Winter solstice this day, what are the customs in your place?

The winter solstice, also known as the southern solstice, the winter festival, the year of the year, both natural and human connotations of the twenty-four seasons, an important festival. The winter solstice is one of the four seasons, is regarded as a big winter festival, in ancient folk "winter solstice is as big as the year". Therefore, the ancients had many rich customary activities on the winter solstice, such as sacrifices, offering shoes and socks, occupying the waiting, counting nine, awarding calendars, eating dumplings or dumplings, eating roasted meat and ginger rice, eating sweet potato soup and fruits, brewing rice wine, drinking mutton soup and so on.

1. Sacrifice

Tokyo Meng Hua Lu: November winter solstice. The capital is the most important this festival, although the poor, between the year, the accumulation of false borrowing, to this day easier new clothes, ready to do the food, enjoy the ancestors, the official release of the official pouncing, celebrating the exchanges, such as the annual festival. In fact, China's important traditional festivals are related to the sacrifice, the winter solstice is no exception. Winter solstice in the Zhou Dynasty is the first month, naturally, all kinds of sacrifices, according to the "Zhou Li - Spring Officials - Shen Shi" records: "to the winter to the sky gods and ghosts, to the summer to the ground to show things ??? to ??? the country of the murder of the barren, the people of the Za funeral. "It can be seen that the winter solstice is a very wide range of sacrifices, heaven, gods, people, ghosts need to be taken care of.

2. Offering socks and shoes

Ancient women offered shoes and shoes to their in-laws on the winter solstice. Cao Zhi of the State of Wei in the Three Kingdoms said in his "Winter Solstice Offering of Socks and Shoes", "The year of the year welcomes good fortune, and the shoes and shoes are long in celebration." In the Tang Dynasty novel Youyang Miscellany Chopper, it is written, "Women in the Northern Dynasties often offer stockings and boots on the winter solstice." Later Tang Dynasty "Chinese ancient and modern note" said: "Han have embroidered mandarin ducks crawler, Zhaodi made the winter solstice on the aunt and uncle." Since then, it has become a custom for women to offer socks and shoes to their in-laws on the winter solstice. This custom was popular in both the north and the south, symbolizing that "Yang is born in the lower part of the world, the sun is forever in the sky, and the longest track is blessed for hundreds of millions of years." Therefore, in the past, the winter solstice is also known as the Crawl Festival.

3. Occupy the weather, awarding the calendar, counting nine

Ancient Chinese people's concept of the beginning of everything is very important, so there are "a year in the spring" and other sayings. The winter solstice is the starting point of the twenty-four seasons, from the orbit of the sun, in fact, is also the starting point of the year, naturally easy to be used as a prediction of personnel, the year into the special time. Therefore, in the folklore of the winter solstice, divination of the future year and harvest is a very important element.

3. Eating dumplings

Eating dumplings is a traditional winter solstice custom, and "dumplings" are a must-have winter solstice food. Folk have "eaten dumplings a year older said". In many areas of northern China, every year on the winter solstice, the custom of eating dumplings. In the northern part of China, dumplings are eaten on this day, and there is still a folk proverb that says, "If you don't eat dumplings on the winter solstice, you'll freeze your ears off and no one will take care of you.

4. Eat roasted pork and ginger rice

Some places in the south of the winter solstice to eat roasted pork, winter solstice this day, sun-dried roasted pork has become the table of the two sides of an indispensable delicacy, which means that the addition of vegetables add the years. The symbolism is to add more vegetables to the year. Winter solstice, Wuchuan people have winter solstice "eat ginger rice" custom, cold tonic, suitable for the season, is the seasonal food. Ginger rice, as the name suggests, to have ginger, and this ginger is not simple, is composed of seven different varieties, different colors of ginger, so it is also known as "seven colors of ginger. A small bowl of ginger rice, people eat not only delicious, but also a family reunion of the desire for a better life.

5. Eat sweet potato soup fruit

In the area of Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, in the winter solstice this day to eat sweet potato soup fruit custom. Sweet potato in the word and turn over, turn over the word in the "pan" homophonic, take the past year's bad luck are "over" the past moral, looking forward to the new year can be everything smooth, healthy and well. The shape of Tang Guo is similar to that of Tang Yuan. In fact, the shape of the soup fruit is similar to the soup dumplings, but smaller and no filling, also often called round, and the same as the soup dumplings have the same meaning of reunion, successful.

6. Stuffed rice wine

On the winter solstice, drink a bowl of delicious winter wine, is considered to be the scene. Tasting the fragrance of time and nature, and anticipating the beauty and happiness of the future, this is a unique way to open the winter solstice festival, who says it is not elegant? During the season of fragrant osmanthus, the osmanthus flowers are slowly picked from the branches, sifted to remove impurities, naturally air-dried, and sugar is added to make osmanthus honey, which is then mixed with glutinous rice after fermentation to make glutinous rice wine, and then sealed for aging. When opened on the day of the winter solstice, the fragrance of osmanthus flowers surrounds the room and the wine is refreshing.

7. Drink mutton soup

In fact, the winter solstice to eat mutton is initiated from the Sichuan area, in the winter solstice on this day, the Sichuan region are accustomed to ancestor worship, and ancestor worship things in the mutton, and in addition to the winter solstice is belong to the New Year, so the day of the younger generation to give the elders, the students to the teacher to worship the winter solstice to send blessing, and the preparation of the gift has mutton. In addition, the taste of mutton in winter is fat, and mutton belongs to the hot, nourishing effect, so from ancient times to the present day there is a winter solstice to eat mutton soup habit, and now, whether in the south or north, in the winter solstice festival, everyone will drink a bowl of hot mutton soup, to celebrate the arrival of the winter solstice festival.

The winter solstice is an important festival in China, and people regard this day as the exchange of the old and the new, harboring the energy of endless life. In this poor winter season, although everything is therefore cowering, the plum blossom has already begun to bloom, the willow tree is pregnant with spring, and the message that people feel is that spring is already on its way.