As the last major festival of the year, the winter solstice is not only one of the twenty-four solar terms, but also one of our most solemn traditional festivals, as the folk saying goes, "The winter solstice is as big as the year". "The winter solstice yang qi rises, the monarch is long, so he..." is the "Book of Han" more vivid description of the winter solstice, a "He" character will describe the picture of the whole country celebrating together in a beautiful way, Wei jin and Jin dynasty and the winter solstice on the day of the solemn celebration of the world. It is worth noting that another familiar concept of yin and yang is mentioned here - "yang qi". Because the solar terms themselves originate from astronomy, they are inextricably linked to the I Ching, which studies astronomy. The I Ching has a very comprehensive statement about the meaning of the winter solstice called "mine restoration, six yin solstice, one yang sheng". Through long-term astronomical observation and deduction, the ancients found that the winter solstice has a decisive impact on us in addition to cold.
In the Three Rites of Righteousness, the winter solstice is explained as follows: "One is the cathode to the solstice, the two are the beginning of the yang, and the third is the solstice of the sun, so it is called the winter solstice." In the minds of the ancients, the day of the winter solstice is the beginning of the gradual strengthening of the yang, symbolizing the beginning of a new cycle, so it has always been believed that the winter solstice is auspicious, and the so-called "winter solstice and yang life" have come from this. These statements are not untargeted and far-fetched, but the experience of the ancients from observing astronomical phenomena.
The ancients found that on the day of the winter solstice every year, day and night show two extremes, one becomes the shortest and the other becomes the longest. As soon as the winter solstice passes, the day begins to gradually lengthen, and the night begins to slowly shorten, and the winter solstice becomes the dividing point of this phenomenon. Therefore, the ancients said that "the cathode is the solstice, the yang qi is born, the sun is south, the sun is short, the sun is long, so it is called 'winter solstice'", the so-called "one word and a thousand gold", the origin of these names is the crystallization of the wisdom of many generations, and the wise people who really study the Heavenly Dao have no concept of making things up, and they all involuntarily uphold the universal principle of the Dao to jane to expose the laws of the Heavenly Dao to the world.
The eleventh month of the lunar calendar corresponds to the repetition of the Bagua, and the composition of the polygram is a yang at the bottom and five yin on it, symbolizing the beginning of the recovery of yang from the cathode. Most of the ancients believed that heavy snow and the winter solstice corresponded to the repetition in the I Ching, also known as mine restoration. Xun Shuang explained, "Restorers, the Gua of the Winter Solstice." The yang is the first nine, for the heart of heaven and earth. The beginning of all things, the first of auspiciousness, so it is called "the heart of seeing heaven and earth". It is believed that the masculine qi under the five feminine rays returns to the gua precisely because of the law that things must be reversed. Masculinity is born on the earth during the winter solstice festival, when the feminine and extremely vigorous, as the Preface says, "Things cannot be finally peeled off, stripped of poverty and turned upside down, so they are subjected to restoration." ”
With the help of today's science, we can visualize that the most special feature of the winter solstice is the reflection of the direct movement of sunlight. The so-called "day to the south, north to the north" is like this, the winter solstice has become the most obvious turning point in the return of the sun. Although according to the law of solar terms, "Li Chun" is the starting point of yang qi rise, in fact, the sun has begun to germinate at the winter solstice, so "one yang sheng" is really the finishing touch.
Although the repetition reveals the laws of the sun, the revelation to us does not stop there. The so-called mine restoration is because its guaxiang is in the middle of the earthquake (thunder) under the kun (ground), that is, the thunder in the ground, symbolizing that the yang qi has a weak appearance of activity, and the signs of recovery have been revealed. However, due to the weak yang of "thunder in the earth", the role cannot be played, and only the "retreat" gradually rises with the growth of the day after one day. This is also the reason why whenever the winter solstice, the monarch often retreats to recuperate and terminate the business travel activities. For us, we should do a good job of storing the sun, maintaining the body, preparing for the recovery of spring, so that the "thunder in the earth" will gradually rise with the yang, not in a hurry, imitate the heavenly path and the yang qi after the winter solstice, and wait for the next year when the time is ripe to become a thunderclap.