End of Heat Health: Summer-Heat Departs, Coolth Comes — Nurture the Lung, Moisten Dryness, Prevent Autumn Fatigue
First pentad: hawks offer birds in sacrifice; second: Heaven and Earth begin to purify; third: the grain ripens — when the heat departs and the coolth comes, the way of nurturing gathering enters its finest hour.
「End of Heat, the middle of the seventh month. Shu means heat. Heat is divided into greater and lesser; the first node is the lesser heat, the middle node is the greater heat; at this time the heat is about to stop.」 (「处暑,七月中。暑,热也。就热之中分为大小,月初为暑之小,月中为暑之大,今则暑气将止也。」)
— Wu Cheng, Monthly Ordinances of the Seventy-Two Pentads (《月令七十二候集解》, Yuan dynasty)
「‘Chu’ (处) means ‘to stop’. The summer-heat stops here.」 (「处,止也。暑气至此而止矣。」)
— Wang Xiangjin, Qunfang Pu (《群芳谱》, 1621, Ming dynasty)
I. The Meaning of the Term: When Heat Stops and Coolth Comes — “Chu”
1. Astronomy and Season
End of Heat (Chushu, 处暑) is the fourteenth of the twenty-four solar terms. The sun reaches celestial longitude 150°, and the node falls on 22–24 August.
“Chu” (处) means “to stop” — the summer-heat stops here; hence the name “End of Heat.” Wang Xiangjin of the Ming, in Qunfang Pu (1621), explains the name:
「‘Chu’ (处) means ‘to stop’. The summer-heat stops here.」
At End of Heat, the San-Fu (three hidden heats) are also drawing to a close — “Final San-Fu” mostly comes after Start of Autumn, while “coming out of the San-Fu” occurs around End of Heat — End of Heat and “coming out of the San-Fu” follow one another, the heat stops and the coolth comes, and this is the turning point of “summer → autumn.”
2. The Three Pentads
| Pentad | Phenomenon | Explanation (after Monthly Ordinances of the Seventy-Two Pentads) |
|---|---|---|
| First | Hawks Offer Birds in Sacrifice (鹰乃祭鸟) | 「The hawk, a righteous bird; autumn’s command belongs to metal; the five phases are purifying and killing; the hawk feels this qi and begins to seize the many birds, displaying them outside the nest to acknowledge those it has eaten first.」 |
| Second | Heaven and Earth Begin to Purify (天地始肃) | 「‘Su’ (肃) means purification. The qi of Heaven and Earth here begins its purification.」 |
| Third | The Grain Ripens (禾乃登) | 「‘He’ (禾) is the general name for grain; ‘deng’ (登) means ripe; millet, glutinous millet, rice, and millet all ripen at this pentad.」 |
Within the three pentads, “hawks offer birds in sacrifice” marks the “purification of autumn qi” — the hawk senses metal-qi and strikes, and the “offering” is “displayed to acknowledge what was first”; “Heaven and Earth begin to purify” intimates “purification” — “肃” (sù) means “gathering, restraining, killing, cutting”; “Heaven and Earth begin to purify” means “the beginning of ‘gathering.’” “The grain ripens” then “responds to ‘gathering’“ — the ten thousand things here are “gathered in”; the five grains bring their harvest.
II. Classical Theory: From “Nurturing Growth” to “Nurturing Gathering”
1. The Practical Realization of “The Way of Nurturing Gathering”
End of Heat sits at the “connecting point” of “Start of Autumn → End of Heat → White Dew” — Start of Autumn is “the beginning of autumn qi”; End of Heat is “the stopping of summer-heat, the advancing of autumn qi”; White Dew is “the congealing of dew”. After End of Heat, the “way of nurturing gathering” enters its finest hour.
The “way of nurturing gathering” set forth in the Suwen · Great Treatise on the Four Qi has already been fully set out in the “Start of Autumn” chapter; End of Heat is the “concrete realization” of “nurturing gathering”:
- 🟢 “Gather in the spirit-qi” → keep the will at peace and ease;
- 🟢 “Keep the lung-qi clear” → nurture the lung and moisten dryness;
- 🟢 “Retire early and rise early” → with the roosters;
- 🟢 “Increase sour and reduce pungent” → nurture yin and moisten the lung.
