What is the custom of celebrating the winter solstice?

On this day, the day is the shortest and the night is the longest. The ancients said: the solstice in winter is as big as a year. In winter, the winter solstice is the most ceremonial. Sacrificing ancestors, eating jiaozi and eating glutinous rice balls all tell the world that the coldest winter is coming. Let me share what I know about the traditional customs of celebrating the winter solstice.

Sacrificing ancestors is a common custom in many festivals in China, and winter solstice is one of them. There is a saying in China Folk Customs that the solstice festival in winter is dedicated to sweeping graves. In the eyes of China people, the significance of the ancestors' souls to the family can be compared with the strength of the God of heaven and earth to the country, and we should not be careless or neglect it. Sacrifice, whether in the temple at home or in the cemetery, is to offer delicious and delicious things to our ancestors as much as possible.

2. Eating jiaozi In most parts of northern China, there is a holiday custom of eating jiaozi from the solstice in winter. Eating jiaozi, also known as "frozen ears", originated from a legend in the Han Dynasty. When Zhang Zhongjing was an official in Changsha, he retired to his hometown, which coincided with the snowy winter and the biting wind, and many people's ears were frozen. He was very sad, so he asked his disciples to set up a shed in Guandong, Nanyang, and cook it in a pot with mutton, peppers and some herbs to drive away the cold. Then he picked it up and chopped it up, made it into ears with flour bags, and then cooked it in a pot and distributed it to the people. After everyone eats it, their ears will be fine. Later, on the winter solstice, people will imitate it and eat it as a "frozen ear". Later, they called it "jiaozi".

3, eat jiaozi, every household smashed rice bag jiaozi, you know this is the winter solstice of the Ming Dynasty. Eating glutinous rice balls on the solstice in winter is a traditional custom in China, especially in the south of the Yangtze River. There is a folk saying that "eating glutinous rice balls is one year older". Tangyuan is also called jiaozi, and eating jiaozi on the solstice in winter is also called "jiaozi on the solstice in winter". Tangyuan can be used for ancestor worship or as a gift to relatives and friends. In the past, Shanghainese were most particular about eating glutinous rice balls. They tasted the newly brewed sweet white wine, flower cakes and glutinous rice balls at the family banquet, and then sacrificed their ancestors with meat pieces.

4. Nine-layer cake for ancestor worship in Taiwan Province Province, China, still retains the tradition of using nine-layer cake for ancestor worship from winter to daily use. Glutinous rice flour is kneaded into animals symbolizing good luck, such as chickens, ducks, turtles, pigs, cows, sheep, etc., and then steamed in layers in a steamer to show ancestor worship and not forget ancestors. In the early days of the winter solstice or before and after the agreement, people with the same surname and clan gather in the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors one by one in the order of generations. After the ceremony, there will be a grand banquet for the people who come to worship their ancestors. Everyone drinks heartily and meets again after a long separation, which is called "food ancestor".

5. Eating Wonton Many places in southern China have the custom of eating Wonton on the solstice in winter. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Lin 'an (now Hangzhou) also had the custom of eating wonton in winter solstice. The Song people explained in detail that Lin 'an people eat wonton to worship their ancestors on the solstice in winter. It was not until the Southern Song Dynasty that the custom of eating wonton on the solstice became popular in China.

Today, wonton has become a famous snack with many kinds, different productions and delicious taste all over the country, which is deeply loved by people. There are many unique wonton that are deeply loved by diners all over the world, including the famous wonton in Chengdu Long Wonton Museum, which has a wide variety, thin skin and tender stuffing, and delicious soup.

These are five traditional customs I know about the winter solstice. What else do you know, my friend? Tell me in the comments section.