origin
Winter solstice is the earliest of the 24 solar terms, but most people don't know that the origin of winter solstice actually comes from the planning of a national capital. As early as more than 3,000 years ago, Duke Zhou began to measure the shadow with the earth gauge method and measure the position of the world in Luoyi. This was a move of political significance at that time, but it became one of the festivals that affected future generations for thousands of years. [2]
When the Duke of Zhou arrived in Luoyang, he measured that Luoyang was "in the world" by the method of returning to the soil, and then began to divine the country and the land. It is recorded in Shangshu Luogu that the Duke of Zhou "looked to Luogu" and made an investigation in several places around Luoyang, and finally determined that Jianshui East, Zhuoshui West and Zhuoshui East are all "Weiluo City" (all good places to build ancestral halls) [3]. The historical fact that the Duke of Zhou chose the base site of Luoyi through the "investigation of returning to the land" was recorded in ancient books and was regarded as the law of sealing the country by later generations.
The purpose of "Topography of Tugui" is to find out "in the soil" (the center of China). The essence of this method is that "the tree is eight feet high and the summer solstice is five inches long;" On the solstice of winter, the scene is one foot, three feet and five inches long (that is, an eight-foot high benchmark is erected). On the summer solstice, the shadow at noon is 65,438+0.5 feet, and on the winter solstice, the shadow at noon is 65,438+03.5 feet). "The depth of the soil is measured, the shadow is positive, and the land is searched. It stops at four o'clock." What is measured by this method is the theoretical position of Luoyang and Luoyi in the soil.
According to the investigation of Duke Zhou, Zhou people made a detailed plan for the first national capital after the demise of Shang Dynasty. "Yizhou Zuoluo Book" said: "It is a great city, growing in the soil for a week, ... in Luoshui in the south and Mangshan in the north, and the world is in harmony." [4] 。 After the national society (capital and ancestral temple) was completed, Duke Zhou formulated the national etiquette system in detail in the Rite and Music System, Famous Hall of Chengzhou. According to records, the first month of the Zhou Dynasty is winter and November, and the winter solstice is the beginning of the New Year. In other words, Duke Zhou chose the longest day in the "sun shadow" measured by the Tugui method as the New Year.
From meditation to Qin dynasty, winter is always the same as the beginning of the year. This is still the case in the Han Dynasty. There is a saying in Hanshu: "The sun shines on the winter solstice, so congratulations ..." In other words, people originally celebrated the winter solstice to celebrate the arrival of the New Year.
The ancients believed that since the winter solstice, the yang of heaven and earth began to flourish and become stronger, representing the beginning of the next cycle, which is a good day. Therefore, later, during the Spring Festival, customs such as ancestor worship and family dinners often appeared on the winter solstice. The winter solstice is also called "off-year". First, it shows that the year is approaching and there are not many days left. The second is to show the importance of the winter solstice. As a festival, the winter solstice originated in the Zhou Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and has been passed down to this day. The first month of the week calendar is November of the summer calendar. Therefore, the first month of the Zhou Dynasty is equal to today's November, so there is no difference between New Year greetings and He Dong. It was not until Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted the summer calendar that the first month was separated from the solstice in winter. Therefore, it can also be said that the "Winter Solstice Festival" began in the Han Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and has existed ever since.
Customs of winter solstice in various places
Winter solstice custom: jiaozi is eaten in the north and glutinous rice balls are made in the south. As the saying goes, "Solstice Noodle in Winter and Solstice Noodle in Summer in jiaozi", when the Solstice in Winter comes, remember to eat jiaozi! There is a folk song that goes like this. The solstice in winter spoils the jiaozi Bowl, and no one cares if you freeze your ears. To say that this winter solstice is a very important traditional festival in life, it has a history of more than two thousand years. China eats the net to take you to appreciate the local customs of winter solstice.
Suzhou people celebrate the winter solstice-eat wonton and remember the beautiful scenery.
Suzhou was the capital of the State of Wu 2,500 years ago. The ancestors of the State of Wu, Taibo and Zhong Yong, were descendants of King Tai of Zhou. They used to start a year in winter, so the ancient city of Suzhou still has the legacy of "winter is as big as a year", and the menu of winter night every year is more elegant, which continues the profound customs of Wu and forms a unique meaning different from other cities.
In the supermarkets on the streets of Suzhou, the ancient city, winter wine piles up like "hills". Winter wine is brewed only once a year, and osmanthus is fragrant, sweet and refreshing. There is an ancient saying in Suzhou that if you don't drink winter wine on the solstice of winter, you will freeze to death overnight.
