From End to Beginning: The Way of Culmination and Return in the Great Cold Solar Term
This article offers a deep reading of Great Cold (Dahan), the final of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms, drawing on pre-Qin Confucian and Daoist philosophy, etymological analysis, and astronomical and phenological traditions. It reveals the dialectic of extreme cold and returning spring, the cyclic principle that every ending harbors a new beginning, and illuminates the late-winter rites of the Grand Nuo exorcism and the clay ox ceremony—inviting the reader into the ancients' cosmic wisdom of 'tracing origins by returning to endings' and the eternal circle of ceaseless renewal.
Chapter Twelve: The Grand Nuo and the Rite of Seeing Off the Cold: The Ceremony of Driving Out Pestilence and Welcoming Spring in the Final Month of Winter
I. "Command the Officials to Perform the Grand Nuo, Sacrifice at the Four Gates, Send Forth the Clay Oxen, to See Off the Cold"
The final month of winter in which Great Cold falls has a series of critically important, highly distinctive rites, collectively embodying the ancients' spirit of "driving out the old year and welcoming the new spring." The Monthly Ordinances of the Record of Rites, in prescribing the final month's governance, includes this crucial sentence:
"Command the officials to perform the Grand Nuo, sacrifice at the four gates, send forth the clay oxen, to see off the cold."
This single line encompasses three major year-end rites: the "Grand Nuo," the "sacrifice at the four gates" (pang zhe), and the "sending forth of clay oxen," all serving the overarching purpose of "seeing off the cold"--bidding farewell to the old year's cold, welcoming the new year's spring yang. Let us examine each.
II. The Grand Nuo: The Year-End Rite of Driving Out Pestilence
The "Grand Nuo" (da nuo) was the most solemn, most magnificent year-end ceremony of exorcism and spirit-driving. "Nuo" is an ancient rite aimed at expelling plague spirits; it was performed several times a year (such as the "State Nuo" in late spring and the "Son of Heaven's Nuo" in mid-autumn), but the "Grand Nuo" at year's end in the final month of winter was the largest and most solemn, hence called "Grand."
Why hold the most magnificent exorcism rite at year's end (the final month of winter, the month of Great Cold)$1 The logic is profound. First, year's end is the gateway between old and new year; the ancients believed that all the accumulated evils and pestilential energies of the old year must be thoroughly expelled before the new year arrives, so that one could welcome the new spring with a purified body--this is "bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new" in ritual form. Second, winter (especially deep winter) was the season most prone to disease; the Grand Nuo served the practical function of averting calamity and praying for blessings.
The Rites of Zhou, "Officers of Summer," records the central figure of the Grand Nuo ceremony--the Fangxiangshi (Master of Ceremonies): "The Fangxiangshi is charged with wearing a bearskin, a mask with four golden eyes, black robes and red lower garments, wielding a halberd and brandishing a shield, leading a hundred attendants in the seasonal Nuo, searching rooms and driving out pestilence." The Fangxiangshi draped himself in bearskin, wore a mask with four golden eyes, dressed in black upper robes and red lower garments, held a halberd and raised a shield, and led a host of attendants in the Nuo ceremony, going from room to room searching out and expelling plague spirits.
What a ferocious, what a primordially powerful scene! "Wearing bearskin"--borrowing the fierce beast's might; "four golden eyes"--four golden eyes to perceive all hidden evils; "black robes and red garments"--black (xuan) echoing winter's Water Virtue, red (zhu) to ward off evil and expel yin; "wielding halberd and brandishing shield"--bearing weapons to combat plague spirits. The Fangxiangshi leads his retinue to "search rooms and drive out pestilence," ferreting out plague spirits lurking in corners and expelling them from the dwelling--this is the core ceremony of the year-end Grand Nuo's "driving out the old year's evils."
III. The Deeper Significance of the Grand Nuo: The Contest of Yin and Yang, Expelling Yin to Welcome Yang
The Grand Nuo's deeper significance goes far beyond "driving out ghosts and averting calamity"--it is a cosmic ceremony symbolizing "the contest of yin and yang" and "expelling yin to welcome yang."
