Wonton Noodles

In the past, there was a saying in old Beijing: "Winter Solstice Wonton Noodles 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.

Eating dog meat

The custom of eating dog meat 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 dog meat 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 dog meat during the winter solstice has been formed. Nowadays, people eat dog meat, mutton and various nutritious foods on the day of the winter solstice in order to have a good omen in the coming year.

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 Saint" Zhang Zhongjing who gave up medicine during the winter solstice.

Eat dumplings during the winter solstice

Zhang Zhongjing is a native of Xi'e, Nanyang. He wrote "Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases", which is a collection of great achievements of medical doctors. The Quhan Jiaoer Decoction is regarded as a classic by doctors of all generations. Zhang Zhongjing has a famous saying: "If you advance, you will save the world; if you retreat, you will save the people; if you cannot be a good prime minister, you should also be a good doctor." During the Eastern Han Dynasty, he served as the prefect of Changsha, visiting patients and administering medicine, and practicing medicine in the lobby. Later, he resolutely resigned and returned to his hometown to treat his neighbors. It was winter when he returned home. He saw that the villagers on both sides of the Baihe River were sallow and thin, hungry and cold, and many of them had their ears rotten by the cold. He asked his disciples to set up a medical tent and a large pot in Dongguan, Nanyang, and use "Jiao Er" to treat chilblains on the winter solstice. He put mutton and some cold-repelling medicinal materials in a pot and boiled them. Then he took out the mutton and the medicinal materials and chopped them into pieces. He used bread to make "jiao ears" like ears. After they were cooked, he distributed them to everyone who came to ask for medicine. Two "charming ears" and a big bowl of broth. People ate "Jiao Er" and drank "Qu Han Tang", their whole bodies became warm, their ears felt hot, and their frostbitten ears were cured. Later generations imitated the appearance of "Jiao Er" and wrapped them into food, also called "dumplings" or "flat food". Eating dumplings during the winter solstice is to remember the kindness of "Medical Saint" Zhang Zhongjing's "Quhan Jiao Er Soup". To this day, there is still a folk song in Nanyang, "If you don't bring dumpling bowls during the winter solstice, your ears will freeze off and no one will care".

Red bean and glutinous rice

In the Jiangnan water towns, there is a custom of the whole family gathering together to eat red bean and glutinous rice on the night of the winter solstice. According to legend, there was an untalented man of the Gong clan of the Han Dynasty who committed many evil deeds and died on the winter solstice. After his death, he turned into a plague ghost and continued to harm the people. However, this plague ghost is most afraid of red beans, so people cook and eat red bean rice on the winter solstice to ward off plague ghosts and prevent disasters and diseases.

Xishi Huansha

Suzhou people celebrate the winter solstice - eating wontons to remember Xishi. Since Suzhou was the capital of Wu State 2,500 years ago, Taibo and Zhong Yong, the founders of Wu State, were The descendants of King Tai of Zhou inherited the Zhou Dynasty calendar and regarded the winter solstice as the beginning of the year. Therefore, the ancient city of Suzhou still has the custom of "the winter solstice is as big as the new year", and the "menu" on the night of the winter solstice every year is even more exquisite, continuing the long-lasting tradition. The customs of Wudi have formed a unique meaning that is different from other cities. In the supermarkets in the streets and alleys of the ancient city of Suzhou, winter wine is piled up like a "hill". Winter wine is brewed only once a year. It is fragrant with osmanthus, sweet and refreshing. There is a saying in Suzhou since ancient times that if you don’t drink winter wine during the winter solstice, it will freeze overnight. When the "Old Suzhou" people returned home, the "Yuan Ye Dinner" placed on the table was not only sumptuous but also "meaningful". Whether it was cold pot, hot stir-fry or fish, meat and poultry, they all changed their names and became "auspicious dishes" and "Yuanbao". "(egg dumplings), "Tuanyuan" (meat balls), "chicken" (plopp), "golden chain" (vermicelli), "ruyicai" (soybean sprouts), "eating more than enough" (fish), etc. Similar, the joy and meaning of Suzhou’s traditional festivals are permeated everywhere. Since ancient times, the Taihu Lake area has been rich in rice, and various cakes made from glutinous rice flour are the most distinctive and common local snacks. Round winter solstice dumplings are a must-have snack during the banquet. It is said that in Suzhou, Lantern Festival in January, waist cakes on February 2, green dumplings in March, fairy cakes on April 14, fried meat dumplings in May, and glutinous rice dumplings on June 2 The fourteenth lunar month, cowpea cake, glutinous rice cake in August, the Double Ninth Cake in September, the radish dumpling in October, the winter solstice dumpling in November, the sweet-scented osmanthus lard sugar rice cake in the twelfth month, after eating twelve snacks, the new Another year has come.

