When did the Winter Solstice Festival begin?

The Winter Solstice Festival originated in the Han Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and has been passed down to this day. 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.

The ancient solstice winter custom

The solstice of winter is the beginning of the ninth year. The ancients believed that it was an auspicious day for the winter solstice to lengthen the day and raise the sun's spirit. Therefore, it is worth celebrating. Emperors in the Ming and Qing Dynasties had ceremonies to worship heaven, which was called "the suburb from winter to the sun". There was a ceremony in the palace where hundreds of officials congratulated the emperor. They also threw thorns at each other and congratulated each other, just like New Year's Day. However, people do not regard the winter solstice as a festival, but have some timely activities.

In the Qing Dynasty, some flag-bearers prayed for disaster relief. At five o'clock on the solstice in winter, we invite our cousins and close friends to gather in the yard and sit on the floor, providing a low table with a "heaven and earth yard" or memorial tablet to kill pigs and sacrifice to heaven. By the way, an "ancestor pole" (a flagpole two or three feet high, with a gourd-shaped top and a "Diao Dou" at the bottom, with a flag hanging under the bucket to represent ancestors) was offered. After the sacrifice, relatives and friends sit around and eat "white meat", which is called "Shenyu".

After the emergence of the "Nine-Nine Cold Fighting" in September, some scholars and scholars flocked to engage in so-called cold fighting activities. They chose a "nine days" to welcome nine people to drink ("wine" and "nine" are homophonic), and there are nine dishes and nine bowls on the table. Those who finished the table used "nine flowers" to mean "nine years' plan to cool the cold".

It is also popular among the people to fill in 99-99 pictures to cool off the cold. The cold picture in 1999 is usually a traditional Chinese calligraphy with two hooks, nine strokes per word and eighty-one strokes per word. From the solstice of winter, one stroke is filled in the order of strokes every day, and one word is filled in September every year. A 99-year cold relief map is not completed until it returns to the earth in the spring of 99.