Introduction to the Origin and Legend of Winter Solstice Festival

1, the winter solstice is the 22nd solar term among the 24 solar terms in China, when the sun reaches 270 degrees of the yellow meridian. "Zunxian Manuscript" records: "When the cathode arrives, the sun begins to grow, the sun goes south, and the days are short and the shadows are long, so it is called the winter solstice." On the solstice of winter, the sun shines directly on the tropic of Capricorn, and the day is the shortest and the night is the longest in the northern hemisphere. As early as more than 2,500 years ago in the Spring and Autumn Period, China had observed the sun with the earth, and determined the winter solstice, which was the earliest of the 24 solar terms, and the time was from 0 to 23 in Gregorian calendar 65438+February 265438.

2. One of the winter solstice legends: from the ancient emperors-Huangdi and Yao Di. There are two theories that the Winter Solstice Festival originated from the Yellow Emperor and Yao Di. According to the Historical Records of Xiaowu, a minister said to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty: "The Yellow Emperor got the Baoding God _ (Ce or Jia), and he got the winter of the year and the discipline of heaven. He will start all over again. So the Yellow Emperor welcomed Sun to push _, and then he was twenty years old and got the winter solstice. " This record shows that the Yellow Emperor took the winter solstice as the beginning of the year and took "Shuodan", but there is no such record in the Historical Records of the Yellow Emperor Stupid Chicken, so it is difficult to test the isolated evidence. Another way of saying it is that Emperor Yao ordered his uncle He to live in the north, observe the movement of the sun, and then determine the time of winter. "Shangshu Yu Shu Yaodi" once said: "(Yaodi) declared that he and his uncle would live in the north and called him a secluded capital. Ping is in Yi Shuo. The day is short and the star is long. It is already mid-winter. " (press: new moon, north also. However, The Book of History was written closer to the Yao Di era, with relatively high credibility, and the historical materials contained in it may be closer to historical facts. It can be seen that the winter solstice, as a festival, has been paid attention to in ancient China.

3. The legend of winter until the second day: the custom of southerners eating red beans and glutinous rice is related to epidemic ghosts. In the impression of most people, eating glutinous rice balls from winter solstice in the south is related to the original name of glutinous rice balls, which means reunion from winter solstice to Sunday, that is, reunion after the Spring Festival. Now, people often use the second explanation, which means reunion. However, fewer and fewer people know the custom of eating red bean glutinous rice on the solstice in winter. In fact, this custom originated from a folk custom, that is, there is a legendary family named Gong. He had an incompetent son who died in the winter solstice and became an epidemic ghost after his death, which continued to harm the people. However, this epidemic ghost is most afraid of red beans, so people cook red bean rice on the solstice in winter to avoid epidemic ghosts, drive away diseases and prevent disasters. In fact, in ancient times, people wrapped all kinds of vegetables with glutinous rice and stuffed them with meat on the solstice of winter, which was not only a sacrifice to ancestors, but also a gift to relatives and friends.