It is said that Suzhou people still have the custom of eating wontons during the winter solstice. According to legend, at a banquet in the Spring and Autumn Period of Wu and Yue, the King of Wu lost his appetite after being tired of delicacies from the mountains and seas. The beautiful lady Xi Shi went into the imperial kitchen to pack a dustpan-style snack and presented it to the King of Wu. King Wu ate a large bowl in one go and asked repeatedly: "What kind of snack is this that is so delicious?" Xi Shi thought: This foolish king is confused and confused, so he casually said: "Chaos." In order to commemorate Xi Shi's wisdom and creation , Suzhou people regard it as a special delicacy during the Winter Solstice Festival.

“Take nourishment during the winter solstice and kill tigers in the spring” is a folk saying widely circulated in Wudi. Suzhou people also start to take supplements from the winter solstice, which also forms the peak of eating mutton after autumn. The mutton business of the famous Wuzhong Bookstore Mutton Shop has suddenly boomed. The owner of a small mutton shop with a collection of books revealed that his mutton shop can sell eight sheep during the winter solstice. For eaters, whether it is grilled, simmered, stewed or boiled, it is both delicious and healthy. It really kills two birds with one stone. beautiful things.

Mutton Rice Noodle Soup

Ningxia: Eat "brain" on the Winter Solstice. There is a custom in Yinchuan that on the Winter Solstice, people drink rice noodle soup and eat mutton rice noodle soup dumplings. On the day of the winter solstice, the people of Yinchuan gave the mutton noodle soup a strange name - "brain". On the fifth day of the night, the housekeeper got busy early. He washed the purple mushrooms on Songshan Mountain and made soup. After boiling, he took out the mushrooms. He put the diced mutton into the pot and stir-fried it. After drying it with water vapor, he added ginger, onion, garlic and chili powder. Stir-fry, add the chopped mushrooms to the diced meat and stir-fry again, then marinate with vinegar (to remove the poisonous smell of wild mushrooms), then add mixed noodles, refined salt, and soy sauce; after the meat is rotten, add fungus and golden needles (yellow flowers). Vegetables) stir-fry briefly, add the clear mushroom soup, bring the soup to a boil, add the chopped vermicelli and soaked vermicelli, then add chives, garlic sprouts, and coriander, and you have a pot of mutton powder soup. This pot of soup is red with peppers, yellow with day lily, green with garlic sprouts and coriander, white with vermicelli and vermicelli, and black with mushrooms and fungus. It has five colors: red, yellow, green, white and black. The aroma is fragrant and makes people salivate.

Winter Solstice is called Ghost Festival by the common people. After the dumplings are made, a bowl is served first and a bowl is served to the neighbors. I couldn’t eat dumplings in the morning, so I bought Diaolu tri-tip pancakes and fennel pancakes and soaked them in powder soup. Dumplings stuffed with mutton powder soup and yellow radish are a common meal for Yinchuan people, but outsiders rave about it. It is rare to see such spicy and delicious dumplings in other places. This can be regarded as a special snack in Yinchuan.

Fujian: "Winter Solstice Mist" Rolling Pills

"Winter Solstice frost, the moonlight shines; cypress leaves are red, balls are held." This is a children's song during the winter solstice. "Bamin Tongzhi·Xinghua Prefecture Customs·Winter Solstice" records: "In the early stage, glutinous rice was made into balls, which ripened early on this day, and it was recommended to the ancestors." This is the "winter solstice", "rolling balls" and the "winter solstice" that ripens early The folk custom of worshiping ancestors is "sweet meatballs".

