The significance of winter solstice sacrifice

The significance of winter solstice sacrifice is to pray for the gods to bless the country and people, to remember the merits of ancestors, and to pray for a long and healthy family.

Winter solstice, also known as short solstice, winter festival, year-ending, winter worship, etc., has both natural and humanistic connotations. It is an important solar term among the 24 solar terms and a traditional folk festival in China. The solstice in winter is one of the eight festivals in four seasons, and it is considered as a big holiday in winter. There is an ancient saying that the solstice in winter is as big as a year, so the ancients called it "off-year" or "off-year".

The custom of winter solstice varies in content or details due to different regions. In some areas along the southern coast of China, there is a custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors during the winter solstice. In northern China, it is a custom to eat jiaozi from winter to Sunday every year. The winter solstice is one of the 24 solar terms in China, usually on the 20th or 22nd day of the Gregorian calendar 65438+February 265438.

Winter solstice custom

The winter solstice solar term means that the sun reaches 270 degrees of the yellow meridian, which is the shortest day and the longest night in the northern hemisphere all year round. In ancient times, the winter solstice was a very important festival, and people held some sacrificial activities, such as ancestor worship and praying for a bumper harvest. Over time, these sacrificial activities gradually evolved into a custom.

The significance of sweeping graves in winter solstice is to show respect and nostalgia for ancestors. In the traditional culture of China, ancestors are the root of our lives, and we have close ties with them. Therefore, in this special solar term, people will pay homage to their ancestors by sweeping graves to show their respect and gratitude.