Customs related to the Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice is one of the twenty-four solar terms and an important traditional festival. It is the shortest day of the year and the longest night. The Winter Solstice Festival has the richest connotations and the most numerous festival customs, so it has many other names, such as Winter Festival, Long Solstice Festival, Short Solstice Festival, Hedong Festival, Yiyang Festival, and also has titles such as Yasui, Feidong, and Xidong. Here is a brief introduction to nine customs related to the winter solstice.

1. Worshiping ancestors

Worshiping ancestors is a common custom in many festivals in our country, and the winter solstice is also one of them. In our Chinese concept, the significance of the souls of ancestors to the family cannot be taken lightly or neglected. On the day of the winter solstice, every household places their ancestors' statues and memorial tablets in the upper hall of their home, sets up the offering table, arranges incense burners, offerings, etc. While worshiping ancestors, some places also offer sacrifices to the gods of heaven and earth, and kowtow to the gods to pray for good weather and prosperity for the family and everything in the coming year.

2. Eating dumplings

In most parts of northern China, there is a festival custom of eating dumplings during the Winter Solstice. Eating dumplings, also known as eating "pinched frozen ears", originated from a legend in the Han Dynasty. Zhang Zhongjing was an official in Changsha. When he retired and returned to his hometown, it happened to be a snowy winter. The wind was biting and many people's ears were rotten by the cold. He was very sad, so he asked his disciples to set up a shed in Guandong, Nanyang, cook mutton, chili peppers and some cold-repelling medicinal materials in a pot, then pick them up, chop them into pieces, wrap them in dough to look like ears, and put them in the pot. Cook them and give them to the people. After everyone ate it, their ears were healed. Later, every winter solstice, people imitated this and made "pinched frozen ears" to eat, and later called them "dumplings".

3. Eating wontons

Eating wontons during the winter solstice was first popular in the Southern Song Dynasty. It is said that Zhao Gou, Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, loved to eat wontons made by the imperial chef. Because one time the wontons were not cooked, someone wanted to send the imperial chef to Dali Temple for punishment. However, because this imperial chef was the only one who could make wontons, Zhao Gou pardoned him. Later, the method of making wontons spread to the people, with more and more varieties and patterns. During the Winter Solstice Festival, every household would make wontons and eat them, thus the saying "Winter Solstice Wontons and Summer Solstice Noodles" came into being.

4. Nine-nine to dispel the cold

Start counting nine on the day after the winter solstice. This is what people call "counting nine in advance of winter". Counting nine days is one nine, counting another nine days is twenty-nine, and so on, counting to "nine-nine" means "nine" is exhausted. "Jiujin Yanghua blooms", then the weather will be warm. After the ninth lunar month, literati and poets engaged in so-called cold-relieving activities. They chose a "nine" day and invited nine people to drink together ("wine" is a homophony of "nine"). Nine dishes and nine bowls were used on the banquet, and "flower nine" was used for the table. "Piece" is used to take the meaning of ninety-nine to relieve the cold.

5. Eating mutton

According to legend, Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, ate the mutton cooked by Fan Kuai on the winter solstice. He thought it tasted particularly delicious and was full of praise. Since then, people have formed the custom of eating mutton during the winter solstice in order to have a good omen in the coming year.

6. Eating glutinous rice balls

The traditional custom of eating glutinous rice balls during the Winter Solstice Festival has been established since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Especially in the Jiangnan area, glutinous rice balls are an essential food during the Winter Solstice, which means "reunion" and "completeness". Eating glutinous rice balls during the Winter Solstice symbolizes family harmony and good luck.

7. Giving shoes as gifts during the Winter Solstice

During the Winter Solstice Festival, people have the habit of giving shoes and hats to children. Giving away shoes and hats is mainly to hope that the children can grow up healthily. In the past, embroidery was mainly done by hand, but now most of it is purchased from the market, and the form follows the trend of the times.

8. Eating red beans and glutinous rice

According to legend, the Gong family had a son who did many evil things and finally died on the winter solstice. After his death, he turned into a plague ghost and continued to harm the people. . But this plague ghost is most afraid of red beans, so people cook red beans and eat them on the winter solstice to ward off evil spirits, prevent disasters and cure diseases.

9. Suzhou Winter Winemaking

The Suzhou area attaches great importance to the winter solstice. There is a local saying: "The winter solstice is like a new year." Traditionally, people in Suzhou drink winter wine on the night of the winter solstice. In the cold winter, winter wine can not only ward off the cold, but also express the Suzhou people's hope for a better life.

In fact, the one we are most familiar with about the Winter Solstice is the "Nine-nine-Nine Song to Eliminate the Cold". We all recited this song when we were children, so it seems to be very cordial. , 49, walking on the ice; 59, 69, there will be willows along the river; 79, the river opens, and the wild geese come; 99 plus 19, the cattle are walking all over the ground." That is to say, the winter solstice is the coldest day of the year. After ninety-nine and eighty-one days, the weather gradually recovers and becomes warmer and warmer.