What are the customs in winter from solstice?

Winter solstice (alias: 1999, Winter Festival, Dragon Festival, Asian Year, English name: Winter solstice) is the 22nd solar term in the "24 solar terms", the longitude of the sun reaches 270 degrees, and the date falls on the 22nd or 23rd of February in the Gregorian calendar every year, which is a traditional festival of the Chinese nation. The custom of winter solstice originated in Han Dynasty and flourished in Tang and Song Dynasties.

The customs in winter solstice include: eating mutton, eating meat in winter solstice, eating jiaozi in the north, eating glutinous rice balls, eating red bean porridge, eating wonton in the south, sending shoes and hats, hiding winter ice, sticking jiaozi on the door, steaming steamed bread, celebrating the Year of the Ox, eating rice cakes, making rice cakes and eating dog meat. I think there are nine customs about how to eat more on the solstice in winter. Let's take a look:

? One of the solstice winter customs: baking turnip rice cakes?

On the day before the winter solstice, Ningbo people generally don't go out. On the morning of winter solstice, the whole family has the custom of eating radish and baking rice cakes. The turnip rice cake is a simple traditional food in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. Around the winter solstice, the daughter or daughter-in-law of Ningbo people will cook a radish baked rice cake to welcome this occasion, which indicates a better life. Baked rice cakes with kohlrabi are more common, and soy sauce, sugar and salt can be used! When cooking turnip baked rice cakes and vegetables, you can make this delicious rice cake by the way!

On the eve of winter solstice, every family bakes kohlrabi, and the fire in the big stove is very prosperous. Wash kohlrabi, peel and cut into pieces, and don't waste leaves. Cut off the potholes on the surface and put them in a wok. Cut the slices thicker, otherwise they will be easy to cook and chopsticks will not hold them. First put the kohlrabi in, then enlarge the rice cake, turn it over, put some soy sauce, and then cover the burning firewood with grass ash. The firewood will burn in the dark all night and cook with slow fire. The kohlrabi will stew in the pot all night. The next morning, when the water will boil dry, add sugar and salt, and then pour a layer of vegetable oil into the wok, and the delicious radish baked rice cake will be ready!

The key to baking rice cakes with kohlrabi on the solstice in winter is that on the night of the solstice in winter, the stove fire will not go out, and every family will burn it and pass it on from generation to generation. A prosperous life is the most real and basic expectation of the people, and the rice cake means "high every year."

? The second custom of winter solstice: ox festival?

In addition, on the solstice of winter, farmers in Taiwan Province Province give their scalpers a holiday, let them drink to drive away the cold, and thank them for their hard work for a year, commonly known as the "Cow Festival", which shows that our compatriots in Taiwan Province Province attach importance to agriculture!

At first, there was no cattle industry in Taiwan Province Province. Later, due to the needs of production and life, it was introduced from abroad and southern Fujian, Chinese mainland. At the end of Ming Dynasty, the Dutch occupied Taiwan Province Province and found that there were no cows in Taiwan Province Province. But they want to develop sugarcane cultivation in Taiwan Province province. If there are no cows, the efficiency will be very low. Therefore, 200 cows were specially shipped from colonial Java for farmland and sugarcane cultivation. This is the origin of yellow cattle in Taiwan Province Province. The first batch of 200 cattle bought from Java Island was not enough, so the Dutch set up a "cattle company" in Taiwan Province Province to manage, train and raise cattle, and encouraged the aborigines to round up the captured bison, whip and abuse them before feeding them. In this way, after half a year's fast taming and one year's slow taming, bison can listen to people and participate in the cultivation. Buffalo in Taiwan Province Province were shipped from the mainland after the Qing Dynasty.

On this day, the owner of the ox will give the ox a holiday. In order to thank the scalpers for their hard work in the past year, they also used glutinous rice balls, a holiday food, to stick them on their horns to show that the scalpers had a holiday. When the weather is particularly cold in winter, you should give the cows alcohol to keep out the cold. Even in the 1960s, when materials were extremely scarce, the commercial departments in southern Fujian specially distributed wine tickets to cattle to keep out the cold, which was commonly known as "cattle wine" by local people. This scene of taking wine as wine and celebrating people and cows together is a spectacle of the custom of protecting and respecting cows on both sides of the strait!

