What to eat on the winter solstice in Fujian

Fujian winter solstice eat soup dumplings, Fuzhou is called rubbing rice time, Xiamen and Quanzhou is called rubbing round.

There is a special winter solstice custom of rubbing rice time in Fuzhou. Mishu is a kind of winter solstice snack made of glutinous rice. When people in Fuzhou rub mishu, they will put bamboo baskets on the table, and in the baskets, they will put several grains of red oranges, a pair of red chopsticks, and a pair of paper flowers, etc. They pray for good luck in the coming year. Praying for good luck in the coming year, it has become an important activity in the winter solstice tradition of Fuzhou, symbolizing the good meaning of family reunion.

Quanzhou has a proverb that says "the winter festival is a small year pocket". On the eve of the winter festival, every family "rubs round". Adults in the "rub round", the children are often happy to help, with rice ball material pinch to do some small and delicate fruit animals and golden treasure modeling, commonly known as "do chicken mother dog boy", praying for blessing of the six animals prosper, but also means good luck with wealth.

Xiamen "rub round" is made of glutinous rice flour mixed with water and kneaded into rounds, rounds have no filling and filling, but also divided into red and white colors. There are two ways to make sweet dumplings: tied sugar paste and Yuanzai soup, tied sugar paste is the hot Yuanzai fishing up, accompanied by black syrup to eat. Those who don't have a sweet tooth can cook savory dumplings, adding vegetables, sliced meat and seafood to the soup, which is also delicious.

The origin of the winter solstice

In the Spring and Autumn Period, China had already measured the winter solstice by observing the sun with an earth gui, which was the earliest of the twenty-four solar terms to be formulated, and a traditional festival of the Chinese nation. During the Yin and Zhou periods, the day before the winter solstice was stipulated as the day of the end of the year, and the winter solstice festival was equivalent to the Spring Festival. Later, the summer calendar was implemented. However, the winter solstice has always been ranked in the first of the 24 festivals, which is called "the year of the year".

The winter solstice is one of the twenty-four solar terms in the lunar calendar, and is the twenty-second solar term. It is also a traditional festival of the Chinese nation. The winter solstice is the "Winter Festival", so it is regarded as a major winter festival, in which the day is the shortest and the night is the longest.

In ancient times, there was a saying that the winter solstice was as big as a year. In ancient times, people wandering outside this time of year to go home for the winter festival, the so-called "the end of the year has a home". In ancient times, there was a saying that "winter solstice is the birth of yang", that is, from the winter solstice this day, yang energy slowly began to rise. This statement is also consistent with the astronomical phenomenon.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia - Winter Solstice