There used to be a saying in old Beijing that "winter solstice wonton, summer solstice noodles". According to legend, during the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu in the north often harassed the frontier, and the people were restless. At that time, there were two leaders, Xiongnu tribe and Tun tribe, which were very cruel. The people hated it, so they wrapped it into a corner with meat stuffing and called it "wonton" with the sound of "muddy" and "swallowing". I hate eating, and I want to quell the war and live a peaceful life. Because wonton was originally made on the winter solstice, every household eats wonton on the winter solstice.

Eat dog meat

It is said that the custom of eating dog meat on the solstice began in the Han Dynasty. According to legend, Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty, ate dog meat cooked by Fan Kuai on the solstice in winter, which was particularly delicious and full of praise. Since then, the custom of eating dog meat from winter solstice has been formed among the people. Nowadays, people eat dog meat, mutton and all kinds of nutritious food on the solstice of winter, which is a good sign for the coming year.

Eat dumplings

Every year, during the winter solstice of the Lunar New Year, jiaozi is an indispensable holiday feast for both the rich and the poor. As the saying goes: "On October 1st, when the solstice of winter comes, every family eats jiaozi." This custom was left in memory of Zhang Zhongjing, a "medical sage", who gave up medicine from the winter solstice.

Eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter.

Zhang Zhongjing is from Xi 'e, Nanyang. He wrote Treatise on Febrile Diseases, which is a masterpiece of doctors. Quhanjoule decoction has been regarded as a classic by doctors in past dynasties. Zhang Zhongjing has a famous saying: "if you advance, you will survive;" If you retreat, you will save the people; " You can't be a good doctor and you can't be a good doctor. "When the Eastern Han Dynasty was the magistrate of Changsha, he visited the sick and took medicine and practiced medicine in the lobby. Later, he resolutely resigned and went back to his hometown to treat his neighbors. When he got home, it was already 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 build a medical shed and a cauldron in Dongguan, Nanyang, and give up their "charming ears" to treat frostbite on the day of winter solstice. He cooked mutton and some herbs to dispel the cold in a pot, then took out the mutton and chopped the medicine to make ear-shaped Joules and bread. After cooking, he distributed two Joules and a big bowl of broth to everyone who came to ask for medicine. People ate "Joule" and drank "Quhan Decoction", and they were all hot, their ears were hot, and their frostbitten ears were cured. Later generations learned the appearance of Joule and packaged it into food, also called "jiaozi" or "flat food". When you eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter, you will never forget the kindness of Zhang Zhongjing, a "medical sage", in "Quhan Joule Decoction". Up to now, there is still a folk song in Nanyang, which is called "jiaozi Bowl", and nobody cares about frozen ears. ".

Red bean glutinous rice

In Jiangnan water town, there is a custom that the whole family get together to eat red beans and glutinous rice in the evening from winter to Sunday. According to legend, * * * Gong was a troubled wit who died in the winter. Become a plague ghost after death and continue to harm the people. However, this epidemic ghost is most afraid of red beans, so people cook red bean rice from winter solstice to drive away the epidemic ghost and prevent diseases.

Xi Shihuansha

Suzhou people celebrate winter, eat wonton and remember stones. Suzhou was the capital of the State of Wu 2,500 years ago. The ancestors of the State of Wu, Taibohe, were descendants of King Tai of Zhou, and once started the year in winter. Suzhou ancient city still has the tradition of "winter is as big as a year", and the menu of winter night every year is more exquisite, which continues the profound customs of Wu and is different from other cities. In the supermarkets on the streets of Suzhou, the ancient city, winter wine piles up like "hills". Winter wine is brewed only once a year, and osmanthus is fragrant, sweet and refreshing. There is an ancient saying in Suzhou that if you don't drink winter wine on the solstice of winter, you will freeze to death overnight. When "Old Suzhou" came home, the "round supper" on the table was not only rich, but also meaningful. No matter whether it's a hot fried fish or a cold pot of poultry meat, it's all renamed as "auspicious dish", "Yuanbao" (egg jiaozi), "Reunion" (meatball), "chicken" (fluttering) and "golden chain" (powder chain). Since ancient times, Taihu Lake has been rich in rice, and cakes made of glutinous rice flour are the most distinctive and common snacks in the area. The round solstice jiaozi is an essential snack for dinner. It is said that in Suzhou, there are Yuanxiao in January, sesame cakes in February, green jiaozi in March, fairy cakes in April, fried dumplings with minced meat in May, jiaozi in June, cowpea cakes in July, glutinous rice balls in August, Chongyang cakes in September, radish jiaozi in October, winter dumplings in November and osmanthus in December.

