The winter solstice is an important folk festival in Shanxi in November of the lunar calendar, commonly known as the "Winter Festival".
During the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, it was stipulated that the day before the winter solstice was the end of the year. The winter solstice festival is essentially equivalent to today's Spring Festival. Later, the summer calendar was implemented. However, the winter solstice has always ranked first among the 24 solar terms, and there is a saying that "the winter solstice is as big as a year", which is called "sub-year". Celebrations have been held since the Han Dynasty. At the peak, the court has a three-day holiday, so you don't listen to politics. People closed the city for three days to celebrate the festival. It is as lively as the Chinese New Year.
Today's winter solstice festival still retains many historical sites. From the winter of the solstice, it entered the cold weather for several days in a row. There is a folk custom of drawing "Cold Map in September and September" in various forms.
There is a plum blossom, and 998 1 flower is painted in plain ink. Dye a petal with a red pen or a black pen every day, and the petal will come out in 1999, which is called 99-99 cold elimination map.
Some are tied horizontally to make a square diagram of 998 1 grid. Apply a grid of nine grids every day, which is called 99-99 anti-cold table.
Draw a few empty squares and choose a few words. Each word must be several strokes. Write a stroke every day and finally make a sentence, such as "looking at Feng Gu in front of the pavilion and behind the house", which is called the sentence of "Jiujiu eliminating cold"
The most elegant thing is to make nine-body couplets. Nine words per couplet, nine pictures per word, and each couplet is filled in daily. For example, the couplet reads "Spring hangs, spring blooms, spring blooms"; The second couplet is called "Autumn Persimmon Hanging in Autumn Courtyard to Send Autumn Fragrance", and it is called "Eliminating Cold and Welcoming Spring in September".
What form each family takes is often determined by the owner's hobbies and cultural quality. There is also a folk proverb about "getting rid of the cold in the ninth five-year plan": "It's cloudy and sunny, and the left wind is foggy and snowy. The picture is dark, and the grass is outside the door. "
On the winter solstice festival, people are used to giving away shoes, and its origin is very old. "China's Notes on Ancient and Modern Times" said: "There were embroidered mandarin ducks in the Han Dynasty, and Emperor Zhao ordered his aunt to go to the winter solstice." Cao Zhi's "Winter Solstice Socks and Shoes Table" also has a sentence: "Welcome in the coming year and celebrate for a long time." Later, the custom of sending shoes to uncles and aunts gradually became that uncles and aunts sent shoes and hats to nephews. Mainly reflected in children. It used to be mainly hand embroidery. As a gift for men, hats are mostly made in the shape of tigers and dogs, and embroidered shoes are also beasts. For girls, hats are mostly made in the shape of phoenix, and embroidery on shoes is mostly flowers and birds. Nowadays, most of them are purchased from collecting coins, and the form keeps up with the trend of the times. On holidays, adults always like to drop in to see their children and praise the shoes and hats given by their uncles and aunts.
In winter solstice, boys in northern Shaanxi are used to playing gang games. Holding a square stone piece the size of a palm, one side stands up, and the other side throws and hits in turn according to a set of prescribed actions. When knocking down the pillars set by the other side, move on. After the failure, exchange throws with each other. Whoever finishes all the procedures first will win. Girls are used to kicking shuttlecock in various forms. People often have to join in the fun and play.
In the winter solstice festival, the old customs should also be entertained by teachers from the East School. Teacher Wang will lead the students to worship Confucius memorial tablet. Then, Dongxue led the students to worship Mr. .. There is a saying in Shanxi that "teachers teach on the winter solstice", which is the custom of respecting teachers and attaching importance to Taoism. Until now, there is still the custom of inviting teachers to dinner on the winter solstice. Northwest Shanxi used to entertain teachers with stewed mutton, which was full of affection.
