What does the "flowing fire in July" in "The Book of Songs" refer to?

The weather is getting cooler.

Flowing Fire in July means that in the seventh month of the lunar calendar, when the weather turns cooler, when it gets dark, you can see big sparks falling from the west. Because people misunderstood "July" as July in the Gregorian calendar, "July Fire" is often mistaken for hot weather in modern times.

The "fire" referred to in July Liuhuo is not the fire-like weather, but the name of a star. "Fire" refers to the "big Mars", which the ancient Chinese called "Antares" ", "Liu" means "sinking westward".

Every year in late summer and early autumn, the position of Mars will gradually drop to the west of the night sky. Therefore, "Liuhuo" in July does not mean that the weather in July is as hot as "liuhuo", but it means that the weather is getting cooler day by day.

The original text of "Fire flowing in July"

The phrase "Fire flowing in July" comes from "The Book of Songs·Binfeng·July", the original text is: "Fire flowing in July, giving clothes in September" . On the first day, there is hair, and on the second day, the body is strong. How can one die without clothes or brown?

It means: In July, the big Mars sets to the west. In September, women begin to sew clothes to keep out the cold. In November, the cold wind blows, and the cold is severe at the age of 12. How should people without cotton-padded clothes celebrate the New Year?

This poem describes the life and labor of farmers in Bin State throughout the year. The whole poem was written starting from July, and unfolds each scene month by month according to the order of farming activities and using a straightforward narrative method. The poem uses the weekly calendar, which takes November of the Xia calendar (now the lunar calendar, also known as the lunar calendar) as the first month, and "July" is roughly equivalent to September and October of the Gregorian calendar.