Is the Winter Solstice Festival a traditional national festival?

This is a traditional festival. The solstice in winter has both natural and humanistic connotations. It is not only a natural solar term, but also a traditional festival to worship ancestors. Winter solstice is one of the eight festivals in a year. Since ancient times, the Chinese nation has a tradition of offering sacrifices to ancestors from the winter solstice to the sun to show filial piety and not forgetting the roots. Due to different local customs and habits, the forms of ancestor worship are also different.

In some places, while offering sacrifices to ancestors, they also offer sacrifices to the gods of heaven and earth. The offerings mainly include three sacrifices, three teas and five wines. The solstice in winter is considered as a big holiday in winter. The saying that the solstice in winter is as big as a year is widely circulated among the people. Winter solstice is also called "sub-year" and "off-year", which means that a year is coming, and winter solstice is very important.

When the winter solstice arrives, the New Year is just around the corner, so the ancients thought that the winter solstice was as important as the New Year. In ancient times, people wandering in other places had to go home for the winter festival at this time, which was called "having a home at the end of the year".

The Winter Solstice Festival originated in the Han Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and has been passed down to this day. Lu even said that the winter solstice is as big as a year. This shows that the ancients attached great importance to the winter solstice. People think that the winter solstice is a natural transformation of Yin and Yang and a blessing from heaven. In the Han Dynasty, the winter solstice was the "Winter Festival", and the government held a congratulatory ceremony called "He Dong", which was a routine festival.

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 imperial court had a holiday, the army was on standby, the frontier fortress was closed, the business trip was closed, relatives and friends sent meals to each other, visited each other, and had a "quiet" holiday happily.

In the Tang and Song Dynasties, the solstice in winter was the day of offering sacrifices to ancestors. On this day, the emperor went to the suburbs to hold a ceremony to worship heaven. On this day, people must pay homage to their parents and elders. There are still some places to celebrate the winter solstice.