🌿 Folk Prescriptions

After Great Heat, the season reaches Start of Autumn. Autumn is a time of solemnity, signaling the arrival of autumn. The almanac states: “When the constellation points to Southwest, it is Start of Autumn. Yin energy emerges from the earth, beginning to kill all things, following autumn’s instruction—harvest time.” At this point, the sun’s ecliptic longitude is 135 degrees. From this day onward, the sky is high and clear, the moon bright and the wind cool, temperatures gradually decrease. A folk saying goes: “On Start of Autumn, cool breezes arrive,” meaning Start of Autumn marks the beginning of the cool season. However, due to China’s vast territory and varying latitudes and altitudes, it is impossible for all regions to simultaneously enter the cool autumn on this single day. From a climatic perspective, Start of Autumn still carries lingering summer heat, with intense sunshine, especially in the days surrounding it—hence the nickname “Autumn Tiger.” Meteorological data shows this hot climate often persists until mid to late September before true coolness sets in.
Start of Autumn is especially important for farmers. A folk saying goes: “Thunder on Start of Autumn, half the harvest lost in winter.” “If Start of Autumn is sunny, farmers need not labor hard.” This means if thunder is heard on Start of Autumn, winter crops will be poor; if the day is sunny, favorable weather will prevail, ensuring no drought or flood, allowing farmers to await a bountiful harvest. Other sayings include: “If Start of Autumn is in the seventh lunar month, all crops will be harvested; if in the sixth, all will be lost.” “Before Start of Autumn, northerly winds mean rain after; after Start of Autumn, northerly winds mean dry riverbeds.” That is, if Start of Autumn falls in the seventh lunar month, grain crops can be expected to thrive; if in the sixth, crops won’t mature and will fail. Northerly winds before Start of Autumn predict rain afterward; northerly winds after indicate possible drought in winter.
In feudal China, there was a tradition of welcoming autumn. Each year on this day, emperors led officials to the outskirts to hold ceremonies welcoming autumn. This was also the season when soldiers began training for battle. Clearly, the weather on Start of Autumn is of great significance.
Start of Autumn marks the beginning of autumn. The "Guan Zi" records: “Autumn is when yin energy begins to descend, hence all things are gathered.” In autumn health preservation, the "Su Wen · Si Qi Tiao Shen Da Lun" states: “The four seasons and yin-yang are the root of all things. Thus, sages nourish yang in spring and summer, nourish yin in autumn and winter, following their roots. Thus, they float with all things in the gates of growth and development. Violating the root destroys the foundation and ruins the truth.” This is the ancient principle of seasonal regulation, warning people to follow the natural order of spring’s birth, summer’s growth, autumn’s harvest, and winter’s storage. To achieve longevity, one must follow and adhere to this natural rhythm. The entire natural world undergoes gradual change. Start of Autumn is a transitional solar term from heat to coolness, marking the shift from yang dominance to yin dominance—the period when all things mature and are harvested, and human yin-yang metabolism transitions from yang decline to yin increase. Therefore, autumn health preservation should follow the principle of “nourishing harvest.” Specifically, categorizing things by the Five Elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water) in traditional Chinese theory: five sounds (jiao, zhi, gong, shang, yu); five tastes (acid, bitter, sweet, pungent, salty); five colors (green, red, yellow, white, black); five transformations (birth, growth, transformation, harvest, storage); five energies (wind, heat, dampness, dryness, cold); five directions (east, south, center, west, north); five seasons (spring, summer, mid-summer, autumn, winter). In the human body: five zang organs (liver, heart, spleen, lung, kidney); six fu organs (gallbladder, small intestine, stomach, large intestine, bladder, triple burner); five orifices (eyes, tongue, mouth, nose, ears); five body forms (tendons, vessels, muscles, skin/hair, bones); five emotions (anger, joy, thought, grief, fear); five sounds (shout, laugh, sing, cry, groan). Thus, autumn corresponds internally to the lung, and the lung’s emotion is sorrow (grief). Grief easily harms the lung; lung qi deficiency reduces the body’s tolerance to adverse stimuli, making one prone to feelings of sorrow and grief. Therefore, during self-care, one must not deviate from natural laws, following ancient guidelines: “Let your will be tranquil, ease the severity of autumn, gather your spirit, allow autumn’s energy to be balanced; do not let your will scatter outward, keep the lung’s energy clear. This is the response to autumn’s energy, the way of nourishing harvest.”
1. Spiritual Care: Maintain inner tranquility, mental peace, and a cheerful mood. Avoid sorrow, worry, and sadness. Even when encountering sad events, actively release emotions to avoid the influence of autumn’s harshness. Simultaneously, gather your spirit to adapt to autumn’s balanced energy.
2. Daily Routine Care: Start of Autumn brings clear skies and cool air. Begin “going to bed early and rising early, rising with chickens.” Going to bed early aligns with the gathering of yang energy; rising early allows the lung’s energy to expand, preventing excessive contraction. Start of Autumn is the beginning of autumn, and summer heat has not yet fully dissipated. Though cool breezes occasionally arrive, weather changes unpredictably—even in the same region, one might experience “four seasons in a day, ten miles of different weather.” Thus, clothing should not be too thick, or it will impair the body’s ability to adapt to cooling weather, increasing susceptibility to colds.
3. Dietary Care: The "Su Wen · Zang Qi Fa Shi Lun" says: “The lung governs autumn... The lung contracts, so eat sour to consolidate it, use sour to tonify it, and use pungent to disperse it.” Thus, sour taste consolidates lung qi, pungent taste disperses and drains lung energy. Autumn favors consolidation over dispersion, so minimize consumption of pungent foods like scallions and ginger, and increase sour-flavored fruits and vegetables. During autumn, the lung (metal) dominates, and excessive lung energy may overcome liver (wood). Thus, the "Jin Kui Yao Lue" advises: “Do not eat lung in autumn.” Autumn is dominated by dryness, which easily injures body fluids, so diet should focus on nourishing yin and moistening the lungs. The "Yin Shan Zheng Yao" says: “Autumn is dry; eat sesame to moisten dryness, avoid cold drinks.” Some advocate eating raw rehmannia porridge in autumn to nourish yin and moisten dryness. In general, during autumn, one may appropriately consume soft, moist foods like sesame, glutinous rice, japonica rice, honey, loquat, pineapple, dairy products, etc., to benefit the stomach and generate body fluids.
4. Exercise Care: Entering autumn is an excellent time for various physical exercises. Each person can choose different activities based on their condition. Here is a recommended autumn health exercise: the “Autumn Breathing and Exhalation Fitness Method” from the "Dao Zang · Yu Zuo Jing." Specific steps: after morning hygiene, sit quietly with eyes closed indoors. First, clench teeth 36 times, then swirl the tongue in the mouth until saliva accumulates. Swish and rinse several times, swallow in three portions, directing the saliva to the dantian. Pause briefly, then perform slow abdominal breathing. Inhale deeply, licking the upper palate with the tongue, inhaling through the nose, mentally sending the breath to the dantian. Then slowly exhale through the mouth, silently chanting “xī” without vocalizing. Repeat 30 times. Practicing this regularly in autumn has beneficial effects on lung health and overall fitness.
Autumn Recipes:
Raw Rehmannia Porridge:
[Formula] 25 grams raw rehmannia, 75 grams rice, a small amount of sugar.
[Preparation] Wash fresh rehmannia, finely chop, boil with adequate water for about 30 minutes, strain out the juice. Repeat the process once more, combine both batches, reduce to 100 ml. Cook rice into white porridge, add the rehmannia juice while hot, stir well. Add sugar to taste before serving.
[Efficacy] Nourish yin, strengthen the stomach, cool blood, generate body fluids. This formula can also serve as a dietary remedy for tuberculosis and diabetes patients.