2. The Mechanism of “Autumn Fatigue”
“Autumn Fatigue” is the fatigue of the “summer → autumn” transition. Its mechanism is already made clear in the Suwen · Treatise on the Generation and Connection of Life and the Hostile Manifestations of Heaven (《素问·生气通天论》):
「When autumn injures by damp, qi rises counterflow and there is cough; it issues as wei and jue.」
Yu Chang of the Qing, in Yimen Falu (《医门法律》, 1658):
「When autumn injures by dryness, the lung loses its purification, and there is cough, panting, vexation-thirst, flaccidity and reversal.」
The “autumn fatigue” of End of Heat has four pathological mechanisms:
| Mechanism | Manifestation |
|---|---|
| Summer-damp not yet cleared | Heavy limbs, head heavy as if wrapped |
| Autumn-dryness just arising | Dry throat and mouth, itchy dry skin |
| Yang qi gathering inward | Fatigue and drowsiness, low mood |
| Spleen and stomach weakness | Poor appetite, distension and fullness in the pit of the stomach |
The cultivation of autumn fatigue requires a multi-pronged approach: nurture the lung, fortify the spleen, moisten dryness, increase sour.
3. A Further Note on “Do Not Eat Melons in Autumn”
The rationale of “no melons in autumn” was discussed in the “Start of Autumn” chapter; at “End of Heat” this rationale is especially important — after “End of Heat” the weather bears the name of “heat” but the substance of “coolth”; “heat” is already a name without substance, and the harm of cold-and-cool melons and fruits is far greater than at Start of Autumn.
Chen Zhi of the Song dynasty, in Shouqin Yanglao Xinshu (《寿亲养老新书》, completed in the Song, continued and supplemented by Zou Xuan of the Yuan):
「In the three months of autumn, lung-metal takes charge of affairs; one’s diet should reduce pungent and increase sour, to nurture the liver-qi. … Melons and fruits that are raw and cold should not be taken in excess, lest in autumn one suffer dysentery or sudden turmoil.」
III. Four Essentials for End-of-Heat Health
1. Daily Life: Early to Bed, Early to Rise, with Restraint in “Spring Bundle, Autumn Freeze”
Cao Tingdong of the Qing, in Lao Lao Heng Yan (1773):
「One may add clothes when one should; when one feels hot, reduce them. Do not be excessively cold; do not be excessively warm. … Generally, in spring one should be unhurried; in autumn one should be prompt; what is meant by ‘prompt’ is that one must not add them all at once.」
The core of “Autumn Freezing” is “do not rush to add clothing” — let the mechanism of yang-qi gathering inward settle “gradually” and “of itself”; to “add all at once” makes “sweating meets the wind” and instead invites “external cold.”
- 🟢 “Freezing” with measure: “do not rush to add” does not mean “never add” — at early morning and before sleep, “adding one layer” is essential;
- 🟢 “Freezing” with timing: “Autumn Freezing” is most suitable from Start of Autumn to End of Heat; after “Frost’s Descent” one should not continue to “freeze”;
- 🟢 “Freezing” with place: the three places — “head and neck, ankles, navel” — must not be “frozen.”
Gao Lian, in Zunsheng Bajian:
「In autumn, the weather is purifying; when lying down, one should close the windows, not letting the wind enter; rising early, put on a robe; walk a few steps slowly, so that the lung-qi may flow freely.」
2. Emotions: Keep the Will at Peace, “Greeting Autumn” to Open the Breast
The “purification” of “Autumn’s Punishment” easily makes people “sad.” The Suwen · Treatise on the Elucidation of the Five Qi (《素问·宣明五气篇》): 「When essence-qi converges with the lung, there is grief.」; The Lingshu · Benshen (《灵枢·本神》): 「When the liver is injured by grief and sorrow stirring within, the hun (ethereal soul) is injured.」
The folk-custom of “greeting autumn” originates in the pre-Qin period. The Liji · Monthly Ordinances (《礼记·月令》): 「In the last month of autumn … on the first ding day, command the music-master to enter the school to practise blowing.」; Wu Zimu of the Song, in Mengliang Lu (《梦粱录》): 「On the seventh evening of the seventh month … (middle omitted) … in the eighth month, the autumn she and the autumn excursions.」
Around “End of Heat” the folk have the custom of “going out to greet autumn” — climbing high, taking long walks, watching the harvest, admiring chrysanthemums, using “autumn activity” to “open the breast.”