In the past, domestic helpers used to settle their wages with their employers during the winter solstice and then prepare to go home. Traditionally, the host will hold a banquet to entertain the guys and discuss the affairs of next year with each other. Today, some rural self-employed people still keep this custom, holding banquets and drinking alcohol on the winter solstice.
Southern customs
The solstice in winter is the longest night in a year. Many people use this evening to make a "winter solstice circle" with glutinous rice flour. In order to distinguish it from "saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new" on the eve of the Spring Festival, the day before the Winter Festival is called "adding the year" or "dividing the year", which means that the year is not over yet, but everyone has grown up for a year.
Although the customs and people's feelings in different parts of our country are different, they are roughly the same. When making the winter solstice circle, children often pinch some small animals, such as kittens, puppies, rabbits, tigers and so on. The children are very happy at this time. Before eating the winter solstice yen, you should stick a winter solstice yen on the back of the bed lamp in doors, windows, tables and cabinets, which is called "waste day" and "send the stove" before baking food. If there are pregnant women at home at this time, the winter solstice will be full, and boys will be born, otherwise girls will be born. When eating the winter solstice, the entrances must be paired for good luck. In the end, there are only two pieces left, the married are the best, and the single and unmarried are the best. At night, some families worship their ancestors with seasonal fruits and three kinds of animals. Some people "dry winter rice" on this day, that is, wash white rice with water, dry it on this day, and put it away for the sick to cook porridge later.
Eating jiaozi is also a traditional custom from winter solstice, especially in the south of the Yangtze River. "Tangyuan" is an essential food from winter solstice, and it is a round dessert made of glutinous rice flour. "Round" means "reunion" and "perfection". Eating glutinous rice balls on the winter solstice is also called "the winter solstice group". There is a folk saying that "eating glutinous rice balls is one year older". The winter solstice group can be used to worship ancestors or give gifts to relatives and friends. In the past, Shanghainese were most particular about eating jiaozi. An ancient poem said, "Every family beats rice to make glutinous rice balls, knowing that it is the winter solstice of the Ming Dynasty." "Circle" means "reunion" and "perfection". Eating jiaozi on the solstice in winter symbolizes family harmony and good luck.
Winter sweet pills are usually cooked before dawn. After the family gets up, they should eat a bowl of "Winter Festival Pills". There is a saying in Chaoshan folk that "the Chinese New Year will be celebrated as soon as the winter festival pills are eaten", commonly known as "adding the year", which means that although one year has not passed, everyone has added a year. Children are most eager to eat this bowl of sweet pills, and often wake up at night and ask the morning? However, the sky seems to be joking with the children, and it is always not bright. Therefore, there is a nursery rhyme of "winter festival night, long years, fragrant pills are not cooked". In fact, every year on the solstice of winter, the night is the longest, and after the solstice of winter, it gradually becomes shorter. In the past, in Chaoshan urban and rural areas, it was also customary to worship Commander Gong with sweet glutinous rice balls on the solstice in winter, and to prepare three sacrifices to worship the ancestors to sweep the grave. It was called "winter paper" to sweep the grave on the solstice in winter. Less than three years after death, future generations will "spend the spring paper" and then "spend the winter paper" in Tomb-Sweeping Day. Sweeping graves on the solstice in winter, because there is little rain and plenty of sunshine in winter, it is more convenient to hold ancestor worship activities in Shan Ye, and it is also an outing for entertainment.
In winter solstice, most parts of the province are used to eating jiaozi. It is said that eating jiaozi won't freeze your ears on the winter solstice. The tradition in mountainous areas is to eat cakes. Prosperous boiled rape root rice soup in southern Shanxi. In some places, they still eat wonton, and there is a saying that "it's winter to the sun, and summer to the sun".
It is said that eating glutinous rice balls from winter solstice in some areas in the south is developed from red beans and glutinous rice.
Eat jiaozi (wonton) from winter solstice in Sichuan.
In winter in Guangxi, we eat tofu buns, fry tofu into a hollow, and steam the meat.