The solstice in winter is a festival for us in China. What are the customs?

Winter solstice is an important solar term in the China lunar calendar, and it is also a traditional festival of the Chinese nation. The winter solstice is usually called "Winter Festival", "Dragon solstice Festival" and "Asian New Year". As early as more than 2,500 years ago in the Spring and Autumn Period, China had observed the sun with the earth, and determined the winter solstice, which was the earliest of the 24 solar terms, and the time was between 0 and 23 in Gregorian calendar 65438+February 265438.

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. "Han Shu" said: "The sun shines on the winter solstice, and you are long, so congratulations." 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.

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. The ancients believed that the solstice of winter was the day when yin and yang alternated. After this day, the yin gradually disappeared and the yang gradually grew. On the solstice of winter, the emperor went to the Temple of Heaven to worship heaven, and was greeted by civil and military officials in the Hall of Supreme Harmony the next day.

First, eat jiaozi.

As the saying goes, "On October 1st, the solstice of winter comes, and every household eats jiaozi." It can be seen that it is an essential custom to eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter. Zhang Zhongjing, a "medical sage", was a magistrate in Changsha. After resigning from his post and returning to his hometown, he saw that the villagers were sallow and emaciated, hungry and cold, and many people's ears were frozen. So, he ordered his disciples to set up a stove, put mutton and herbs for removing cold in a pot, then take them out and chop them up, make them into ear-shaped "charming ears" with bread, and give them to those who came to ask for medicine after cooking. After eating, people are warm all over, their ears are hot, and their frostbitten ears are cured. Later generations learned to look like Joule, wrapped it up and made it into food, so it was called "jiaozi".

Second, 99 eliminate cold.

On the second day after beginning of winter, the solstice began to count nine, which is what people call "beginning of winter counts nine". 9 days is 19, 9 days is 29, and so on. The number "99" is the end of "99". "Nine flowers bloom", then it will be warm. After entering the ninth year, the literati engaged in the so-called activities to reduce the cold, and chose a "ninth day", when nine people drank ("wine" is homophonic with "nine"), and nine dishes and bowls were served on the table, and those who finished the table used "nine flowers" seats to get the meaning of reducing the cold in the ninth year.

Third, offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors.

Many areas have the custom of offering sacrifices to the heavens and ancestors from the winter solstice, and some places celebrate this festival from the winter solstice. Every family provides genealogy, ancestor statues, memorial tablets, etc. In the upper hall of the home, an altar, incense burners and offerings are placed. In some places, while offering sacrifices to ancestors, they also offer sacrifices to gods, land gods and deities, so as to make the next year's weather favorable and the family prosperous.