A short diary of the origin of the winter solstice

Winter solstice is one of the twenty-four solar terms, which is a very important solar term in the China lunar calendar and a traditional festival. So far, there is a custom to celebrate the winter solstice festival all over the country. The winter solstice is commonly known as "Winter Festival", "Dragon Solstice Festival" and "Asian New Year Festival". At the same time, it is also a big folk festival, commonly known as "small Chinese New Year". As early as 2500 years ago, during the Spring and Autumn Period, China had determined the winter solstice by observing the sun through the soil return, which was the earliest of the 24 solar terms. The time is between 0 and 23 in Gregorian calendar 65438+February 265438+ every year.

According to the "Twenty-four Solar Terms",1/month15th, the finally hidden gas came to an end. "Tong Wei Xiao Zhu Shen" contains: "The 15th day after the heavy snow is the winter solstice, which is the 15th day of the first month. Yin and Yang began, and the sky went south and grew up. " According to Ci Hai: "Astronomically speaking, the solstice of winter is the beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere."

The winter solstice is the year with the shortest day and the longest night in the northern hemisphere. After the solstice in winter, the days will get longer day by day. The ancients said this about the winter solstice: As soon as the cathode arrived, the yang began to grow, the sun went south, the day was short and the shadow was long, so it was called "the winter solstice". After the winter solstice, the climate everywhere has entered the coldest stage, which is often called "entering the ninth". In China, there is a folk saying that "it's cold in March, and it's dog days".

The Winter Solstice Festival originated in the Han Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and has been passed down to this day. Lu even said 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 from 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 festival. There is such a record in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty: "Before and after the winter solstice, a gentleman was prepared for danger in times of peace, refused to listen to politics, and chose an auspicious day to save trouble." So on this day, the imperial court had a holiday, the army was on standby, the frontier fortress was closed, the business trip was closed, relatives and friends sent meals to each other, visited each other, and had a "quiet" holiday happily.

In the Tang and Song Dynasties, the solstice in winter was the day of ancestor worship. On this day, the emperor went to the suburbs to hold a ceremony to worship heaven. On this day, people must worship their parents. There are still some places to celebrate the winter solstice.

In ancient China, people attached great importance to the winter solstice and thought it was a grand festival. There is a saying that the winter solstice is as big as a year, and there is a custom to celebrate it. People think that after the winter solstice, the days become longer and longer and the sun rises. This is the beginning of a solar cycle and an auspicious day, which should be celebrated. The Book of Jin records: "On the winter solstice of Wei and Jin Dynasties, people from all over the world celebrated ... its appearance was not as good as that of Zheng Dan." Explain the ancient emphasis on the winter solstice.

Since ancient times, many places have celebrated the winter solstice as a festival, but the customs are different all over the country. The northern region has the custom of slaughtering sheep, eating jiaozi and wonton, while the southern region has the habit of eating jiaozi on this day. In some areas, there is also the custom of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors during the winter solstice. There are many different stories about the legend of winter solstice. After thousands of years of development, a unique seasonal diet culture has been formed from winter solstice to Sunday. Such as wonton, jiaozi, glutinous rice balls, etc. Can be used as new year's goods. The once popular "Winter Solstice Day Annual Banquet" has many names, such as eating winter solstice meat, winter solstice board, winter solstice group, wonton and so on.

There is a custom of eating wonton on the solstice in winter. As early as the Southern Song Dynasty, people in Lin 'an ate wonton on the solstice in winter. At first, it was to worship ancestors, and then it gradually became popular. There is a folk saying that "there are wonton on the solstice in winter and noodles on the solstice in summer". Today, wonton has become a famous snack with many kinds, different productions and delicious taste all over the country, which is deeply loved by people. Wonton has many names, such as Wonton in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Wonton in Guangdong, Noodles in Hubei, Clear Soup in Jiangxi, Wonton in Sichuan and Ququ in Xinjiang.

Eating jiaozi is also one of the traditional customs from winter solstice, especially in the south of the Yangtze River. "Tangyuan" is an essential food from winter solstice, and it is a round dessert made of glutinous rice flour. "Round" means "reunion" and "perfection". Eating glutinous rice balls on the winter solstice is also called "the winter solstice group". There is a folk saying that "eating glutinous rice balls is one year older", commonly known as "adding years". The winter solstice group can be used to worship ancestors or give gifts to relatives and friends. An ancient poem said, "Every family beats rice to make glutinous rice balls, knowing that it is the winter solstice of the Ming Dynasty."

In many places in the north, there is a custom of eating dog meat and mutton from winter to Sunday, because the weather enters the coldest period from winter to the future. Chinese medicine believes that mutton and dog meat have the functions of aphrodisiac and tonic, and there is still a folk custom of tonic in winter to day.

As an important solar term, winter solstice has many related proverbs. Such as "eat the winter festival, last winter; Eat Qingming and go to the bitter pit. " After the winter solstice, the temperature continued to drop, and there was little farm work, which became the slack season, called "last winter". Tomb-Sweeping Day has a warm climate and lush vegetation, and agricultural production is mostly busy with spring ploughing and sowing, which is the most tiring stage for farmers, so it is called "going into a bitter pit". However, the slack season does not forget the busy season, and the proverb reminds farmers in time: "Winter to the sixth day of the day is Qingming." 106 The solstice after beginning of winter is Qingming, so we should prepare for farming as soon as possible.

Qingming is a well-known grave-sweeping season, but strangely, the custom of sweeping graves in some places in Quanzhou mountainous area is not Qingming, but on the solstice of winter. On the morning of winter solstice, the family takes "meatballs", fruits, incense sticks, paper money and so on. Go up the mountain to pay homage to the graves of ancestors. Because the winter solstice is the last grave-sweeping festival in a year, more families sweep graves than Tomb-Sweeping Day and the Double Ninth Festival, which means pursuing the distance carefully. How long this custom has been circulating is still a mystery.

Winter solstice is a rich festival. It is said that the winter solstice of the Zhou Dynasty is New Year's Day in history, which is a very lively day, dating back thousands of years. Therefore, the winter solstice has always been a very important traditional festival in life.