The winter solstice of the lunar calendar is also called the long solstice, because its day is extremely south and its shadow is extremely long, so it is also called the long day. Hometown is commonly known as "winter" or "winter festival", and there are some sayings, such as "winter festival (like a small year)" and "winter solstice is not outside the year". In fact, the arrival of this day means the beginning of 99 days. In ancient times, the winter solstice was considered as an important festival. At that time, the five emperors, the sun, the moon and the stars were all sacrificed to the suburban altar during the festival; The son of heaven ushered in the new year with three public officials and nine public officials. At that time, the celebrations in North Korea were no less than the Spring Festival. From the Wei and Jin Dynasties, slightly lower than the Yuan Dynasty, it can be seen that winter solstice is like a small year for a long time. Du Fu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, once chanted "Winter goes to sunrise and the sun comes again". In the Tang Dynasty, the day before winter was called "except night" and "staying in winter". In the Song Dynasty, the folk custom of winter solstice evolved into a lively celebration, and the court held a grand gathering to celebrate it, just like the Spring Festival. He dong's chariots and horses are all fresh and good, and they are crowded in the ninth street in the morning; Women and children are luxuriously dressed and crowded like clouds. The store has a three-day holiday to "make a holiday"; Rich people put wonton in more than ten colors on their utensils, which can be described as "Baiwei wonton", which is tantamount to a food festival. Later, in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the solstice in winter was as big as a year, fat in winter and thin in winter, giving each other holiday gifts. Baskets and boxes are carried between relatives and friends, and every family sacrifices food to their ancestors, and occasionally hangs the appearance of their ancestors as a souvenir. Scholar-bureaucrat families pay homage to their elders; People will have fresh clothes to greet each other, which is called "winter worship" in folklore. Therefore, there is a saying in Nantong that "a dog faces home and comes to worship winter every year". In winter, he grinds flour to wrap jiaozi, and uses sugar, meat, vegetables, bean paste, shredded radish and other fillings to worship the stove first. This reunion wishes everyone a happy life after the arrival of the new year. In the old winter, the folk custom in my hometown was to burn scriptures to worship my ancestors, so that the whole city could have dinner together and respect my family. The dim sum shop sells colorful rice cakes. Those who have the right women also give it as a gift to others. Farmers pay rent and worship winter; Merchants drink Lishi wine at night. Jiang Changqing, a poet of Nantong in Qing Dynasty, intoned in his Zhi Zhu Ci: "The winter solstice is frequent, and there is no instrument to pay homage. What is at the bottom of the East Gate is still abandoned, and the old custom says to beat the old son. " This custom is quite similar to rugby without protective equipment, which is probably an ancient custom passed down from ancient tribal struggles. This custom was abolished in the early years of the Republic of China because it involved barbaric injuries. In the winter solstice in Shigang, "after combing your hair and cooking, there are still nine days before winter is over." Meet with each other for a long time ",and pay New Year greetings three times"; "The solstice in winter seems to be off-year, and the etiquette of Sanyang Heel House is embarrassing. Paper money flies like a butterfly, and merchants bear the brunt of sacrifice. "The ancients said that winter solstice was born in the sun and December was born in the sun; On the first day of the first month, three suns were born, and the winter solstice was the first of the three suns. Meet each other at the Prime Minister's House and wish each other well, which means that a grandson will not congratulate him. Gu Zhiyan, an official and businessman in the Qing Dynasty, offered sacrifices before the solstice winter, apparently following the ancient folk custom. ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— The solstice in winter is one of the eight festivals in Nantong, usually in November of the lunar calendar. People in northern Nantong attach great importance to it. The day before was called "little winter", and the winter from solstice was called "big winter", also called "winter". There are folk customs such as burning incense, worshipping ancestors, worshipping festivals, sweeping graves and eating jiaozi. And there is also a trumpeter who makes winter. At that time, the farming has been finished, and farmers should celebrate. There is a saying that "a big winter is like a small year". The so-called "off-year" means that the year is approaching and there are not many days left; The second is to show the importance of the winter solstice. Historically, from Zhou to Qin, winter and November were the first month, and the solstice in winter was the beginning of the year.
There are other sayings, such as "three years and four winters", "urging the winter to cut the year" and "after the winter solstice is the year". "Three years and four years in winter" refers to three days from the winter solstice and four days in the New Year. In the past, the deadline for farmers (landlords) to demand rent and check out shops was winter solstice. At this time, the life of the poor is the hardest, which is the origin of the phrase "urging the winter to cut the year".
In the morning of winter solstice, the family will eat new glutinous rice balls, and at noon or evening, they will burn scriptures to worship their ancestors. This shop sells 10 thousand gold cakes. Yin Fujia also boiled sugar to pickle lilies. After liberation, people followed the custom of making zongzi during the solar eclipse in winter, and there is still a ceremony of burning books to worship their ancestors.
Nantong has four festivals in a year, namely, the winter solstice, the first day of the first month, the thirteenth day of the first month (lighting) and the Lantern Festival in the first month. It is a custom in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces to eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter, and to eat wonton and jiaozi in the north. This is the difference caused by different native products and different eating habits.
In Nantong, people commonly call it "burning classics" to worship their ancestors from winter to morning, and prepare four kinds of dishes such as fish, meat, eggs and tofu at noon to pay homage to their deceased relatives.
After the solstice of winter, "day by day" will grow day by day, that is, as the saying goes, "after a winter, an onion will grow"; The solstice of winter is also the beginning of "counting nine", and the following slight cold and severe cold are the coldest seasons of the year, just as the Nantong folk proverb says, "There is heavy snow every year, not in March and September, but in April and September".