The winter solstice is the 22nd solar term of the twenty-four solar terms, when the sun yellow longitude reaches 270 °, it is the winter solstice, the winter solstice of each year is generally around December 21-23 of the Gregorian calendar, the winter solstice this day is the longest night in the northern hemisphere, the shortest day of the day, but not the coldest day, before the winter solstice, the ground still has accumulated heat, after the winter solstice, marking the imminent entry into the cold season, of course, China's cross-latitude is relatively large, the temperature varies greatly, but overall, after entering the winter solstice, the national temperature has dropped.
The winter solstice in modern times is only a festival, mentioning the winter solstice, in addition to the cold, the longest night, the northerners first think of eating dumplings, and the southern food is a lot, tangyuan, rice cakes, mochi, etc. are the southern winter solstice will eat the festival food, in the eyes of many young people, the winter solstice is just a festival, not to talk about the festival, but in ancient times, the winter solstice is a very grand festival, even more than the Spring Festival.
The origin of the winter solstice festival
The winter solstice festival originated in the Han Dynasty and flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, even in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the winter solstice is still a very important festival, the Qing Dynasty Daoguangjian Suzhou scribe Gu Lu "Qing Jia Lu" recorded: the winter solstice is as big as the year. This shows that the ancients attached great importance to the winter solstice, in fact, as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, they attached great importance to the winter solstice, and on the day of the winter solstice, the gods of heaven were sacrificed, and the Zhou Li Chunguan Zongbo recorded: "With the winter solstice, to the gods and ghosts of the heavens; to the summer solstice, to the earth, the charm of things, to the fierce famine of the blessed country, the mourning of the people", which shows that the Western Zhou official attaches great importance to the winter solstice, the reason is that the winter solstice represents the yang qi, and in the traditional Chinese yin and yang thought, the sky is yang, the earth is yin, and it is not surprising that the Western Zhou will sacrifice the gods.
But in the Western Zhou Period, the winter solstice is not a festival, because the Western Zhou is the use of the summer calendar, November is the first month, the winter solstice is the first of the year, so the winter solstice in the Western Zhou is not a separate festival, but its meaning is similar to the modern New Year's Day, to the Han Wudi period, the use of the summer calendar first month as the beginning of the new year, the winter solstice is no longer the beginning of the year, but the winter solstice is still a day of natural transformation of yin and yang, so in the Western Han Dynasty, the winter solstice gradually became a festival.
What are the events of the ancient winter solstice festival?
The Western Han Dynasty began to call the winter solstice ''Winter Festival', and the official government held a congratulatory ceremony on these two days, called He Dong, and also had to take a holiday, and the Book of later Han had such a record: "Before and after the winter solstice, gentlemen settle down and meditate, hundreds of officials do not listen to politics, choose auspicious days and then save things." So on this day, from the top to the imperial court, down to the people of Li, they all have to take a holiday and rest, the army is on standby, the border is closed, the merchants are closed, relatives and friends give each other good food, visit each other, and happily live a winter solstice festival of "settling down and resting".
From the Wei and Jin Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the status of the winter solstice was more important, similar to New Year's Day, on the basis of the Western Zhou sacrifice, or a festival, during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the winter solstice day to accept the congratulations of Fang Guo and the Hundred Officials, its ceremony was lower than the Day of the Sacrifice of the Year, and the same was true in the Tang Dynasty, during the Tang Dynasty, when Emperor Taizong Li Shimin did the Tang Dynasty Yale "Yuan Day, the Winter Solstice Emperor Ceremony Will Sing and play "Showa". The Tianzi of the Tang Dynasty had to dress up to attend the event on the winter solstice day, and the people had to pay homage to their parents on this day, and there are still some places to celebrate on the day of the winter solstice.
The festival of heaven and the dynasty is an important festival of the official winter solstice festival of the Tang Dynasty, there is the Tang Dynasty, the vast majority of the emperor's winter solstice sacrifice activities are recorded in the history books, because the winter solstice festival is carried out in the southern suburbs of Chang'an, so the Tang people often call it "there is something about the southern suburbs", "bai nan suburbs", "qi southern suburbs", etc., another important content is to hold a pilgrimage, that is, the son of heaven accepts the pilgrimage of the group of subjects and siyi, and its schedule is changed with the southern suburbs of the worship of the heavens, and there is a Time of the Tang Dynasty.
Compared with the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty paid more attention to the winter solstice, and the status of the winter solstice in folk life even exceeded that of the New Year Festival, and the folk had the proverb of "fat winter and thin year". In fact, the Song people also came to the winter solstice as a new year's festival, and Meng Yuanlao said when recalling the life of the Tokyo festival: "Winter solstice, the Beijing master attaches the most importance to this festival." Although the poor accumulate false loans during the year, on this day, it is easier to wear new clothes, prepare food, enjoy the ancestors, and celebrate the exchanges, just like the New Year's Festival. "And the Northern Song Dynasty official government's momentum for the winter solstice sacrifice is very large, far more than the Tang Dynasty, officials at all levels can temporarily put aside their busy official duties to indulge in the festival." Even the usually busy businessmen will put their business aside for the time being and dedicate themselves to the holiday at home.
The impact of the Winter Solstice Festival on neighboring countries
The winter solstice festival in the Tang and Song dynasties was very grand, the Tang Dynasty was strong and powerful, and the impact on the neighboring countries was very large, and although the Song Dynasty was weak in military strength, it was culturally prosperous and also had a very great impact on the surrounding areas, so the Tang and Song Dynasties, especially the Winter Solstice Festival of the Tang Dynasty, deeply affected the neighboring countries in East Asia.
Japan has sent Tang envoys to the Tang Dynasty many times to learn advanced culture, so the winter solstice festival has also been brought back to Japan, the earliest record of the winter solstice festival in Japan is found in the "Continuation of the Japanese Chronicle", the second year of the Emperor Shengmu God Turtle (725), the emperor accepted the hundred officials on the winter solstice, and feasted on the hundred officials, in the following 150 years, Japan's history books recorded the emperor's more than a dozen winter solstice records, from these winter solstice festival activities and edicts, we can see that Japan is similar to the Tang Dynasty winter solstice festival, there are also sacrifices, pilgrimage, feasting, drinking, Rewards, amnesties, etc.
In ancient Vietnam, it has always regarded itself as a small China, and it is also imitating China at the winter solstice festival, and it will also be sacrificed on the day of the winter solstice, and even during the Nguyen Dynasty, it was believed that the emperor of the Qing Dynasty sacrificed the heavens twice a year to worship the heavens, pointing out that "only my emperor Kao Shi Zu Gao Emperor set it as an annual sacrifice, which is very ceremonial, and should be passed down to all generations." This shows that Vietnam believes that it has inherited the Chinese orthodoxy, and even in 1942, the last emperor of Vietnam solemnly performed the winter solstice festival.
With the development of the times, coupled with the influence of Western culture, China's emphasis on the winter solstice has been far less than in ancient times, and now the winter solstice is not a festival, but the folk will pay attention to some in winter, eating some characteristic foods to increase the sense of ceremony.
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Wang Lanlan: "The Winter Solstice Festival of the Tang Dynasty and Its Influence on the East Asian Countries" Li Xia: "Comparison of Tang and Song Festivals: Focusing on the Birthday Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Winter Solstice Festival"