Today's winter solstice! What is the exact time of the winter solstice? The origin of the winter solstice is a custom inventory

Today's winter solstice! China began to enter the "number nine cold days" season, folk commonly known as "into the nine". There is an old saying: "The winter solstice is as big as the year", in the hearts of the ancients, the status of the winter solstice is no less than that of the new year. It is a very important traditional festival in the lunar calendar, which means that the year is coming to an end.

The ancients believed that counting every nine days from the winter solstice to nine days counted as a "nine" and counting to nine "nines", for a total of eighty-one days after the spring came.

What month, month, day and hour of winter solstice time?

(1) Today at 18:02, ushering in the winter solstice, counting nine cold days begin; (2) this day is the shortest day and the longest night in the northern hemisphere;

The "Chinese Astronomical Calendar" shows that at 18:02 Beijing time on December 21, the "winter solstice" solar term will usher in, from this day, China began to enter the "number nine cold days" season, folk commonly known as "into the nine".

Luo Shuwei, a historian and researcher at the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences, introduced that every year around December 22 of the Gregorian calendar is the "winter solstice", which is the twenty-second of the twenty-four solar terms and the fourth solar term of winter. Contrary to the corresponding "summer solstice", the "winter solstice", the sun shines almost directly on the Tropic of Cancer, which is the shortest day of the year and the longest night in the northern hemisphere, which was called "day short" or "day short solstice" in ancient times. After the "winter solstice", the direct sun's point slowly moves northward, and the days in the northern hemisphere gradually become longer and the nights gradually shorten.

The origin of the winter solstice

The winter solstice festival originated from the Han Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, and has been followed to this day, and the Qing Jia Lu even has the saying that "the winter solstice is as big as the year", which shows that the ancients attached great importance to the winter solstice, and people believed that the winter solstice was the natural transformation of yin and yang and the blessing given by heaven.

The Han Dynasty took the winter solstice as the "winter festival", and the official government held a congratulatory ceremony called "He Dong", a routine holiday, and there is such a record in the Book of later Han: "Before and after the winter solstice, gentlemen settle down and meditate, hundreds of officials do not listen to the government, choose auspicious chen, and then save things" So on this day, the court should take a holiday and rest, the army is on standby, the border is closed, the business is closed, relatives and friends give each other food, visit each other, and joyfully live a festival of "settling down and resting".

When is the coldest after the winter solstice?

(3) From this day on, the climate in all parts of China will enter the coldest stage, and the weather will be the coldest around the "Three Nine";

The so-called "cold in the three nine, four nine", usually not very cold before the winter solstice, the real cold is after the winter solstice. Due to the huge difference in the climate of various parts of our country, this astronomical climate characteristic is obviously too late for most parts of our country. It is usually not very cold before the winter solstice because the northern hemisphere receives the least solar radiation on the day of the winter solstice, about 50% less than the southern hemisphere; however, this is not the coldest time, this is because the Earth's surface has an atmosphere and water, which can store heat, not "instant or lost", but "accumulated heat". After the winter solstice, although the sun's altitude angle gradually increased, this is a slow recovery process, and the heat lost every day is still greater than the received heat, showing a situation of "not making ends meet". In the "three or nine days", the heat accumulation is the least, the temperature is the lowest, and the weather is getting colder. At this time, if there is the influence of cold air, the weather is even colder. After this "cold front", the weather will gradually warmer.

The summer solstice is three geng into the ambush, and the winter solstice is counted as nine

The winter solstice, the sign is about to enter the cold season, and the folk begin to "count nine" to calculate the cold day. Counting nine is a method of calculating the date of cold and warmth in Chinese folklore. Folk proverb cloud: "The summer solstice is three geng into the ambush, and the winter solstice is nine." The number nine is counted from the beginning of the winter solstice, counting one "nine" every nine days, and so on. Generally, "Three Nine" is the coldest time, which is the coldest period of the year. When the nine "nine days" (nine nine eighty-one days) are counted, the spring is warm and the life is full of life, and it is time for spring ploughing. The method of counting nine is passed down by word of mouth in our folk, there is a history, there is little record, as for when the origin, there is no exact information. However, at least during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was already popular, and Liang Daizong wrote in the "Records of the Jingchu Years": "The number of days on the winter solstice and the number of days of nine nine eighty-one days are used to exhaust the cold." "Number nine is a summary of the experience of the ancients on the basis of production and life practices, using some ecological reflections and weather signs in nature. Due to the vast territory of our country, the climate of various places is very different, and the winter solstice every day "nine nine eighty-one days, nine peach blossoms, spring and deep sun warm" corresponds to only some parts of China, not all over the country. In the course of historical development, people everywhere have also choreographed various proverbs, songs, and slips of the tongue according to different climatic conditions, scene characteristics, agricultural conditions, and customs and habits of various places. "Number Nine Songs" are found throughout the North and South, but the lyrics are slightly different.