It is said that Suzhou people also have the custom of eating wonton on the solstice in winter. According to legend, in the Spring and Autumn Period, at a banquet of the State of Wu, the King of Wu was tired of eating delicacies and lost his appetite. The beauty stone went into the royal chef and packed him a dustpan-shaped snack. The king of Wu ate a big bowl in one breath and repeatedly asked, "What kind of snack is this, so delicious?" "Stone thought, the confused monarch can't get rid of chaos, so he casually replied," chaos. In order to commemorate the wisdom and creation of stone, Suzhou people regard it as the appropriate food for the winter festival.

"Killing tigers in winter and spring" is a popular proverb among Wu people. Suzhou people also began to make a big tonic from the winter solstice, and also formed the peak of eating mutton after autumn. The mutton business of Wuzhong Cang Shu Mutton Shop, which is famous at home and abroad, is booming at once. The owner of a lamb butcher shop revealed that his mutton shop can sell eight sheep on the solstice in winter. For foodies, whether it's burning, stewing, stewing or cooking, it's delicious and healthy. It's a good thing to kill two birds with one stone.

Mutton powder soup

Ningxia: Yinchuan has the custom of eating "brain pulp" from winter to Sunday. On the solstice of winter, people drink powder soup and eat mutton powder soup dumplings with jiaozi. Yinchuan people gave mutton powder soup an odd name-"brain from winter to day". Wu got busy earlier, washed and cooked the purple mushrooms on Songshan, and took them out after cooking; Stir-fry diced mutton in a pot, steam-dry, stir-fry with ginger, onion, garlic and pepper noodles, stir-fry diced mutton with mushrooms, then marinate with vinegar (to remove the toxic smell of wild mushrooms), and then add the mixed noodles, refined salt and soy sauce; After the meat is rotten, stir-fry the fungus and lily (day lily) slightly, add the mushroom soup, boil the soup, add the chopped pieces and soaked vermicelli, and then add the leek, garlic sprout and coriander to make a pot of mutton powder soup. This pot of soup is red with pepper, yellow with day lily, green with garlic and coriander, white with vermicelli and vermicelli, black with mushrooms and fungus, red, yellow, green, white and black. The aroma is delicious and makes people drool.

On the solstice of winter, people call it Ghost Festival. After jiaozi prepares the noodle soup, he will serve a bowl first and a bowl for his neighbor. If you can't eat jiaozi in the morning, buy Trident Cake and Fennel Cake in powder soup. Jiaozi with mutton powder soup and radish stuffing is a common occurrence of Yinchuan people, but foreigners are full of praise when they eat it. It is rare to see such spicy and delicious jiaozi in other places, and it is also a special snack in Yinchuan.

Fujian: "Winter Solstice Day" rubbing pills

"On the solstice of winter in first frost, the moonlight is bright; White, meatballs. " This is a children's song about the winter solstice. "Eight Min Tongzhi Xinghua House Custom Winter Solstice Day" contains: "The glutinous rice in the early stage is a pill, and the day is early, so it is recommended as a ancestral test." This is the folk custom of "solstice", "rubbing balls" and offering sacrifices to ancestors with mature "sweet balls" in the early winter of solstice.

