睡起秋聲無覓處，滿階梧桐月明中•立秋

立秋，是農曆二十四節氣中的第13個節氣，更是秋天的第一個節氣，標誌著孟秋時節的正式開始：「秋」就是指暑去涼來。到了立秋，梧桐樹開始落葉，因此有「落葉知秋」的成語。從文字角度來看，「秋」字由禾與火字組成，是禾穀成熟的意思。秋季是天氣由熱轉涼，再由涼轉寒的過渡性季節。

The Beginning of Autumn (Liqiu) falls on August 7 according to the Gregorian calendar. Qiu(autumn) is a season for harvesting across the country. Liqiu is the first solar term of autumn, around which the summer heat still lingers, so it』s better seen as a transition from summer to autumn. There are still a few days ahead before the real cool autumn comes. According to meteorological standards, if the average temperature of a certain place, for five consecutive days, is between 10℃ and 22℃, then it can be declared that autumn has arrived.

立秋在今年的8月7日。「秋」是全國收穫的季節。立秋是秋季的第一個節氣，但此時暑氣難消，因此立秋時節是夏天到秋天的過渡期。真正的秋天還有一段時間才到來。根據氣象學的標準，判斷一個地方是否入秋，只要看當地連續5天的平均氣溫是否在10-22℃之間就可以了。

After the Beginning of Autumn, both the morning and night start to get cool, but it』s still hot during the day. The last period of the hottest days in a year comes after the Beginning of Autumn. In China, there is a farmer』s proverb which says: after the Beginning of Autumn, a cow can still be burnt to death. People call unseasonably warm weather occurring after the Beginning of Autumn Qiu laohu (literally meaning 「autumn tiger」 in Chinese, it is the same as 「an Indian Summer,」 the only difference being that Chinese people don』t enjoy the extended hot spell). During an Indian summer, most parts of China are still pretty hot and crops grow vigorously.

立秋後，早晚開始變得涼爽，但白天依然炎熱，三伏天的末伏就在立秋之後。農諺說：秋後一伏，曬死老牛。人們把立秋後短期回熱的天氣叫做「秋老虎」。此時大部分地區氣溫仍然較高，各種農作物生長旺盛。

During this time of year, peaches are ripe, hanging heavily in trees, ready to be picked. Although your mouth might be watering, don』t forget to wash them over and over again as the hair on its skin will make your hand itchy!

立秋時節，桃子熟了，沉甸甸地掛在樹上，等待採摘。可桃子表面有很多毛毛，如果碰到皮膚就會使皮膚髮癢。所以，雖然你已經流口水了，但也要洗乾淨，再美美享用吧！

Around the Beginning of Autumn, China』s most romantic festival of the year, the Qixi Festival, arrives.Have you heard of the heart-breaking love story of Niulang (a cowherd) and Zhinü (a fairy maiden who is a weaver girl of the Heavenly Mother Queen), two lovers whose love was disapproved and were then separated by the Silver River (symbolizing the Milky Way) in Chinese mythology? Their tragic romance touched a flock of magpies, who decided to form a bridge every year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month for them to reunite. This is how Qixi, the Double Seventh Festival, came into being. Overtime, this day has become China』s version of Valentine』s Day with millions of young people celebrating it every year.

在立秋前後，最浪漫的節日——七夕——到來了。你聽過牛郎織女的故事嗎？這對戀人的愛情被王母娘娘否定，兩人分隔銀河兩側，讓人心碎。他們的悲情故事感動了一群喜鵲，喜鵲於是每年農曆七月七日用身體搭成鵲橋，幫助他們在鵲橋相會。「七夕節」，也叫的情人節，由此形成。每年數百萬的年輕人還會慶祝這一節日。

The hot summer often causes people to lose their appetites; as a result, many people lose weight during the hot season. When autumn comes, as the coolness sets in, people normally take this opportunity to eat more in order to supplement what they lost during the summer. Many people in China prefer to eat hotpot with all kinds of meat, which is nicknamed, 「gaining some autumn fat.」

夏天天氣熱，人們容易沒有胃口，很多人夏天都會因此消瘦。秋天一到，涼意襲來，人們會藉此機會多吃，補充夏天的損失，補的辦法是吃各種各樣的肉，這叫「貼秋膘」。

往期精彩

◉ 赤日幾時過，清風無處尋•大暑

◉ 倏忽溫風至，因循小暑來•小暑

◉ 清酣暑雨不緣求，猶似梅黃麥欲秋•夏至

◉ 麥芒種初過雨及時，紗櫥睡起角巾欹•芒種

◉ 麥穗初齊稚子嬌，桑葉正肥蠶食飽•小滿

◉ 四時天氣促相催，一夜薰風帶暑來•立夏

◉ 紅紫妝林綠滿池，遊絲飛絮兩依依•穀雨

◉ 況是清明好天氣，不妨游衍莫忘歸• 清明

◉ 春分雨腳落聲微，柳岸斜風帶客歸 • 春分

◉ 雷動風行驚蟄戶，天開地辟轉鴻鈞• 驚蟄

◉ 天將化雨舒清景，萌動生機待綠田 • 雨水

◉ 從此雪消風自軟，梅花合讓柳條新 • 立春

◉ 當「大寒」遇到小年，今天，他們在一起了~

◉ 今天是The Lesser Cold (小寒)