Temperatures everywhere

In terms of astronomical climatic characteristics, although the days of the winter solstice day are short, the temperature of the winter solstice day is not the lowest; it will not be very cold before the winter solstice, because there is still "heat accumulation" on the surface, and the real cold winter is after the winter solstice; due to the vast territory of our country, the climate difference between various places is very different, and the climate characteristics in this astronomical sense are obviously late for most parts of our country.

On the day of the winter solstice, the average temperature in most parts of northern China is generally below 0 °C, while most of the southern region is only about 6 °C to 8 °C; the northeast land is frozen for thousands of miles, and the Huanghuai area is often wrapped in silver; winter crops in the Jiangnan region continue to grow; and the average temperature along the south Coast of South China on the day of the winter solstice is usually above 10 °C.

What are the customs of the winter solstice?

(4) On the winter solstice day, there is a custom of eating dumplings in the north of China, and the habit of eating tangyuan, winter solstice rice balls and long-term noodles in the south. How are the customs of the winter solstice in the north different from those in the south? What are the different meanings of different customs?

What to eat for the winter solstice diet?

Folk believe that "qi begins with the 'winter solstice'", so this is the best time for health. "'Winter solstice' makes up for it, and it's enough to be energetic for a year."

Luo Shuwei suggested that when supplementing, we should pay attention to "nourishing the kidneys and preventing cold", and eat more foods that are warm and yang, strengthen the kidneys and bones, and nourish the yin and qi, such as mutton, yam, lotus seeds, jujubes, etc., to increase calories. In order to adapt to the cold winter law of "all things rest, yang qi is hidden", it is advisable to follow the principle of "lying down early and getting up late, waiting for the sun", in order to nourish the spirit and recharge. After the lunch break, the yang is exuberant, which is the best time for exercise health, but the intensity should be moderate, and the principle of slight sweating is the principle. "Winter solstice" health, the emphasis is on nourishing the heart, to settle down, optimistic and smooth, do not worry about trivial matters, in order to prevent premature aging, maintain strong energy, in order to prolong life.

Different customs at the winter solstice in the north and south of China have formed a unique seasonal food culture after historical development. Some places in the south of our country have the custom of feasting and drinking on the winter solstice. Most places in the north have the custom of eating dumplings on the winter solstice, and eating dumplings has become the custom of most northern Chinese the winter solstice. The ancients celebrated the winter solstice, and the winter festival was one of the "eight festivals of the year", and there was a lot of food for various winter solstice festivals.

Lamb broth

The custom of eating lamb on the winter solstice is said to have begun in the Han Dynasty. On the day of the winter solstice, people eat lamb and various nourishing foods in order to have a good omen for the coming year. Now in the Tengzhou area of Shandong, this day is called the number nine, before the festival will send gifts such as mutton to the elders, and the number nine families must drink mutton soup, which is a good omen for individuals and elders and families.

Tangyuan

In some areas of Jiangnan, it is more popular to eat tangyuan, taking the meaning of reunion. Every morning on the winter solstice, each family grinds glutinous rice flour, and makes stuffing with sugar, meat, vegetables, fruits, radish shreds, etc., and wraps them into winter solstice balls, which are not only eaten by their own families, but also given to relatives and friends to express their blessings. In fact, eating tangyuan on the winter solstice is more common in Jiangnan, and the folk also have the saying that "eating tangyuan is one year older".

The method is to first cook or steam mung beans, red beans, sugar winter melon, taro respectively, peel, add sugar, sesame seeds, cooked lard and other condiments to make four kinds of sweet fillings, and wrap the tangyuan skin into four different fillings to make marks. Cook the four types of rice balls in water with added sugar. One dumpling from each bowl with a different filling.