The night before the winter solstice is commonly called "Winter Solstice Dark". In the evening of this day, red candles were brightly lit in the halls of every house, and the lights were like daylight, symbolizing a brilliant career. The red tangerines on the table are called "Guoyue" (that is, red tangerines are stacked into a small mountain shape, hence the name). On the top of the red tangerine, insert a branch of "Sanchun" (that is, folk paper-cutters use red paper to cut paper flowers of fortune, wealth and longevity), a pair of chopsticks (ten pairs) wrapped with red paper strips, ginger and sugar candies. One piece each, the family washes their hands, the parents light candles, light incense, set off firecrackers, and start "making pills." The "balls" made are white. If there is a newlywed, red balls will be made to show that the family will have a baby and the family will be more prosperous. At this time, the woman put on a red shirt and was particularly dazzling under the lights, and the children were smiling, innocent and lively. Everyone gathered around the big dustpan (commonly known as "Dali Arc"), and the children sat on high stools, "eager to try". The housewife grinds glutinous rice into powder (commonly known as "rice festival"), adds boiling water and kneads it into long round strips, picks it into a large round piece, and then each person uses their palms to knead it into pieces the size of a cinnamon core. "Meatballs", this is "Winter Solstice Ming Rubbing Pills". Among them, the most interesting ones are: some adults are squeezing ingots and cornucopias; some are squeezing puppies and piglets, taking the common proverbs of "If you are lucky, the paparazzi will hold the ingot" and "Be a dog, be a pig, be a ingot", It means "vast wealth and prosperous livestock". The children were most interested in puppies and piglets. They cheered, "Grandpa is being a dog," "Abba is being a dog," and "Mom and grandma are being pigs!" which made the whole family laugh. Some make "magpie balls" (commonly known as "guestiao balls") that are only the size of beans. The children could never finish rubbing them, some were flat and some were long, and even he himself found it funny. Some put rice offerings on their eyebrows and noses, which is really funny and cute. If a child drops a ball on the ground, ask the child to pick it up and blow away the dust, otherwise he will look ugly in the future. The intention is to educate children to cherish food from an early age. After "rolling the balls", put the "balls" in the "Da Li Gu", close the lid, and place them in front of the "Zao Gong" stove overnight. The night of the winter solstice is the longest, and children love to eat "ball soup". They can't sleep. Before dawn, they clamor for their mother to eat "ball soup", so there is a nursery rhyme "Love to eat meatball soup, hope it's not light yet" . The housewife pours the "meatballs" into the pot, adds water with ginger and sugar (ginger and sugar can dispel cold and stimulate appetite) and cook it into a fragrant, sweet, sticky and hot "sweet meatball soup". After offering it to the ancestors, the whole family divides it and eats it. The "meat balls" should be stuck on the door frame to worship the "menchenghuwei" and ensure the safety of the family. You also need to throw "(feeding) magpie pills" on the roof (usually 12 pills, 13 pills in leap years, which means peace every month throughout the year). When the magpies come to fight for food, there will be an uproar, commonly known as "Announcement of Good News", which means five blessings. On the doorstep. On the early morning of the winter solstice, the whole family goes up the mountain to pay homage to their ancestors with meatballs, fruits, incense candles, paper money, etc. Because the Winter Solstice Festival is the last tomb-sweeping festival of the year, there are more people sweeping tombs than during the Qingming Festival and Double Ninth Festival, which means to be cautious about the end and pursue the future.

Winter Solstice Food

Chaoshan Winter Solstice Customs

Winter Solstice is one of the twenty-four solar terms. According to the "Collection of the Seventy-Two Hours of the Moon Order": "On the 15th day of the 11th month, the final Qi will reach its peak." "Tongwei·Xiaojingyinshenqi" records: "On the 15th day after the heavy snowfall, , Douzhizi, is the winter solstice, which begins on the fifteenth day when the cathode and the yang solstice begin, and the sun solstice gradually reaches the south. "According to "Cihai": "The astronomy stipulates that the winter solstice is the beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere." One of the twenty-four solar terms, it is also a major folk festival in the Chaoshan area and is commonly known as the "Little New Year". The customs of the winter solstice in cities and counties in Chaoshan are basically the same, including worshiping ancestors, eating sweet pills, and visiting tombs.

