The ancients said about the winter solstice: when the cathode arrives, the yang begins to grow, the sun goes south, the day is short, and the shadow is long, so it is called "winter solstice".

During the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, it was stipulated that the day before the winter solstice was the end of the year, and the winter solstice festival was essentially equivalent to the Spring Festival. Later, the summer calendar was implemented. However, the winter solstice has always ranked first among the 24 solar terms, which is called "sub-year-old". Since the Han dynasty, celebrations have been held. During the peak period, the court took a three-day vacation, and you did not listen to politics. The people closed the city for three days to celebrate the festival. Its excitement is no less than that of the New Year.

The winter solstice is the longest night in a year. Many people use this night to make a "winter solstice circle" with glutinous rice flour. In order to distinguish it from the "resignation" on the eve of the Spring Festival later, the day before the winter festival is called "adding years" or "sub-years", which means that the "year" has not finished, but it has grown by one year.