In Jiangnan Water Town, in addition to eating tangyuan, there is also the custom of the whole family gathering together on the night of the winter solstice to eat red bean sticky rice. According to legend, the Gonggong clan had untalented sons and committed many evil deeds, died on the day of the winter solstice, and became an epidemic ghost after death, continuing to harm the people. However, this plague ghost is most afraid of red beans, so people cook and eat red bean rice on the day of the winter solstice to drive away the plague ghosts and prevent disasters and diseases.

Dumplings

Every year on the day of the winter solstice, whether rich or poor in the north of our country, dumplings are an indispensable holiday meal. Proverb Yun: "On the first of October, the winter solstice arrives, and every household eats dumplings." According to legend, when the medical saint Zhang Zhongjing told the old man to return to his hometown and saw the frozen people, he used mutton and some cold-repellent herbs and dough skins to wrap it like an ear, and made a medicine called "cold-repellent ear soup" and gave it to the people to eat. Later, on the winter solstice, people imitated and ate, forming a custom.

winemaking

The Gusu region attaches great importance to the winter solstice, and there is a saying in the Gusu region: "The winter solstice is like a big year". The traditional Gusu people will drink winter wine on the night of the winter solstice, which is a kind of rice wine, which is brewed with osmanthus flowers and has a pleasant aroma. At the same time as the people of Gusu drink winter wine on the night of the winter solstice, they will also be accompanied by a variety of brine dishes such as brine beef and brine lamb. In the cold winter, winter wine can not only drive away the cold, but also pin the Gusu people's beautiful wishes for life.

Mochi

Mochi is a specialty of Zhejiang and Jiangxi, and is also a traditional snack of the Fujian people and an offering of the Fujian people during sacrifices. It is suitable for steaming, frying, roasting and sand stir-frying after the mochi is dried. Mochi is also a famous snack in southern Fujian, of which Nan'an Yingdu is the most famous, and its raw materials are fine glutinous rice, lard, sesame seeds, peanut kernels, rock sugar and so on. The mochi is sweet and delicious, resistant to hunger after eating, with a sweet, smooth taste, and soft and slightly ice. The finished product is bright white in color, smooth and transparent.

Winter solstice noodles

"Eat winter solstice noodles, a long line a day". In Hefei, Anhui Province, the custom of eating noodles on the winter solstice is related to solar terms, climate, and agricultural affairs. After the winter solstice, nine cold days are counted, and every nine days it is counted as nine. In the harsh winter when the water is dripping into ice, eating a bowl of hot egg noodles is considered to be a winter solstice.

Winter Festival Pills

The folk proverb in chaoshan area is cloudy: "The winter festival is as big as the year", "the winter festival does not return to the ancestors". It means that people who go out, on the day of the winter solstice, must rush home to worship their ancestors, otherwise there is no concept of ancestral family. Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait attach great importance to the winter solstice and regard the winter solstice as a reunion festival. Chaoshan has a folk proverb of "Winter Festival Pills, One Meal for the New Year", commonly known as "Tim Nian". The Hakka believe that the water tastes the most mellow during the winter solstice, so it has become a custom for the Hakka to make wine on the winter solstice. Cantonese people also eat roasted pork and ginger rice on the winter solstice, and on the day of the winter solstice, most Guangdong people have the custom of "adding vegetables" to eat winter solstice meat.

Lin Zaifu, a famous scholar in modern Taiwan, described the day of Taiwan's Winter Festival (known as the Winter Solstice in Minnan) in his book "Minnan People" that "every household should sacrifice their ancestors with the winter solstice in the early morning... From the gates, small doors, windows, silo doors, beds, cabinets, tables, wells, toilets, cattle barns, and pig barns, one or two grains of the winter solstice are given to them, and they are offered a prayer to bless the peace of the family."

Grilled eggs with cinnamon balls

The winter solstice was a big festival in ancient times, jiaxing heavy winter solstice, the common proverb "winter solstice is like a year", preserving the ancient style. According to the Jiaxing Fu Zhi (vol. 34, Customs), "The winter solstice is preceded, and the crown covers the congratulations, such as the New Year's Day ceremony". Folk advocate winter solstice supplements, including red bean glutinous rice, ginseng soup, white fungus, walnut kernel stew, guiyuan boiled egg and so on. [26]

Pumpkin pie

After the winter solstice, Hefei people have to eat pumpkin cakes at the winter solstice, the streets and alleys are filled with the aroma of pumpkin cakes, and there is a proverb called "eat winter solstice noodles, a day is a long line", that is, the winter solstice, it will be a short night.