Worshiping ancestors: Chaoshan folk prepare enough pork, chicken, fish and other animals and fruits on this day, go to the ancestral hall to worship ancestors, and then the family gathers around the table to have a meal. The worship is usually completed before noon, and the family reunites for lunch. However, in coastal areas such as the Haishan area of ??Raoping, ancestor worship is performed early in the morning, before fishermen go out to sea to fish, in order to ask the gods and ancestors to bless the fishermen's fishing safety.

Eating sweet pills: This custom is almost universal in the Chaoshan area, but this custom also contains an interesting custom: after people worship their ancestors on this day, they take out some and stick them on their doors. Roofs, roof beams, rice jars, etc. Why do we do this? According to legend, there are two reasons: First, the sweet pill is sweet and round, which means good luck. It indicates that there will be a good harvest next year and the family can be reunited. If family members accidentally encounter it on this day, it will be a good sign, just like the "Water Splashing Festival" of ethnic minorities. If outsiders happen to visit on this day and let outsiders encounter it, these outsiders will also have good luck. Therefore, people do not want outsiders to visit their homes on this day. One is for rats to eat. It is said that the seeds of grains were brought to farmers from far away by rats. In order to repay the rats for their contribution, the farmers agreed that during the annual harvest, a small portion should be left unharvested so that rats could eat it. Later, because a greedy man harvested all the grains in the field, the mouse complained to the Goddess of Mercy in anger. After hearing this, the Goddess of Mercy felt pity for the mouse, so she gave it a pair of hard teeth and told it to move into other people's homes in the future. They lived in the house in order to find food. Since then, rats have caused harm everywhere. It has become one of the "four evils" today. However, this bad custom of "sticking sweet pills everywhere" has not been around for a long time. It is not only unhygienic, but also detrimental to appearance and very wasteful, so it will naturally die out. And this custom of "eating sweet nine" has been passed down to this day.

Visiting graves and sweeping tombs: This is another activity during the winter solstice. According to Chaoshan custom, the annual grave-sweeping ceremony usually takes place during the Qingming Festival and the Winter Solstice, which are called "spring paper" and "winter paper". Generally speaking, "Spring Paper" should be performed in the first three years after a person's death, and "Winter Paper" can be performed after three years. But most people like to travel "winter paper" because during the Qingming Festival, it often rains and the roads are difficult to walk; during the Winter Solstice, the weather is good, making it easy to go up the mountain for picnics.

There is also a proverb in Chaoshan that "if you eat the winter festival round, you will be one year older". According to Mr. Wang Lingan's "Old Customs of Shantou": "People have two explanations for this: one is that the winter solstice is the Little New Year, and after the Little New Year, one should be one year older; the other is that this proverb comes from criminals. In ancient times Every autumn is the season of killing. Prisoners who have committed capital crimes are usually executed in autumn. If they have not been executed by the winter solstice, the execution can be postponed to next year as a rule, so it is said to be "one more year old".

Chaoshan customs are an integral part of Chaoshan culture. In the long-term life and social practice, people have inherited good customs and discarded bad customs. The custom of "visiting tombs" during the winter solstice is to commemorate the hard work of our ancestors and "eating sweet pills" is a sign of another good harvest in the coming year, so it has naturally been passed down.

