When is the winter solstice?

The winter solstice festival is 65438+February 2 1, the 22nd or 23rd of each year.

The winter solstice has the shortest day and the longest night in all parts of the northern hemisphere. The shorter the day, the extreme night phenomenon appears in the Arctic. From winter to the sun, the sun shines directly on the Tropic of Capricorn, and the sun is most inclined to the northern hemisphere, and the solar altitude angle is the smallest.

The solstice in winter is the turning point when the direct sun point returns to the south. After this day, it went back, and the direct point of the sun began to move northward from the tropic of Capricorn, and the days in the northern hemisphere became longer day by day.

According to the law of solar terms, beginning of spring is the starting point of the rising of "Yin and Yang" qi in Yang Qi. Since the beginning of spring, Yang Qi has changed and Yang Qi has risen. The beginning of spring marks the beginning of a new cycle and the rebirth of everything. The solstice in winter is the starting point for the return of the sun. Since the winter solstice, the height of the sun has risen, and the winter solstice marks a new cycle of direct sunlight movement, which increases day by day during the day. The ancients also regarded the solstice in winter as a "good day".

Festival custom

1, South

Many places in southern China will celebrate the winter solstice. Winter solstice is a traditional festival. It is one of the eight festivals in a year, and people should sacrifice to their ancestors on this day. There is a saying that "the winter festival is as big as a year, and it will never come back." People who go out must go home to worship their ancestors on the solstice of winter.

Due to different local customs and habits, the forms of ancestor worship are also different. After the ancestor worship ceremony, there is usually a big banquet to entertain the people who come to worship their ancestors. Everyone drinks heartily and contacts each other with long-lost feelings. Many places regard the winter solstice as a festival of reunion.

2. North

In many parts of northern China, it is a custom to eat jiaozi every winter solstice. As the saying goes: "On October 1st, when the solstice of winter comes, every family eats jiaozi." North China will eat jiaozi on this day, because jiaozi means "dispelling cold". Up to now, there is a folk proverb that "on the solstice of winter, jiaozi bowls are improper and nobody cares about frozen ears".