Time to chill out

Ancient observation

In late autumn, frost falls. Its whiteness decorates reeds, the seeds of the foxtail grass and the tips of the thatch leaves, and covers the fields.

The words from the poem Jian Jia (Reeds) in Shijing (The Book of Songs), the oldest collection of Chinese poetry dating back to the Western Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-771 BC), highlight the nuanced observation of nature.

"Green, green the reed.

Dew and frost gleam.

Where's she I need.

Beyond the stream."

The poem portrays the dark before the dawn.

Folklore expert Xiao Fang explains: "Frost starting to appear on Frost's Descent originally reflects the climate of the Yellow River basin area, but in most parts of China, it is the day when cold weather truly arrives, and there is a folk saying that goes 'frost descends, move flowers into the house'."

Every year during this period after the late rice harvest, in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, villagers, who have worked for a year, hold the Zhuang Frost's Descent Festival. It was originally a ritual of the Zhuang people to reward nature and celebrate the harvest, expressing their good wishes for a bumper crop, and later it developed into a sacrifice to heroes interwoven with folk activities and cultural performances. The festival is popular in Tiandeng, Daxin, Debao, Jingxi, Napo counties in Guangxi, as well as in eastern parts of Yunnan province.

In 2014, the Zhuang Frost's Descent Festival was included into the national intangible cultural heritage representative list as an extension of the 24 solar terms.