Perhaps the deepest memory of winter solstice is the custom of eating jiaozi. Northerners are "October 1st, when the solstice of winter comes, everyone eats jiaozi." Southerners are "winter solstice wonton, summer solstice noodle", but they eat wonton. Jiaozi and wonton are the products of the special solar term of winter solstice, because the winter solstice is the longest night and the shortest day in a year, and it is also the beginning of real cold. Nourishing is the key to this important solar term! Of course, jiaozi and wonton are not the only supplements, such as mutton bread in soup in Guanzhong, mutton soup, sheep bones in northern Shaanxi, mutton offal, roasted meat in Guangdong, winter festival pills in Chaoshan, dumplings in Jiangnan and so on. All these have become China people's "winter solstice feast", and the custom of winter solstice lives in the taste buds of China people.

But as far as spiritual expression is concerned, the significance of the winter solstice festival goes far beyond the taste buds. As the starting point of the 24 solar terms and the beginning of a year in China, the solstice in winter has more colorful holiday etiquette and entertainment customs, which have gone through thousands of years, but were later ignored or discarded by us.

Let's talk about offering sacrifices to heaven first.

Although it is the patent of ancient emperors to worship heaven from the winter solstice, it can still be used for reference in expressing the unity of heaven and man, fearing heaven and earth and defending the country. The common people followed the emperor's example of offering sacrifices to heaven, and formed the custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors during the winter solstice. In many parts of our country, the custom of worshipping ancestors from the winter solstice has been maintained. In Yaozhou, Tongchuan, "winter solstice" is called "cellar wine". At dusk, ordinary people burn paper money outside suburban villages to mend winter clothes for the dead and express their warm concern for their loved ones in another world. In Taiwan Province Province, China, there is a custom of making nine-layer cakes to worship ancestors during the winter solstice. Animals such as chickens, ducks, turtles, cows and sheep, which symbolize good luck, are kneaded into balls with glutinous rice flour and steamed layer by layer to express their ancestors' initial heart in winter solstice with nine layers of specifications. In the genealogy of festivals in China, it is only on the solstice of winter that the emperor's offering sacrifices to heaven becomes an important ceremony. Under the national system of integrating home and country, the winter solstice has become a crucial solar term and festival.

In terms of solar terms, the 24 solar terms are based on the winter solstice. With the winter of solstice, beginning of spring decided that on the 45th day after the winter of solstice, folk songs sang: "The solstice of winter is 45 days from spring"; Qingming is on the156th day from winter to the future, and the folk song says, "It is 160% Qingming from winter to the sun". As far as festivals are concerned, there is a saying that the solstice in winter is as big as a year. Besides, many people don't know that the solstice in winter was once the beginning of a year in China. The Winter Solstice is the first year of the Zhou Dynasty, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty formulated the taichu calendar, setting the first year in the first month, which has continued to this day. It took quite a long time for the Zhou Dynasty to take the winter solstice as the beginning of the year, so in the history of the Chinese nation, the winter solstice once played the leading role in the year. Even after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took the first month as the first year of the year, the custom of winter solstice was still very popular among the people. In the Han dynasty, it was called "off-year" and "winter festival". In the Tang Dynasty, there were seven days' holidays on the solstice in winter. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the festive atmosphere from the winter solstice was more lively than the New Year, and there was a saying that "winter is fat and summer is thin". During the Ming and Qing dynasties, there was even a grand ceremony for the emperor to worship heaven from winter to Sunday every year. Titles such as "the winter solstice is as big as a year" and "sub-year-old" all show the unique position of the winter solstice.

Let's talk about learning from teachers. In fact, the solstice in winter is the earliest Teacher's Day in China. In ancient times, the winter solstice was Eid al-Fitr, and many places held ceremonies to worship Confucius. Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, is sacrificed, and the etiquette is "the ceremony of releasing vegetables", that is, vegetarian dishes are sacrificed and celery, jujube, chestnuts, vegetable soup and so on are sacrificed to Confucius. I chose this thing because Confucius was trapped between Chen and Cai and didn't eat for seven days in order to play the piano to satisfy his hunger. Yan Hui, his disciple, explained the dishes outdoors to show his respect for the teacher and his intention to stay in school.

While offering sacrifices to Confucius during the winter solstice, teachers and students should also put on clothes and hold a feast, which is very lively. Many county records have similar records: "As long as the days are long, students from other places will worship their teachers." The custom of "promoting teachers" from winter to morning has greatly promoted the tradition of respecting teachers and attaching importance to teaching, and it is also of great significance today. Of course, the solstice of winter is another year of teacher appointment and dismissal. Naturally, some people are happy and others are worried.

Finally, nine. "It's cold in March and hot in dog days". In remote ancient times, the heating technology was far less advanced and popular than today, and the long cold was the most difficult. Entering the solstice of winter, winter has become the core issue of winter. What is commendable is that the Chinese nation invented the "Nine-Year Plan", a method to resist the cold winter and look forward to spring. The so-called "number nine" is to divide 8 1 day from winter to spring into 9 units and advance it every day. This gradually warming climate feature is vividly shown in 99 songs, such as "Walking on the ice in 1999, watching willows along the river in 1999" and so on. Another example is "The Cold Picture of 1999", in which boudoir women spend the long winter step by step in the elegance of pen and ink. This is not only to eliminate the cold, but also a positive and philosophical attitude towards life. There are also nine couplets, each with nine words and nine pictures, which are filled out every day. For example, the first couplet reads "Spring hangs spring scenery, Liu Chun dyes the beauty of spring scenery", and the second couplet reads "Autumn persimmon hangs autumn and sends autumn fragrance". When a couplet is written, spring will come as promised.