The winter solstice is approaching, the eighteenth day of the winter month of the lunar calendar is the winter solstice, people often say that "the winter solstice is as big as the year", why is the winter solstice bigger than the new year? How did the winter solstice come about?
Where is the world?
Liu Bei often said: "Han thieves are not two sides, Wang Ye is not partial to security", Zhuge Liang also knows that "Wang Ye is not partial to security", so the six out of Qishan, the nine central plains, although in the end did not succeed, but the idea of "Wang Ye is not partial to security" has existed since ancient times. After the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty, it was necessary to find a central point to rule Kyushu, so it was measured around using the method of "pole shadow measurement".
That is to say, as stated in the "Zhou Li": "Measure the depth of the earth with the method of tugui, the shadow of the sun, in order to seek the earth, and the shadow of the solstice is five inches, which is called the land: the place where the heavens and the earth are together, the four hours are also intersected, the wind and rain will also be met, and the yin and yang will be combined." It means to erect an eight-foot-high pole on the ground and measure the "depth of the earth" and "the middle of the earth" according to the shadow of the sun.
The final measured result was centered on Luoyang, and later there was a saying called "Luozhou No Shadow". Luozhou is Luoyang, which means the noon of the summer solstice, and the shadow of Guibiao is very short, as if there is no shadow. Today's Dengfeng Town also has a "Zhou Gong Observation Deck", next to which there is a text that says: "At noon on the summer solstice, the shadow of the north of the table is one foot and five inches long, which is equal to the length of the north side of the stone seat, so it is not visible that the difference between light and shade is not seen, so it is commonly known as 'no shadow platform'." ”
Because Luoyang's location is north of the Tropic of Cancer, there is no situation without a shadow, because the shadow coincides with the northern edge of the stone table, and it is impossible to see it. But this is not important, the ancients defined Luoyang as "in the world", which was decided according to various aspects of the situation, such as the time and distance of the surrounding feudal states to run to Luoyang, and the terrain environment there.
Therefore, Luoyang has become the middle of the world, and those who have won the world since ancient times must chase after the Central Plains, which is also Zhongzhou. Therefore, the royal city of Luoyang in the Zhou Dynasty was seven miles from north to south, eight miles from east to west, and nine miles from north to south and six miles from east to west during the Han Dynasty, and this number was built according to the number of river maps, and the number of lengths and widths was fifteen. The yin is six, the sun is nine, and the sum is fifteen.
How did the winter solstice come about?
When people "stand in the silhouette of the pole", they first erect an eight-foot-high wooden pole, which is the same principle as Togui, and then observe the length of the daily sun shadow. The longest shadow is three feet and five inches, and the shortest is five inches, which refers to the length of the sun shadow in Luoyang. Therefore, people call the longest day of the sun shadow "Sun South Solstice", that is, the winter solstice. Call the shortest day of the shadow the summer solstice.
Because the winter solstice is the ultimate of the sun's southward travel, its angle directly into the northern hemisphere is the lowest, so the shadow is the longest, and the night is also the longest. For example, on the day of the winter solstice, the daytime in Beijing is only more than nine hours, while the night is more than fourteen hours, and even the winter solstice in Nanjing is only more than ten hours during the day.
In the late Warring States period, in the "Lü's Spring and Autumn", there were eight names of solar terms such as Lichun, Spring Equinox, Lixia, Summer Solstice, Liqiu, Autumn Equinox, Lidong, and Winter Solstice, and then in the Qin and Han Dynasties, the twenty-four solar terms were fully established. Before the Qin and Han Dynasties, the winter solstice was the beginning of the year, the beginning of the year.
People often say that "the winter solstice is as big as the year", in fact, "the winter solstice was a year", and the winter solstice represents the beginning of the next cycle, the beginning of the initial birth of yang qi, the beginning of the initial birth of all things, and the beginning of the communication between heaven and earth. Nowadays, in many places, there is still a saying of "fat winter and thin year", and even the winter solstice is called "small year" or "sub-year".
Some places also divide the winter solstice into two days, the first day is called "ghost winter", mainly to sacrifice ancestors, eat dumplings, because of the cathode and yang, too yin qi gives birth to less yang, has the meaning of rebirth. The next day is called "human winter", mainly eating buns, that is, people spend the winter by themselves.
The winter solstice was once a year, why not?
In the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the emperor liked to be innovative and did not take the usual road, plus after the winter solstice, although the day was slowly getting longer, but the weather was getting colder, because the heat lost on the ground was greater than the heat received, and the heat "could not be made up", resulting in the temperature getting colder day by day, so the winter solstice was canceled, with the first month as the first year.
Why is the winter solstice "as big as" the year?
Because the winter solstice was originally obtained according to the method of "pole measurement", that is, according to the sun, and later the solar ecliptic was equally divided, it was still obtained by the sun. The "year" is only the first day of the first lunar month in the lunar calendar, which is based on the moon's movement around the earth.
Therefore, the "patron" of the winter solstice is the sun, and the "patron" of the first day of the first lunar month is the moon, the sun is yang, and the moon is yin, so "the winter solstice is as big as the year". Moreover, on the first day of the first lunar month, the Big Dipper handle points to the Yin position, and at the winter solstice, the Big Dipper handle points to the sub-position, and the sub is one of the twelve branches, which is the beginning in the true sense.
Therefore, the winter solstice represents the beginning of yang qi, the beginning of heaven and earth, and the beginning of all things, which is the beginning of the true sense. The bucket handle points to the meridian and begins a new round of the cycle. So the winter solstice is "as big as" the year.