Zodiacrune

Qiufen 秋分 — Autumn Equinox

TermsElement: Metal 金

Overview

Qiufen falls around 23 September. Day and night are again equal and the sun crosses the equator southward. It is one of the four cardinal terms.

Meaning

The second equinox — equal light again, and the midpoint of autumn.

Traditional Interpretation

Together with Chunfen it forms the pair of balanced points in the year. The classical sources treat the two equinoxes as the moments of balance and the two solstices as the moments of extremity.

Related Concepts

Chunfen 春分 — Spring Equinox
The equinox — the day of equal light, and the midpoint of spring.
Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋
The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month — the moon at its fullest, and the festival of reunion.
Lichun 立春 — Start of Spring
The first of the twenty-four solar terms and the traditional beginning of the year in the calendrical sense.
Yushui 雨水 — Rain Water
The term at which precipitation replaces snow and the agricultural year begins in earnest.

FAQ

What is qiufen 秋分 — autumn equinox in the Chinese calendar?

The second equinox — equal light again, and the midpoint of autumn. Qiufen falls around 23 September. Day and night are again equal and the sun crosses the equator southward. It is one of the four cardinal terms.

Is qiufen 秋分 — autumn equinox a festival or a calendar date?

It is a solar term — a date fixed by the sun's position, not by the moon. The second equinox — equal light again, and the midpoint of autumn. The four cardinal terms are the ones that survive in the cosmological literature; the other twenty mostly survive in the farming almanac and in popular custom.

How is qiufen 秋分 — autumn equinox read in Chinese tradition?

Together with Chunfen it forms the pair of balanced points in the year. The classical sources treat the two equinoxes as the moments of balance and the two solstices as the moments of extremity. It is grouped under Metal (金) in the five-element system.

Explore more

All chinese culture · Symbol database · Free calculators

Personalized reading

Want this applied to your own chart?

The database explains the symbol. A reading connects it to your birth data — BaZi, Zi Wei, element balance, and the symbols that keep recurring.

See personalized readings →