We know that Great Cold is the time of yin-qi at its extreme, with yang-qi just emerging (the Lin hexagram's two yang). The year-end's "plague spirits," "evils," and "cold qi," on the symbolic plane, are incarnations of the excessive "yin-qi" about to exit the stage. The Grand Nuo--in which the Fangxiangshi leads his retinue, wielding a fierce beast's power (bearskin), the eyes of light (golden eyes), the color of solar yang (red garments), and weapons of force (halberd and shield) to drive out plague spirits (yin evil, cold qi)--on the symbolic plane, is a ceremony of "using yang to expel yin," "using the new to drive out the old": human power is marshaled to echo, assist, and complete the great transformation of "yang displacing yin" and "spring replacing winter" already underway between heaven and earth.
Note especially the Grand Nuo's stated purpose--"to see off the cold." These three characters, "see off the cold" (song han qi), reveal the Nuo's essence: it is not merely about driving out ghosts, but about "seeing off the cold"--respectfully escorting the old year's excessive cold qi (yin-qi) on its way, thereby making room for the new year's spring yang. The Grand Nuo is therefore a ceremony of "seeing off the cold and welcoming spring"--it follows Great Cold's cosmic trend of "yin at its extreme about to recede, yang-qi about to flourish," and through solemn human ritual, respectfully sends off yin-cold and welcomes spring yang. Through the Grand Nuo, people actively, ritually participate in heaven and earth's "extreme cold, returning spring" cycle, becoming allies and celebrants of this great transformation.
IV. Sacrifice at the Four Gates and the Sending Forth of Clay Oxen: Averting Evil and Welcoming Spring
Besides the Grand Nuo, the final month's Monthly Ordinances includes two further rites: the "sacrifice at the four gates" (pang zhe) and the "sending forth of clay oxen" (chu tu niu).
"Sacrifice at the four gates" (pang zhe)--"zhe" is an ancient sacrificial practice of splitting apart animal offerings to avert evil forces; "pang zhe" means performing this sacrifice at the four quarters (each direction and gate of the city), to avert evil qi and pestilence from all four sides. This complements the Grand Nuo's "searching rooms and driving out pestilence"--one operates indoors (the Grand Nuo), the other across the four quarters (the sacrifice at the gates), combining inner and outer efforts to thoroughly cleanse the old year's harmful energies. Its spirit, too, is "bidding farewell to the old"--purging all the old year's inauspiciousness so as to welcome the new spring in purity.
"Sending forth the clay oxen, to see off the cold"--this is a rite of great depth and beauty, a ceremony of "welcoming spring and seeing off the cold." "Clay oxen" (tu niu) are oxen fashioned from earth and clay. Why "send forth" (make and display) clay oxen at year's end$2 This relates to an important agricultural spring-welcoming custom.
The ox is fundamental to farming--"ox-plowing" is the core of agricultural production. At the year-end Great Cold, with Start of Spring and the coming year's spring plowing not far away, "sending forth the clay oxen" symbolically announces "spring plowing approaches" and "agricultural work is about to revive," reminding people that winter storage is nearly over and spring labor is about to begin, and they should start preparing for the new year's planting. Simultaneously, "sending forth clay oxen to see off the cold" symbolizes using "the ox of spring plowing" to escort away "the cold of bitter winter": the ox belongs to farming and to spring labor; the clay ox's emergence signifies that spring's power (agriculture, growth) is taking the stage, and winter's power (bitter cold, concealment) is about to exit. This directly foreshadows the later famous custom of "beating the spring ox" (bian chun) on the day of Start of Spring.
V. The Deep Meaning of Ritual: Humanity's Solemn Participation in Heaven's Cycling
Viewing the entire suite of rites for the final month of winter's Great Cold--the Grand Nuo, sacrifice at the four gates, sending forth clay oxen--what we see is the ancients' solemn participation in the great cycle of "extreme cold, returning spring" and "when things end, they begin again."
These rites were by no means meaningless superstition. Their deep logic is "the unity of heaven and humanity" (tian ren he yi)--humanity is not a mere spectator of Heaven's cycling, but a participant. When the Way of Heaven reaches the Great Cold juncture of "extreme cold about to recede, yang-qi about to flourish," people respond with the Grand Nuo to "see off the cold," the gate-sacrifice to "avert evil," and the clay ox to "welcome spring"--actively, ritually echoing and assisting this transformation. Through these rites, people inject their own will, their prayers, their strength into heaven and earth's great process of "bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new."