The night before the winter solstice is called "winter solstice". That night, red candles were lit in every hall, and the lights were like day, which meant brilliant career. On the dining table, red oranges are regarded as "fruit yue" (that is, red oranges pile up into hills, hence the name). A "three spring" (that is, a paper flower of Fu Lushou cut by a folk paper cutter with red paper) is inserted in the top red orange, and a pair (ten pairs) of chopsticks with red paper strips around their waist are ginger and sugar respectively. After the family washes their hands, their parents light candles and incense, set off firecrackers and start rubbing pills. The ball you rub is white. If you are newly married, rubbing a red ball means that your family will be more prosperous. At this time, the woman put on a red shirt and shone in the light. The children laughed and were innocent. Everyone is surrounded by a big dustpan (commonly known as "Li Arc"), and the children are sitting on high stools, "eager to try". Housewives add boiling water to knead the ground glutinous rice flour (commonly known as "rice sacrifice") into round strips, pick them into big round blanks, and then knead them into "balls" the size of longan kernels with their palms. This is "rubbing pills on the winter solstice". Among them, the most interesting ones are: some adults are pinching ingots and cornucopia; Some people pinch puppies and pigs, and adopt common sayings such as "making money into treasure" and "being a dog, being a pig and being a treasure", which means "the wealth is wide and the six animals are prosperous". Children are most interested in puppies and pigs, cheering "Grandpa is making a dog", "Dad is making a dog" and "Mom and Grandma are making a pig!" The whole family burst into laughter. Some rub "magpie pills" the size of beans (commonly known as "guest bird pills"). The children are always rubbing around, some are flat and some are long, even he feels funny. Some people put rice sacrifices on their eyebrows and noses, which is really ridiculous and lovely. If the child drops the meatball on the ground, let the child pick it up and blow off the dust, otherwise it will grow ugly in the future. It means educating children to cherish food from an early age. After "rubbing pills", put the "pills" into the "Dai Li Single Room", cover it and put it in front of the stove for the night. Winter solstice has the longest night, and children like to eat meatball soup. When I can't sleep, I clamor for my mother to eat meatball soup before dawn. Therefore, there is a nursery rhyme of "Love meatball soup and look forward to it before dawn". Housewives pour "meatballs" into the pot, add water and ginger and sugar (ginger and sugar can dispel cold and stimulate appetite) to make sweet, sweet, sticky and hot "sweet meatball soup". After offering it to ancestors, it is shared by the whole family. It is necessary to stick "balls" on the door frame to commemorate "Cheng Men Hu Wei" and protect the safety of family members. Also throw "(feed) magpie pills" on the roof (generally 12 pills, leap year 13 pills, which means peace every month of the year). When magpies came to compete for food, there was an uproar, commonly known as "good news", which means five blessings. On the solstice of early winter, the family brought "meatballs", fruits, incense sticks, paper money and so on. Go up the mountain to sweep the ancestral graves. Because the winter solstice is the last grave-sweeping festival in a year, there are more families sweeping graves than Tomb-Sweeping Day and the Double Ninth Festival, which means we should pursue the distance carefully.

Winter solstice food

Customs of winter solstice in Chaoshan

Winter solstice is one of the 24 solar terms. According to the "Twenty-four Solar Terms",1/month15th, the finally hidden gas came to an end. "Tong Wei Xiao Zhu Shen" contains: "The 15th day after the heavy snow is the winter solstice, which is the 15th day of the first month. Yin and Yang began, and the sky went south and grew up. " According to Ci Hai: "Astronomically speaking, the solstice of winter is the beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere." The solstice in winter is not only one of the 24 solar terms, but also a major folk festival in Chaoshan area, commonly known as "off-year". The customs of Chaoshan cities and counties from winter solstice are basically the same, such as ancestor worship, eating incense pills and sweeping graves. Sacrifice to ancestors: On this day, Chaoshan people prepare three kinds of sacrifices and fruits, such as pork, chicken and fish, and go to the ancestral temple to worship their ancestors. Then the family eats a meal around the table, usually before noon, and the family gets together at lunch. But in coastal areas, such as the seamounts in Raoping, ancestors sacrificed in the early morning before fishermen went out to sea to fish, which means asking gods and ancestors to bless fishermen's fishing safety.

