The origin of winter solstice

Winter solstice is one of the twenty-four solar terms and one of the most important solar terms. Winter solstice is a solar term divided by astronomy, which was called "short day" and "short day" in ancient times. From winter to the sun, the sun is located at 270 degrees of the Yellow Meridian, and the sun shines almost directly to the Tropic of Capricorn, which has the shortest day in the northern hemisphere. Accordingly, the daytime from winter solstice in the southern hemisphere is the longest in the whole year.

The winter solstice is also called the winter festival. According to the traditional calendar of China, five days is a waiting period, and three days is a festival or a breath. A year is divided into twelve sections and twelve qi, which are collectively called twenty-four solar terms. This is a solar term used in Japanese learning. In studying in Japan, auspicious classes are chosen according to the solar terms of the lunar calendar.

The so-called lunar calendar is a combination of the solar calendar and the lunar calendar. The solar calendar refers to the twenty-four solar terms (the cycle of the sun is divided into twelve stages, and then the twenty-four solar terms are divided into one month. ), the lunar calendar is a pure month (according to the cycle of the moon). ), the date is1February 22nd or 23rd in the national calendar.

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.

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A legend of winter solstice: It comes from ancient emperors-Huangdi and Yao Di. There are two theories that the Winter Solstice Festival originated from the Yellow Emperor and Yao Di. According to the Historical Records of Xiaowu, a minister said to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, "Did the Yellow Emperor win the Baoding God? (or Jia), it was the winter when I was sixty, and it was also the beginning of a day. So the Yellow Emperor welcomed his grandson? After I was 20 years old, I won the winter solstice. "

This record shows that the Yellow Emperor took the winter solstice as the beginning of the year and took "Shuodan", but there is no such record in the Historical Records of the Yellow Emperor Stupid Chicken, so it is difficult to test the isolated evidence. Another way of saying it is that Emperor Yao ordered his uncle He to live in the north, observe the movement of the sun, and then determine the time of winter.

"Shangshu Yu Shu Yaodi" once said: "(Yaodi) declared that he and his uncle would live in the north and called him a secluded capital. Ping is in Yi Shuo. The day is short and the star is long. It is already mid-winter. " (press: new moon, north also. However, The Book of History was written closer to the Yao Di era, with relatively high credibility, and the historical materials contained in it may be closer to historical facts. It can be seen that the winter solstice, as a festival, has been paid attention to in ancient China.

The second legend of winter solstice: the custom of southerners eating red beans and glutinous rice is related to epidemic ghosts. In the impression of most people, eating glutinous rice balls from winter solstice in the south is related to the original name of glutinous rice balls, which means reunion from winter solstice to Sunday, that is, reunion after the Spring Festival. Now, people often use the second explanation, which means reunion.

However, fewer and fewer people know the custom of eating red bean glutinous rice on the solstice in winter. In fact, this custom originated from a folk custom, that is, there is a legendary family named Gong. He had an incompetent son who died in the winter solstice and became an epidemic ghost after his death, which continued to harm the people.

However, this kind of epidemic ghost is most afraid of red beans, so people cook red bean rice from winter solstice to avoid epidemic ghosts, drive away diseases and prevent disasters. In fact, in ancient times, people wrapped all kinds of vegetables with glutinous rice and stuffed them with meat on the solstice of winter, which was not only a sacrifice to ancestors, but also a gift to relatives and friends.

Legend 3 of Winter Solstice: Eating jiaozi is related to Zhang Zhongjing's treatment of ear "frostbite", that is, the custom of "pinching frozen ears" in the north. According to legend, this custom originated from Zhang Zhongjing, a doctor in Nanyang, Han Dynasty. When Zhang Zhongjing retired in Changsha, it was a snowy winter and the wind was biting.

Seeing that many people's ears on both sides of the Baihe River in Nanyang were frozen rotten, he ordered his disciples to set up a medicine shed in Guandong, Nanyang, and put mutton, peppers and cold-dispelling herbs in a pot to cook, then took them out and chopped them up, imaged them with leather bags, and cooked them in a pot to make a medicine called "Quhan Jiaoer Decoction" for the people to eat.

After eating, the people's frozen ears were cured. Later, on the ninth day of the winter solstice, people imitated eating and called it "jiaozi", or "flat food" or "instant noodle jiaozi". It is also said that people who eat the winter solstice will not freeze people in the jiaozi, thus forming the custom of "pinching their ears".

This custom is especially popular in Henan. On the solstice of winter, no matter whether the family is rich or poor, they should eat jiaozi, which is the folk saying: "In November, when the solstice of winter comes, every household should eat jiaozi." Because the arrival of winter solstice means entering a colder stage, in order to protect our ears from freezing, we should eat jiaozi, and jiaozi looks like ears to bless them.

Therefore, we will find that northerners, no matter where they are, will eat a bowl of hot jiaozi on the solstice in winter, so as to wish themselves a healthy and smooth winter and usher in the new year.

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