Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - The 24 Solar Terms - What are the customs and activities in early winter?

What are the customs and activities in early winter?

The customs and activities in beginning of winter include offering sacrifices, supplementing winter, eating jiaozi, brewing yellow wine and making "winter cakes". ?

1, sacrifice

Beginning of winter is one of the "four seasons and eight festivals" in ancient society, and it is a very important festival. In some areas of our country, there are customs such as ancestor worship, feasting and divination of the elderly. In order to fulfill the obligations and responsibilities of future generations, we pray that God will give us a good year in the coming year.

Step 2 make up for winter

As the saying goes, "beginning of winter fills the winter." In ancient times, migrant workers worked for a year, so they took advantage of beginning of winter to rest and rewarded their families for their hard work. On this day in early winter, chickens and sheep are slaughtered or supplemented with other nutrients.

Step 3 Eat jiaozi

On that day in beginning of winter, all kinds of jiaozi were very popular. First, beginning of winter will improve its life on this day, but "it's not as delicious as jiaozi"; Secondly, sexual intercourse comes from the saying that beginning of winter is at the turn of autumn and winter, so you can't help eating sexual intercourse.

Step 4 brew yellow rice wine

It is a traditional Shaoxing wine-making custom to start brewing yellow wine in beginning of winter that day. The low water cooling temperature in winter can effectively inhibit the growth of miscellaneous bacteria and make the wine form a good flavor in the process of low temperature and long-term fermentation. This is the most suitable season for wine fermentation. Therefore, Shaoxing people regard beginning of winter to beginning of spring in the second year as the most suitable time to brew yellow rice wine, which is called "winter brewing" to pray for happiness.

5. Crossing the Winter

On this day, rural families in Zhangzhou will celebrate the harvest by "paying for the winter harvest". After the glutinous rice is steamed, pour it into a stone mortar to make it tough and sticky, pull it to the size of a table tennis ball, and carefully knead it into a ball; Stir-fried peanuts, finely ground and mixed with sugar.

The prepared rice cake is rolled with white sugar peanut powder and placed in a sea bowl. When eating, string a few pieces with chopsticks in one breath, just like a rattle, so it is also called "playing waves". To prepare a "winter meal", we must respect the land god and thank him for his generosity.

Refer to the above? Baidu Encyclopedia-beginning of winter