What exactly is the time of Autumn Queen ?

When does the Autumn Queen ask the chop?

In ancient times, due to the backwardness of science and culture, people could not correctly explain certain phenomena in the natural world and human society, and believed that there was a creator who could control all things outside of human beings and all things in nature. Disasters, pestilences, auspicious fortunes, and good years are all given by God, so all human actions must be in accordance with Heaven's will. The establishment of officials and systems must not only be in harmony with the will of heaven, but also the punishment and pardon must not be contrary to the will of heaven.

Spring and summer are the seasons for all things to grow and grow, and autumn and winter are the seasons for slaughtering and hiding, and the ancients believed that this is the order and law of the universe, and the justice of the world should also adapt to the will of heaven and conform to the four seasons.

Dong Zhongshu (179 104 BC), a master of the Spring and Autumn Ram School of Confucianism in the middle of the Western Han Dynasty, inherited the Confucian idea of "the unity of heaven and man" and created a set of superstitious doctrines of "heaven and man induction". He believes that "there are four seasons in the sky, and the king has four politics, and celebration, reward, punishment, and punishment correspond to spring, summer, autumn, and winter." Providence is "to be virtuous and not to be punished", "virtue first and then punishment", so it should be rewarded in spring and summer, and executed in autumn and winter.

If you go against the will of Heaven, you will incur disasters and be punished by Heaven. Since then, the "autumn and winter executions" have been institutionalized by enshrined in the law.

In the Han Dynasty, the law and jin stipulated that torture and killing could only be carried out in autumn and winter, and no torture and killing could be carried out after the beginning of spring. The laws of the Tang and Song dynasties stipulate that from the beginning of spring to the autumn equinox, except for the crimes of rebellion and trilogy, slaves and maids killing their masters, other crimes shall not be executed in spring.

The Qing Dynasty stipulated that prisoners who should be executed after a court trial were also to be executed in the autumn.

During the Western Han Dynasty, the time of execution was in the lunar calendar.

Nine, ten, ten.

In December and December, in the Tang Dynasty, the time for the execution of the death penalty was set.

October, November and December. This rule of the Tang Dynasty was adopted by later generations until the end of the Qing Dynasty.

Although the system of "punishing autumn and winter" will not delay agricultural production (autumn and winter are generally idle days) and play a certain buffer effect on the wanton killing of rulers, its political essence is mainly that the feudal rulers use the will of heaven to carry out killing and punishment, indicating that the use of punishment is determined by the mandate of heaven and must not be disobeyed, so that the common people can bow their heads and let them be slaughtered, so that their rule can be consolidated. It is for this reason that in the event of a state of emergency or a major case that threatens its fundamental interests, the ruling class will be desperate to execute them on the basis of "immediate execution" and "never waiting for the time". For example, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Wuxu Reform failed, and on September 2, 1898, Tan Si and six other reformers** were reformers.

** Empress Dowager Cixi, without arraignment, sentenced these 6 people to death on September 28 at the Caishikou Execution Ground in Beijing.

Speaking of "Asking for Cutting after the Autumn", everyone must know it. However, what is the meaning behind the autumn post-chop, why didn't it change to the post-spring question or the summer post-chop?

First of all, the "autumn queen" in "Autumn Queen" refers to the autumn equinox, not the rock staring after the beginning of autumn. Why did the ancients stipulate that the execution time of the condemned prisoner was after the autumn equinox?

One: Conform to the will of God.

We all know that people in ancient times were very superstitious, at that time, due to the backwardness of science and culture, people believed that disasters, plagues, auspicious years, and good years were all given by God, so all people's actions should be in line with the will of heaven. In ancient times, rulers (emperors) called the Son of Heaven (sons of heaven) had to obey the will of Heaven in everything, not only to set up officials and establish systems in harmony with the will of Heaven, but also to torture and pardon not go against the will of Heaven. Dong Zhongshu of the Western Han Dynasty believed that "there are four times in the sky, and the king has four politics, and celebration, reward, punishment, and punishment correspond to spring, summer, autumn, and winter."

