The winter solstice in 2018 is December 22, less than ten days from this year's winter solstice. As we all know, the winter solstice is the coldest day of the year. After the winter solstice, we can count the days and look forward to the arrival of spring. The winter solstice is an important solar term in China's 24 solar terms. It is also a traditional festival of the Chinese nation. On this day, we have many traditional customs, but what is generally known to the public may be eating dumplings. There has always been a saying among the people that they don't eat dumplings and freeze their ears at the winter solstice. But besides eating dumplings, what are the customs of the winter solstice? This article is a small series to count the traditional customs of the winter solstice.
Winter solstice custom
Winter solstice custom: sacrifice
The winter solstice festival is also called the winter festival and the cross winter festival. It is not only one of the 24 solar terms, but also a traditional festival in China. There was a saying that the winter solstice is as big as a year. The court and the people have always attached great importance to it. There have been sacrificial activities since the Zhou Dynasty.
In the Han Dynasty, the winter solstice was regarded as the 'Winter Festival', and the government had to hold a congratulatory ceremony called 'Hedong'. The official had a regular holiday, and the 'winter worship' ritual of mutual congratulation was popular in officialdom. There is a record in the book of the later Han Dynasty: 'before and after the winter solstice, a gentleman settled down and calmed down, all officials did nothing, did not listen to politics, chose an auspicious hour, and then saved trouble.' Therefore, on this day, the imperial court will have a holiday, the army will be on standby, the frontier fortress will be closed, business travel will be closed, relatives and friends will give each other delicious food, visit each other, and happily have a 'quiet' Festival. During the Wei, Jin and Six Dynasties, the winter solstice was called "ya sui", and people wanted to pay homage to their parents and elders; After the Song Dynasty, the winter solstice gradually became a festival to sacrifice ancestors and gods.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the winter solstice was a day for worshipping heaven and ancestors. On this day, the emperor would go to the suburbs to hold a grand ceremony for worshipping heaven. On this day, the people would worship their parents and elders. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, emperors held a grand ceremony to worship heaven, which was called the "suburban sky in the winter solstice". In the palace, hundreds of officials presented congratulatory watches to the emperor, and stabbed each other, just like New Year's day.
Winter solstice custom: eliminating cold in September
After entering the ninth, some literati and scholar bureaucrats began to engage in the so-called cold elimination activities. On the ninth day, they met nine people to drink wine ('wine' is homonymous with 'nine'). There were nine dishes and nine bowls on the table, and those who finished the table used the "nine pieces of flowers" table to get the meaning of cold elimination in the ninth. Song of eliminating cold in 1999: no action in 19 and 29; Walk on the ice on March 9 and April 9; From May ninth to June ninth, look at the willows along the river; The seven nine rivers are frozen, and the eight nine swallows come; Nine and nine and one and nine, cattle go everywhere.
Winter solstice custom: shoes are given at the winter solstice
During the winter solstice, people have the custom of giving shoes as gifts. In ancient and modern China, it is said that 'Mandarin Duck shoes were embroidered in the Han Dynasty, and Emperor Zhao ordered his aunt to go on the winter solstice.' With the passage of time, the custom of giving shoes to my aunt gradually evolved into giving shoes and hats to my nephew. In ancient times, it was hand embroidered and given to women. Shoes were mostly embroidered with flowers and birds, and hats were mostly made into Phoenix shapes; For men, shoes are mostly made of beasts, and hats are made of tigers.
Winter solstice custom: worship ancestors
Chaoshan folk, on this day, prepare enough pork, chicken, fish and other three animals and fruits, go to the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors, and then the family have a meal around the table. Generally, the worship is completed before noon, and the family is reunited at lunch. However, in coastal areas such as the seamounts of Raoping, they worship their ancestors in the early morning, before the fishermen go fishing, which means to ask the gods and ancestors to bless the fishermen to go fishing safely.
Winter solstice custom: eating dumplings
On the winter solstice of the lunar calendar every year, dumplings are an essential holiday meal for both rich and poor. As the saying goes: 'October 1, the winter solstice, every family eats dumplings.' This custom is left by Zhang Jingzhong, the 'medical saint', who gave up medicine at the winter solstice.