Shaoxing Winter Solstice Customs

Winter Solstice is a major festival of the year among Shaoxing folk. As the saying goes, "Winter Solstice is as big as the New Year." In ancient times, people always celebrated it as another New Year. "Jiatai Kuaiji Zhi" says that the festival is "roughly like Zhengdan but less simple", and many things take the winter solstice as the starting point. The lunar calendar calculates the Qingming Festival, which is based on 106 days after the winter solstice. It is said that "the 16th day of the winter solstice is the Qingming Festival". "Nine-Nine Songs" also counts the winter solstice as the first nine, the second nine, and the nine-nine to record the seasonal changes. There are more folk sayings: "At the beginning of the winter solstice, the stone slabs are crisp, in the middle of the winter solstice, people spend the winter naked, at the end of the winter solstice, they sell their cattle and buy quilts", "If there is no ice before winter, it will be very cold after winter" and "Sunny winter and bad years, rainy winter solstice" As the saying goes, the winter solstice comes sooner or later, and sunny and rainy days account for the warmth and coldness of winter and the dryness and wetness of the year. On this day, people will have family reunions and feasts, just like the custom of having New Year's Eve dinner on New Year's Eve. Folks in Shaoxing worship their ancestors during the Winter Solstice. Some even go to ancestral halls and temples to worship their ancestors, which is called "Winter Solstice". Generally, before the winter solstice, paper cuttings are made to make men's and women's clothes, and they are sent to the ancestors' tombs for incineration during the winter solstice. This is commonly known as "giving away cold clothes." After the sacrifice, relatives and friends gather together for a drink, commonly known as "winter solstice wine", not only to commemorate the deceased but also to bond with each other. It is customary in Shaoxing, Xinchang and other counties to go to the graves to put mud, weed and repair the foundations on that day, thinking that it is auspicious to start the work on this day, otherwise unexpected disasters may occur. The winter solstice is also known as the "long solstice". The night on this day is the longest in the year, so there is a saying among the people that "if you are sleepy, you will sleep on the winter solstice night". It is said that a good night's sleep during the winter solstice can ensure good dreams every day throughout the year. In the old days, rice was mostly pounded with stone mortars. Shaoxing people liked to pound the rice for the year before and after the winter solstice, which was called "winter pounding rice." "Spring" is here, and family affairs are about to flourish. Everyone must be busy preparing for farming and has no time to pound rice. Secondly, when the spring air moves, the rice buds float, and the rice grains are not as solid as in winter. Beating rice in winter can prevent the rice grains from being brittle and grainy. , reduce food loss.

Shaoxing people generally like to brew wine before the winter solstice, which is called "winter wine making". After brewing, the aroma is fragrant and particularly attractive. In addition, the water at this time is still winter water, so the brewing The wine is easy to preserve and will not deteriorate. At this time, special techniques can also be used to brew "dimple wine" and "honey wine" to enjoy with the elderly, or as gifts for relatives and friends.

Eating wontons during the winter solstice

On the night of the winter solstice, people in Shaoxing still have the custom of "lighting a fire". They burn the fire overnight and wrap it in a quilt, which means that the charcoal fire will not go out until the next morning, which is a sign of good luck. Your family will be prosperous in the coming year.

In the old days in Yuezhong, everyone, regardless of men or women, had to make a bowl of wontons to eat on the winter solstice; and on the summer solstice, everyone had to eat a meal of noodles from house to house, which was called "Winter Solstice Wontons and Summer Solstice Noodles." This custom has been around for a long time. But there are different opinions on why it became customary. It may be said that the solstice is the shortest day, so we use wonton-shaped balls to mark the festival; when eating noodles during the summer solstice, we use the long shape of noodles (noodles) to celebrate the long days of the summer solstice. Although the latter can be confirmed by the custom of eating noodles during birthday celebrations to seek longevity, there is no record after all. Fan Yin, a Shaoxing scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, said in "Yue Proverbs: Food" that wontons "are either sesame sugar or minced meat wrapped in flour and eaten during the winter solstice." It can be seen that there were sweet wontons in ancient Shaoxing. On that day, there were many taboos among the people in Shaoxing. They were forbidden to say unlucky words, make noises and cause trouble, and break dishes. Women were not allowed to return to peace. A married woman must return to her husband's house on that day and was not allowed to stay overnight at her natal home. Children were not allowed to be beaten or scolded. Even the most naughty students can be exempted from punishment on the winter solstice. The teacher can only hold up the ruler and warn: "I will keep the account for you until tomorrow!"

Quanzhou people “have no ancestors if they don’t go home during the Winter Festival”

Every year in the middle of December of the lunar calendar, approximately December 22 of the Gregorian calendar (or the day before or after), is the Winter Solstice Festival , also known as Winter Festival. The winter solstice is one of the 24 solar terms, and it is particularly valued by people. People in Quanzhou call the winter solstice the "Winter Festival Xiaonian Pocket". It seems to pay less attention to it, but it is also very grand during the festival.

