Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional festivals - What are the customs and particularities of the Winter Solstice?

What are the customs and particularities of the Winter Solstice?

With the process of modernization and urbanization, many ancient local customs have gradually disappeared! To talk about the emphasis on the 24 traditional Chinese solar terms, we have to look at the northern and Chaoshan areas of Guangdong. In these areas, especially the traditional customs in rural areas, the traditional customs are relatively intact.

1. Eating glutinous rice dumplings and glutinous rice in Guangzhou. Eating glutinous rice dumplings during the Winter Solstice is a traditional custom in my country, especially popular in Guangdong. There is a folk saying that "eating glutinous rice balls makes you one year older". In Guangzhou, eating glutinous rice balls during the Winter Solstice is also called glutinous rice balls. Eating glutinous rice balls during the Winter Solstice is also called "winter solstice dumplings". Many Lao Guang’s memories of the Winter Solstice when they were young are inseparable from a reunion dinner.

2. Eating sweet pills: It is said that during the Winter Solstice in the Han Dynasty, there was a custom of "eating wine and food to pay homage to the masters and elders". Since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the trendy custom of eating sweet pills has become popular. Sweet balls are a sweet soup made by grinding glutinous rice into balls and rolling them into water. It is the most representative food on the Winter Solstice. Before the winter solstice, farmhousewives pound glutinous rice flour one after another (mostly made by machines today), and some exchange what they have and give it to relatives and friends.

3. Eating glutinous rice balls: Eating glutinous rice balls has been a custom in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. On the winter solstice, it is necessary to "make rice balls" or "make glutinous rice balls". These are also officially recorded in historical materials, saying "Winter Solstice, glutinous rice balls are made into balls, called glutinous rice balls. After making glutinous rice balls, they are sacrificed to gods and ancestors, and then the whole family eats glutinous rice balls together, which is called "timing the year". Therefore, eating glutinous rice balls during the winter solstice, in ancient times,

4. Eating roasted pork: On the Winter Solstice, most Cantonese people have the custom of eating winter solstice meat. Among them, roasted pork is an essential part of the Cantonese Winter Solstice table. Traditional food. After worshiping the ancestors, the whole family prepares a meal of bacon and sausage to pray for good luck in the coming year.

In addition, it is also a folk custom to eat mutton soup in the Sichuan area where I often stay. A traditional habit of people.