The Winter Solstice (alias: Jiujiu, Winter Festival, Long Festival, Sub-Year, English name: Winter Solstice) is the 22nd solar term of the "Twenty-four Solar Terms". The solar longitude reaches 27 degrees, and the date is on December 21st, 22nd or 23rd of the Gregorian calendar every year. It is a traditional festival of the Chinese nation. The custom of celebrating the winter solstice originated from the Han Dynasty and flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties.
The customs of the winter solstice include: eating mutton, eating meat on the winter solstice, eating jiaozi in the north, eating glutinous rice balls, eating red bean porridge in the south, eating wonton, giving shoes and hats, hiding winter ice, putting dumplings on doors, steaming steamed bread, celebrating the festival of the ox, eating rice cakes, making rice cakes and eating dog meat. I think there are nine customs about how to eat more on the winter solstice. Let's take a look with me:
? One of the winter solstice customs: baked rice cakes with kohlrabi?
On the day before the Winter Solstice, people in Ningbo generally don't go out. On the morning of the Winter Solstice, the whole family has the custom of eating kohlrabi and baking rice cakes. Baked rice cake with kohlrabi is a simple traditional food in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. Before and after the winter solstice, Ningbo people's daughters or daughters-in-law will cook a turnip baked rice cake to meet the occasion, indicating a better life. Baked rice cakes with kohlrabi are more common, and soy sauce, sugar and salt can be done! When cooking kohlrabi baked rice cakes and baked vegetables, you can make this delicious rice cake by the way!
On the eve of the Winter Solstice Festival, every family bakes kohlrabi, and the big stove burns brightly. Wash the kohlrabi, peel and cut into pieces, and don't waste the leaves. Cut off the potholes on the surface and put them in a wok. The pieces should be cut a little thicker, otherwise they will easily boil and the chopsticks will not hold. Put the kohlrabi in first, then enlarge the rice cake, turn it over, put some soy sauce, then cover the burning firewood with grass ash, the firewood will burn in the dark all night, and cook it with slow fire. The kohlrabi will be simmered in the wok all night. The next morning, when the water will boil dry, add sugar and salt, then pour a layer of vegetable oil into the wok, and the fragrant turnip baked rice cake will be done!
The key to baking rice cakes with kohlrabi on the winter solstice is that the stove fire will not go out on the night of the winter solstice, and every family should burn it "brightly", and the fire will be passed down from generation to generation, which is the most real and basic expectation of the people, while the rice cakes imply "high every year".
? The second custom of the winter solstice: the festival of the ox?
In addition, on the winter solstice, farmers in Taiwan Province gave their oxen a holiday, so that they could drink wine to drive away the cold. They thanked the oxen for their hard work for a year, commonly known as "Cow Festival", which shows how much Taiwan Province compatriots attach importance to agriculture!
At first, there were no oxen in Taiwan Province, but later, due to the needs of production and life, they were introduced from abroad and southern Fujian and other places in the mainland of China. At the end of Ming Dynasty, the Dutch occupied Taiwan Province and found that there were no cows in Taiwan Province. But they want to develop sugarcane planting in Taiwan Province. If there are no cows, the efficiency is very low. Therefore, 2 cows were specially transported from colonial Java to be used as cultivated land and sugarcane planting. This is the origin of yellow cattle in Taiwan Province. The first 2 cattle bought from Java were not enough, so the Dutch set up a "Cattle Company" in Taiwan Province to manage cattle, train and breed cattle, and encouraged the aborigines to fence the captured bison, and then feed them after being whipped and abused. In this way, after half a year's taming of the fast and one year's taming of the slow, bison can listen to people and participate in the ranks of cultivation. Buffalo in Taiwan Province were shipped from the mainland of China after the Qing Dynasty.
On this day, the owner of the oxen will give the oxen a holiday. In order to thank them for their hard work for a year, they also stick glutinous rice balls on the horns to show that the oxen will celebrate the holidays. When the weather is particularly cold in winter, we should give the cattle alcohol to keep out the cold. Even in the 196s, when the material was extremely scarce, the commercial departments in southern Fujian specially distributed wine tickets for cattle to drink to keep out the cold, which was commonly known as "cow wine" by local people. This scene, which is based on wine and celebrated by people and cows, can be called a spectacle of the custom of protecting and respecting cows on both sides of the strait!
? The third custom of winter solstice: hiding winter ice?