The foods celebrated during the Winter Solstice vary from place to place. Wontons are eaten in the north, dumplings are eaten in the northwest, and glutinous rice balls and mochi are eaten in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The glutinous rice balls eaten by Suzhou people during the Winter Solstice Festival are also called "winter solstice dumplings", which are divided into two types: rice dumplings and rice dumplings. "Qing Jia Lu" says: "The larger ones with fillings are rice dumplings, and they are the first to be eaten during winter solstice festivals; The "Dongjie Wan" eaten by Quanzhou people is actually the Suzhou people's festival food introduced in "Qing Jia Lu". On the eve of the festival, every household wants to "roll pills." Available in red and white. Women in the fishing villages of Shenhu in Jinjiang, Xiangzhi in Shishi, and Chongwu in Hui'an can make pills with fast speed and good quality. The pills are as small as fish-eye beads, which is amazing. , and also use rice balls to make some small and exquisite fruits, animals, gold ingots and silver treasures to symbolize prosperity and wealth, commonly known as "making chickens, hens and paparazzi".

There is a saying in spring custom that "if you don't go home during the winter festival, you will have no ancestors." Therefore, those who are away from home will try their best to go home to celebrate the festival and pay homage to their ancestors. On the morning of the Winter Festival, sweet ball soup should be cooked to honor the ancestors, and then the whole family will have sweet ball soup for breakfast. Some people also leave a few rice balls on the door after the meal, which is called "respecting the door god". People in Quanzhou eat pills and call Yuanxiao pills "head pills (round)" and winter festival pills "tail pills (round)". Rounding the head and tail means that the whole family is happy from beginning to end. However, the "Hui'an County Chronicles. Customs Chronicles" of the Jiaqing Period of the Qing Dynasty explained the eating of pills during the winter festival as follows: "In November, the winter solstice, the Yang Qi begins to sprout. When eating rice pills, stick the pills to the door. Whenever the Yang is round, the Yin is square, and the five When the yang of the moon begins to grow, the millet will ripen first, and it will become the horned millet, which resembles the yin, horn, and square. When the yang begins to grow during the winter solstice, it will become the rice ball, which will resemble the yang, the ball, and the round; each resembles it. The summer solstice is not considered a festival, as it suppresses the yin. "At noon, ancestors are worshiped, and the offerings are made of meat and vegetables. At night, family sacrifices such as New Year's Eve are held, and tender cakes and vegetables must be included in the offerings. During the Chinese New Year, it is customary to prepare tender cakes and dishes only during the Winter Festival, New Year's Eve and Qingming Festival. It is said that these cakes have the meaning of "wrapping gold and silver" and are intended to pray for the prosperity of the family. In the old days, those who belonged to a large and prominent family would open the gate of the ancestral temple on this day and hold an ancestor worship ceremony. Together with the ancestor worship during the Qingming Festival, they were collectively called the Spring and Winter Sacrifice. The rituals are very strict and the participants are very pious.

In Hui'an, in addition to worshiping ancestors during the Winter Festival, there are also some customs similar to the Tomb-Sweeping Festival. For example, if you can go up to the mountain to sweep tombs and donate money within ten days before and after the day, there is no taboo in repairing tombs and moving them.

As an important solar term, the winter solstice has many proverbs related to it. For example, "Eating on the Winter Festival brings you to winter; eating on Qingming brings you to the bitter pit." Astronomy stipulates that the winter solstice is the beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere. After the winter festival, the temperature continues to drop and there is little farm work. It becomes the slack season, which is called "last winter". During the Qingming Festival, the weather is warm, the vegetation is luxuriant, and agricultural production is mostly busy with spring plowing and planting. This is the most tiring stage for farmers, so it is called "entering the pit of suffering." However, the busy farming season should not be forgotten in the leisure time, and the proverb reminds farmers in time: "The sixth day of the hundredth day of the winter solstice is the Qingming Festival." The Qingming Festival is 106 days after the winter solstice, so we should prepare for farming as early as possible. In addition, there is also the "Dry Winter Festival, Wet Year Pocket". "The winter solstice is at the beginning of the month, and the severe cold is in the year; the winter solstice is at the end of the month, and the severe cold is in the second month." "Before the winter solstice, the price of rice increases, and the poor children receive long-term care; before the winter solstice, the price of rice falls, and the poor children become destitute." etc.

