Who is the solstice of winter commemorated? What's the custom?

Winter solstice is an important solar term for the Chinese nation. There is a folk saying that the solstice in winter is as big as a year, so the ancients called it "sub-year", "winter festival", "happy winter" and "off-year" In the north of China, during the winter solstice of the lunar calendar, jiaozi has become an indispensable holiday feast for every household. Why do you eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter? Who is jiaozi eaten on the solstice in winter to commemorate? Let's have a look!

The Solstice of Winter and the Story of Zhang Zhongjing

Zhang Zhongjing is from Xi 'e, Nanyang. His book Treatise on Febrile Diseases is the representative work of doctors, and Quhan Joule Decoction is regarded as a classic by doctors in past dynasties. Zhang Zhongjing has a famous saying: "if you advance, you will survive;" If you retreat, you will save the people; " You can't be a good doctor and you can't be a good doctor. "

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, he served as the magistrate of Changsha, visiting the sick and taking medicine, and practicing medicine in the lobby. Later, he resolutely resigned and went back to his hometown to treat his neighbors. When he got home, it was already winter.

He saw that the villagers on both sides of the Baihe River were sallow and emaciated, hungry and cold, and many people's ears were frozen. He asked his disciples to build a medical shed and a cauldron in Dongguan, Nanyang, and give up their "charming ears" to treat frostbite on the day of winter solstice.

He cooked mutton and some herbs to dispel the cold in a pot, then took out the mutton and chopped the medicine to make ear-shaped Joules and bread. After cooking, he distributed two Joules and a big bowl of broth to everyone who came to ask for medicine.

People ate "Joule" and drank "Quhan Decoction", and they were all hot, their ears were hot, and their frostbitten ears were cured. Later generations learned the appearance of Joule and packaged it into food, also called "jiaozi" or "flat food".

It turns out that eating jiaozi during the winter solstice is due to the kindness of Zhang Zhongjing, a "medical sage", in Quhan Joule Decoction. Up to now, there is still a folk song in Nanyang, which is called "jiaozi Bowl, and nobody cares about frozen ears." .

Winter solstice custom

0 1 north | eat jiaozi

Northerners love jiaozi too much. After all, they eat jiaozi all year round, no matter what the solar terms are, there is no jiaozi. Besides, if you don't eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter, no one cares about freezing your ears. It can be seen that eating jiaozi on the solstice in winter has a high position in their hearts, especially in the northeast, and they can't put it down for jiaozi! ?

I really want to talk about the tradition of eating jiaozi on the winter solstice. According to legend, it is also related to China medical scientist Zhang Zhongjing. Jiaozi was invented by him as Joule. He treated many poor people with ears damaged by hunger and cold at that time with "Quhanjoule Decoction". Later, every winter solstice, everyone imitated eating, and there was the custom of eating jiaozi. Dumpling stuffing is not very particular. Northeast people like sauerkraut stuffing, Shandong people like Spanish mackerel stuffing, Beijing people like fennel stuffing, and some people like leek eggs and mushroom pork cooked at home. Will it taste bad in jiaozi?

On the day of winter solstice, the whole family goes into battle, doing their own jobs, making stuffing, making dough, rolling skin and making jiaozi. When the hot jiaozi was served, the festive atmosphere was really there!

02 Nan | Eating Tangyuan

Northerners eat jiaozi with vinegar, while southerners feel the sweet crit of glutinous rice balls with the tip of their tongue.

In Chaoshan, the local people call glutinous rice balls "winter festival pills", but they have no stuffing. It is best to rub the winter festival pill into a bumpy shape, which is called "father and son gongsun pill", symbolizing family reunion at the end of the year. Winter festival pills are usually cooked before dawn, and brown sugar soup is cooked. After the meatballs are made, the ancestors are sacrificed first, and then the whole family, old and young, are called to eat soup pills, commonly known as "soup pills are not delicious."

Tang Yuan went to Taizhou and changed his name to Yuan Lei. Stir-fry soybeans and grind them into soybean yellow powder, add brown sugar and sesame seeds and mix well; Knead glutinous rice flour and water into dough, pick table tennis balls, knead them into balls, gently grind them into boiling water and cook them, and then roll them into bean flour. This action is called "rolling" in Taizhou dialect. Similar to the method of rounding, there are Fuzhou people's dumplings. The difference is that they are mixed with white sugar, cooked black sesame powder, peanuts and cooked soybean powder. They are all solid and very cute. The most surprising thing is the winter solstice in jiaozi. One is as big as half a fist, and the stuffing is mostly fresh shepherd's purse. Two people who eat less can eat enough.

In addition to glutinous rice balls, Jiaxing people who live in Jiangnan water town will also eat red beans and glutinous rice, which is said to ward off evil spirits and prevent diseases.

03 | Sacrifice to Heaven and Ancestors-

Many areas have the custom of offering sacrifices to the heavens and ancestors from the winter solstice, and some places celebrate this festival from the winter solstice. Every family provides genealogy, ancestor statues, memorial tablets, etc. In the upper hall of the home, an altar, incense burners and offerings are placed. In some places, while offering sacrifices to ancestors, they also offer sacrifices to gods, land gods and deities, so as to make the next year's weather favorable and the family prosperous.

04 | 99 Eliminate colds? —

On the second day after beginning of winter, the solstice began to count nine, which is what people call "beginning of winter counts nine". 9 days is 19, 9 days is 29, and so on. The number "99" is the end of "99". It will be warm then, "bloom is exhausted". After entering the ninth year, the literati engaged in the so-called activities to reduce the cold, and chose a "ninth day", when nine people drank ("wine" is homophonic with "nine"), and nine dishes and bowls were served on the table, and those who finished the table used "nine flowers" seats to get the meaning of reducing the cold in the ninth year.

The solstice of winter is the first sound of spring. Although winter is coming, you can vaguely hear the footsteps of spring in the howling cold wind.