Winter solstice custom: dog meat, mutton
It is said that the custom of eating dog meat at the winter solstice began in the Han Dynasty. It is said that Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, ate the dog meat cooked by fan Kuai on the winter solstice. He thought it was very delicious and praised it. Since then, the custom of eating dog meat on the winter solstice has been formed among the people. Now people eat dog meat, mutton and various nourishing foods on the winter solstice in order to have a good omen for the coming year.
Now in Tengzhou, Shandong Province, the winter solstice day is called Fu Jiu. Before the festival, gifts such as mutton will be sent to the elders. All the Fu Jiu families have to drink mutton soup, which bodes well for individuals, elders and families.
Winter solstice custom: eating glutinous rice
In Jiangnan and Guangdong, there is a custom that the whole family gather together on the night of the winter solstice to eat red beans and glutinous rice, which is used to drive away epidemic ghosts and prevent disasters and diseases.
Winter solstice custom: eating glutinous cakes
In Taiwan, China, the tradition of offering sacrifices to ancestors with nine layers of cakes on the winter solstice is also preserved. Glutinous rice flour is kneaded into chickens, ducks, turtles, pigs, cattle, sheep and other animals symbolizing auspiciousness, happiness, wealth and longevity, and then steamed in layers in steamers to offer sacrifices to ancestors, so as to show that we will not forget our ancestors. Those with the same surname and ancestry gather in the ancestral temple at the winter solstice or at an early date agreed before and after the winter solstice to worship their ancestors one by one according to the order of elders and children, commonly known as "ancestor worship". After the ceremony, there will be a big banquet to entertain the relatives who come to worship their ancestors. We drink freely, contact each other, and have a strange feeling for a long time, which is called "eating ancestors." The ancestors of the winter solstice festival have been handed down from generation to generation in Taiwan to show that they do not forget their "roots". Radish, green vegetables, tofu, fungus, etc.
Winter solstice custom: eating Lei Yuan
Leiyuan, also known as the 'winter solstice circle', is an important part of the winter solstice in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province. It is an old tradition. " "Yuan" means "Reunion", "perfection" and "roundness". Compared with Tangyuan eaten on weekdays, "winter solstice" is not only rich in content, different forms, but also meaningful.
Winter solstice custom: eating winter wine
Suzhou attaches great importance to the solar term of the winter solstice. There is a saying in Suzhou: 'the winter solstice is like a big year'. The traditional Suzhou family will drink winter wine on the night of the winter solstice. Winter wine is a kind of rice wine. It is brewed with osmanthus and has a pleasant aroma. While people in Suzhou enjoy winter wine on the winter solstice night, they will also be accompanied by all kinds of pickled vegetables such as stewed beef and mutton. In the cold winter, winter wine can not only dispel the cold, but also repose a kind of beautiful wish of Suzhou people for life.
Winter solstice custom: eating Ma Ci
MACI, a specialty of Zhejiang and Jiangxi, is also a traditional snack of Fujian people and an offering for sacrifice. It is suitable for steaming, frying, roasting and sand frying after drying in the shade. MACI is also a famous snack in Southern Fujian, among which Nanan Yingdu is the most famous. Its raw materials are superior glutinous rice, lard, sesame, peanut kernel, rock sugar, etc. MACI is sweet and delicious. It is resistant to hunger after eating. It has a sweet and smooth taste, soft, tough and slightly ice. The finished product is bright white, smooth, tough and transparent.
Winter solstice custom: eating dumplings
Tangyuan was originally the reunion food custom of the Han nationality on the Lantern Festival, but in Chaoshan area of Guangdong Province, the Han nationality proverb goes: "the winter festival is as big as a year". On the day of the winter solstice, you should go home to worship your ancestors anyway. Take the winter solstice as a reunion festival, and there is a custom of eating tangyuan.
Winter solstice custom: eat pumpkin cake
Hefei people eat pumpkin cakes at the winter solstice. The streets are filled with the smell of pumpkin cakes. Pumpkins are basically off the market in the middle of autumn. Good quality pumpkins will break down starch into low-carbon sugar after harvest. Therefore, pumpkin cakes in the winter solstice are also very sweet.
Winter solstice custom: red bean rice
In the water town of Jiangnan, there is a custom that the whole family get together to eat red bean glutinous rice on the night of winter solstice. It is said that Gonggong had talented people who committed many evils and died on the day of the winter solstice. After his death, he became a plague ghost and continued to harm the people. However, the epidemic ghost is most afraid of red beans. Therefore, people cook red bean rice on the winter solstice to drive away epidemic ghosts and prevent disasters and diseases.