The custom in some mountainous areas of Quanzhou is to sweep tombs during the Winter Solstice. Qingming is a well-known tomb-sweeping time, but the strange thing is that in some mountainous areas of Quanzhou, tombs are not swept during the Qingming Festival, but during the Winter Solstice. How long has this custom been circulating? What kind of mystery is there? Winter Solstice Customs in Yunnan-Guizhou Sichuan In the past, there were not as many Han people in the Yunnan-Guizhou region as there are today, so they paid far less attention to the Winter Solstice Festival than in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. However, local civil and military officials are not idle on the Winter Solstice, and still congratulate each other according to ancient rituals. If the aristocratic families in Guizhou have built ancestral halls with their surnames, they will hold a family worship ceremony on the winter solstice. They will display sacrifices at dawn and worship their ancestors together with the sound of drums. The ceremony is similar to the content of the Qingming Festival. Those with wealthy families will start slaughtering pigs and curing meat on the winter solstice, and making New Year wine, New Year cakes, Yin rice cakes and other New Year products. When slaughtering the New Year pig, invite more guests to share the joy and enjoy the happiness after the harvest.

Different places in Yunnan attach different importance to the Winter Solstice Festival. In some places, every family gathers relatives and friends to pay homage to their ancestors and have a feast during the Winter Solstice Festival. There is a saying that "the Winter Solstice is as big as the New Year". At that time, glutinous rice flour is mixed with bean crumbs to make a dough, dipped in sugar and eaten, which is called "bean dough". In some places, relatives and friends give rice and noodles as gifts, and some cook food with medicine and mutton, or boil red bean soup. People always make traditional food to enjoy at this time.

Compared to Yunnan and Guizhou regions, Sichuan people celebrate the Winter Solstice Festival with a stronger atmosphere. On this day, local officials would greet each other and pay their respects to the Long Live Pavilion as usual in the academy. Folks call the winter solstice "celebrating the small new year", so it will naturally show some weather similar to the Chinese New Year. For example: scholar-bureaucrats congratulate each other, which is called "winter worship", scholars pay homage to their masters, and young men and women worship their elders, also known as "congratulations on growing up"; in some places, every family goes out of the city to sweep tombs on the winter solstice, and the ceremony is the same as that of Qingming, which is called "Shangzhi". Winter Grave". Those who live together in a clan must hold a "winter solstice meeting", that is, offering sacrifices together with the clan. At that time, the whole family will sacrifice pigs, sheep, wine, food and other things to their ancestors. After the sacrifice, a banquet will be held and the whole family will gather for a day of joy. In Mianzhu, worshiping ancestors during the Winter Solstice is more particular. The ancestral halls of their ancestral families are quite impressive, with most of them displaying carved bluestone shrines or carved wood paintings, with complete sets of ritual utensils and musical instruments. Sacrificial offerings include pigs, sheep, chickens, fish, fruits and vegetables, etc. On the winter solstice, the clan members kneeled three times and kowtowed nine times to their ancestors' tablets. After reciting the blessings, the clan leader told everyone about the admonitions of their ancestors, mainly about unity and harmony, and admonishing evil and doing good. Then they had a banquet together. Those who come here randomly will be punished by running away. In Sichuan, there is a custom of eating nourishing foods such as mutton and dog meat during the Winter Solstice to "tonic". In the evening, people eat mutton and drink mutton soup to warm themselves up and ward off the cold, hoping for a good omen in the coming year.

Taiwan Winter Solstice Customs In Taiwan, our country, we still preserve the tradition of using nine-layer cakes to worship ancestors during the Winter Solstice. We use glutinous rice flour to knead chickens, ducks, turtles, pigs, cows, sheep and other symbols of good luck, happiness, wealth and longevity. The animals are then steamed in layers in a steamer to worship ancestors to show that they do not forget their ancestors. People with the same surname and the same clan gather in the ancestral temple in order of age and worship their ancestors one by one at the winter solstice or an early date agreed before or after. This is commonly known as "ancestral worship". After the ceremony, a grand banquet will be held to entertain the clan members who come to worship their ancestors. Everyone drinks happily and connects with each other after long separation, which is called "eating ancestors." The ancestors of the Winter Solstice Festival have been passed down from generation to generation in Taiwan to show that they do not forget their "roots".