Jiangxi's winter solstice customs are rich and colorful.

There is a folk saying in China that "the winter solstice is as big as a year". When the winter solstice comes, the traditional customs and activities in various places are colorful, and so is Jiangxi. Let Lao Huangli introduce you to the colorful winter solstice customs in Jiangxi.

Pay tribute to the dead at their graves.

Around the eighth day of November in the lunar calendar, it is a seasonal festival and a traditional ancestor worship day, which is called "the winter solstice is like a year". In the past, every village held a winter solstice meeting. All men over the age of 16 will go to the ancestral temple to participate in ancestor worship activities. Most villagers' births, deaths and marriages are registered on this day (also called "Shangpu").

Nowadays, Nanchang people still have the custom of sweeping graves from the winter solstice, and citizens use the winter solstice to commemorate their ancestors, sweep graves and renovate graves. In some rural areas, every household has to hold a banquet to worship their ancestors, and put pig heads, chickens, ducks, geese and fish together to worship their ancestors. After the worship, the family will sit down to eat.

Eat hot tofu

It is worth mentioning that Nanchang people not only have the habit of eating jiaozi and glutinous rice balls in winter solstice, but also eat a bowl of hot tofu in winter solstice. As the saying goes, "You can't eat hot tofu if you are impatient". When winter comes, eating a bowl of hot tofu can not only warm your body, but also herald prosperity and heat in the coming year.

As the old saying goes, "In winter, eat onions and tofu overnight, eat for one night, eat for one night without freezing, eat for one winter while it is hot, and eat for one winter without freezing". According to reports, due to the homonym of "rot" and "wealth", the folk proverb says that "if you want to be rich, the onion should be tofu overnight in winter", which also reflects people's desire for a rich life, so this custom has been passed down to this day.

Beat the fruit

Not only that, there are many interesting customs all over Jiangxi. Shangrao's winter solstice is very lively. In addition to sweeping graves in rural areas, we should also play sesame seeds. Jiujiang has the custom of making glutinous rice cakes from winter solstice every year. In the morning, there will be a "thump" sound outside the window.

Masi is a specialty of Jiangxi and a famous snack in southern Fujian, which is mostly used for sacrifice. Its raw materials are superior glutinous rice, lard, sesame, peanut kernel, rock sugar and so on. The crispy rice is sweet and delicious, resistant to hunger after eating, sweet and smooth in taste, soft and tough and slightly icy. The finished product is bright white, smooth, tough and transparent.

Eat glutinous rice and glutinous rice balls.

In Yichun, people eat glutinous rice on the solstice in winter. If they like sweet rice, they add sweet potatoes to it. If they are salty, they add peas and bacon. On the day of winter solstice, Hakka people in Ganzhou will hold a grand ceremony to worship their ancestors and seek their roots in the ancestral hall; In terms of diet, we should eat jiaozi brewed with wine on the winter solstice, commonly known as "the winter solstice does not move round, and the husband and ghost do not make money."

Bacon brewing

In addition, the solstice in winter is also a good opportunity for people to "pickle" and "cultivate". Old Nanchang people often say that "the solstice in winter is good for healing bones and muscles." Therefore, after the winter solstice, they usually start to kill pigs and bacon, mold tofu, steamed glutinous rice wine and so on. Make material preparations for the new year.

In addition, Shangrao people have to fill sausages and pickled fish on the solstice in winter. In addition to pickling delicious fish, drying radishes is also a winter solstice scenery. It is said that radish dried in the sun from winter is the most refreshing. Radish is crisp in first frost, and you can eat it almost before and after the Chinese New Year. People especially like it.