? The third custom of winter solstice: hiding winter ice?

In the north, ice storage is usually carried out around the winter solstice. On the solstice of winter, ice cubes will be stored in the cellar, sealed tightly, and all kinds of fresh fruits will be hidden at the same time. After spring, they will be taken out and sold in the market, and the color is just like that just picked from the tree.

People cut ice from the river with iron solder, which is more than one foot wide and more than two feet long. This is called a party. On the solstice of winter, the ice is hidden in a cellar about 20 feet deep. After the ice is stored, the cellar is sealed immediately, and all kinds of fresh fruits are hidden and sold after the spring. The color is like picking it from a tree. As usual, residents in the southern coastal areas repaired the igloo from winter to the future and stored ice cubes to keep the fish fresh during the next year's fishing.

In ancient times, there was no such advanced refrigeration technology as now, and it was impossible to make ice cubes artificially. However, the clever ancients skillfully used the production conditions at that time and explored a set of methods to use natural ice to cool off the heat, specifically, "winter ice for summer use", which is the origin of the custom of storing winter ice.

? Winter solstice custom 4: winter solstice shoes?

In the winter solstice festival, there is also the custom of giving shoes, which has a very old origin. "China's Notes on Ancient and Modern Times" said: "There were embroidered mandarin ducks in the Han Dynasty, and Emperor Zhao ordered his aunt to go to the winter solstice." Cao Zhi's "Winter Solstice Socks and Shoes Table" also has a sentence: "Welcome in the coming year and celebrate for a long time."

On the winter solstice, people will give shoes. This custom originated in ancient times and is mainly reflected in children, hoping that children will grow up healthily. It used to be mainly hand embroidery. As a gift for boys, hats are mostly made in the shape of tigers and dogs, and embroidered shoes are also beasts. For girls, hats are mostly made in the shape of phoenix, and embroidery on shoes is mostly flowers and birds. Now most of them are purchased from the market, and the form keeps up with the trend of the times. On holidays, adults always like to drop in to see their children and praise the shoes and hats given by their uncles and aunts.

There is a sentence in the reflection of the three kingdoms, offering socks and shoes to the sun, and it is recorded in Youyang Miscellanies that "women in the northern dynasties often wear socks and boots to the sun." Solstice of winter: "The sun is born below, the sun is always in the sky, and the scenery is blessed for a long time." As for 100 million years. " Therefore, the previous winter solstice was also called "Dragon Walking Festival". It means that the sun shines on the solstice in winter, and the newborn yang begins to go up from the ground, that is, from the feet, so send a pair of shoes to protect the newborn yang and ensure safety. As the saying goes, "The winter solstice is sunny, and the shoes are safe and healthy", that's what it means.

? The fifth custom of winter solstice: will the knocker be stuck around in winter solstice?

Speaking of the solemn custom of putting on knockers from winter to morning, there is a touching and tearful legend circulating among the people in Taiwan Province: once upon a time, somewhere in Taiwan Province Province, a family of three lived a beggar's life. One winter solstice, my mother died of hunger and cold. After her daughter cried bitterly, she decided to sell herself to bury her mother. When she left, her daughter and her father agreed that no matter where her daughter drifted, she would stick two winter festival rings on her employer's knocker every winter vacation, so that her father could easily find her.

The following winter festival, the daughter who worked as a maid in the rich man's house longed for her father. She has a plan and says to her boss, "Respect your ancestors and door gods in winter solstice, so as to welcome the god of wealth." The master has always been superstitious, and when he heard that it made sense, he asked her to stick two dumplings on the knocker of the gate. From cold to summer, the father and daughter finally came together because of the winter festival circle stuck on the knocker. Later, they had their own home, but every winter festival, the father and the daughter still don't forget that bitter past, and always put a winter festival circle on the knocker.

In the long run, villagers and neighbors have followed suit, in order to pin their memories and blessings on their relatives who have left home, hoping that they will return home as soon as possible. Over time, they have added rich humanistic customs to the growing winter.