When "Old Suzhou" came home, the "round supper" on the table was not only rich, but also meaningful. No matter whether it is a cold pot of hot fried fish or poultry meat, it has been renamed as "auspicious dish", "Yuanbao" (egg jiaozi), "Reunion" (meatball), "chicken" (face) and "golden chain" (pink chain).
Since ancient times, Taihu Lake has been rich in rice, and cakes made of glutinous rice flour are the most distinctive and common snacks in the area. The round solstice jiaozi is an essential snack for dinner. It is said that in Suzhou, there are Yuanxiao in January, sesame cakes in February, green jiaozi in March, fairy cakes in April, fried dumplings with minced meat in May, jiaozi in June, cowpea cakes in July, glutinous rice balls in August, Chongyang cakes in September, radish jiaozi in October, winter dumplings in November and osmanthus in December.
It is said that Suzhou people also have the custom of eating wonton on the solstice in winter. According to legend, in the Spring and Autumn Period, at a banquet of the State of Wu, the King of Wu was tired of eating delicacies and lost his appetite. The beauty stone went into the royal chef and packed him a dustpan-shaped snack. The king of Wu ate a big bowl in one breath and repeatedly asked, "What kind of snack is this, so delicious?" Stone thought, "confused monarch can't get rid of chaos, so he casually replied," chaos. In order to commemorate the wisdom and creation of stone, Suzhou people regard it as the appropriate food for the winter festival.
"Killing tigers in winter and spring" is a popular proverb among Wu people. Suzhou people also began to make a big tonic from the winter solstice, and also formed the peak of eating mutton after autumn. The mutton business of Wuzhong Cang Shu Mutton Shop, which is famous at home and abroad, is booming at once. The owner of a lamb butcher shop revealed that his mutton shop can sell eight sheep on the solstice in winter. For foodies, whether it's burning, stewing, stewing or cooking, it's delicious and healthy. It's a good thing to kill two birds with one stone.
Ningxia: Eat "brains" on the solstice in winter.
In winter solstice, Yinchuan has the custom of eating noodles in soup and noodles in mutton soup, jiaozi. Yinchuan people gave mutton powder soup an odd name-"brain from winter to day".
Wu got busy earlier, washed and cooked the purple mushrooms on Songshan, and took them out after cooking; Stir-fry diced mutton in a pot, steam-dry, stir-fry with ginger, onion, garlic and pepper noodles, stir-fry diced mutton with mushrooms, then marinate with vinegar (to remove the toxic smell of wild mushrooms), and then add the mixed noodles, refined salt and soy sauce; After the meat is rotten, stir-fry the fungus and lily (day lily) slightly, add the mushroom soup, boil the soup, add the chopped pieces and soaked vermicelli, and then add the leek, garlic sprout and coriander to make a pot of mutton powder soup. This pot of soup is red with pepper, yellow with day lily, green with garlic and coriander, white with vermicelli and vermicelli, black with mushrooms and fungus, red, yellow, green, white and black. The aroma is delicious and makes people drool.
On the solstice of winter, people call it Ghost Festival. After jiaozi prepares the noodle soup, he will serve a bowl first, and also a bowl for his neighbor. If you can't eat jiaozi in the morning, buy Trident Cake and Fennel Cake in powder soup. Jiaozi with mutton powder soup and radish stuffing is a common occurrence of Yinchuan people, but foreigners are full of praise when they eat it. It is rare to see such spicy and delicious jiaozi in other places, and it is also a special snack in Yinchuan.
Fujian: "Winter Solstice Day" rubbing pills
"On the solstice of winter in first frost, the moonlight is bright; White, meatballs. " This is a children's song about the winter solstice.
"Eight Min Tongzhi Xinghua House Custom Winter Solstice Day" contains: "The glutinous rice in the early stage is a pill, and the day is early, so it is recommended as a ancestral test." This is the folk custom of "solstice", "rubbing balls" and offering sacrifices to ancestors with mature "sweet balls" in the early winter of solstice.
