Is autumn the cricket jumping around in oracle bone script? Exploring the origin of the word "autumn" during the Beginning of Autumn

At the beginning of autumn, let’s talk about “autumn”.

The current Chinese character for autumn is composed of the characters for fire and wheat, while the oracle bone script character for autumn is composed of the characters for fire and insects, which resembles a cricket with long whiskers and legs. Why is the earliest Chinese character for autumn related to crickets? When did the character for autumn get rid of its insect characteristics and change to plant characteristics? As one of the "four seasons and eight festivals", what customs are there on the day of the Beginning of Autumn?

Text｜Autumn in Oracle-Bone Script Resembles Crickets

What does the word "autumn" look like in oracle bone script?

The word "autumn" in oracle bone script can be said to have its own sound effect: when you see its shape, it's as if you can hear its sound.

It has long beard and legs, looks like a cricket, and sometimes stands on fire. This is the character for "autumn" in oracle bone script.

Autumn comes from fire. When crickets are close to fire, it means autumn is coming. Crickets are very sensitive to climate change in nature. Ancient people determined the flow of seasons by observing the changes in cricket activity.

There is also a saying that the oracle character for "autumn" looks like a locust. Like crickets, locusts are also insects that often move in autumn. Locusts are attracted to light, so whenever a locust plague comes, farmers light a big fire to let the locusts fall into the sea of ​​fire, which can also explain why the character for autumn is derived from fire.

In Zhuanwen, the character "autumn" has plant characteristics. The "autumn" in Zhuanwen is based on the oracle bone script with a "禾" added, highlighting that autumn is the season when grains mature, but the insects in it were misinterpreted into the shape of a "龟". The character "秋" composed of three independent glyphs looks too complicated, so Xiaozhuan omitted the "龟" and simplified the character to "秌". In Lishu, the character "秋" with "禾" on the left and "火" on the right appeared and has been used until modern times.

Related | Cricket and Qiu Qiang are related

There is a certain inevitability in using crickets to represent autumn.

Crickets are insects that are extremely sensitive to climate and have an instinct to avoid cold and seek warmth.

"The Book of Songs·Bin Feng·July" sings in detail about the life patterns of crickets.

"In May, the locusts move their legs; in June, the sedge flutters its feathers; in July, they are in the wild; in August, they are in the house; in September, they are outside the house; in October, the crickets come under my bed."

The subject cricket is omitted before "in the wild in July". They are in the fields in July, outside the house in August, indoors in September, and under people's beds in October.

In the cool autumn, crickets chirp in the quiet night, as if to remind everyone that the weather is cold and women should hurry up to weave clothes. Because of this, crickets are also called "Cuizhi", which literally means urging weaving.

Using the image of a cricket to represent autumn is a loanword in the oracle bone script method of creating characters.

Wang Shuangqing, associate researcher at the Chinese Character Museum, said that Xu Shen summarized the methods of creating Chinese characters into six types in "Shuowen Jiezi", namely pictographic, indicative, associative, phono-semantic, transliteration, and loan.

These are basically reflected in the oracle bone inscriptions. Wang Shuangqing said that this also proves that the oracle bone inscriptions are the earliest mature writing system discovered in my country so far.

Solar terms | There was a custom of wearing catalpa leaves during the Beginning of Autumn

Autumn occupies an important place in the hearts of Chinese people. Autumn is a season of decline and maturity, austerity and colour.

The Thousand Character Classic says, "Winter comes and summer goes, autumn harvests and winter stores." Ancient literati loved to lament the passing of spring and autumn, and left behind many famous works that have been passed down through the ages.

The Beginning of Autumn, the Beginning of Spring, the Beginning of Summer and the Beginning of Winter are collectively known as the "Four Beginnings", and are one of the "Four Seasons and Eight Festivals" in ancient my country.

The traditional method of dividing the four seasons is to use the "four beginnings" of the 24 solar terms as the starting points of the four seasons. Therefore, autumn starts with the beginning of autumn, marking the official start of the first autumn season.

There are also some interesting folk customs on the day of the Beginning of Autumn. The Republic of China edition of Zheng County Chronicles records that "On the day of the Beginning of Autumn, both men and women wear catalpa leaves to keep in tune with the season, or cut red heather leaves into petals and wear them in their hairpins, and swallow seven red beans with autumn water, which is commonly known as anti-malaria pills."

Although they could not "pick yellow flowers and fill their heads with them", the people of Zhengzhou a hundred years ago wore catalpa leaves on their heads and put petals cut from red heather leaves in their hairpins, which was quite romantic.

There are three heats in the 24 solar terms, namely Lesser Heat, Greater Heat and End of Heat. Between Greater Heat and End of Heat, there is the Beginning of Autumn. This also means that the sun is still quite strong, the high temperature is still online, and many parts of my country are still hot.

Therefore, if you want to truly experience the coolness of the transition from winter to summer, you may have to wait for a while.