When is the solstice in winter?

What is the solstice of winter every year?

The winter solstice, with both natural and humanistic connotations, is not only an important solar term among the 24 solar terms, but also a traditional folk ancestor worship festival in China. The solstice in winter is one of the eight festivals in four seasons, and it is considered as a big holiday in winter. In ancient times, there was a saying that the winter solstice was as big as a year. The following is the information I have carefully compiled about the winter date of the solstice every year. Welcome to draw lessons from and refer to. I hope it helps you.

What is the solstice of winter every year?

The winter solstice usually falls on the second day of 65438+February, 2 1 or 65438+February 22. Because the winter solstice is not fixed on a certain day, it is called "live festival" like Qingming.

The origin of winter solstice

The winter solstice is an important solar term in the China lunar calendar and a traditional festival of the Chinese nation. The winter solstice is usually called "Winter Festival", "Dragon solstice Festival" and "Asian New Year". As early as more than 2,500 years ago in the Spring and Autumn Period, China had observed the sun with earth gauges and determined the winter solstice, which was the earliest of the 24 solar terms, and the time was between 0 and 23 in the Gregorian calendar 65438+February 265438+February.

As early as more than 2,500 years ago in the Spring and Autumn Period, China had observed the sun with earth gauges and determined the winter solstice, which was the earliest of the 24 solar terms, and the time was between 0 and 23 in the solar calendar 65438+February 265438+February, which was the shortest day and the longest night in the northern hemisphere. In most parts of northern China, it is also the custom to eat jiaozi and jiaozi on this day. There is a proverb: When winter solstice comes, we will eat jiaozi, and there are poems and films about this solar term.

According to the records of the Zhou Dynasty, people worship heaven in the suburbs on the winter solstice. Since the first month of the weekly calendar is 1 1 month in the summer calendar, the first month of the Zhou Dynasty is equal to our present 1 1 month, so there is no difference between celebrating the New Year and celebrating the winter. It was not until Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted the summer calendar that the first month and the winter solstice were separated. Therefore, it can be said that the "Winter Festival" was celebrated only after the Han Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and has existed ever since.

Brief introduction of winter solstice

Today is the solstice of winter, and my mother says she wants to eat jiaozi. I didn't care at that time, thinking that my mother wanted to eat jiaozi. No, I bought my favorite leek jiaozi at jiaozi Supermarket in Dongchangfu at noon today, but I don't think it's as delicious as my mother's.

Why do you eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter? I'm still a little confused. So I searched the information online and finally got the answer.

This winter solstice is one of the twenty-four solar terms in the China lunar calendar, which generally falls on 65438+February 22nd every year (in some years, it is 65438+February 2nd1or 23rd). The winter solstice, as the name implies, is the beginning of the cold winter and the first day of September in the lunar calendar. The winter solstice is the shortest day and the longest night in a year. This solar term later evolved into a festival.

The Winter Solstice Festival originated in the Han Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and has been passed down to this day. The ancients said that the solstice in winter was as big as a year. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, the solstice in winter was the day of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors. On this day, the emperor will hold a worship ceremony in the suburbs; China people should also worship their ancestors and bow down to their parents on this day.

Every year, during the winter solstice of the Lunar New Year, jiaozi is an indispensable holiday feast for both the rich and the poor. As the saying goes: "On October 1st, when the solstice of winter comes, every family eats jiaozi." This custom was left in memory of Zhang Zhongjing, a "medical sage", who gave up medicine from the winter solstice.

Zhang Zhongjing is from Gedong, Nanyang. Treatise on Febrile Diseases, written by him, is a masterpiece of doctors and is regarded as a classic by doctors in past dynasties. Zhang Zhongjing has a famous saying: "if you advance, you will survive;" If you retreat, you will save the people; " You can't be a good doctor and you can't be a good doctor. "When the Eastern Han Dynasty was the magistrate of Changsha, he visited the sick and took medicine and practiced medicine in the lobby. Later, he resolutely resigned and went back to his hometown to treat his neighbors. When he got home, it was already winter. He saw that the villagers on both sides of the Baihe River were sallow and emaciated, hungry and cold, and many people's ears were frozen. He asked his disciples to build a medical shed and a cauldron in Dongguan, Nanyang, and to give up "Quhan Joule Decoction" to treat chilblain on the day of winter solstice. He boiled mutton, pepper and some herbs for dispelling cold in a pot, then took out mutton and medicine and chopped them up, making ear-shaped dumplings with bread. After cooking, he distributed two horns and a big bowl of broth to everyone who came to ask for medicine. People ate "Joule" and drank "Quhan Decoction", and they were all hot, their ears were hot, and their frostbitten ears were cured. Later generations learned the appearance of Joule and packaged it into food, also called "jiaozi" or "flat food".

