The story of 午

noon

午 depicts long pestle for grinding rice, but such meaning has been replaced by 杵. A pestle is standing upright pestle when it is used for pounding grain with the mortar, so 午 means middle and is usually used to describe time or direction. On the other hand, after harvest, peole will refine the grain by pestle in order to make food, so 午 is used as the seventh of DiZi after 巳(pray right after harvest).