Brief introduction of solar terms in solstice winter

The winter solstice is a very important solar term in China lunar calendar, and it is also a traditional festival. The winter solstice is commonly known as "Winter Festival", "Dragon Solstice Festival" and "Asian New Year Festival". As early as 2500 years ago, during the Spring and Autumn Period, China had determined the winter solstice by observing the sun through the soil return, which was the earliest of the 24 solar terms. The time is between February 22nd and 23rd of Gregorian calendar 12.

The winter solstice is the year with the shortest day and the longest night in the northern hemisphere. After the solstice in winter, the days will get longer day by day. The ancients said this about the winter solstice: As soon as the cathode arrived, the yang began to grow, the sun went south, the day was short and the shadow was long, so it was called "the winter solstice". After the winter solstice, the climate in all parts of the country has entered the coldest stage, which is what people often say. From the winter solstice, count nine days in a row, and then winter will pass.

The winter solstice has always ranked first among the 24 solar terms, and there is a saying that "the winter solstice is as big as a year", which is called "divided year". Celebrations have been held since the Han Dynasty. At the peak, the court has a three-day holiday, so you don't listen to politics. People closed the city for three days to celebrate the festival. It is as lively as the Chinese New Year.

The ancients believed that by the solstice of winter, although it was still in the cold season, spring was not far away. Everyone who goes out at this time will go home for the winter vacation, which indicates that there will be a home at the end of the year. People in Fujian and Taiwan believe that the annual winter solstice is a festival for family reunion, because it is a day to worship ancestors. Going out and not coming home is a person who denies his ancestors.

The solstice in winter is the longest night in a year. Many people use this evening to make a "winter solstice circle" with glutinous rice flour. In order to distinguish it from "saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new" on the eve of the Spring Festival, the day before the Winter Festival is called "adding the year" or "dividing the year", which means that the year is not over yet, but everyone has grown up for a year.

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".