? The sixth custom of winter solstice: eating glutinous rice balls?

In the south, it is popular to eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter, and there is also a folk saying that "eating jiaozi is one year older". Tangyuan, also known as jiaozi, is a round dessert made of glutinous rice flour, and "round" means "reunion" and "perfection", so eating tangyuan in winter solstice is also called "jiaozi in winter solstice".

Legend has it that glutinous rice balls are specially put for mice. According to legend, the seeds of grain were bitten by rats from far away for farmers to plant. In order to repay the contribution of mice, farmers agreed to leave a small part uncut when harvesting every year for mice to eat. Later, because a greedy man harvested all the grains in the field, the mouse complained to Guanyin Bodhisattva in a rage. Guanyin Bodhisattva felt very sorry for her, so she gave her a pair of hard teeth and told her to move into someone else's house to find food in the future. Since then, rats have been doing evil everywhere. Become one of the "four evils" today.

However, this common custom of "pasting jiaozi everywhere" will not last long after all. Not only unsanitary, but also unsightly and wasteful, it naturally dies out. And this custom of "eating jiaozi" has been passed down to this day.

? The seventh custom of winter solstice: frozen mutton?

On the solstice of winter, the custom of eating "frozen mutton" is also popular in Simen, Yuyao, that is, buying fresh mutton, cutting it into pieces, adding seasonings such as soy sauce and fennel, cooking it with strong fire, putting it into a basin, and freezing it into "frozen mutton" after the mutton is cooled. When eating, put a piece of "frozen mutton" into a full meal, which is delicious and fragrant.

It is said that the custom of eating mutton 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. Eating dog meat from winter solstice has been popular among the people since then, and then eating dog meat gradually changed into eating mutton and other tonics. It would be better if mutton could be accompanied by traditional Chinese medicine for dispelling wind and preventing cold. Therefore, the custom of eating mutton in winter solstice is widely spread in the southern region, and the tradition of eating mutton in winter solstice has formed among the people.

? The eighth custom of winter solstice: eating red bean porridge?

The custom of eating red bean porridge on the solstice in winter has existed for more than 600 years. It is said that this is to prevent the plague. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Liang Renzong said in the Chronicle of Jingchu: "* * * Gong's family was a gifted scholar, who died in winter as an epidemic, fearing red beans and pretending to have porridge in winter to avoid it."

There is also a legend that Zhuan Xu, one of the five ancient emperors, turned his three sons into evil spirits after their death and came out to scare children. In ancient times, people generally believed in superstition and were afraid of ghosts and gods. They believe that adults and children suffer from strokes and poor health because of the spectre of epidemics. These evil spirits are fearless, only afraid of red (red) beans, so there is a saying that "red beans play ghosts." Therefore, in winter to the sun, use adzuki beans and adzuki beans to cook rice to drive away the epidemic and welcome good luck. In any case, in the winter solstice night, a bowl of sweet and nutritious red bean glutinous rice can always make people feel relaxed and happy. In Ningbo, the custom of the whole family getting together to eat red bean rice from winter to Sunday night has been passed down to this day.

? Winter solstice custom 9: Eat jiaozi?

On the solstice of winter, all ethnic groups in northern China have the custom of eating jiaozi. It is said that eating jiaozi on the solstice in winter won't freeze your ears.

Zhang Zhongjing is from Gedong, Nanyang. Treatise on Febrile Diseases, written by him, is a masterpiece of doctors and 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. "When the Eastern Han Dynasty was the magistrate of Changsha, he visited the sick and took medicine and practiced 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 to give up "Quhan Joule Decoction" to treat chilblain on the day of winter solstice.

He boiled mutton, pepper and some herbs for dispelling cold in a pot, then took out mutton and medicine and chopped them up, making ear-shaped dumplings with bread. After cooking, he distributed two horns 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".

When you eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter, you will never forget 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." . Therefore, on the solstice of winter, people always eat jiaozi, forming the custom of eating jiaozi's ears without freezing.

From north to south, the customs of winter solstice are different, but one thing is basically the same. Everyone's original intention is the same. They are all to welcome the arrival of the winter solstice and celebrate the arrival of the New Year.