In the north, ice storage is usually done around the winter solstice. On the winter solstice, the ice will be stored in the cellar, sealed tightly, and all kinds of fresh fruits will be hidden at the same time. After the spring, they will be taken out and sold in the market, and the color will be just like that just picked from the tree.
people cut ice from the river with iron bars, which are more than one foot wide and two feet long. They call it a party. On the winter solstice, they hide the ice in a cellar, which is about two feet deep. After the ice is hidden, they immediately seal the cellar tightly, and at the same time, they hide all kinds of fresh fruits, which are taken out for sale after spring, and the color is just like being picked from trees. As usual, residents in the southern coastal areas repaired the icehouse after the winter solstice and stored ice cubes to keep fish fresh during fishing in the following year.
In ancient times, there was no such advanced refrigeration technology as it is now, and it was impossible to make ice cubes artificially. However, the clever ancients skillfully used the production conditions at that time to explore a set of methods of using natural ice cubes to cool off the heat, specifically, "winter ice for summer use", which is the origin of the custom of storing winter ice.
? Winter solstice custom 4: winter solstice shoes?
On the Winter Solstice Festival, there is a folk custom of giving shoes, which has a very ancient origin. "Notes on Chinese Ancient and Modern Times" said: "There are embroidered mandarin ducks in the Han Dynasty, and Emperor Zhao ordered his aunt to go to the winter solstice." Cao Zhi's "Winter Solstice Offering Socks and Footwear Table" also has a sentence of "Welcome to the sample in the next year, and celebrate when you are long."
On the Winter Solstice Festival, people used to give shoes, the origin of which is very ancient and mainly reflected in children, hoping that children will grow up healthily. In the past, it was mainly hand embroidery. As gifts for boys, hats are mostly made in the shape of tigers and dogs, and embroidered shoes are also beasts. For girls, hats are mostly made in the shape of phoenix, and embroidery on shoes is mostly flowers and birds. Now most of them are purchased from the market, and the form follows the trend of the times. On holidays, adults always like to drop in with their children and boast about the shoes and hats presented by their aunts and uncles.
There is a sentence in Cao Zhi's Table of Offering Socks and Footwear on the Winter Solstice in the Three Kingdoms, which says: "Women in the Northern Dynasties often wear socks and boots on the Winter Solstice" in Youyang Miscellany. Winter Solstice: "The sun is born in the next place, the sun is forever in the sky, and the scenery is blessed for a long time. As for a hundred million years". Therefore, the previous winter solstice was also called "Walking Long Festival". It means that the sun shines on the winter solstice, and the primary yang begins to go up from the ground, that is, from the feet, so send a pair of shoes to protect the primary yang to ensure safety. As the saying goes, "The winter solstice is a sunny day, and shoes are safe and healthy", which is what it means.
? The fifth custom of the winter solstice: does the winter solstice stick a knocker round?
Speaking of the solemn custom of pasting knockers on the winter solstice, there is a touching and tearful legend among the people in Taiwan Province: once upon a time, there was a family of three who lived as beggars somewhere in Taiwan Province. One winter solstice, my mother died of hunger and cold, and after her daughter cried bitterly, she decided to sell herself to bury her mother. When leaving, the daughter agreed with her father that no matter where her daughter drifts, she will stick two winter festival circles on the door knocker of her employer every winter festival, so that her father can find her easily.
The following winter festival, the daughter who worked as a maid in the rich man's house was eager for her father. She had a plan and said to her boss, "Respect your ancestors and the door gods on the winter solstice, so that the god of wealth can be ushered in." The owner has always been superstitious, and when he heard that it was reasonable, he asked her to stick two glutinous rice balls on the knocker of the gate. From the cold to the summer, the father and the daughter finally got together because of the winter festival circle stuck on the knocker. Later, they had their own home, but every winter festival, the father and the daughter still don't forget that bitter past, and always stick a winter festival circle on the knocker.
In the long run, villagers and neighbors followed suit, in order to pin their memories and blessings on their relatives who had traveled far away, hoping that they would return home as soon as possible. As time passed, they added rich human feelings to the festival customs of the winter solstice.
? The sixth custom of the winter solstice: eating glutinous rice balls?
In the south, it is popular to eat glutinous rice balls on the winter solstice, and there is also a folk saying that "eating glutinous rice balls is one year older". Tangyuan, also known as dumplings, is a round dessert made of glutinous rice flour, and "round" means "reunion" and "perfection", so eating tangyuan on the winter solstice is also called "winter solstice dumplings".
It is said that glutinous rice balls are specially for mice. According to legend, the seeds of grain were bitten by mice from far away places to be planted by farmers. In order to repay the contribution of mice, farmers agreed that a small part should be left uncut when harvesting every year so that mice could eat them. Later, because a greedy man harvested all the grains in the field, the mouse complained to Goddess Guanyin in anger. After listening to this, Goddess Guanyin felt sorry for her, so she gave her a pair of hard teeth and told her to move into other people's houses in the future to find food. Since then, the mouse has done harm everywhere. Become one of the "four evils" today.