The night before the winter solstice is called "winter solstice". That night, red candles were lit in every hall, and the lights were like day, which meant brilliant career. On the dining table, red oranges are regarded as "fruit yue" (that is, red oranges pile up into hills, hence the name). A "three spring" (that is, a paper flower of Fu Lushou cut by a folk paper cutter with red paper) is inserted in the top red orange, and a pair (ten pairs) of chopsticks with red paper strips around their waist are ginger and sugar respectively. After the family washes their hands, their parents light candles and incense, set off firecrackers and start rubbing pills. The ball you rub is white. If you are newly married, rubbing a red ball means that your family will be more prosperous. At this time, the woman put on a red shirt and shone in the light. The children laughed and were innocent. Everyone is surrounded by a big dustpan (commonly known as "Li Arc"), and the children are sitting on high stools, "eager to try". Housewives add boiling water to knead the ground glutinous rice flour (commonly known as "rice sacrifice") into round strips, pick them into big round blanks, and then knead them into "balls" the size of longan kernels with their palms. This is "rubbing pills on the winter solstice". Among them, the most interesting ones are: some adults are pinching ingots and cornucopia; Some pinch puppies and pigs, and adopt common sayings such as "making money into treasure" and "being a dog, being a pig and being a treasure", which means "the wealth is wide and the six animals are prosperous". Children are most interested in puppies and pigs, cheering "Grandpa is making a dog", "Dad is making a dog" and "Mom and Grandma are making a pig!" The whole family burst into laughter. Some rub "magpie pills" the size of beans (commonly known as "guest bird pills"). The children are always rubbing around, some are flat and some are long, even he feels funny. Some people put rice sacrifices on their eyebrows and noses, which is really ridiculous and lovely. If the child drops the meatball on the ground, let the child pick it up and blow off the dust, otherwise it will grow ugly in the future. It means educating children to cherish food from an early age. After "rubbing pills", put the "pills" into the "Dai Li Single Room", cover it and put it in front of the stove for the night.
Winter solstice has the longest night, and children like to eat meatball soup. When I can't sleep, I clamor for my mother to eat meatball soup before dawn. Therefore, there is a nursery rhyme of "Love meatball soup and look forward to it before dawn". Housewives pour "meatballs" into the pot, add water and ginger and sugar (ginger and sugar can dispel cold and stimulate appetite) to make sweet, sweet, sticky and hot "sweet meatball soup". After offering it to ancestors, it is shared by the whole family. It is necessary to stick "balls" on the door frame to commemorate "Cheng Men Hu Wei" and protect the safety of family members. Also throw "(feed) magpie pills" on the roof (generally 12 pills, leap year 13 pills, which means peace every month of the year). When magpies came to compete for food, there was an uproar, commonly known as "good news", which means five blessings.
On the solstice of early winter, the family brought "meatballs", fruits, incense sticks, paper money and so on. Go up the mountain to sweep the ancestral graves. Because the winter solstice is the last grave-sweeping festival in a year, there are more families sweeping graves than Tomb-Sweeping Day and the Double Ninth Festival, which means we should pursue the distance carefully.
Customs of winter solstice in Chaoshan
Winter solstice is one of the 24 solar terms. According to the "Twenty-four Solar Terms",1/month15th, the finally hidden gas came to an end. "Tong Wei Xiao Zhu Shen" contains: "The 15th day after the heavy snow is the winter solstice, which is the 15th day of the first month. Yin and Yang began, and the sky went south and grew up. " According to Ci Hai: "Astronomically speaking, the solstice of winter is the beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere." The solstice in winter is not only one of the 24 solar terms, but also a major folk festival in Chaoshan area, commonly known as "off-year".
The customs of Chaoshan cities and counties from winter solstice are basically the same, such as ancestor worship, eating incense pills and sweeping graves.
Poems related to the winter solstice:
Closely related to the winter solstice is the Jiujiu Song, which has been circulating in Beijing for hundreds of years. Starting from the winter solstice, nine days are counted as a unit, and nine days are counted continuously. By the 8th1day, winter had passed.
multiplication table
1929 did not shoot; Walking on the ice in 3949;
5969 see willows along the river; 79 rivers open 89 geese;
99 plus 19, plowing cattle everywhere.
Ash Ketchum
Du Fu (Tang Dynasty)
The days and personnel change rapidly every day, and then the winter solstice, after the winter solstice, after the weather gets warmer, spring comes back.
Embroider five elements with weak lines and blow six tubes of dynamic fly ash.
The river bank seems to be waiting for the last month to pass, so that the willows can stick out their branches and take out new buds, and the mountains can break through the cold so that the plum blossoms can bloom.
Although I am in a foreign land, the scenery here is no different from my hometown, so let the children pour wine and have a drink.
Winter solstice
Du Fu (Tang Dynasty)
I'm a guest all year round, and I'm worried about killing people!
Jiang Shang described me as a lonely old man, and the custom of Horizon is self-dating.
After the snow, the staff came to Danhe, and the Jade Dynasty came to disperse Chen Zi.
My heart is broken at this time, where can I see Sanqin?
Solstice night in winter in Handan
(Tang) Bai Juyi
Every winter solstice, I am accompanied by the shadow in front of the knee lamp.
If you want to sit at home late at night, you should also talk about travelers.