The winter solstice is between December 21st and 23rd of the Gregorian calendar every year.

custom of winter solstice

1. ancestor worship

in many places, there is a custom of ancestor worship at the winter solstice, and at the same time, there is also a custom of offering shoes and socks to the elderly in ancient times, which is still popular in some areas today. There is a common saying in Fujian and Taiwan that "the Winter Solstice is a big New Year", and all people who go out to make a living must rush back to their hometown for the New Year on the Winter Solstice, which means that they will have a home at the end of the year.

2. Eating glutinous rice balls in the south

Eating glutinous rice balls in the winter solstice is also called "winter solstice group". Tangyuan can be used to worship ancestors or to give gifts to relatives and friends. On the winter solstice, the old Shanghainese are the most particular about eating dumplings. Relatives get together to taste the newly brewed sweet white wine, flower cakes and glutinous rice dumplings, and then use meat blocks to worship their ancestors.

3. The custom of eating the winter solstice in jiaozi in the north

In northern China, it is the custom to eat jiaozi on the winter solstice of the lunar calendar every year. As the saying goes, "On October 1st, when the winter solstice comes, every family eats dumplings." This custom of the winter solstice is to commemorate. Zhang Zhongjing, the' medical sage', left it by giving up medicine on the winter solstice.

4. Jiujiu

According to different climatic conditions, landscape features, agricultural phenology and customs, people in different places have compiled various Jiujiu proverbs and fluency.

5. Eating dog meat and mutton

There is also the custom of eating dog meat and mutton on the winter solstice, because the weather enters the coldest period after the winter solstice. Chinese medicine believes that mutton and dog meat have aphrodisiac and tonic effects, and there is a folk custom of tonic on the winter solstice so far.

6. Eating the Winter Solstice Tuans

Eating the Winter Solstice Tuans is popular in some areas in the south, which means reunion. Every winter solstice morning, every household will start grinding glutinous rice flour, and make stuffing with sugar, meat, radish, fruit, beans, shredded radish, etc., and wrap it into a winter solstice ball, which will not only be eaten by their own families, but also be given to relatives and friends as a sign of blessing.

7. Give shoes

During the winter solstice, people have the custom of giving shoes. In "Ancient and Modern China", it is said: "There are embroidered mandarin ducks and shoes in Han Dynasty, and Emperor Zhao ordered his aunt to go on the winter solstice." With the passage of time, the custom of giving shoes to aunts and uncles gradually evolved into giving shoes and hats to nephews and nephews.