What is the meaning of the winter solstice in the twenty-four solar terms?

What does the solstice winter mean in the twenty-four solar terms?

The solar term winter solstice represents the approach of cold and the official start of winter.

The winter solstice is the most important of the 24 solar terms. According to the Gregorian calendar, the winter solstice is usually on February 22-23 12 every year (this year is the 22nd 12: 09). On this day, the sun moves to the longitude of the Yellow River at 270 degrees, with the southernmost latitude, and the sun shines directly on the Tropic of Capricorn. In the northern hemisphere, the day is the shortest and the night is the longest (in the Arctic Circle, it is night for 24 hours). On the day of winter solstice, the height of the sun at noon in the northern hemisphere is also the lowest. For example, in Beijing, the height of the sun is only 26 42', because the shadow at noon is the longest, so it is also called "growing to the sun".

China attached great importance to the winter solstice in ancient times, and stipulated that the same month as the winter solstice was the "sub-month", which was the first branch of the twelve solar terms. Therefore, the winter solstice is still a traditional festival, commonly known as "Winter Festival" and "Dragon Solstice Festival". From the solstice of winter, the days will gradually get longer. The ancients thought that this was "the arrival of cathode and the beginning of yang", so the solstice in winter was regarded as the real starting point of the one-year cycle, the natural destiny cycle and the growth cycle of all things. Among the hexagrams representing the winter solstice, the bottom of the six yin hexagrams became the yang hexagram, so the winter solstice is also called "the birth of one yang".

The meaning of winter solstice

The winter solstice is a very important solar term in China lunar calendar, and it is also a traditional festival. The winter solstice is commonly known as "Winter Festival", "Dragon Solstice Festival" and "Asian New Year Festival". As early as 2500 years ago, during the Spring and Autumn Period, China had determined the winter solstice by observing the sun through the soil return, which was the earliest of the 24 solar terms. The time is between February 22nd and 23rd of Gregorian calendar 12.

The winter solstice is the year with the shortest day and the longest night in the northern hemisphere. After the solstice in winter, the days will get longer day by day. The ancients said this about the winter solstice: As soon as the cathode arrived, the yang began to grow, the sun went south, the day was short and the shadow was long, so it was called "the winter solstice". After the winter solstice, the climate in all parts of the country has entered the coldest stage, which is what people often say. From the winter solstice, count nine days in a row, and then winter will pass.

The winter solstice has always ranked first among the 24 solar terms, and there is a saying that "the winter solstice is as big as a year", which is called "divided year". Celebrations have been held since the Han Dynasty. At the peak, the court has a three-day holiday, so you don't listen to politics. People closed the city for three days to celebrate the festival. It is as lively as the Chinese New Year.

The ancients believed that by the solstice of winter, although it was still in the cold season, spring was not far away. Everyone who goes out at this time will go home for the winter vacation, which indicates that there will be a home at the end of the year. People in Fujian and Taiwan believe that the annual winter solstice is a festival for family reunion, because it is a day to worship ancestors. Going out and not coming home is a person who denies his ancestors.

The solstice in winter is the longest night in a year. Many people use this evening to make a "winter solstice circle" with glutinous rice flour. In order to distinguish it from "saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new" on the eve of the Spring Festival, the day before the Winter Festival is called "adding the year" or "dividing the year", which means that the year is not over yet, but everyone has grown up for a year.

As the saying goes, "On October 1st, the solstice of winter comes, and every household eats jiaozi." It can be seen that it is an essential custom to eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter. Zhang Zhongjing, a "medical sage", was a magistrate in Changsha. After resigning from his post and returning to his hometown, he saw that the villagers were sallow and emaciated, hungry and cold, and many people's ears were frozen. So, he ordered his disciples to set up a stove, put mutton and herbs for removing cold in a pot, then take them out and chop them up, make them into ear-shaped "charming ears" with bread, and give them to those who came to ask for medicine after cooking. After eating, people are warm all over, their ears are hot, and their frostbitten ears are cured. Later generations learned to look like Joule, wrapped it up and made it into food, so it was called "jiaozi".

The solstice in winter has both nature and humanity. It is not only a natural solar term, but also a traditional festival to worship ancestors and gods. On the winter solstice, due to the characteristics of solar terms, "the sun rises in the winter solstice, and the sun rises in the heavens and the earth". The ancients thought that it was a good day for the sun to rise in the heavens and the earth from the winter solstice, representing the beginning of the next cycle. Therefore, the gods and ancestors were sacrificed on the winter solstice, and the custom of this festival was formed. According to legend, the winter solstice is the earliest of the 24 solar terms and the first of the 24 solar terms. The winter solstice is an ancient solar term, which is determined by the phenological phenomena, that is, the yang gradually begins to rise. "Collection of Classics" states that "summer is the end of the autumnal equinox, spring is the winter solstice", and the winter solstice festival is the first sound of spring.

The three seasons of winter solstice

Earthworm knot: It is said that earthworms are creatures with yin bending and yang stretching. At this time, although the yang has increased, the yin is still very strong, and the earthworms in the soil are still curled up.

Angle interpretation: Mi and deer belong to the same family, but Yin and Yang are different. The ancients thought that the angle of rice was facing the afterlife, so it was yin, while winter was yang. Rice felt that the yin gradually receded and solved the angle.

Spring movement: the spring water in the mountain can flow and be moist.