After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the weather gradually turned cooler. But Mount Luofu lay in the South of the Ridges, where warmth prevailed through most of the year and cold seldom lingered. Even as the days hastened toward the eleventh month, the whole of Luofu Grotto-Heaven remained lush and green, filled with birdsong and the fragrance of flowers.
Looking south as far as the eye could reach from Xing Yan's Thousand Birds Cliff, one could see only a few patches of woodland blazing crimson, set here and there amid the verdant expanse. Of course, the highest peaks, seldom visited by anyone, wore white snow all year round, layered with ice and frost.
The eleventh month held an important seasonal marker: the winter solstice, celebrated in the saying, "At winter's solstice, yang is born, and spring returns once more." On this day, daylight was shortest and shadows longest; afterward, the hours of daylight would steadily increase. For this reason, the calendar of the previous dynasty had designated the winter solstice as the beginning of the year. In Xing Yan's time, the common people regarded it as the "Lesser New Year." On that day, every household paid festive respects to its elders and the respected seniors of the neighborhood.
This Lesser New Year held even greater significance for the schools of Daoism. The winter solstice was the birthday of the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, foremost of the Three Pure Ones, whom all Daoist traditions acknowledged as their highest deities. After every two intervening years, the three great Daoist orders-Shangqing Palace on Mount Luofu, Wondrous Radiance Palace on Mount Weiyu, and the Celestial Master Order on Mount Heming-gathered on this day for the triennial grand ceremony of the Daoist Order, the "Origin Celebration," to honor his birthday.
Naturally, although the three great orders