Gong Tingxian, in Shoushi Baoyuan:
「In the month of autumn one should keep the heart at peace and nurture by stillness; moderate desire and look inward. If one indulges in pleasure and seeks amusement, straining the spirit to the utmost, this is to destroy oneself.」
The “Three Dos” of End-of-Heat Emotional Regulation:
- 🟢 “Climb high to open the breast” — at Yanjing (Beijing), the Double Ninth climb-high derives its ancient meaning from “the autumn climb”;
- 🟢 “Stand by the pool to watch fish” — at End of Heat one watches fish by the pool; “the fish are happy” and “the person is happy”;
- 🟢 “Listen to the qin to enter stillness” — of the five notes, “shang” (商) corresponds to metal; “the shang note” nurtures “the lung.”
3. Diet: Nurture the Lung and Moisten Dryness; Fortify the Spleen and Boost the Qi
The “two prongs” of End-of-Heat dietary cultivation are “nurturing the lung and moistening dryness” and “fortifying the spleen and boosting the qi.”
🌿 “Increasing Sour and Reducing Pungent” Continued
The rationale of “increasing sour and reducing pungent” was discussed in the “Start of Autumn” chapter; the “increase” of End of Heat takes “moistening dryness” as the chief concern.
Seasonal Sour Ingredients:
| Ingredient | Nature-Flavor | Function | Canonical Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black Plum (乌梅) | Sour, astringent, level | Gathers the lung and astringes the intestines; generates fluids and stops thirst | Bencao Gangmu: 「gathers the lung and astringes the intestines; stops chronic cough, chronic dysentery, and deficiency heat.」 |
| Hawthorn (山楂) | Sour, sweet, slightly warm | Disperses food accumulation and transforms stagnation; quickens the blood and disperses stasis | Bencao Gangmu: 「transforms food and drink; disperses meat accumulation; zheng-jia (masses), phlegm-rheum, glomus and fullness, sour-swallowing, stagnant blood painful distension.」 |
| Grape (葡萄) | Sweet, sour, level | Supplements qi and blood; strengthens the sinews and bones; disinhibits urination | Shennong Bencao Jing: 「governs damp-impediment of sinews and bones; boosts qi and multiplies strength; strengthens the will; makes people fat, vigorous, and hunger-enduring.」 |
| Pomegranate (石榴) | Sweet, sour, warm | Generates fluids and stops thirst; gathers and secures | Bencao Gangmu: 「stops diarrhoea and dysentery, descent of blood, prolapse of the rectum, flooding and vaginal discharge.」 |
| Apple (苹果) | Sweet, cool | Generates fluids and moistens the lung; dispels vexation and resolves summer-heat | Suixi Bujian Yinshi Pu: 「Moistens the lung and pleases the heart; generates fluids and opens the stomach; revives from drunkenness.」 |
| Bayberry (杨梅) | Sour, sweet, warm | Generates fluids and stops thirst; disperses food and resolves summer-heat | Bencao Gangmu: 「Preserved in salt, eaten, dispels phlegm and stops vomiting and retching; disperses food and takes wine down.」 |
🌿 “Items that Moisten Dryness and Nurture the Lung”
Suixi Bujian Yinshi Pu (Qing, Wang Mengying):
「Pear, sweet and cool. Moistens the lung and clears the stomach; cools the heart and washes away heat; calms wind and transforms phlegm; nourishes yin and moistens dryness; disperses binds and frees the intestines; disperses swelling-abscesses; stops vexation-thirst; resolves the toxins of cinnabar-stone, coal-smoke, roasting, rich grease, and fermenting grain. Treats wind-strike with inability to speak, phlegm-heat, fright-madness, warm-summer-heat, and zhu-xia with various heats.」
「Sugarcane, sweet and cool. Clears heat and moistens dryness; revives from drunkenness and transforms phlegm; benefits the throat and stops dry retching; nourishes blood and harmonizes the stomach; greatly resolves heat-toxin.」
🌿 “Items that Fortify the Spleen and Boost the Qi”
After “End of Heat”, the folk-custom of “Sticking Autumn Fat” and the medical principle of “Fortify the Spleen and Boost the Qi” go hand in hand.
