beginning of winter is the 19th solar term among the 24 solar terms and the first solar term in winter. On November 7th or 8th of the Gregorian calendar every year, when the sun reaches 225 degrees along the yellow meridian, it is time for beginning of winter. Li, Jian Shi also means that winter has started since then; In winter, everything is collected, animals hide from the cold, and people who have harvested in autumn have also collected the harvest. Customs

1. Welcome to Winter

On this day in beginning of winter, the ancient emperors had a ceremony to welcome winter, which can be traced back to the pre-Qin period. For example, it is recorded in "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals": "It's the moon, and it's beginning of winter. Three days in beginning of winter, the son of Taishi, said,' One day in beginning of winter, Shengde will be in the water.' The son of heaven is Zhai. On the day of beginning of winter, the son of heaven personally led the doctors of San Gong Jiu Qing to welcome winter in the northern suburbs. Still, it is a matter of rewarding death and caring for the lonely. "Today, some places keep the winter ritual, which may be the remains of the ancient winter.

2. Make up for winter

For example, in Fujian, in beginning of winter, four kinds of herbs, eight treasures and other herbs are used to stew meat, usually dog meat, mutton and pork chops. Some places in Zhejiang call beginning of winter "nourishing winter", which means nourishing the body. For example, in Dongtou, Zhejiang, beginning of winter will kill chickens or ducks and stew them for his family. In Taiwan Province, mutton restaurants and ginger ducks will do well in the streets of beginning of winter on this day, which is the local people's favorite tonic.

3. Eat jiaozi

In many places in the north, beginning of winter still has the custom of eating jiaozi. Eating jiaozi is a custom in many festivals in ancient times, and beginning of winter is also one of the important "four seasons and eight festivals" in ancient China, so eat jiaozi to celebrate; Moreover, jiaozi is a homonym of "jiaozi", so when the seasons meet, when the old and the new years meet, there is often a custom of eating jiaozi, and beginning of winter is the intersection of autumn and freezing seasons, which jiaozi cannot but eat.

4. Liling Roast Meat

There are some interesting local customs in beginning of winter. For example, in Liling, Hunan Province, people have the custom of making the famous "Liling Roast Meat" in beginning of winter on this day. Liling Roast Meat is a kind of bacon, which is slowly smoked by fireworks on the stove, and the meat smoked by pine branches is the best.

Another example is Shaoxing yellow rice wine, which is the most famous. In beginning of winter, it is an important wine-making day. At the same time, wine shops have to offer sacrifices to Dionysus and pray for happiness.

In Chaoshan area of Guangdong Province, beginning of winter wants to eat sugarcane and stir-fried fragrant rice. Sugarcane can be one of the foods that "tonify winter" because there is a folk saying that "beginning of winter eats sugarcane without pain", which means that "beginning of winter" sugarcane is ripe and does not get angry after eating it. At this time, "eating sugarcane" can not only protect teeth, but also play a nourishing role.