It turns out that eating jiaozi during the winter solstice is due to the kindness of Zhang Zhongjing, a "medical sage", in Quhan Joule Decoction. Up to now, there is still a folk song in Nanyang, which is called "jiaozi Bowl, and nobody cares about frozen ears." .

I was very moved to read Zhang Zhongjing's story of "saving the people by giving up doctors". When I grow up, I also want to be a person who helps the poor.

Festival custom

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.

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".

Holiday food

There are different customs in winter solstice in the north and south of China, and through historical development, a unique seasonal food culture has been formed. Some places in southern China have the custom of eating and drinking in winter solstice. In most places in the north, there is a custom of eating jiaozi from winter solstice, and eating jiaozi has become the custom of most northerners in China from winter solstice. The ancients celebrated the winter solstice, which is one of the "eight major festivals of the year". There are many kinds of food in the winter solstice festival.

Mutton Soup

Every winter, we eat mutton everywhere from Sunday to Sunday. As the saying goes, "three nine supplements one, winter", and warm mutton is regarded as a good tonic in winter. For ordinary people, eating mutton is one of the main ways to supplement the cold in winter. Traditional Chinese medicine and medicine pay attention to "four seasons and five supplements", among which "nourishing" in winter is a timely tonic method. Eating mutton in winter solstice is to keep out the cold and nourish.

tangyuan

Tangyuan, also known as "Tangtuan" and "Floating Zi Yuan", is one of the representatives of Han traditional snacks. [29] Winter solstice jiaozi, also known as Winter Festival Pills and Winter solstice meatballs. It is very old to eat glutinous rice balls in the winter of solstice. After jiaozi is wrapped up, it is necessary to offer sacrifices to the gods and ancestors, and then the whole family will eat around. This is called "adding years". The winter solstice group can be used to worship ancestors or give gifts to relatives and friends. There is a saying in Chaoshan that "one year later, we will eat the Winter Festival Yuan", among which "Winter Festival Yuan" is the glutinous rice balls. Eating jiaozi on the solstice in winter is particularly popular in the south of the Yangtze River, and there is a folk saying that "eating jiaozi is one year older".

The solstice in winter is the longest night in a year. On the winter solstice, people get up before dawn to make a fire to make jiaozi. First, they worship their ancestors, and then the whole family sit around and eat jiaozi. Therefore, eating jiaozi on the solstice in winter means not only the gradual return of the sun, but also reunion. Modern people prefer to regard it as a symbol of perfection. In Jiangnan water town, in addition to eating dumplings, the whole family will get together to eat red beans and glutinous rice in the evening from winter to Sunday.

New Year cake; rice cake

The rice cake is a traditional food of Han nationality in China, which belongs to the seasonal food of the Lunar New Year [30]. This is a kind of cake steamed with glutinous rice or rice flour. During the Spring Festival, many areas in China pay attention to eating rice cakes. [30]

Rice cakes are red, yellow and white, symbolizing gold and silver. The rice cake is also called "rice cake", which is homophonic with "annual height", implying that children's height is increasing year by year. Therefore, there is a poem by predecessors, which called the rice cake: "The meaning of the rice cake is slightly deeper, and it is as white as silver and gold. I hope that when I get old, I will be profitable, and I sincerely hope that my wealth will come. "

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.