Seasonal Spleen-Fortifying Ingredients:
| Ingredient | Nature-Flavor | Function | Classic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Longan (龙眼) | Sweet, warm | Supplements and boosts the heart and spleen; nourishes blood and calms the spirit | Shennong Bencao Jing: 「governs evil qi of the five viscera; calms the will; satisfies hunger; long-taken strengthens the hun and makes one wise.」 |
| Lotus Seed (莲子) | Sweet, astringent, level | Supplements the spleen and stops diarrhoea; boosts the kidney and secures the essence | Bencao Gangmu: 「joins heart and kidney; thickens the stomach and intestines; secures essence-qi; strengthens the sinews and bones.」 |
| Chinese Yam (山药) | Sweet, level | Supplements the spleen and nourishes the stomach; generates fluids and boosts the lung | Shennong Bencao Jing: 「governs injury to the center; supplements deficiency; eliminates cold-heat evil qi; supplements the center and boosts qi and strength; lengthens the muscles; long-taken makes the ears and eyes keen.」 |
| Fox Nut (芡实) | Sweet, astringent, level | Boosts the kidney and secures the essence; supplements the spleen and stops diarrhoea | Bencao Gangmu: 「stops thirst and boosts the kidney; treats urinary incontinence, seminal emission, white turbidity, and vaginal discharge.」 |
| Chestnut (栗子) | Sweet, warm | Nurtures the stomach and fortifies the spleen; supplements the kidney and strengthens the sinews | Mingyi Bie Lu (《名医别录》): 「governs the boosting of qi; thickens the stomach and intestines; supplements kidney-qi; makes one able to endure hunger.」 |
🌿 End-of-Heat Recipes
One: Longan and Lotus-Seed Porridge
「Longan flesh fifteen pieces; lotus seed twenty pieces; jingmi (polished round-grain rice) two he; cook together as porridge; one small bowl daily; nurtures the heart and calms the spirit; supplements the spleen and boosts the qi.」
Two: Autumn Pear Syrup (Qiu Li Gao) The method of “Autumn Pear Syrup” appears in the Qing Bencao Qiuyuan (《本草求原》, 1848), and autumn pear is the “correct treatment” for “autumn dryness.”
「Take fresh pears ten jin; pound to juice; simmer over a slow fire to syrup; add bei (fritillaria), maidong (ophiopogon), kuandonghua (coltsfoot), and a little rock sugar; collect the syrup; take one spoonful daily; moistens the lung and stops cough; transforms phlegm and levels panting.」
Three: Lily and White-Fungus Sweet Soup
「Lily bulb two liang; white fungus half a liang; lotus seed twenty pieces; a little rock sugar; simmer over a slow fire until thick; one small bowl daily; moistens the lung and nourishes the yin; calms the heart and settles the spirit.」
Four: Sour Plum Decoction (Suanmeitang) (suitable from Start of Autumn through End of Heat) After Qing-dynasty Zhu Yizun, Shixian Hongmi (1698) (see the “Greater Heat” chapter for details).
4. Movement: Daoyin and Anqiao, “with Gathering as the Mark”
The movement of “End of Heat” takes “gathering as the mark” — it should not be “the discharging of summer”, but should favour “exhalation and inhalation, Daoyin, walking, Eight Pieces of Brocade”, with “gathering the essence and qi internally, stretching the sinews and bones.”
