What is the winter solstice festival called?

Winter solstice, also known as short solstice, winter festival, year-ending, winter worship, etc., 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. The solstice in winter is one of the eight festivals in four seasons, and it is considered as a big holiday in winter. There is an ancient saying that the solstice in winter is as big as a year, so the ancients called it "off-year" or "off-year".

The custom of winter solstice varies in content or details due to different regions. In some areas along the southern coast of China, there are customs of offering sacrifices to ancestors and feasting on the winter solstice. In northern China, it is a custom to eat jiaozi from winter to Sunday every year.

The winter solstice is the 22nd solar term in the "24 solar terms", and the solar calendar reaches 270 degrees. Every year, the festival is held on 65438+February 2 1-23 in the Gregorian calendar. The winter solstice is the limit of the sun's southward travel, and the height of the sun in the northern hemisphere is the smallest on this day. On the solstice of winter, the sun shines directly on the tropic of Capricorn, and the sun is most biased towards the northern hemisphere.

The solstice in winter is the turning point of the sun. After this day, it will go back. The direct point of the sun will move northward from the Tropic of Capricorn (23 26' s), and the northern hemisphere (China is located in the northern hemisphere) will increase day by day.

In all parts of the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice has the shortest day and the longest night. The farther north, the shorter the day.

Although the days from winter solstice are short, the temperature from winter solstice is not the lowest; It won't be very cold before the winter solstice, because there is still "accumulated heat" on the surface, and the real winter is after the winter solstice; Due to the great differences in climate in different parts of China, the climatic characteristics of this day are obviously late for most parts of China. The solstice of winter marks the beginning of the cold season, and people begin to count the cold days. The folk proverb says, "The solstice in summer is the third watch, and the solstice in winter is the ninth watch.

In the ancient farming society, people lived and worked in peace and contentment. They chose a day to worship the gods and ancestors, and they had various regular festivals. Abundant offerings to gods and ancestors developed into festival feasts, and gradually formed some established ways of celebration, that is, the so-called festival folk customs. The early festival culture embodies the ancient people's humanistic spirit of advocating nature, the unity of man and nature, cautiously pursuing the future, and firmly thinking about the source.