is verdant and beautiful, with vigorous vitality. But as a social flower, she changed her name to "White Dew", although her heart is still beautiful and pure, but like dewdrops, as the night sinks, she will never see the rising sun again.
Since ancient times, the fleeting chaolu has both a symbol of Shaohua's perishable life and a portrayal of high character, and often arouses the thinking of philosophers. Tang Dynasty Yu Shinan's "Cicada": "Drinking dew from the weeping roof, flowing out of the tung tree." To be loud and distant is not to rely on the autumn wind", and those who are more virtuous than the cicadas who "drink clear dew" do not need to rely on external forces, "high" and can go far.
Li Deyu, who was also a Poet of the Tang Dynasty who also held an important position in the imperial court, has a poem "Chang'an Autumn Night", in which the latter link is "Thousands of households and thousands of doors are lonely, and the dew in the middle of the month is a bit of a court dress", and the four words of "clear dew in the middle of the month" condense the mind of a politician who takes the world as his duty and is diligent in government and loves the people.
"Dew", as a rich image, often leads to philosophical thinking. For example, in the Buddhist Diamond Sutra, there is the famous "Six Ru Wei": "Everything that has a dharma, such as a dream bubble, such as dew and electricity, should be viewed as such." And Cao Cao, who wrote poems in the twilight of his life, looked back at the road he had come to, and could not help but issue such a lament: "What is life like a song for wine?" For example, the morning dew, going to the day is more bitter. It is unforgettable to be worried. How to relieve worries? Only Du Kang" ("Short Song Line"). Li Bai's "White Dew Sees the Sun Disappear, And the Red Face Withers with the Frost" ("Early Autumn Single Father Nanlou Reward Dou Gongheng") also laments that time has passed suddenly. And the most familiar is probably the Han Dynasty's anonymous "Long Song Line": "Aoi in the Qingqing Garden, waiting for the sunrise in the morning dew." Yangchun Budze, all things are born of brilliance. Often fear the autumn solstice, the yellow leaves fade. Hundred rivers east to the sea, when to return to the west. The young man does not work hard, and the old man is sad. ”
"Dew from tonight white, the moon is the hometown of Ming", as soon as the white dew passed, the autumn of the sky was high and clear and clear. Bailu is not only a season, but also has a multi-layered intriguing cultural connotation. As the contemporary writer Feng Jicai said: "The 'twenty-four solar terms' are the manifestation of the Chinese view of nature, life, cosmology and philosophy, and also the embodiment of the cultural concept of 'the unity of heaven and man' in Chinese." White dew is a perfect interpretation.
Author: Pan Huiying (Associate Professor, School of Humanities, Hangzhou Normal University)
Editor: Fan Xin
Planner: Fan Xin