The winter solstice, commonly known as "winter festival", "long festival" or "sub-year", etc. The winter solstice has both natural and humanistic connotations. It is not only an important solar term among the 24 solar terms, but also a traditional festival of the Chinese nation.
The winter solstice is regarded as a big holiday in winter. In ancient times, there was a saying that the winter solstice was as big as a year, and it was also called a "small year". When the winter solstice arrived, the New Year was just around the corner, so the ancients thought that the winter solstice was as important as the New Year.
Winter Solstice Poems
As the sun approaches the mountain, the red air warms up, and the sun enters Yugou Spring first.
I'll come back here at once when I hear about leisure, and I'll take a bath next year.
Interpretation:
In the middle of November of the lunar calendar, "Zhi" is the ultimate meaning, and the spirit of winter storage is so extreme. It contains three meanings: the yin cold reaches its extreme, and the weather is coldest; The sun's spirit begins, and the rise forces the weather to be cold; The sun travels to the southernmost part, so the days are the shortest and the nights are the longest.
shoes should be delivered first on the winter solstice. It is the end of hiding and the beginning of life, so it is also called "Asian New Year", which is second only to New Year's Eve. Years have to go by, so, when you are young, you will welcome the auspicious, and when you are long, you will celebrate, and sending shoes is for more auspicious.
Winter Solstice Custom:
1. Eating jiaozi in the North
Eating jiaozi in the North also has the custom of eating dog meat and mutton on the winter solstice, because after the winter solstice, the weather enters the coldest period, and Chinese medicine believes that mutton and dog meat have the function of strengthening yang and supplementing, and folk people still have the custom of tonic in the winter solstice.
2. Eating glutinous rice balls in the south
is especially popular in Jiangnan. "Tangyuan" is an essential food in the winter solstice, and it is a round dessert made of glutinous rice flour. "Round" means "reunion" and "perfection", and eating tangyuan in the winter solstice is also called "winter solstice group".
3. Sacrificing to Heaven
According to literature records, the custom of sacrificing to heaven on the winter solstice existed as early as the fifth year of Emperor Yuan Ding of the Han Dynasty, and it was gradually institutionalized in later generations. The ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven is usually presided over by the "son of heaven", which embodies the Chinese people's feelings of reverence for nature and expresses their desire to pray for sunny weather for the whole world.