Providence is "to be virtuous and not to be punished", "virtue first and then punishment", so it should be rewarded in spring and summer, and executed in autumn and winter. Otherwise, you will incur calamity and be punished by Heaven. Therefore, the execution time in the Western Han Dynasty was in the lunar calendar.

Nine, ten, ten.

January, December; From the Tang Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, except for the crimes of rebellion and tribalism, and the killing of the master by slaves and maids, the punishment time for other crimes was set in the lunar calendar.

Ten, ten. January, December;

Second: inconvenient transportation.

In ancient times, once a condemned prisoner was sentenced, the crimes committed by the condemned prisoner, the evidence of the crime, the testimony dictated by the witnesses and other relevant materials would be written into a document and transferred to the relevant yamen (such as Dali Temple, Metropolitan Procuratorate, etc.) for review, so as not to cause unjust cases. In some cases, the prisoner will be escorted there. The ancient roads were not very good, and the means of transportation were not very fast.

However, in the process of escorting prisoners or documents, there is a delay due to the inconvenience of the road, weather conditions, etc.

Three: to show warning.

In ancient times, when a condemned prisoner was executed, the local government usually asked the public to go there to serve as a warning. And autumn happens to be the slack season, and the people have nothing to do, so it is convenient for the local ** to mobilize them.

We often see in costume dramas that the ancients would say "Autumn Queen" when trying criminals, and many people are very confused about which one exactly this Autumn Queen's Question and Punishment means. The more accepted saying is that after the autumnal equinox. The basis for its quotation is the "Book of Rites: The Month Order" "The cool breeze arrives, the white dew falls, the cicadas chirp, the eagle is a sacrificial bird, and the first line is killed".

But these people tend to ignore that the entry is listed in the "month of Mengqiu", that is, in July; The autumn equinox is the solar term of August, which should belong to the "mid-autumn moon" of the "Book of Rites and Monthly Order". The argument is clearly misused. Looking at some historical records, "Asking and Cutting after Autumn" specifically refers to the day of the beginning of winter.

In the Western Han Dynasty, Jingfang's book "Yi Zhan" clearly recorded that "the king of Dongqian was not thoughtful, and the king should be a border soldier, govern the city, and execute and convict the crime". Judging from the superficial meaning of the words "after autumn", after autumn, it is naturally not the time of autumn, and the time point of the end of autumn is the beginning of winter. This view is also supported by the origin of "asking for beheading after autumn".

It was clearly stated that the autumn and winter executions began in the Western Han Dynasty, and Dong Zhongshu put forward the idea of "the unity of heaven and man", that is, the harmony between personnel and heaven's will. In his doctrine, it is believed that "there are four seasons in the sky, and the king has four governments, and the celebration, reward, punishment, and punishment correspond to spring, summer, autumn, and winter." Because Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty listened to Dong Zhongshu's advice and implemented the practice of "deposing the hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone", this became the penal law of the Western Han Dynasty.

In fact, as early as the pre-Qin period, the "autumn and winter execution system" was implemented. According to the record of "Zhou Li", the prison punishment belongs to the jurisdiction of the chief priest of Qiuguan - the law of punishment and five punishments, and the crime of the people. After the Han Dynasty, the Wei and Jin dynasties followed the laws of the Han Dynasty, and the laws of the Tang and Song dynasties decreed that except for serious criminals, they were not allowed to be executed from the beginning of spring to the autumn equinox.

This provision was still used in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Judging from the relevant information, Sun Haojian was in the lunar calendar when he was executed during the Western Han Dynasty.

Nine, ten, ten.

January, December; The Tang Dynasty made it clear that from the tenth month of the lunar calendar, executions were only carried out in winter. "Huainanzi" contains: "In the month of Meng Qiu, there is a division of life, the legal system is repaired, the prison is imprisoned, the adultery is forbidden, the prison is judged, and the lawsuit is settled.

In the month of Meng Dong, there is a division of life, punishment is judged, killing is a crime, and those who violate the law will be punished". And the beginning of autumn is the October Festival, which is called the "month of Mengdong".

