winter solstice
The winter solstice sun rises and spring comes again
Days and days meet
Twenty-four solar terms and winter solstice
The winter solstice, also known as the winter festival. With both natural and humanistic connotations, from the perspective of solar terms, the winter solstice is an important solar term in the twenty-four solar terms, and from the custom point of view, the winter solstice is also a traditional festival of Chinese folk. The winter solstice is one of the eight festivals of the year, and in ancient times, folk had the custom of worshipping gods and ancestors in the "eight festivals". The winter solstice is regarded as a big festival in winter, and there is a saying that the winter solstice is as big as a year in the folk, so the ancients called the winter solstice "sub-year" or "small year".
The origin of the winter solstice festival
As a festival, the winter solstice has a history of more than 2500 years.
According to legend, the winter solstice in the Zhou Dynasty in history existed as the Spring Festival of the New Year, when everyone had customs such as ancestor worship and family dinner. During the Tang and Song dynasties, the winter solstice was regarded as a day to worship the ancestors of the heavens, and the emperor would go to the suburbs to hold a ceremony to sacrifice the heavens, and the people should pay homage to their parents. After the Song Dynasty, the winter solstice gradually became a festival dedicated to ancestors and gods.
The origin of the winter solstice custom
01
Winter solstice dumplings
The old proverb cloud: "On the first of October, the winter solstice arrives, and every household eats dumplings." Legend has it that the custom of eating dumplings on the winter solstice is to commemorate the "medical saint" Zhang Zhongjing. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, he resigned his official post and returned to his hometown to treat his neighbors, and it was winter, and many ordinary people on both sides of the strait had frostbite on their ears. Zhang Zhongjing then asked his disciples to build a medical shed, put mutton, peppers and some cold-repelling herbs in a pot and boiled them in water, chopped and used bread to resemble ears, people ate "jiao'er" and drank "cold soup", the body was hot, and the frostbitten ears were cured. Later, everyone learned the shape of "delicate ears" and wrapped them into food, called "dumplings" or "flat food". This is also the case, the custom of eating dumplings on the winter solstice to prevent freezing ears has been inherited.
02
Winter solstice tangyuan
The ancients had a poem: "The family pounds rice to make tangyuan, and it is known that it is the winter solstice day of the Ming Dynasty." Eating tangyuan is also a traditional custom of the winter solstice, especially popular in Jiangnan, and the folk are known as "eating tangyuan is one year older". Tangyuan is also known as tangyuan, it is a kind of round dessert made of glutinous rice flour, "round" means "reunion", "consummation", so the winter solstice to eat tangyuan is also called "winter solstice dumplings".
03
Winter solstice ravioli
Folk are known as "winter solstice wontons summer solstice noodles". According to legend, during the Han Dynasty, the Northern Xiongnu often harassed the frontiers, and the people were miserable. At that time, there were two leaders of the Hun clan and the Tun clan in the Xiongnu tribe, which were very fierce. The people hated it to the bone, so they wrapped it in a horn with meat filling, took the sounds of "hun" and "tun", and called it "wonton". Hate to eat it, and seek to calm the war and live a peaceful life. Because the ravioli was originally made on the day of the winter solstice, every household eats wontons on this day.
04
Winter solstice shoes for socks
During the winter solstice, there was a custom of women offering shoes and socks to their mothers-in-law, and it was said in the Later Tang Dynasty's "Ancient and Modern China": "Han has embroidered mandarin duck shoes, and Emperor Zhao ordered his uncle to go to the winter solstice." "In the old custom, both north and south, this custom is popular, probably because the female red tests her hand and wishes for a long and long life. Du Fu's poem "embroidery of five stripes to add weak threads" refers to the situation of women making socks. Therefore, in the past, the winter solstice was also called the Long Walk festival.
05
Nine or nine years old cold
After entering the ninth place, some literati and scholars and masters engaged in so-called cold-quenching activities, choosing a "nine" day, meeting nine people to drink ("wine" and "nine" are harmonious), using nine plates and nine bowls on the table, and those who have become tables use "nine pieces of flowers" to take the meaning of nine nine to eliminate the cold. In addition, there are also picture plates of the Nine-Nine Cold Relief Map, also known as "Yatu". Yang Yunfu of the Yuan Dynasty recorded in the "Luanjing Miscellaneous Songs": "Try to count the nine-nine figures between the windows, and the remaining cold will dissipate and the warmth will return to the beginning." The plum blossoms are white, and I see that this is an apricot plant. ”
After seeing so many customs of the winter solstice, in fact, no matter which one is pinned on the beautiful expectations of the family in the coming year. Whether it is a custom of the past or a custom that is now passed down, the important thing is that the whole family is reunited, and the dream will come true in the coming year!
The winter solstice is coming, and the day of "counting nine cold days" is not far away. In "three or nine days", please remember to keep warm, increase or decrease the temperature of clothing, drink more hot water, pay attention to cold protection, wear thick clothes and then go out!
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