Winter Solstice Festival

　　The Winter Solstice is a very important solar term in the Chinese lunar calendar and also a traditional festival. To this day, there are still many places that have the custom of celebrating the Winter Solstice Festival. The Winter Solstice is commonly known as "Winter Festival", "Longest Day Festival", "Sub-Year" and so on. As early as more than 2,500 years ago during the Spring and Autumn Period, China had already used the gnomon to observe the sun and determine the Winter Solstice. It was the first of the twenty-four solar terms to be formulated. It falls between December 22nd and 23rd in the solar calendar every year.

　　The Winter Solstice is the day with the shortest daytime and longest nighttime in the Northern Hemisphere throughout the year. After the Winter Solstice, the daytime will get longer day by day. The ancient people's description of the Winter Solstice was: "The Yin energy reaches its extreme, the Yang energy begins to rise, the sun is at its southernmost point, the daytime is at its shortest, and the shadow of the sun is at its longest. Hence, it is called the 'Winter Solstice'." After the Winter Solstice, the climate in various regions enters the coldest stage, which is what people often call "entering the nine cold periods". There is a folk saying in China: "The coldest days are in the third nine-day period, and the hottest days are in the three fu periods".

　　Modern astronomical science has determined that on the Winter Solstice, the sun is directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, and the sunlight is most slanted towards the Northern Hemisphere. The Northern Hemisphere has the shortest daytime and longest nighttime. After this day, the sun gradually moves northward again.

　　In ancient China, great importance was attached to the Winter Solstice. It was regarded as a major festival, and there was even a saying that "the Winter Solstice is as important as the New Year". There were also customs of celebrating the Winter Solstice. The "Book of Han" states: "On the Winter Solstice, the Yang energy rises, and the way of the ruler prevails, so people celebrate." People believed that after the Winter Solstice, the daytime grows longer day by day, the Yang energy rises again, which is the beginning of a solar term cycle and an auspicious day that deserves celebration. The "Book of Jin" records that "during the Wei and Jin dynasties, on the Winter Solstice, all nations and officials would offer congratulations... Its ceremony was second only to the first day of the lunar year." This shows the importance attached to the Winter Solstice in ancient times.

　　Nowadays, some places still celebrate the Winter Solstice as a festival. In northern regions, there are customs of slaughtering sheep, eating dumplings, and eating wontons on the Winter Solstice. In southern regions, people have the habit of eating Winter Solstice rice balls and long thread noodles on this day. In various regions, there is also the custom of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors on the Winter Solstice.

　　The Origin and Legends of the Winter Solstice Festival

　　The celebration of the Winter Solstice as a festival originated in the Han Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, and has continued to this day. The "Records of Celebrations in the Qing Dynasty" even states that "the Winter Solstice is as important as the New Year". This indicates that ancient people attached great importance to the Winter Solstice. People believed that the Winter Solstice is the natural transformation of Yin and Yang energies and a blessing from heaven. In the Han Dynasty, the Winter Solstice was regarded as the "Winter Festival", and the government would hold congratulatory ceremonies called "celebrating the winter" and take regular holidays. The "Book of the Later Han" records: "Around the Winter Solstice, gentlemen rest and calm their bodies, all officials suspend their affairs, do not handle government affairs, and choose an auspicious time before dealing with official matters." Therefore, on this day, the court and its subordinates would take a holiday to rest, the army would stand by, border passes would be closed, merchants would suspend business, relatives and friends would present each other with delicious food, visit each other, and joyfully spend a festival of "resting and calming the body".

　　During the Tang and Song dynasties, the Winter Solstice was a day for offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors. The emperor would go to the suburbs to hold a grand ceremony to sacrifice to heaven on this day, and common people would pay respects to their parents and elders. Even now, there are still some places that celebrate the festival on the Winter Solstice.

　　Legend One of the Winter Solstice

　　In old Beijing, there was a saying: "Eat wontons on the Winter Solstice and noodles on the Summer Solstice". According to legend, during the Han Dynasty, the northern Xiongnu often harassed the border areas, making the people unable to live in peace. At that time, there were two leaders in the Xiongnu tribe, Hun and Tun, who were extremely cruel. The people hated them deeply, so they wrapped meat fillings into dumpling-like shapes, taking the sounds of "Hun" and "Tun", and called them "wontons". They ate them as a sign of their hatred, hoping to quell the wars and live a peaceful life. Since wontons were first made on the Winter Solstice, every household eats wontons on this day.

