Winter Solstice Folklore and Symbols

Folk Customs of Winter Solstice:

Eating roasted pork and ginger rice.

There is a folk proverb in the Chaoshan area that says, "Once you have eaten, you will celebrate the New Year on the Dongwan Festival," which is also known as the "New Year's Eve". Eating roasted pork means good luck in the coming year. Eating ginger rice is the reason for the season, the winter solstice needs to protect the cold, suitable for tonic, winter solstice cooking preserved ginger rice, suitable for the season. In the winter solstice day, the Cantonese people also "add vegetables" to eat winter solstice meat custom.

Eating rice cakes.

The late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Hangzhou people have the custom of eating rice cakes on the winter solstice, every winter solstice, make three meals of different flavors of rice cakes, meaning that the year grows taller, to figure a lucky.

Eating winter solstice pills.

In some areas of the south, the winter solstice custom is to eat the winter solstice pill, every winter solstice morning, each family grinding glutinous rice flour, and sugar, meat, vegetables, fruit, shredded carrots and other fillings, wrapped into the winter solstice pill. They are not only eaten at home, but also given to friends and relatives to show their blessings. Some people also bring cooked winter solstice pills and prepare offerings such as fruits, incense, and silver paper to go up to the mountains to sweep the tombs and pay tribute to their ancestors.

Eating dumplings.

Eating dumplings is a traditional custom of the northern people, and there is a saying that "if you don't serve dumplings at the winter solstice, no one will take care of you if you freeze your ears off".

Winter Solstice:

People believe that the winter solstice, although still in the cold season, but the spring is not far away, this time out of the people have to go home for the winter festival, said that the end of the year has returned to the MinTai folk believe that the winter solstice every year is a family reunion festival, because the day to worship the ancestors, if you go out and do not go home, is to disown the ancestors. The people who do not recognize their ancestors.