Why "the winter solstice is as big as a year"

The winter solstice is as big as a year, as follows:

The winter solstice is a very important solar term in China lunar calendar, and it is also a traditional festival. Up to now, there are still many places with the custom of winter solstice. There is a folk saying that the solstice in winter is as big as a year.

The winter solstice is an extremely important festival in ancient times. The winter solstice is the beginning of the "nine days" in the middle of winter, and the cold climate has reached the extreme, but it is also the solar term in which the sun germinates first and winter is the end of spring. Since then, the days have become longer and longer, so Lu thinks that "the winter solstice is as big as a year", which is a gratifying day. There was a time in history when the winter solstice was regarded as "the beginning of a year" and the "winter solstice festival" was regarded as a festival like today's Spring Festival (Lunar New Year).

When the "Winter Solstice Festival" disappeared with the development of history, some of its customs gradually merged into the customs of the Spring Festival. There are two reasons why the winter solstice was once a "year": first, the November of the lunar calendar where the winter solstice was located was the first month; Second, the 24 solar terms in ancient times were counted from the winter solstice, so the winter solstice was the "first year of the year" and the "winter solstice festival" was like New Year's Day (Spring Festival).

The winter solstice was confirmed in the Spring and Autumn Period more than two thousand years ago. From the Zhou Dynasty to the Qin Dynasty, the winter of the solstice is the beginning of the year. In the Han Dynasty, the winter solstice was a winter festival, and the government held a congratulatory ceremony called "Happy Winter", which was a routine festival. There is such a record in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty: "Before and after the winter solstice, a gentleman was prepared for danger in times of peace, refused to listen to politics, and chose an auspicious day to save trouble." On this day, the imperial court had a holiday, the army was on standby, the frontier fortress was closed, the business trip was closed, and relatives and friends sent meals to each other and visited each other.

Since the Song Dynasty, the winter solstice has become a day of ancestor worship, and people should pay homage to their parents and elders on this day. On this day, the emperor will hold a worship ceremony in the suburbs, so the solstice in winter has always been called "Asian Year". Lu also called winter a "winter festival", which shows that the ancients attached great importance to winter and thought that winter was a natural transformation of yin and yang and a blessing given by heaven.