　　Eating "pinched frozen ears" is the common name for eating dumplings on the Winter Solstice in Henan. Why is there such a food custom? It is said that Zhang Zhongjing, the medical sage of Nanyang, once served as an official in Changsha. When he retired and returned to his hometown, it was a snowy winter with biting cold winds. He saw that the villagers on both sides of the Baihe River in Nanyang were thinly clad, and many had their ears frozen and rotten. He felt very sad, so he asked his disciples to set up a medical shed east of Nanyang Pass. They boiled mutton, chili peppers, and some cold-dispelling medicinal materials in a pot, fished them out, chopped them up, wrapped them in dough into shapes like ears, boiled them again in the pot, and made a medicine called "cold-dispelling ear-correcting soup" to give to the people. After eating it, the villagers' ears were cured. Later, people imitated this and ate them every Winter Solstice, thus forming the custom of "pinching frozen ears". Later, people called them "dumplings", and some also called them "bianshi" (flat food) and "hot noodles dumplings". People also widely believe that eating dumplings on the Winter Solstice prevents one from being frozen.

　　Legend Two of the Winter Solstice

　　The custom of eating dog meat on the Winter Solstice is said to have started from the Han Dynasty. According to legend, Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, ate dog meat cooked by Fan Kuai on the Winter Solstice and found it extremely delicious, praising it repeatedly. Since then, the custom of eating dog meat on the Winter Solstice has formed among the people. Nowadays, people often eat dog meat, mutton, and various tonic foods on the Winter Solstice, hoping for a good omen in the coming year.

　　Legend Three of the Winter Solstice

　　In the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River, there is a custom of the whole family gathering together on the night of the Winter Solstice to eat red bean glutinous rice. According to legend, there was a man named Gonggongshi, whose son was unworthy and committed all kinds of evil. He died on the Winter Solstice and became a plague ghost, continuing to harm the people. However, this plague ghost was most afraid of red beans. Therefore, people cook and eat red bean rice on the Winter Solstice to drive away the plague ghost and prevent diseases.

　　Customs of the Winter Solstice Festival

　　After thousands of years of development, the Winter Solstice has formed a unique festival food culture. Foods such as wontons, dumplings, glutinous rice balls, red bean porridge, and millet cakes can all be used as festival foods. There were also many names for the once popular "Winter Solstice Sub-Year Feast", such as eating Winter Solstice meat, presenting Winter Solstice plates, offering Winter Solstice balls, and paying respects on the Winter Solstice with wontons.

　　The custom of eating wontons on the Winter Solstice is relatively common. As early as the Southern Song Dynasty, people in Lin'an (now Hangzhou) ate wontons on the Winter Solstice, initially to sacrifice to ancestors, and later it gradually became popular. There is a folk saying: "Eat wontons on the Winter Solstice and noodles on the Summer Solstice". Wontons have developed to this day, becoming a famous snack with various names, different production methods, delicious taste, popular all over the country, and loved by people. Wontons have many names: in most places such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang, they are called wontons; in Guangdong, they are called "wonton"; in Hubei, "baomian"; in Jiangxi, "qingtang"; in Sichuan, "chaoshou"; in Xinjiang, "ququ", and so on.

　　Eating glutinous rice balls is also a traditional custom of the Winter Solstice, especially popular in the south of the Yangtze River. "Glutinous rice balls" are an essential food for the Winter Solstice. They are round desserts made of glutinous rice flour. The "roundness" symbolizes "reunion" and "perfection". Eating glutinous rice balls on the Winter Solstice is also called "Winter Solstice balls". There is a folk saying: "Eating glutinous rice balls makes you one year older". Winter Solstice balls can be used to sacrifice to ancestors or given as gifts to relatives and friends. In old times, people in Shanghai paid great attention to eating glutinous rice balls. An ancient poem goes: "Every family pounds rice to make glutinous rice balls, knowing that tomorrow is the Winter Solstice."

　　There are still many places in the north where people have the custom of eating dog meat and mutton on the Winter Solstice. Because after the Winter Solstice, the weather enters the coldest period. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that both mutton and dog meat have the effect of invigorating Yang and nourishing the body. To this day, there is still the custom of taking tonics on the Winter Solstice among the people.

　　In Taiwan, China, the tradition of using nine-layer cakes to sacrifice to ancestors on the Winter Solstice is still preserved. Glutinous rice flour is kneaded into shapes of animals such as chickens, ducks, turtles, pigs, cows, and sheep, which symbolize auspiciousness, good fortune, prosperity, and longevity. Then they are steamed in layers in a steamer and used to sacrifice to ancestors, to show that they have not forgotten their ancestors. People with the same surname and clan gather in the ancestral hall on or shortly before the Winter Solstice, and worship their ancestors in order of seniority, commonly known as "ancestor worship". After the sacrifice, a grand banquet is held to entertain the clan members who came to worship. Everyone drinks to their hearts' content and reconnects with relatives they haven't seen for a long time, which is called "eating with the ancestors". The tradition of worshipping ancestors on the Winter Solstice Festival has been passed down from generation to generation in Taiwan, to show that they have not forgotten their "roots".

　　The Winter Solstice is a festival with rich content. It is said that in the Zhou Dynasty in history, the Winter Solstice was the New Year's Day and was once a very lively day. Even today, in the area south of the Yangtze River, there is still a saying that "after eating the dinner on the Winter Solstice night, one grows a year older", commonly known as "adding a year".