Xu Lingtai, in Yixue Yuanliu Lun:
「In the month of autumn one should nurture by stillness; great sweating and great labour are not suitable.」
The End-of-Heat Sitting Exercise (after Gao Lian, Zunsheng Bajian):
「The circulation is governed by the fourth qi of Taiyin; the hour corresponds to Foot-Shaoyang Gallbladder (Minister-Fire). Each day at chou and yin hours (1–5 a.m.), sit upright; turn the head left and right; reverse both hands to strike the back; each side five to seven times; click the teeth, exhale and inhale, swallow the saliva.」
The principle: “Turn the head left and right” — “moving the pivot of Shaoyang”; “Reverse the hands to strike the back” — “strengthening Feishu and settling panting”; “Click the teeth, exhale and inhale, swallow the saliva” — “securing kidney-essence and nurturing lung-qi.”
IV. Channel Care: Acupoints for Nurturing the Lung and Moistening Dryness
The channel care of “End of Heat” is much the same as that of “Start of Autumn”, with greater emphasis on “moistening” and “gathering.”
| Point | Location | Function | Classic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feishu (肺俞, Lung Shu, Bladder Channel) | Below the spinous process of the 3rd thoracic vertebra, 1.5 cun lateral | Regulates lung-qi, stops cough and panting | Zhenjiu Jiayijing: 「When lung-qi is hot and one cannot lie down to breathe, Feishu governs.」 |
| Gaohuang (膏肓, Vital Region, Bladder Channel) | Below the spinous process of the 4th thoracic vertebra, 3 cun lateral | Supplements deficiency-labor; nurtures lung-qi | Qianjin Yaofang (《千金要方》): 「The Gaohuang point treats everything; moxibustion makes one’s yang-qi flourish.」 |
| Zusanli (足三里, Three Miles of the Foot, Stomach Channel) | 3 cun below the outer eye of the knee, one finger-breadth lateral to the tibia | Fortifies the spleen and harmonizes the stomach; boosts qi | Lingshu · Four-Season Qi: 「When evil is in the spleen and stomach, all are regulated at the Three Miles.」 |
| Taixi (太溪, Supreme Stream, Kidney Channel, Yuan-Source point) | In the depression between the tip of the medial malleolus and the Achilles tendon | Enriches kidney-yin, moistens lung-dryness | Ba Mai Ba Xue Zhi Zheng Ge: 「For dry throat, Zhaohai and Taixi.」 |
“Feishu + Gaohuang + Zusanli” are the “three essential points” of “End of Heat” — Feishu and Gaohuang “nurture the lung”, and Zusanli “fortifies the spleen”; the three points used together realize “earth engendering metal” (fortifying the spleen to nurture the lung).
V. Common Ailments at the Season and Their Care
1. The Continuation of “Warm-Dryness Cough”
The “warm-dryness cough” was discussed in the “Start of Autumn” chapter (Sang Xing Tang); after “End of Heat”, “warm-dryness” gradually transforms into “cool-dryness” — the “cool-dryness” signs of “headache, body cold-and-hot, pain in the chest and hypochondrium, in severe cases pain in shan-jia”, treated with “Xing Su San” (杏苏散).
Wu Jutong, in Wenbing Tiaobian (1798), “Xing Su San”:
「Perilla leaf, apricot kernel, qianhu (peucedanum), fuling (poria), pinellia, tangerine peel, gancao (glycyrrhiza), bitter orange, platycodon, fresh ginger, jujube. Treats cool-dryness injuring the lung; headache, body cold-and-hot, aversion to cold with no sweat, nasal congestion and dry throat, cough with thin phlegm.」
2. The Care of “Autumn Fatigue”
The “cure” of “autumn fatigue”: “Fortifying the spleen and boosting the qi” is the “treating the root” — “Shenling Baizhu San” (Song Taiping Huimin Heji Jufang), “Buzhong Yiqi Wan” (Jin Li Dongyuan, Pi Wei Lun, 1249) all serve; “treating the branch” is “Nurturing the lung and moistening dryness” — “Shengmai San” (Jin Zhang Yuansu, Yixue Qiyuan), “Baihe Maidong Tang”.
3. The Care of “Autumn Diarrhoea”
After “End of Heat”, “autumn diarrhoea” is common, “Huoxiang Zhengqi San” and “Shenling Baizhu San” are the “must-have remedies” of “End of Heat.”
VI. A Note on the Folk-Customs: Going Out to Greet Autumn and the Longan Festival
Around “End of Heat”, the folk have the custom of “going out to greet autumn” — “climb high and take long walks,” “watch the harvest and admire the chrysanthemums,” “eat longan” (Fujian, Guangdong), “eat duck” (Nanjing), “longan with rice-wine” (Wenzhou), and the like.