Finally, let's look for the source again, why is it the execution of Lidong (winter)? In ancient times, the so-called "spring birth, summer length, autumn harvest, winter storage", according to the law of the growth of all things, after autumn is the season of all things to kill, and conform to the laws of natural order. At the same time, according to the saying of the five elements, five colors and five directions, winter is "black, north, water", which are all related to ghosts and gods in traditional culture.

For example, the water official of the Emperor of the Three Officials "holds the book of ghosts and gods in the long night." Solve natural disasters and save the spirit of karma; Descend to the secluded and divide the way of people and ghosts. Survive and die".

The supreme deity of the Netherworld is the "Emperor of the Northern Yin". And black is the main yin.

Friends who often watch costume dramas should know that when ancient people executed prisoners and executed them, there would be an unwritten rule that if the prisoner was not a heinous crime and needed to be beheaded, other death row prisoners would be beheaded. This can't help but make people curious, why did the ancient queen ask for beheading? What does it mean to ask the autumn queen?

Is it time to wait for autumn to execute prisoners? What was the significance of the ancients in doing this?

There were many ways to execute the death penalty in ancient times, and the punishments in ancient times were particularly inhumane. However, the ancient death penalty is also similar to our modern death penalty, that is, if a prisoner is sentenced to death, they will not be executed immediately, unless it is a death row prisoner who commits rebellion and rebellion, and may be sentenced to be executed. This is a bit similar to our modern suspended execution, the only difference is that the ancient death penalty has no possibility of resurrection, and you have to die early and late anyway.

This unwritten rule originated in the Warring States Period, and it was recorded in the Warring States Period in the "Book of Rites and Moon Order" that the cool breeze arrived, the white dew fell, the cicadas chirped, the eagle was a sacrificial bird, and the first line was killed.

The meaning of this passage is that in autumn, when the weather becomes cooler, and the eagle begins to roam in the sky, catching birds everywhere to eat, this is also the best time for people to ask the prisoner to be killed. It can be seen from this that the ancients had a certain superstitious element in it.

Moreover, after the autumnal equinox, the days become shorter and the night hours increase. The ancients believed that this was the law of nature, and it was the will of heaven, so they chose to execute the death penalty after the autumn equinox, so that life ended in autumn, which also conforms to the principle of heaven's will.

In the end, the autumn queen asked to cut the account, but there was actually an autumn queen to settle accounts; meaning. Because autumn is the season of crop harvest, autumn is the time for the ancients to calculate the general account, and it is also suitable to choose to clean up some grievances and grievances after the autumn equinox.

This has to do with the ancient theocratic concept of nature. In spring and summer, everything grows, and in autumn and winter, the trees and trees wither, symbolizing slaughter. People's congratulatory behavior, including political activities, must conform to the times.

The emperor is the Son of Heaven, and he must act according to the time of day, and the same is true for the execution of prisoners.

After the autumn equinox, the days are getting shorter and shorter, and the nights are getting longer and longer. God replied that in ancient times, because of the imperfection of science, everything in people had to conform to the will of heaven, and the establishment of a government system must not only be combined with the will of heaven, but also the forgiveness could not be contrary to the will of heaven.

Hello dear, the autumn queen of autumn means after the autumn equinox, and the "autumn equinox" is the 16th solar term of the 24 solar terms of the lunar calendar. The climatological significance of the autumnal equinox is the same as that of the spring equinox, the summer solstice, and the winter solstice, when the sun moves to the ecliptic longitude of 180°, while the spring equinox, summer solstice, and winter solstice are located at the ecliptic longitude. Extended Resources:

The most amazing thing about the autumnal equinox is that the day and night are equinox, just like the spring equinox, and the opposite is that the days will get shorter and shorter after the autumnal equinox. The ancients were full of awe of such solar terms, and gradually formed a series of "autumn equinox phenomena" such as "autumn rising and annihilating brigades to sacrifice to the moon", "asking and cutting after autumn", "autumn equinox occupancy", "early lying and early rising". In ancient times, there has always been a saying of "asking after autumn", and the "autumn queen" here refers to after the autumn equinox, not after the beginning of autumn.