The origin and significance of winter solstice

1, the origin of the winter solstice: the winter solstice festival originated in the Han Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and has continued to this day. In the Han Dynasty, the winter solstice was regarded as the "Winter Festival", and the official congratulations ceremony was called "He Dong". On this day, the whole court had a holiday, the army was on standby, the frontier fortress was closed, the business trip was closed, relatives and friends sent meals to each other and visited each other, and they had a "quiet and peaceful" festival happily. At the same time, the winter solstice is one of the "24 solar terms" in China. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, twenty-four solar terms were absorbed into the calendar as a supplement to the calendar guiding farming, and the division of solar terms adopted the method of "balancing qi" (that is, the average time method).

2. The significance of winter solstice: winter solstice is called "south solstice", which is a solar term reflecting the direct sunlight movement. On the winter solstice, the sun goes south to the extreme, and the sun shines directly on the tropic of Capricorn. Since the winter solstice, the direct point of the sun has returned to the north. The solstice in winter is the turning point of "going south to north". Since then, the height of the sun has risen and the days have increased day by day. The solstice in winter marks the rebirth of the sun and the round-trip movement of the sun into a new cycle. "Han Shu" said: "The sun shines on the winter solstice, and you are long, so congratulations." After the winter solstice, the days get longer and the sun rises, which is the beginning of a round-trip cycle at the direct point of the sun. This is an auspicious day and should be celebrated.