What are the origins and customs of the winter solstice?

Winter solstice is one of the "24 solar terms". During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, twenty-four solar terms were absorbed into the calendar as a supplement to the calendar guiding farming, and the division of solar terms adopted the method of "balancing qi" (that is, the average time method). The "leveling method" is to determine the shortest day in the Yellow River basin as the winter solstice by photogrammetry, divide the date between the winter solstice and the next winter solstice into twelve equal parts, which is called "Zhongqi", and then divide the dates between adjacent "Zhongqi" into equal parts, which is called "solar terms"; On average, there is a "neutral gas" and a "solar term" every month, which are collectively called "24 solar terms".

2, the custom of winter solstice

Wonton noodles were once called "the solstice wonton noodles in winter and the solstice noodles in summer" in old Beijing. 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". It is said that the custom of eating dog meat on the solstice began in the Han Dynasty. According to legend, Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty, ate dog meat cooked by Fan Kuai on the solstice in winter, which was particularly delicious and full of praise. Since then, the custom of eating dog meat from winter solstice has been formed among the people. Nowadays, people eat dog meat and mutton on the winter solstice in order to have a good omen for the coming year. Eating jiaozi's annual winter solstice, jiaozi is an indispensable holiday feast for the rich and the poor. As the saying goes: "On October 1st, when the solstice of winter comes, every family eats jiaozi." Red bean glutinous rice in Jiangnan water town, there is a custom that the whole family get together to eat red bean glutinous rice in the evening from winter to Sunday. According to legend, * * * Gong was a troubled wit who died in the winter. Become a plague ghost after death and continue to harm the people. However, this epidemic ghost is most afraid of red beans, so people cook red bean rice from winter solstice to drive away the epidemic ghost and prevent diseases.