Looking forward to it, the winter solstice is coming.
Every time I arrive at this festival, I am most excited when I am young, because after a little cold and a big cold, it is the Spring Festival that our children look forward to. When I grew up, I realized that the winter solstice is the end and beginning of a year's yin and yang cycle.
The sun travels to the pole of the Tropic of Cancer, and the northern hemisphere has the shortest days, the longest nights, and the deepest thoughts. I remembered what my elders had said: The night of the winter solstice is the longest night of the year, and it is said that the dream that night was the most accurate, and the dream predicted what would happen after that.
I often hope that this night will have a good dream, but it is not as desired, either the dream is too short, or I wake up and forget. However, when I woke up, I found that there was an accurate change: the days were getting brighter and brighter, and the days were getting longer and longer.
Whether the winter solstice has a dream or not, it accurately predicts that every day in the future will be a day lit up by light.
origin
The cathode will be anti-yang
The "solstice" of the winter solstice has three meanings. The Three Rites of Righteousness records: "One is the cathode, the two are the beginning of the yang, and the third is the south of the day." ”
That is to say, yin qi has reached its peak today, and yang qi has been born. Obviously, the alternation of yin and yang is not as intuitive as the grass and trees and the newborn, and it is a secret exchange between breaths, so Yang Meng is called "latent Meng".
In the "Huainan Zi", it is also recorded: "Yang Qi Meng, so the winter solstice is virtuous." Although it cannot be seen or touched, the yang qi silently accumulates and paves the way for the recovery of all things, so it is said that the winter solstice festival is accumulating "virtue".
The most miraculous change of "day to the south" is that on this day, the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Pit of the First Emperor's Mausoleum will shine obliquely in the sun before the sun sets at three or four o'clock in the afternoon, hitting the terracotta warriors. It was the light of the pit only once a year.
The seventeen-hole bridge in beijing's Summer Palace was also in the afternoon, and the slanting sun came from the southwest direction, dyeing the bridge hole golden. Whether it is beautiful or not, the winter solstice day has the most beautiful testimony of the year.
Phenological
Count nine to cool off the cold and wait for spring to come
Winter solstice, the first day of "entering the nine". The ancients counted every nine days as a unit to nine nines, called "counting nine cold days". It can be seen that the days are hard enough, and you have to count the days. However, it is precisely because of suffering that the ancients created many wonderful things.
The Ming Dynasty's "Imperial Capital Scenery Strategy" says: "On the day of the winter solstice, paint a branch of sumei, and there is one petal for eighty." The sun dyes one petal, the petals are exhausted and the nine nine out, then the spring is deep, and the nine nine cold map is known. ”
Figure | Qinghe
There is also a painting hanging in the Yangxin Hall of the Forbidden City: "Weeping willows in front of the court cherish the East Wind." "Every word is nine strokes, and after drawing nine words, eighty-one days have passed."
Whether it is dyeing the first plum or drawing the first stroke, it is the most difficult. Because the future is still blank, you still need to draw the pen in your hand one by one, and the waiting day by day, the long midwinter, the wind and snow, how difficult it is.
But after surviving the "three nine four nine no shot", surviving the ice walk, you can see the willow along the river. Then wait for the last stroke to fall, look up, nine nine peach blossoms! That spring flower is the dream of the winter solstice.
There are three seasons of the winter solstice
A waiting earthworm knot. Earthworms are animals that stretch out yin and yang, although the yang qi grows at this time, but the yin qi is still the strongest, and the earthworm can only continue to curl the body.
Second Elk Horn Solution. The elk's horns are born backwards, and then they are yin, and the elk dissolves the horns by feeling that the yin qi has subsided.
Three waiting for the water to move. The spring water in the depths of the ice began to move, because I felt that the yang was coming out of the ground.
Naturally, for modern people, "counting nine cold days" is no longer a difficult obstacle to cross. But what is more difficult is that you can no longer sit down steadily, patiently write a word, appreciate a plum, and make a pot of tea, and the difficulty is that you no longer have the heart to cherish the present.
The reason why the ancients counted nine cold days is that they believe that every day is worth cherishing. Cherish the boring into fun, turn the uncomfortable into the enjoyment, and turn the not-so-good day into the beautiful scenery.
How much treasure there is in life, there is as much beauty as there is.
