The solar term winter solstice represents the approaching cold and the official start of winter.
The winter solstice is the most important of the 24 solar terms. According to the Gregorian calendar, the winter solstice is usually on1February 22-23 (this year's date is 22nd 12 19). On this day, the sun travels to 270 degrees of the ecliptic, with the southernmost latitude and direct sunlight on the Tropic of Capricorn. In the northern hemisphere, the day is the shortest and the night is the longest (within the Arctic Circle, it is 24 hours). On the day of the winter solstice, the height of the sun at noon in the northern hemisphere is also the lowest. For example, in Beijing, the height of the sun is only 26 42', because the shadow at noon on this day is the longest, so it is also called "long to the sun".
China attached great importance to the winter solstice in ancient times, and stipulated that the month with the winter solstice was the "sub-month", which was the first branch of the twelve regions. Therefore, the winter solstice is still a traditional festival, commonly known as "winter festival" and "long solstice festival". From the winter solstice, the days will gradually become longer. The ancients thought that this was "the arrival of the cathode, the beginning of the yang", so the winter solstice was regarded as the real starting point of the annual cycle, the natural fate cycle and the growth cycle of all things. Among the hexagrams representing the winter solstice, the bottom one of the six yin hexagrams, which were all yin, has become a yang hexagram, so the winter solstice is also called "one yang is born".
The moral of the winter solstice
The winter solstice is a very important solar term in the Chinese lunar calendar and a traditional festival. The winter solstice is commonly known as "winter festival", "long solstice festival" and "sub-year-old". As early as the Spring and Autumn Period more than 2,500 years ago, our country had determined the winter solstice by observing the sun with Tugui, which was the earliest one of the 24 solar terms. The time is between the 22 nd and 23 rd of February in the Gregorian calendar/kloc-0 every year.
The winter solstice is the shortest day and the longest night in the northern hemisphere all year round. After the winter solstice, the days will get longer day by day. 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". After the winter solstice, the climate in all parts of the country has entered a coldest stage, which is often called "entering the ninth". From the date of the winter solstice, nine days are used as a unit, and nine days are counted in a row, and then the winter will pass.
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". Since the Han Dynasty, celebrations have been held. During the peak period, the imperial 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 ancients thought that by the winter solstice, although it was still in the cold season, spring was not far away. At this time, people who go out will go home for the winter festival, indicating that they will have a home at the end of the year. People in Fujian and Taiwan believe that the annual winter solstice is a festival for family reunion, because it is a day to worship ancestors. If you go out and don't go home, you are a person who denies your ancestors.
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, the day before the winter festival is called "adding years" or "sub-years", which means that the "year" is not over yet, but everyone has grown one year.
As the old saying goes, "On October 1st, when the winter solstice comes, every family eats dumplings." It can be seen that eating jiaozi on the winter solstice is an essential custom. Zhang Zhongjing, a "medical sage", used to be the prefect of Changsha. After resigning from his post and returning to his hometown, he saw that the villagers were sallow and emaciated, hungry and cold, and many people's ears were frozen. Therefore, he ordered his disciples to set up a stove, boil mutton and herbs for dispelling cold in a pot, then take them out and chop them up, make them into ear-like "charming ears" with bread, and after cooking, give them to people who come to ask for medicine. After eating, people are warm all over, their ears are hot, and their frostbitten ears are cured. Later generations learned to look like "Jiao Er" and wrapped it into food, so it was called "jiaozi".
The winter solstice has both nature and humanity. It is not only a natural solar term, but also a traditional festival to worship ancestors and gods. In the winter solstice festival, due to the characteristics of solar terms, "the sun rises in the winter solstice and the sun rises in the heavens and the earth", the ancients thought that since the winter solstice, the sun rises in the heavens and the earth, representing the beginning of the next cycle, which is a good day. Therefore, the gods and ancestors were sacrificed at the winter solstice, and then the festival custom was formed. According to legend, the winter solstice is the earliest one in 24 solar terms, which is the first of the 24 solar terms. The winter solstice is a solar term in ancient times, which was determined by the phenology of astronomical phenomena that the yang gradually began to rise. "The Collection of Zaijingtang" contains "Summer is the end of the autumnal equinox, spring is the winter solstice", and the winter solstice festival is the first sound of spring.
Three seasons of winter solstice
Earthworm knot: It is said that earthworms are creatures whose yin bends and the yang stretches. At this time, although the yang has grown, the yin is still very strong, and the earthworms in the soil are still curled up.
Angle interpretation: Mi and deer belong to the same family, but the yin and yang are different. The ancients thought that Mi's horn was facing the afterlife, so it was yin, while the winter solstice was a yang, and Mi felt that the yin gradually receded and solved the angle.
Spring movement: The spring water in the mountain can flow and be warm.