However, this vulgar custom of "pasting dumplings everywhere" won't last long after all. It is not only unsanitary, but also unsightly and wasteful, and naturally dies out. And this custom of "eating dumplings" has been passed down to this day.
? The seventh custom of the winter solstice: frozen mutton?
On the winter solstice, the custom of eating "frozen mutton" is also popular in Simen, Yuyao and other places, that is, buying fresh mutton, cutting it into blocks, adding seasonings such as soy sauce and fennel, cooking it in a big fire, putting it into a basin, and freezing it into "frozen mutton" after it is cooled. When eating, put a piece of "frozen mutton" into full rice, which is delicious and fragrant.
It is said that the custom of eating mutton on the winter solstice began in the Han Dynasty. According to legend, Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu, ate dog meat cooked by Fan Kuai on the winter solstice, which made him feel particularly delicious and full of praise. Eating dog meat on the winter solstice has spread among the people since then, and later eating dog meat has gradually changed into eating mutton and other tonics. It would be better if mutton could be accompanied by traditional Chinese medicine for dispelling wind and preventing cold. As a result, the custom of eating mutton on the winter solstice has been widely handed down in the southern region, forming a tradition of eating mutton on the winter solstice among the people.
? The eighth custom of the winter solstice: eat red bean porridge?
The custom of eating red bean porridge on the winter solstice has existed for more than 1,6 years, which is said to prevent the plague. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Liang Renzong said in the Chronicle of Jingchu Age: "* * * Gong's family is a gifted scholar, who died on the winter solstice as a plague and feared adzuki beans, so he made porridge on the winter solstice to avoid it."
There is another legend. It is said that Zhuan Xu, one of the five emperors in ancient times, had three sons who became evil spirits after their death and came out to frighten children. In ancient times, people generally believed in superstition and were afraid of ghosts and gods. They believed that adults and children suffered from stroke and were in poor health because of epidemic ghosts. These evil spirits are fearless, only afraid of red (red) beans, so there is a saying that "red beans play ghosts." Therefore, on the winter solstice, red adzuki beans and red adzuki beans are used to cook rice, so as to dispel the epidemic and welcome the auspicious. In any case, a bowl of sweet and nourishing red bean glutinous rice on the winter solstice night always makes people happy. In Ningbo, the custom of the whole family getting together to eat red bean rice on the winter solstice night has been passed down to this day.
? Winter Solstice Custom Nine: Eat jiaozi?
On the winter solstice, all ethnic groups in northern China have the custom of eating jiaozi. It is said that eating jiaozi on the winter solstice will not freeze the ears.
Zhang Zhongjing is a native of Gedong, Nanyang. He wrote Treatise on Exogenous Febrile Diseases, which is a masterpiece of doctors and is regarded as a classic by doctors of all ages. Zhang Zhongjing has a famous saying: "If you advance, you will save the world; if you retreat, you will save the people;" You can't be a good doctor, but also a good doctor. " In the Eastern Han Dynasty, he served as the prefect of Changsha, visiting the sick and applying medicine, and practicing medicine in the lobby. Later, he resolutely resigned and returned to his hometown to treat his neighbors. When he returned home, it was winter. He saw that the villagers on both sides of the Baihe River were sallow and emaciated, hungry and cold, and many people's ears were frozen. He asked his disciples to set up a medical shed and a cauldron in Dongguan, Nanyang, and give up "Quhan Jiaoer Decoction" to cure chilblain on the day of the winter solstice.
He boiled mutton, pepper and some herbs for dispelling cold in a pot, then fished out the mutton and herbs, chopped them, made them into ear-like "jiao 'er" with bread, cooked them, and distributed them to each person who came to ask for medicine, and a big bowl of broth. People ate "Jiao Er" and drank "Quhan Tang", and they were warm all over, with fever in both ears and frostbitten ears cured. Later generations learned the look of "Jiao Er" and packaged it into food, also called "jiaozi" or "flat food".
Eating jiaozi on the winter solstice is the kindness of Zhang Zhongjing, a "medical sage", in "Quhan Jiaoer Decoction". Up to now, there is still a folk song in Nanyang, which says, "The winter solstice misbehaves the jiaozi bowl, and nobody cares if you freeze your ears.". Therefore, on the winter solstice, people always eat jiaozi, forming the custom of eating jiaozi's ears without being frozen.
The customs of the Winter Solstice Festival are different in the north and south, but one thing is basically the same. Everyone's original intention is the same. They are all to welcome the arrival of the Winter Solstice Year and celebrate the coming of the new year.