Introduction to the Winter Solstice Festival The Winter Solstice is a very important solar term in the Chinese lunar calendar and a traditional festival. There are still many places that still have the custom of celebrating the Winter Solstice Festival.

Winter Solstice is commonly known as "Winter Festival", "Long Solstice Festival", "Yasui", etc.

As early as the Spring and Autumn Period more than 2,500 years ago, our country had used Tugui to observe the sun to determine the winter solstice. It was the earliest formula among the twenty-four solar terms.

The time is between December 22 or 23 of the Gregorian calendar every year.

The winter solstice is the shortest day and the longest night in the whole year in the northern hemisphere. After the winter solstice, the days will become longer day by day.

The ancients said about the winter solstice: when the cathode reaches the yin pole, yang energy begins to grow, when the sun reaches the south, when the sun is short, when the shadow of the sun is long, it is called "winter solstice".

After the winter solstice, the climate in various places enters the coldest stage, which is often called "Jinjiu". There is a folk saying in my country that "cold in 39 and hot in 3 volts".

Modern astronomical science has determined that on the winter solstice, the sun shines directly on the Tropic of Capricorn, and the sunlight is most tilted towards the northern hemisphere. The northern hemisphere has the shortest day and the longest night. After this day, the sun gradually moves northward.

In ancient my country, the winter solstice was taken very seriously. The winter solstice was regarded as a major festival. There was a saying that "the winter solstice is as big as the new year" and there was a custom of celebrating the winter solstice.

"The Book of Han" says: "The Yang Qi rises during the winter solstice, and the ruler is honored, so congratulations." People believe that after the winter solstice, the days are getting longer day by day, and the rising Yang Qi is the beginning of a solar cycle and an auspicious day.

celebrate.

"Book of Jin" records that "the winter solstice in the Wei and Jin Dynasties was congratulated by all nations and officials... Its ceremony was inferior to that of Zhengdan." This shows the importance attached to the winter solstice in ancient times.

Nowadays, some places still celebrate the winter solstice as a festival.

In northern areas, there is a custom of slaughtering sheep and eating dumplings and wontons during the Winter Solstice. In southern areas, there is a custom of eating winter solstice rice dumplings and winter solstice noodles on this day.

Various regions also have the custom of worshiping heaven and ancestors on the winter solstice.

The Origin and Legend of the Winter Solstice Festival The Winter Solstice Festival originated in the Han Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and is still used today.

"Qing Jia Lu" even said that "the winter solstice is as big as the New Year".

This shows that the ancients attached great importance to the winter solstice.

People believe that the winter solstice is the natural transformation of yin and yang and a blessing from God.

In the Han Dynasty, the Winter Solstice was regarded as the "Winter Festival", and the government would hold a congratulatory ceremony called "Hedong" and have a routine holiday.

There is such a record in "Book of the Later Han Dynasty": "Before and after the winter solstice, a gentleman settles down, keeps all officials in charge, does not listen to politics, and chooses auspicious times to save trouble." Therefore, on this day, the court has a holiday and rest, the army is on standby, the border fortress is in retreat, and the business travel is closed.

, relatives and friends each give each other delicious food, visit each other, and happily spend a "settle and quiet" festival.

During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the Winter Solstice was a day for worshiping heaven and ancestors. On this day, the emperor would go to the countryside to hold a ceremony to worship heaven, and people would worship their parents and elders on this day. Nowadays, some places still celebrate the winter solstice.

One of the legends of the Winter Solstice: In the past, there was a saying in old Beijing that "Winter Solstice Wonton and Summer Solstice Noodles" were used.

According to legend, during the Han Dynasty, the Huns from the north often harassed the frontiers, and the people had no peace.

At that time, there were two leaders in the Xiongnu tribe, the Hun clan and the Tun clan, who were very ferocious.

The people hated it so much that they used meat fillings to wrap it into wontons and called them "wontons" after taking the sounds of "hun" and "tun".

He eats his hatred and hopes to quell the war and live a peaceful life.

Because wontons were first made on the winter solstice, every household eats wontons on the winter solstice.

Eating "Pinched Frozen Ears" is a common name for Henan people to eat dumplings during the winter solstice.

Why is there such a food custom?

It is said that Zhang Zhongjing, the medical sage of Nanyang, once served as an official in Changsha. When he retired and returned to his hometown, it was a snowy winter with biting cold wind.

He saw that the villagers on both sides of the Baihe River in Nanyang were not fully clothed, and many people's ears were rotten by the cold. He felt very sad, so he asked his assistant to set up a medical tent in Guandong, Nanyang, and used mutton, chili peppers and some to ward off the cold.

The medicinal materials are placed in a pot and cooked, taken out and chopped into pieces, wrapped in dough to look like ears, then placed in the pot and cooked, and then made into a medicine called "cold-repelling ear-correcting soup" and given to the people.

After taking it, the villagers' ears were cured.

Later, during the winter solstice, people would imitate the cooking process and eat it, thus forming the custom of "pinching frozen ears".

Later, people called it "dumplings", and some also called it "flat food" and "hot noodle dumplings." People also said that eating dumplings during the Winter Solstice would not freeze people. Winter Solstice Legend 2 The custom of eating dog meat during the Winter Solstice is said to have started in the Han Dynasty

According to legend, Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, ate the dog meat cooked by Fan Kuai and praised it for its delicious taste. Since then, the custom of eating dog meat during the Winter Solstice has been formed among the people.

Mutton and various nutritious foods, in order to have a good omen in the coming year. The third legend of the winter solstice In the water towns of Jiangnan, there is a custom of the whole family gathering together to eat red beans and glutinous rice on the night of the winter solstice. According to legend, there is a man named Jianggong.

His son, who was not successful and committed many evil deeds, died on the Winter Solstice. After his death, he turned into a plague ghost and continued to harm the people. However, this plague ghost was most afraid of red beans, so people cooked and ate red bean rice on the Winter Solstice.

, used to ward off epidemic ghosts, prevent disasters and eliminate diseases. The customs of the Winter Solstice have developed over thousands of years, and a unique festival food culture has been formed, such as wontons, dumplings, glutinous rice balls, red bean porridge, millet rice cakes, etc.

Festival food. The "Winter Solstice Sub-year Banquet" that was once more popular also had many items, such as eating Winter Solstice meat, offering Winter Solstice plates, offering Winter Solstice dumplings, and making wontons to celebrate the winter.