Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - The 24 Solar Terms - The origin and custom of the winter solstice in senior one are very simple.

The origin and custom of the winter solstice in senior one are very simple.

Winter solstice, also known as short solstice, winter festival and sub-year-old, has both natural and humanistic connotations. It is not only an important solar term among the 24 solar terms, but also a traditional folk festival in China.

North-South customs:

Many places in southern China will celebrate the winter solstice. Some coastal areas in the south continue the traditional custom of ancestor worship. Every household is dedicated to ancestor statues, memorial tablets, etc. Go to the hall at home, place an altar, set up incense burners, offerings, etc. 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.

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 Ming and early Qing dynasties to the present, people in Hangzhou like 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.

In many parts of northern China, it is a custom to eat jiaozi every winter solstice. According to legend, Zhang Zhongjing, a medical sage, saw a frozen person when he retired in his later years, so he wrapped mutton, some cold-dispelling herbs and dough into the shape of ears, made a medicine called "Quhan Jiaoer Decoction" and gave it to the people. Later, on the solstice of winter, people imitated eating and formed a custom.