How did the winter solstice come about? How did the winter solstice come about

Every year, when the sun reaches 270 degrees of ecliptic longitude, it is the winter solstice in the 24 solar terms. The winter solstice, also known as the winter festival or the winter of Hedong, is the opposite of the summer solstice, and is one of the eight celestial solar terms in the 24 solar terms. So do you know what day the winter solstice is in 2018?

The winter solstice is the earliest of the 24 solar terms to be formulated in a chain of towns, and is considered to be the first of the 24 solar terms by the sedan bend, and the time is between December 21 and 23 of the Gregorian calendar every year. After the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty, the Duke of Zhou sent experts to take an eight-foot-long Tugui to measure the center of the country. After the measurements, they set the day with the longest shadow as the winter solstice and the shortest day as the summer solstice.

The winter solstice as a "winter festival" celebration originated in the Han Dynasty, and after the introduction of the summer calendar, the winter solstice and the New Year became two festivals. The ancients believed that from the closed winter solstice, the days became longer day by day, the yang energy rose, and the yang energy of heaven and earth began to grow stronger, representing the beginning of the next cycle.

Winter solstice** in Chinese astrology. China's astrological culture has a long history, broad and profound, the twenty-four solar terms were originally formulated according to the movement of the stars, in different seasons and different times, the Big Dipper will point to different directions, that is, the so-called "bucket handle points to the east, the world is spring; Bucket handle guide, the world is summer; The bucket handle points to the west, and the world is autumn; The bucket handle refers to the defeat of the blind stool in the north, and the world is winter".

The "24 solar terms" is the product of ancient agricultural civilization, which is associated with the time of the dry branch and the gossip, and has a long historical source. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, the "24 solar terms" were absorbed into the "Taichu Calendar" as a supplement to the calendar to guide agricultural affairs in the northern Central Plains, and the "24 solar terms" were measured in the Yellow River Basin by the Tugui solar shadow measurement method.

The current "24 solar terms" are based on the position of the sun on the return ecliptic, that is, on a "ecliptic" (the apparent path of the sun on the celestial sphere during the year) with a circumference of 360 degrees, the vernal equinox is the starting point of 0 degrees, and every 15 degrees of the sun travels on the ecliptic is a "solar term". In the inheritance and development, the 24 solar terms are included in the lunar calendar and become an important part of the lunar calendar.

The meaning of the winter solstice

The winter solstice, known as the "southern solstice", is a solar term that reflects the movement of direct sunlight. On the day of the winter solstice, the sun travels southward to the extreme, and the sunlight hits the Tropic of Capricorn"The day goes south and goes back to the north"After that, the height of the sun rose and the days increased day by day in various parts of the northern hemisphere.

The winter solstice marks the rebirth of the sun and the beginning of a new cycle of the sun's commuting movement. The winter solstice is an auspicious day, as it is said in the Book of Han: "The winter solstice is yang, and the monarch is long, so he congratulates."

After the winter solstice, the days are getting longer and the sun is rising, which is the beginning of a cycle of direct sunlight and back and forth, which should be celebrated.

The above content refers to the encyclopedia of the winter solstice.

The winter solstice is one of the 24 solar terms, after the winter solstice comes, it means that the cold winter is coming, the sun shines directly on the ground, and the sun's rays on the northern hemisphere of the world are relatively small, so winter is also coming. So what do you know about the origin and customs of the winter solstice? Let's take a look.

1. The origin of the winter solstice festival due to the gap between the lunar calendar and the solar calendar, in China's winter solstice season, it is generally around December 21 and 23 every year, the night of the winter solstice is very long, in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the 24 solar terms are used to guide the agricultural calendar, mainly using the average time method to divide the solar terms, so that the date between the winter solstice and the next winter solstice is called the middle air, and the middle air is divided again, and it becomes the 24 solar terms, and the winter solstice is only one of them. It is a festival unique to our Chinese nation. In ancient times, people believed that the day of the winter solstice was the natural transformation of yin and yang, and everyone had to hold a winter ceremony.

2. The customs of the winter solstice in the north: eating dumplings personally thinks that the north celebrates the winter solstice, more ritualistic, after the winter solstice comes, most families in the north will choose to eat dumplings, whether poor or rich, everyone has heard of Zhang Zhongjing, the doctor to make the story of dispelling cold Jiao'er soup, in fact, this is a real thing, later people in order to commemorate the death of Zhang Zhongjing, but also to keep out the cold, will eat a bowl of dumplings on the day of the winter solstice to express their gratitude to the medical saint Zhang Zhongjing.

In addition, a small number of families in the north will also choose to eat wontons, wontons mean to regulate yin and yang, some people think that the winter solstice is the time of extreme yin, so to use wontons to regulate the growth of yang between heaven and earth, in fact, it is not unreasonable. In fact, eating wontons is suitable for the Han Dynasty, when the northern Xiongnu were divided into two tribes, one was called Hun's and the other was called Tun's, these two tribes brought great trouble to the lives of the people, so the common people hated it to the bone, so they named it wonton and ate it. I recommend a more cost-effective dumpling to everyone, you may wish to take a look:

3. The custom of the winter solstice in the south: eating glutinous rice balls in southern China is mainly based on rice food, of course, in the unique season of the winter solstice, tangyuan has become the main food of most relatives and friends in the south. So it seems that the celebration of the winter solstice day is not as ceremonial as other festivals, but in ancient times, people who were adrift had to rush home on this day to spend the winter festival, and even the New Year may not go back, and this day must be rushed back, the ancients believed that from the beginning of the winter solstice, the yang energy between heaven and earth began to flourish, that is, this day is an auspicious day, and the family must be together to have a good time.

Because the home address of Zhang Zhongjing in ancient times was in Nanyang, Henan, there is still a folk song circulating in that place, the winter solstice does not serve dumpling bowls, and no one cares about freezing ears, isn't it very interesting? The custom of the winter solstice should be eaten in accordance with the northern unity, with a good meaning. That's all there is to know about the origin and customs of the winter solstice.