Figure | coolly - Xuan
husbandry
The winter solstice is the most auspicious
The ancients had the "four beginnings", the beginning of the year, the beginning of the hour, the beginning of the day, and the beginning of the month. Spring Festival is the beginning of the year, spring is the beginning of the hour, and winter solstice is the beginning of the day. "In a day, the sunrise is the beginning of the day. During the year, from the winter solstice, the days are short and long, which can also be said to be the beginning of the day. ”
The ancients prayed for every new beginning, and the importance of the "winter solstice is as big as the year" is self-evident.
The Song Dynasty's "Tokyo Dream Record" records: "On the winter solstice in November, the Kyoshi attaches the greatest importance to this festival. Although the poorest people accumulate false loans within a year, they are more likely to wear new clothes, prepare food and drink, and enjoy the ancestors. Officials let go of the pass and celebrate the exchanges, just like the New Year's Day. ”
The winter solstice is the most important festival of the Song Dynasty, even if the poor people spend a year's savings, they must let the men, women and children of the family change into new clothes on this day, buy wine and meat meals, sacrifice ancestors, and eat a reunion dinner. Then friends and neighbors greet each other.
Movingly, during the Tang and Song dynasties, the winter solstice festival was a seven-day holiday, the same as the New Year's Festival. In the Qing Dynasty, relatives and friends gave each other food boxes, called "winter solstice plates"; the night before the festival, called "winter solstice night"; the wine drunk on this night was called "festival wine".
In the Republic of China, there is still this custom: the Lunar New Year's Day is set as the Spring Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival is the Summer Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival is the Autumn Festival, and the Winter Solstice is the Winter Festival. It can be seen that people throughout history have all agreed and believed that the beginning is an auspicious omen, there is the bud of yang, there is the return of the sun, and there is the lengthening of the day.
Therefore, on this day, the most auspicious words are "greeting the blessings and practicing the long".
Although everything is still small, the winter solstice is blessed and a beautiful departure.
mores
Acacia on earth is better than the night
The day is the shortest time, but the acacia is better than the night.
Fortunately, the days after the winter solstice, the time is a little longer, and since then the thoughts have landed. They become family bowls, pots, and stoves of winter solstice delicacies.
【Tangyuan | The winter solstice is auspicious and everything is perfect】
In the south, the winter solstice is to eat tangyuan. Instead of buying sesame and peanut dumplings from the supermarket, buy a few dollars of glutinous rice flour, add hot water and form solid small rice balls. When cooking, throw two slices of ginger down, there is sweet and spicy.
At this time, the tangyuan is also called "winter solstice reunion", which means the reunion of the world and the consummation of all things.
【Dumplings| Winter Solstice Blessing Solstice, Warm Love】
In the north, there is a meal of dumplings. In addition to the popularity of cabbage and pork filling, fennel lamb filling is not inferior, lamb is warm and good, fennel is cold, really respond to the saying "winter solstice improper dumpling bowl, frozen ears no one cares." Cool down on the winter solstice and pay attention to keep warm.
Figure | Qingke
【Lotus root | all year round, safe and smooth】
In some places, lotus roots are also eaten on the winter solstice. Because the lotus root has many holes, it is called "road access", which symbolizes that everything is smooth in a year. The year after the winter solstice is coming to an end, and people hope that the year will be safe and smooth rather than the desire for great wealth and nobility.
worry
And embrace the winter
Unfortunately, only a hundred years have passed, and the atmosphere, rituals, diets, and folklore of the winter solstice festival have been diluted by time, leaving only a festival called "winter solstice", and the few habits left by the people, as well as the lamentation of the withering of folk customs.
Looking back on the past, the ancients were regarded as a new birth, a great auspiciousness, and a sense of ceremony to celebrate because of the small changes in the "winter solstice yang qi rise". They wore new clothes, sacrificed their ancestors, ate winter solstice meals, and visited each other, which was called "he winter"; and they also called the winter solstice festival "sub-year".
It is these rituals that move us, eat well and drink well, bless the present, and look forward to tomorrow. What touched us was that they were not afraid of the current cold and wind, and they still faced every moment of life with enthusiasm.
Because beauty is never in the past, in the future, but in the present.
At this moment,
You and I stand on the dividing line of time,
On one side is the winter solstice, while recalling the past,
Maybe it's a gentle reminder to yourself:
Embrace the winter days,
It's about making yourself serious about loving life again.
Resources:
"Twenty-Four Solar Terms" Song Yingjie
"Tokyo Dream Record" Meng Yuanlao
The text is the original of the object, please contact the author for reprinting.