Historical allusions to the origin of winter solstice

The solstice of winter has come, and it is regarded as the "winter festival" of the Han Dynasty. The official will hold a congratulatory ceremony called "Dong He", and official festivals are popular in officialdom. 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."

So on this day, the court had a holiday, the army was on standby, the frontier fortress was closed, business trips were closed, and relatives and friends were separated.

Send meals to each other, visit each other and have a "quiet" holiday happily. During the Wei, Jin and Six Dynasties, the solstice in winter was called "Zi Sui", and people should pay homage to their parents and elders. After the Song Dynasty, the winter solstice gradually became a festival to worship ancestors and gods.

Allusions to the winter solstice:

There used to be a saying in old Beijing that "winter solstice wonton, summer solstice noodles". According to legend, during the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu in the north often harassed the frontier, and the people were restless. At that time, there were two leaders, Xiongnu tribe and Tun tribe, which were very cruel.

The people hated it, so they wrapped it into a corner with meat stuffing and called it "wonton" with the sound of "muddy" and "swallowing". I hate eating, and I want to quell the war and live a peaceful life. Because wonton was originally made on the winter solstice, every family eats wonton on the winter solstice.

Extended data

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 solstice in winter is the extreme point of direct sunlight spreading to the south. On the solstice in winter, the sun shines directly on the Tropic of Capricorn, which is the most inclined to the northern hemisphere and the solar altitude angle is the smallest. In all parts of the northern hemisphere, the days are the shortest and the nights are the longest.

The solstice in winter is also the turning point of direct sunlight returning to the north. After this day, it went back, and the direct sunlight began to move northward from the Tropic of Capricorn (23 26' s), and the sunlight in the northern hemisphere (China is located in the northern hemisphere) increased day by day.