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 has been in existence ever since. Qing Jia Lu even says that the winter solstice is as big as a year. This shows that the ancients attached great importance to the winter solstice. People think that the winter solstice is a natural transformation of yin and yang and a blessing given by heaven. In the Han Dynasty, the winter solstice was the "winter festival", and the government held a congratulatory ceremony called "He Dong", which was a routine holiday. There is such a record in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty: "Before and after the Winter Solstice, a gentleman lived in peace, refused to listen to politics, chose auspicious days and then saved trouble." Therefore, on this day, the court will have a holiday and rest, the army will be on standby, the frontier fortress will be closed, business trips will be closed, relatives and friends will give each other food, visit each other, and have a "quiet" festival happily.

In the Tang and Song Dynasties, the winter solstice was a day to worship the ancestors. On this day, the emperor went to the suburbs to hold a ceremony to worship the heavens. On this day, the people had to worship their parents. Now, some places still celebrate the winter solstice.

One of the winter solstice legends

In the past, there was a saying in old Beijing that "winter solstice wonton and summer solstice noodles". According to legend, during the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu in the north often harassed the frontier, and the people were restless. At that time, there were two leaders of Hun tribe and Tun tribe, which were very cruel. The people hated it, so they wrapped it into a corner with meat stuffing and called it "wonton" with the sound of "muddy" and "tun". Hate to eat, and seek to calm the war and live a peaceful life. Because wonton was originally made on the winter solstice, every family eats wonton on the winter solstice.

Eating "frozen ears" is a common name for Henan people to eat jiaozi during the winter solstice. Why is there such a food custom? According to legend, Zhang Zhongjing, a doctor in Nanyang, was an official in Changsha. When he retired from his old age, it was a snowy winter and the wind was biting. He was very sad when he saw the villagers on both sides of Nanyang Baihe River with their clothes uncovered, and many people's ears were frozen rotten. He asked his disciples to set up a medical shed in Guandong, Nanyang, put mutton, peppers and some cold-dispelling medicinal materials in a pot and cook them, fished them out and chopped them up, imaged their ears with a leather bag, and then put them down and cooked them in a pot to make a kind of medicine called "soup for dispelling cold and correcting ears" for the people to eat. After eating, the villagers' ears were cured. Later, on the winter solstice, people imitated and cooked, so the custom of "pinching ears" was formed. Later, people called it "jiaozi", and some called it "flat food" and "instant noodle dumplings". It was also said that people would not be frozen in jiaozi after eating the winter solstice.

Legend of the Winter Solstice II

It is said that the custom of eating dog meat on the Winter Solstice began in the Han Dynasty. According to legend, Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu, ate dog meat cooked by Fan Kuai on the winter solstice, which made him feel particularly delicious and full of praise. Since then, the custom of eating dog meat on the winter solstice has been formed among the people. Nowadays, people eat dog meat, mutton and various nourishing foods on the winter solstice in order to have a good omen for the coming year.

Legend of the Winter Solstice III

In the water town in the south of the Yangtze River, it is a custom for the whole family to get together on the night of the Winter Solstice to eat red beans and glutinous rice. According to legend, there was a man named * * * Gong's. His son was incompetent and evil, and he died on the winter solstice. After his death, he became an epidemic ghost and continued to harm the people. However, this epidemic ghost is most afraid of red beans, so people cook red bean rice on the winter solstice to ward off the epidemic ghost and prevent and cure diseases.

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