What are the traditional customs of winter solstice?

1, offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors:

Since the Zhou Dynasty, there has been a ritual activity for the winter solstice. Zhou Li Chun Guan Shen Shi: "With the winter solstice, ghosts and gods all come."

On this day, many places will worship ancestors, and even the poorest families will take out their usual savings to buy new clothes and prepare sacrificial supplies.

2. Traditional diet:

Every place in winter has its own special cuisine, such as jiaozi in the north, Chaoshan Tangyuan, Southeast Mashi, Yuan Lei in Taizhou, Pumpkin Cake in Hefei, Ningbo Sweet Potato Soup, Tengzhou Mutton Soup, Jiangnan Rice, Suzhou Brewing and so on.

The custom of eating jiaozi in the north is to commemorate the medical saint Zhang Zhongjing, who gave up medicine on the solstice of winter.

Liu Jiafan is from Chaoshan. Remember when I was a child in my hometown. On the solstice of winter, my parents will stick two winter festival rings on the doors and windows of my house, and some people will put them in conspicuous places such as tables, cabinets, ladders and beds. Fishermen's bows, farmers' horns, pig houses for raising pigs and fruit trees planted by fruit farmers are no exception. This is a sacrifice to the gods and the world to protect the family.

3, winter solstice health:

Winter solstice is one of the most important solar terms in health preservation, mainly because "winter solstice is sunny", so women and the elderly should pay special attention to keep warm and cold on this day. At the same time, you can soak your feet at night, supplement them appropriately, and eat some foods that nourish and protect your liver, such as spinach, celery, pig liver and so on. Fourth, family dinner:

The solstice of winter is also a day for everyone to get together. Many families who don't usually live together will have dinner. If they are far away from home and can't go home, they must call their parents or relatives through WeChat.

Extended data:

Cantonese people eat barbecue and ginger rice on the solstice in winter. On this day, most Cantonese people have the custom of "adding vegetables" to eat meat on the solstice in winter. In Chaoshan area, there is a folk saying that "Winter Festival Pills, once eaten, celebrate the New Year", commonly known as "Adding New Year". Hakkas believe that the taste of water is the most mellow in winter solstice, so it has become a custom for Hakkas to make wine in winter solstice.

People in Hangzhou eat rice cakes on the solstice in winter. From the late Qing Dynasty to the early Ming Dynasty, people in Hangzhou liked to eat rice cakes on the solstice in winter. In winter solstice, you can cook rice cakes with different flavors, eat rice cakes in winter solstice and get old, which is auspicious. In Sichuan, it is the solstice to eat mutton soup in winter, and mutton is the first tonic in winter. In the area around the two lakes, red beans and glutinous rice must be eaten on the solstice in winter.

Baidu encyclopedia-winter solstice