What is the significance of the winter solstice solar term?

What are the customs of the Winter Solstice

1. Sacrifice

The Winter Solstice Festival is also called the Winter Festival and the Winter Solstice. It is one of the twenty-four solar terms and a traditional festival in China. There was a saying that "the winter solstice is as big as the New Year". The palace and the people have always attached great importance to it, and there have been sacrificial activities since the Zhou Dynasty.

2. Eating dumplings

Every year on the winter solstice of the lunar calendar, dumplings are an essential holiday meal for everyone, rich or poor. A proverb goes: "On October 1st, when the winter solstice arrives, every household eats dumplings." This custom was left to commemorate the "medical sage" Zhang Zhongjing who gave up medicine during the winter solstice.

Eating dumplings during the Winter Solstice is to remember the kindness of the "Medical Saint" Zhang Zhongjing's "Quhan Jiao Er Soup". There is still a folk saying in Nanyang that "if you don't bring dumpling bowls during the winter solstice, your ears will freeze off and no one will care".

3. Jiujiu to eliminate cold

After entering Jiujiu, some literati and scholar-bureaucrats engaged in so-called cold-relieving activities. They chose a "Nine" day to meet nine people to drink (" (wine) is a homophony of "jiu"), nine dishes and nine bowls are used on the banquet, and "nine pieces of flowers" are used on the table to take the meaning of "jiujiu" to relieve the cold.

Ninety-nine to relieve the cold: No action on the 19th and 29th; walk on the ice on the 39th and 49th; look at the willows along the river from the 59th to the 69th; the ice of the river opens in the 79th and the swallows in the 89th Come; nine-nine plus one-nine, the plowing cattle are everywhere.

Wontons

4. Eating wontons

In the past, there was a saying in old Beijing that "Winter Solstice wontons and Summer Solstice noodles". According to legend, during the Han Dynasty, the Huns from the north often harassed the frontiers and the people had no peace. At that time, there were two leaders in the Xiongnu tribe, the Hun clan and the Tun clan, who were very ferocious. The people hated it so much that they used meat fillings to wrap it into wontons and called them "wontons" after taking the sounds of "hun" and "tun". He eats his hatred and hopes to quell the war and live a peaceful life. Because wontons were first made on the winter solstice, every household eats wontons on the winter solstice.

There is another saying: On the day of the winter solstice, there will be grand Dharma gatherings in various temples in the capital. Taoist priests recited sutras and raised the table to celebrate the birthday of Yuanshi Tianzun. Taoism believes that Yuanshi Tianzun symbolizes the first century when chaos is not divided and Taoism is not manifested. Therefore, there is a folk custom of eating wontons. "Yanjing Chronicles" says: "The shape of husband's wonton is like a chicken egg, which is quite similar to the chaos of heaven and earth, so it is eaten during the winter solstice." In fact, "wonton" and "chaos" are homophonic, so people will extend the idea of ??eating wonton. To break the chaos and open up the world. Later generations no longer explained its original meaning, and only spread the proverb "Winter Solstice Wonton and Summer Solstice Noodles", treating it simply as a seasonal diet.

5. Drink mutton soup

The custom of eating mutton during the Winter Solstice is said to have started in the Han Dynasty. According to legend, Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, ate the mutton cooked by Fan Kuai on the day of the winter solstice. He thought it tasted particularly delicious and was full of praise. Since then, the folk custom of eating mutton during the Winter Solstice has been formed. People eat mutton and various nutritious foods on the day of the winter solstice in order to have a good omen in the coming year. In the Tengzhou area of ??Shandong Province, this day is called Fujiu. Before the festival, gifts such as mutton are given to the elders. Every household on Fujiu drinks mutton soup, which bodes well for the individual, the elders, and the family.

6. 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 powder balls" or "powder glutinous rice into balls". These are also officially recorded in historical materials, which are called "Winter Solstice, powdered glutinous rice is made into balls, called glutinous rice balls". After making glutinous rice dumplings, you should offer sacrifices to gods and ancestors, and then eat glutinous rice dumplings with the whole family, which is called "increasing the age". Therefore, eating glutinous rice balls during the Winter Solstice has been a tradition since ancient times.

Tangyuan

What are the specialties of the winter solstice solar term

1. Returning to one's parents' home during the winter solstice

In some cities in northern my country, it is believed that one cannot return to one's parents' home during the winter solstice. This is due to the overly traditional customs and the constraints of the feudal ethics of "three obediences and four virtues" on the daughter-in-law. In the past, the daughter-in-law would return to her parents' home after the autumn harvest, so there was a custom of returning to her husband's home during the winter solstice. Although there is no freedom in modern society if we continue to strictly abide by these traditional customs, if our family members are particularly concerned about these traditional customs, as younger generations, we'd better discuss it with our families in a friendly manner. The Winter Solstice is a festival of reunion, and we must not lose touch with our families because of this. Peaceful.

2. Getting married during the winter solstice

Generally speaking, it is not advisable to get married before or after the solar terms.

The ancients believed that the day before the wedding should be avoided the day before the four solar terms, that is, the beginning of spring, the beginning of summer, the beginning of autumn, the beginning of winter, and the day before the vernal equinox, the autumnal equinox, the summer solstice, and the winter solstice. The universe is in chaos. According to traditional customs, this is the Fourth Jue Day and the Fourth Divorce Day, and it is unlucky to get married at this time. Usually we are more cautious in choosing auspicious days for marriage, so the editor suggests that it is better to avoid the winter solstice and choose another day, so that the marriage can have a safe and satisfactory start.

3. Going out in the winter solstice

In the legend of the winter solstice, it is not that you cannot go out, but you cannot go far. Because the white of the winter solstice is the shortest, there is a legend that this day is when the tengu comes to the world to find its incarnation, so not only can you not go far, but you should not wander around after dark. It is also said that when Pangu opened the sky, it was at the time of the winter solstice. At this time, because the genius had just been opened, all evil was leaderless, and the heaven and earth roamed. However, in today's cities, the lights are brightly lit at night, and people often come home at night from work and study. This is something that cannot be done and does not require too much attention. Of course, if you can go home at once, you can prevent the cold at night and prevent various accidents. It will definitely be safer than wandering out at night.