Fried snacks

On the day of the winter solstice in the mountainous areas of Shucheng County, you should eat fried dim sum, fried rice dumplings and fried pumpkin cakes are the staple foods of this day. In the eyes of the people of Shucheng, the number nine cold winters begin from the winter solstice, and it is necessary to eat some fat-rich foods to supplement calories and resist the cold.

rice cake

Hangzhou rice cake is the traditional food of the Chinese nation and belongs to the timely food of the Lunar New Year. Rice cakes are cakes steamed with sticky glutinous rice or rice flour, and in the Spring Festival and winter solstice, many regions in China pay attention to eating rice cakes.

Rice cake has red, yellow, white three colors, symbolizing gold and silver, rice cake is also known as "rice cake", and "annual high" harmonic sound, implying that the height of children is increasing year by year. Therefore, the predecessor has a poem called rice cake: "The meaning of rice cake is slightly deeper, white as silver and yellow gold." Looking forward to high times and good times, I sincerely wish for wealth. ”

Hangzhou people eat rice cakes on the winter solstice, and eat rice cakes from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties until the present-day Hangzhou people like to eat rice cakes on the winter solstice. On each winter solstice to make three meals of different flavors of rice cakes, winter solstice eat rice cakes, the elderly grow tall, figure a auspicious.

Sweet potato soup fruit

In the traditional customs of Ningbo, sweet potato soup and fruit is one of the must-eat delicacies on the winter solstice. "Fan" and "flip" are homophonous, in the understanding of Ningbo people, eating sweet potatoes on the winter solstice is to "turn" all the bad luck of the past year. The soup fruit is similar to the soup ball, but it is much smaller and there is no filling in it. Tangguo is also called yuanzi, which means "reunion" and "consummation". Old Ningbo also has a saying that "eating soup and fruit is one year older".

Sticky cake

In Taiwan, China, there is also a tradition of using nine layers of cakes to worship ancestors on the winter solstice, using glutinous rice flour to knead chickens, ducks, turtles, pigs, cows, sheep and other animals that symbolize auspicious and auspicious Fulu Shou, and then steamed in layers with steamers to worship the ancestors, in order to show that they do not forget the ancestors. People with the same surname and the same ancestor gather in the ancestral shrine to worship the ancestors one by one according to the order of the elders and children, commonly known as "ancestor worship". After the festival, a feast will be held to entertain the clan relatives who come to worship the ancestors. Everyone drank freely and connected with each other's long-lost feelings, called "eating ancestors." "The winter solstice festival worships ancestors, which has been passed down from generation to generation in Taiwan to show that they do not forget their "roots". Radish, green vegetables, tofu, fungus, etc.

Round

Zhejiang Taizhou people good food, the winter solstice is an important festival of the year, on this day to do some special dishes and food, first of all, to pay tribute to the ancestors, pray for the ancestors to bless the whole family with all peace and happiness in the coming year. Then the whole family gathered happily to drink and eat vegetables. Among them, eating "winter solstice circle" (擂圆, also known as hard round, turning rough round) is the old tradition of Taizhou, and the circle is rounded and rounded, and the meaning of reunion is round. "Circle" means "reunion" and "consummation", compared with the tangyuan eaten on weekdays, the winter solstice circle of Linhai people is not only rich in content, different forms, but also meaningful.

In addition to dumplings and tangyuan, the winter solstice cuisine can be described as a thousand different winds. In Nanjing, on the winter solstice, you have to eat scallions and roasted tofu. Changzhou people eat hot tofu and say, "If you want to be rich, eat a piece of hot tofu overnight on the winter solstice." "On the winter solstice in Suzhou, relatives and friends should send a gift box to send a food similar to a spring plate; the Jinhua people set up wine dishes on the winter solstice to celebrate with the whole family; hangzhou people cook red bean rice, steam new rice cakes, and put the fish heads and tails left over from the winter solstice in the rice bowl for one night, and then take it out to eat the next day, called "Anle Dish".

Source: China Xiaokang Network