The longan festival of “End of Heat”, joins with the Chinese medical theory of “supplementing and boosting the heart and spleen” — after “End of Heat”, “autumn fatigue” appears, and there are many people with “heart-spleen dual deficiency”, and longan’s “supplementing and boosting the heart and spleen” perfectly fits “the season.”
VII. Bibliography (selected)
- Huangdi Neijing · Suwen · Great Treatise on the Four Qi and the Regulation of the Spirit (《素问·四气调神大论》)
- Huangdi Neijing · Suwen · Treatise on the Elucidation of the Five Qi (《素问·宣明五气篇》), Treatise on the Generation and Connection of Life and the Hostile Manifestations of Heaven (《素问·生气通天论》), Treatise on the Six Regulatory and the Manifestations of the Viscera (《素问·六节藏象论》), Treatise on the Viscera-Qi and the Four Seasons (《素问·脏气法时论》)
- Lingshu · Benshen (《灵枢·本神》), Lingshu · Channel Vessels (《灵枢·经脉》), Lingshu · Four-Season Qi (《灵枢·四时气》)
- Nanjing · The Sixty-Eighth Difficulty (《难经·六十八难》)
- Shennong Bencao Jing
- Mingyi Bie Lu, Tao Hongjing (Liang dynasty)
- Zhenjiu Jiayijing, Huangfu Mi (259)
- Xinxiu Bencao (Tang Materia Medica), Su Jing et al. (659)
- Qianjin Yaofang, Sun Simiao (652)
- Chong Guang Buzhu Huangdi Neijing Suwen, Wang Bing (762)
- Taiping Huimin Heji Jufang, Chen Shiwen et al. (1078–1107) — source of “Shenling Baizhu San”
- Shouqin Yanglao Xinshu, Chen Zhi (Song, original) / Zou Xuan (Yuan, continued and supplemented) (1307)
- Yixue Qiyuan, Zhang Yuansu (Jin) — source of “Shengmai San”
- Pi Wei Lun, Li Dongyuan (Jin) (1249) — source of “Buzhong Yiqi Wan”
- Monthly Ordinances of the Seventy-Two Pentads, Wu Cheng (Yuan)
- Bencao Gangmu, Li Shizhen (1578)
- Qunfang Pu, Wang Xiangjin (Ming) (1621) — source of “the summer-heat stops here”
- Bencao Huiyan, Ni Zhumo (1624)
- Bencao Zaixin, Ye Gui (Qing, c. 1750)
- Zunsheng Bajian, Gao Lian (Ming) (1591)
- Zhenjiu Dacheng, Yang Jizhou (1601)
- Shoushi Baoyuan, Gong Tingxian (Ming) (1615)
- Leijing, Zhang Jiebin (Ming) (1624)
- Bencao Beiyao, Wang Ang (Qing) (1694)
- Zhangshi Yitong, Zhang Lu (Qing) (1695)
- Shixian Hongmi, Zhu Yizun (Qing) (1698) — source of the “Sour Plum Decoction”
- Yimen Falu, Yu Chang (Qing) (1658)
- Lao Lao Heng Yan, Cao Tingdong (Qing) (1773)
- Wenbing Tiaobian, Wu Jutong (Qing) (1798) — source of “Xing Su San” and “Sang Xing Tang”
- Bencao Qiuyuan, Zhao Qiguang (Qing) (1848) — source of the “Autumn Pear Syrup” recipe
- Suixi Bujian Yinshi Pu, Wang Mengying (Qing) (1861)
- Shibing Lun, Lei Feng (Qing) (1882)
- Yanjing Suishi Ji, Fucha Dunzhong (Qing) (1906)
- Qingbai Leichao, Republican-era Xu Ke (1917)
- Mengliang Lu, Wu Zimu (Song)
Qihuang Library · Solar Term Health · At End of Heat the summer-heat stops and the coolth comes — the way of nurturing gathering enters its finest hour; nurture the lung and moisten dryness, to prevent autumn fatigue.