What are solar terms and traditional festivals?

Qingming, with both natural and humanistic connotations, is not only one of the "24 solar terms", but also a traditional festival to worship ancestors. "Twenty-four solar terms" is the product of ancient farming civilization, which not only plays a guiding role in agricultural production, but also affects ancient people's food, clothing, housing and transportation, and even cultural concepts.

The "Twenty-four solar terms" were originally determined by the rotation direction of bucket handle, the Big Dipper, which rotates circularly and is closely related to the twenty-four solar terms.

In different seasons and at different times, the Big Dipper will point in different directions, which has also become the basis for ancient people to judge the changes of solar terms, that is, the so-called "bucket handle refers to the east, and the world is spring; Guide to barrel handle, it's summer in the world; Bucket handle refers to the west, and the world is autumn; Bucket handle refers to the north, and the world is winter. ".

"Twenty-four solar terms" is a special festival to express natural rhythm changes and establish "December construction" in the trunk calendar. Years old is divided into "December construction" in the official calendar (December of the lunar calendar or the twelfth year of the earthly branch). "Jian" represents the direction of the top of Beidou bucket handle, and bucket handle rotates to "twelfth lunar month" in turn.

Tomb-Sweeping Day is full of air, everything is clean, full of vitality, and the temperature rises. The earth presents the image of spring and tranquility, which is a good time for spring outing and grave sweeping in the suburbs.

Winter solstice, also known as short solstice, winter festival, year-ending, winter worship, etc., has both natural and humanistic connotations. It is not only an important solar term among the 24 solar terms, but also a traditional folk festival in China. The solstice in winter is one of the eight festivals in four seasons, and it is considered as a big holiday in winter. There is an ancient saying that the solstice in winter is as big as a year, so the ancients called it "off-year" or "off-year".

The custom of winter solstice varies in content or details due to different regions. In some areas along the southern coast of China, there is a custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors during the winter solstice; In northern China, it is a custom to eat jiaozi from winter to Sunday every year.