What does the Winter Solstice mean?

Winter Solstice Festival is not only one of the 24 solar terms, but also a traditional Chinese festival, also known as Winter Festival and Jiaodong. There was a saying that "the Winter Solstice is as big as a year". The court and the people have always attached great importance to it. There have been sacrificial activities since the Zhou Dynasty. The time is between December 21 and 22 of the Gregorian calendar every year. Let's take a look at what the Winter Solstice means.

What does the Winter Solstice mean?

The ancients believed that since the winter solstice, heaven and earth Yang began to become stronger and stronger, representing the beginning of the next cycle, which is an auspicious day. Therefore, the general customs such as ancestor worship and family dinners during the Spring Festival often appeared in the Winter Solstice. The Winter Solstice is also known as "Xiao Nian". First, it shows that the end of the year is approaching, and there are not many days left. Second, it shows the importance of the Winter Solstice. The Winter Solstice as a festival originated from the Zhou Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, and has been associated with each other ever since. The first month of the weekly calendar is November of the summer calendar, so the first month of the Zhou Dynasty is equal to the current November, so there is no difference between New year's greetings and he Dong. It was not until Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted the summer calendar that he separated the first month from the Winter Solstice. Therefore, it can also be said that the special "Winter Solstice Festival" has only existed since the Han Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, and has been around since.

The Historical Origin of the Winter Solstice

According to records, the Zhou and Qin dynasties took winter and November as the first month and the Winter Solstice as the beginning of the year to celebrate the New year. There is a saying in Hanshu: "the Winter Solstice is full of yang, and the monarch's way is long, so he congratulates." In other words, people began to celebrate the winter solstice to celebrate the arrival of the new year. The ancients believed that since the Winter Solstice, heaven and earth yang began to become stronger and stronger, representing the beginning of the next cycle, the day of good luck. Therefore, the general customs such as ancestor worship and family dinner during the Spring Festival are often chosen in the Winter Solstice. The Winter Solstice is also known as "Xiao Nian". First, it shows that the end of the New year is approaching, and there are not many days left. Second, it shows the importance of the Winter Solstice.

The Winter Solstice as a festival originated in the Han Dynasty and flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties. The first month of the week calendar is the November of the summer calendar, so the first month of the Zhou Dynasty is equal to the November of the current Gregorian calendar, so there is no difference between New year's greetings and he Dong. Until Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted the summer calendar, he separated the first month from the Winter Solstice. It can also be said that the simple celebration of the "Winter Solstice Festival" has only existed since the Han Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, and has been around since.

In the Han Dynasty, the Winter Solstice was regarded as the "winter festival", and the government held a celebration ceremony called "he Dong". The official routine was a holiday, and the custom of "winter worship" was popular in officialdom. It is recorded in the Book of the later Han Dynasty: "before and after the Winter Solstice, the gentleman settled down and did nothing, did not listen to the government, chose auspicious Chen and then saved trouble." Therefore, on this day, the court will have a holiday, the army will be on standby, the border fortress will be closed, business travel will be closed, relatives and friends will give each other delicious food, visit each other, and happily enjoy a "peace and quiet" festival. During the Wei, Jin and six dynasties, the Winter Solstice was called "Asia". People had to pay homage to their parents and elders. After the Song Dynasty, the Winter Solstice gradually became a festival activity for offering sacrifices to ancestors and gods.

During the Tang and Song dynasties, the Winter Solstice was the day of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors. On this day, the emperor went to the suburbs to hold a ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven. On this day, the people had to worship their parents. In both the Ming and Qing dynasties, the emperors offered sacrifices to heaven, known as "the Winter Solstice suburban heaven". In the palace, there was a ceremony for a hundred officials to present a congratulatory form to the emperor, and they also stabbed and congratulated each other, just like New Year's Day.

The Winter Solstice's traditional diet

1. Northern dumplings: every year the Winter Solstice in the lunar calendar, regardless of whether rich or poor, dumplings are an essential holiday meal. As the saying goes, "on October 1st, the Winter Solstice arrived and every family ate dumplings." This custom is left in memory of the "medical sage" Zhang Zhongjing and the Winter Solstice.

2. Mutton soup: the Winter Solstice's custom of eating mutton is said to have begun in the Han Dynasty. According to legend, Liu Bang, Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, ate mutton cooked by Fan Kui on the Winter Solstice's day and found it particularly delicious and full of praise. From then on, the Winter Solstice's custom of eating mutton was formed among the people. People eat mutton and all kinds of nourishing foods on the Winter Solstice's day in order to have a good sign for the coming year. Now in the area of Tengzhou, Shandong Province, this day is called Fujiu. Before the festival, gifts such as mutton will be given to the elders. Every family in Fujiu will drink mutton soup, which is a good sign for individuals, elders and families.