Processed Polygonatum Elbow:
[Formula] 9 grams polygonatum, 9 grams codonopsis, 5 jujubes, 750 grams pig elbow, 15 grams ginger, scallions as needed.
[Preparation] Slice polygonatum thinly, cut codonopsis into short pieces, place in a cloth bag and tie. Wash jujubes. Scald the pig elbow in boiling water to remove blood, then remove. Wash and smash ginger and scallions.
All ingredients are placed in a clay pot with adequate water, brought to a boil over high heat, skim off foam, then simmer over low heat until the broth is thick and the elbow is tender. Remove the herb bag, place the elbow, broth, and jujubes in a bowl.
[Efficacy] Tonify spleen and moisten lungs. Ideal for those with weak spleen and stomach, poor appetite, lung deficiency cough, and post-illness weakness.

Colorful Honey Pear Balls:
[Ingredients] 1 apple, 1 pear, half a pineapple, 10 bayberries, 10 water chestnuts, 1 lemon, appropriate amount of sugar.
[Preparation] Wash and peel apple, pear, and pineapple. Use a round ball scoop to hollow out spheres. Wash and peel water chestnuts, wash bayberries.
Add sugar to 50 ml of water, heat until dissolved, cool, then add lemon juice. Arrange the five fruits into a preferred pattern. Serve by pouring the syrup over the fruits.
[Efficacy] Generate body fluids, quench thirst, harmonize the stomach, aid digestion.

Pepper Vinegar Fish:
[Ingredients] 1 yellow croaker, coriander, scallions, ginger, ground Sichuan pepper, Shaojiu, sesame oil, monosodium glutamate, clear broth, white vinegar, salt, vegetable oil, etc.
[Preparation] Wash the yellow croaker, score with diagonal cuts. Wash and slice scallions and ginger. Heat oil in a wok, fry the fish on both sides until golden, remove and drain oil. Add a little oil to the wok, sauté ground Sichuan pepper and ginger briefly, then add clear broth, Shaojiu, salt, and fish. Simmer until fish is cooked, transfer to a deep dish, scatter scallion slices and coriander on top. Boil the remaining broth, add white vinegar, monosodium glutamate, and sesame oil, stir, and pour over the fish dish.
[Efficacy] Strengthen the spleen, stimulate appetite, enrich essence, boost qi.