Sweet potato soup

In Ningbo, sweet potato soup is one of the must-eat foods in winter solstice. "Fan" and "Fan" are homophones. In Ningbo people's understanding, eating sweet potatoes on the solstice in winter means "turning over" all the bad luck of the past year. Tang Guo is similar to jiaozi, much smaller and without stuffing. Tang Guo is also called jiaozi, which means "reunion" and "perfection". [20]

Nuogao

In Taiwan Province Province, China, the tradition of offering nine-layer cakes to ancestors from winter to the sun is still preserved. Glutinous rice flour is used to knead animals such as chickens, ducks, turtles, pigs, cattle and sheep. , a symbol of good luck, and then put it in a steamer and steam it layer by layer to worship the ancestors to show that they don't forget their ancestors.

round off

People in Taizhou, Zhejiang like food, and winter solstice is an important solar term in a year. To make some special dishes and food on this day, we should first pay homage to our ancestors and pray that they will bless the whole family with peace and happiness in the new year. Then the family happily get together to drink and eat vegetables. Among them, eating "winter solstice yen" (also called hard round and rough round) is an old tradition in Taizhou, which means round, smooth and reunion. Rounding is the highlight of the winter solstice, and "round" means "reunion" and "perfection". Compared with jiaozi, the winter solstice in Linhai is not only rich in content, but also meaningful.

boiled dumpling

Every winter solstice, no matter the rich or the poor in northern China, jiaozi is indispensable. Jiaozi eaten in the winter solstice and jiaozi eaten in the Spring Festival have different meanings. Jiaozi eaten during the Spring Festival is at the junction of the new year and the old year, and jiaozi means "making friends" when you are old. Eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival is considered lucky. Jiaozi, which is eaten from the winter solstice, means to drive away the cold. According to legend, Zhang Zhongjing, a medical sage, saw the frozen people when he retired in his later years, so he wrapped mutton, some cold-dispelling herbs and dough in his ears and made the medicine of "Joule Decoction for Eliminating Cold" for the people to eat. Later, every winter solstice, people imitate it and eat it.

make wine

Gusu region attaches great importance to the solar terms of the winter solstice. There is a proverb in Gusu region: "The winter solstice is like a new year". Traditional Gusu people will drink winter wine on the night of winter solstice. Winter wine is a kind of rice wine, which is brewed with sweet-scented osmanthus and has a pleasant aroma. Gusu people will drink winter wine on the night of winter solstice, and at the same time, they will serve all kinds of braised beef and braised mutton. In the cold winter, winter brewing can not only drive away the cold, but also entrust Gusu people with their good wishes for life.

pocket

Asako, a specialty of Zhejiang and Jiangxi, is also a traditional snack of Fujian people and a sacrifice of Fujian people. It is suitable for steaming, frying, baking and sand frying after drying in the shade. Masi is also a famous snack in southern Fujian, among which Du Ying in Nan 'an is the most famous. Its raw materials are superior glutinous rice, lard, sesame, peanut kernel and rock sugar. The crispy rice is sweet and delicious, and it is resistant to hunger after eating. It has a sweet and slippery taste. It is soft, tough and slightly icy. The finished product is bright white, smooth, tough and transparent.

Winter solstice noodles, winter solstice meat.

"Eat until winter, and you can arrange a line a day." In Hefei, Anhui Province, the custom of eating noodles from winter solstice is related to solar terms, climate and agriculture. After the solstice in winter, there are nine cold days, and every nine days, there are nine days. In the severe winter, eating a bowl of hot egg noodles is considered as the solstice of winter. On the solstice of winter, many Cantonese people have the custom of "adding vegetables". In addition to eating ginger rice on the solstice of winter, they also eat meat on the solstice of winter.

Stewed eggs with longan

The winter solstice is a big festival in ancient times, and Jiaxing emphasizes the winter solstice. As the saying goes, "the solstice in winter is as big as a year", and the ancient style is preserved. According to the Records of Jiaxing Prefecture (Volume 34: Customs), "The winter solstice is celebrated first, and it is like a New Year's Day ceremony". Folk advocates winter solstice tonic, including red bean glutinous rice and ginseng soup; Tremella, stewed walnuts, longan boiled eggs, etc. [2 1]

Pumpkin pie

After the winter solstice, people in Hefei will eat pumpkin pie on the winter solstice, and the streets and alleys are filled with the fragrance of pumpkin pie. There is also a proverb called "Eating noodles on the winter solstice will make the day longer", which means that after the winter solstice, the night will be shorter and the day will be longer.

Fried snack

Some places want to eat fried snacks on the solstice in winter. Fried Zanba and fried pumpkin pie are the staple foods of this day. From the solstice of winter, it is necessary to eat some foods rich in oil to supplement calories and resist the cold.

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