3. Jiangnan rice: in the Jiangnan water village, it is a custom for the whole family to get together and eat red bean glutinous rice on the Winter Solstice's night. According to legend, the Gonggong family was untalented and committed many evils. he died on the day of the Winter Solstice and became an epidemic ghost after his death and continued to harm the people. However, this epidemic ghost is most afraid of red beans, so people cook and eat red bean rice on the Winter Solstice's day to ward off epidemic ghosts and prevent disasters and dispel diseases.

4. Sweet potato soup: in the traditional customs of Ningbo, sweet potato soup is one of the delicacies that the Winter Solstice must eat. "Fan" and "turn" have the same pronunciation. In the understanding of Ningbo people, when the Winter Solstice eats sweet potatoes, he means "turning over" all the bad luck of the past year. Tang Guo, similar to dumplings, but much smaller, and there is no stuffing in it. Tang Guo is also called Yuanzi, which means "reunion" and "consummation". There is also a saying in old Ningbo that "eating tangguo is one year older".

5. Taiwan waxy cake: in Taiwan, China, the Winter Solstice still maintains the tradition of offering sacrifices to his ancestors with nine-layer cakes, using glutinous rice flour to make chicken, duck, turtle, pig, cow, sheep and other animals symbolizing auspiciousness and longevity, and then steaming them in a steamer to offer sacrifices to their ancestors. To show that you don't forget your ancestors. Those with the same surname and clan agreed at an early date before and after the Winter Solstice gathered in the ancestral temple according to the order of the elders and children to worship their ancestors one by one, commonly known as "ancestor worship". After the ceremony, there will be a feast for relatives who came to worship their ancestors. Everyone drank happily and contacted each other's strange feelings for a long time, which was called "the ancestor of Food." The ancestors of the Winter Solstice Festival have been handed down from generation to generation in Taiwan to show that they do not forget their "roots." Radish, green vegetables, tofu, fungus and so on.

6. Taizhou Lianyuan: people in Taizhou, Zhejiang have good food. The Winter Solstice is an important solar term of the year. To cook some special dishes and food on this day, we must first pay tribute to our ancestors and pray that the ancestors will keep the whole family safe and prosperous in the coming year. Then the whole family happily get together to drink and eat food. Among them, eating "the Winter Solstice Yuan" (also known as beating round, also known as beating round, turning rough circle) is an old tradition in Taizhou.

7. Suzhou wine-making: Gusu area attaches great importance to the Winter Solstice's solar terms. As the saying goes, "the Winter Solstice is like a big year." Traditional Gusu people drink winter wine at night in the Winter Solstice. Winter wine is a kind of rice wine brewed with sweet-scented osmanthus, with a pleasant aroma. The people of Gusu drink winter wine at night, and at the same time, they also serve stewed beef, stewed mutton and other kinds of stewed vegetables. In the cold winter, winter wine can not only drive out the cold, but also place a good wish on life for the people of Gusu.

8. Jiangxi Ma Fu: Ma Fu is a specialty of Zhejiang and Jiangxi. It is also a traditional snack of Fujian people and a sacrifice offering of Fujian people. It is suitable for steaming, frying, roasting and sand stir-frying after drying.

9. Winter solstice noodles: "if you eat winter solstice noodles, you will grow a line every day." In Hefei, Anhui, the Winter Solstice's custom of eating noodles is related to solar terms, climate and farming. The Winter Solstice counted nine cold days after that, counting 19 every nine days. In the freezing winter, eating a bowl of hot egg noodles can be regarded as a the Winter Solstice.

10. Tangyuan: as the saying goes of the Han nationality in Chaoshan area, "the Winter Festival is as big as the year" and "the Winter Festival does not return to our ancestors". It means that people who go out should rush back home to worship their ancestors on this day, otherwise they will have no concept of ancestral home. Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait attach great importance to the Winter Solstice and regard the Winter Solstice as a reunion festival. After eating the winter festival circle, people in Chaoshan have to stick two winter festival circles in conspicuous places such as doors, windows, tables, cupboards, ladders and beds, even the bow of fishermen, the horns of cattle cultivated by farmers, and the fruit trees planted by fruit farmers.

11. Longan roasted eggs: the Winter Solstice is a big festival in ancient times. Jiaxing attaches great importance to the Winter Solstice. As the saying goes, "the Winter Solstice is as old as a year", preserving the ancient style. According to Jiaxing Chronicles: "the Winter Solstice sacrificed first, crowned and congratulated each other, such as Yuan Dan Yi." People advocate the Winter Solstice tonic, including red bean glutinous rice, ginseng soup, white fungus, walnut kernel stew, longan boiled eggs and so on. Up to now, Jiaxing still inherits the custom of the Winter Solstice eating "longan fried eggs". Old people say that because the Winter Solstice has the longest night in a year, it will freeze all night if he doesn't eat, and he will be hungry in the middle of the night.

Pumpkin pie: the Winter Solstice after the New year, people in Hefei to the Winter Solstice will eat pumpkin pie, the streets are filled with the smell of pumpkin pie, and there is a proverb called "eat winter solstice noodles, a day long line", that is, said the Winter Solstice, will be short nights and long days