Eating sweet pills: This custom is almost common in Chaoshan area, but it also contains an interesting custom: after people worship their ancestors on this day, they will take out some sweet pills and stick them on their doorposts, beams and rice jars. Why are you doing this? According to legend, there are two reasons: first, sweet pills are sweet and round, which means beauty. It heralds another bumper harvest and family reunion next year. If a family can meet by chance on this day, just like the "water splashing festival" of ethnic minorities, it is a good sign. If an outsider happens to visit on this day and let an outsider meet him, these outsiders will also have good luck. Therefore, people do not want outsiders to visit on this day. One is for mice. According to legend, the seeds of grain were bitten by rats from far away for farmers to plant. In order to repay the contribution of mice, farmers agreed to leave a small part uncut when harvesting every year for mice to eat. Later, because a greedy man harvested all the grains in the field, the mouse complained to Guanyin Bodhisattva in a rage. Guanyin Bodhisattva felt very sorry for her, so she gave her a pair of hard teeth and told her to move into someone else's house to find food in the future. Since then, rats have been doing evil everywhere. Become one of the "four evils" today. However, this custom of "sticking fragrant pills everywhere" will not last long after all. Not only unsanitary, but also unsightly and wasteful, it naturally dies out. And this custom of "eating sweet nine" has been passed down to this day.

Going to the cemetery: This is another activity from the winter solstice. According to the Chaoshan custom, the annual grave sweeping is generally in Qingming and the solstice of winter, which is called "spring paper" and "winter paper". Generally speaking, the custom of "handing out spring paper" should be carried out three years before death, and "winter paper" can only be carried out three years later. But most people like to bring "winter paper", because it often rains during the Qingming period and the road is difficult to walk; On the solstice of winter, the weather is fine, which is very suitable for picnicking in the mountains.

There is also a saying in Chaoshan that "you are one year older after eating the Winter Festival". According to Mr. Wang Ling 'an's On the Old Customs of Shantou, "people have two explanations for this: one is that the winter solstice is a small year, and one year should be added after the small year; This proverb comes from prisoners. In ancient times, every autumn was the season of killing people. Prisoners who commit capital crimes are usually executed in autumn. If they are not executed on the winter solstice, they will usually be postponed until next year, so they say "wait another year".

Chaoshan custom is a part of Chaoshan culture. In the long-term life and social practice, people inherit good customs and abandon bad ones. The custom of "going to the grave to sweep the grave" from the winter solstice is to commemorate the hard work of ancestors, and "eating sweet pills" is to herald another bumper harvest in the coming year, which is naturally inherited.

Shaoxing winter solstice custom

Winter solstice is a big festival in Shaoxing, and the proverb says, "Winter solstice is as big as a year". In ancient times, people always regarded it as another New Year. Jia Tai Hui Ji Zhi said that its festivals were "roughly as simple as Yi Dan", and many things started from the solstice of winter. The lunar calendar is clear, that is, from winter to the future 106 days, which means "from winter to the sun 160% clear". "99 Songs" also takes the winter solstice as the first nine songs, 29 to 99 songs, to record the changes of seasons. There are even folk sayings, such as "the early winter solstice, the slate crisp, the midwinter solstice, you spend the winter naked, and the late winter solstice, you sell cattle to buy quilts", "there is no ice before winter, and people are frozen after winter", "the sunny winter solstice is a bad year, and the rainy winter solstice is sunny for the New Year". On this day, people will get together and have a big meal, just like the custom of eating New Year's Eve. Every family in Shaoxing worships their ancestors on the winter solstice, and some even go to the ancestral temple to worship their ancestors, which is called "making the winter solstice". Generally, paper-cut clothes are made for men and women before the winter solstice, and sent to the graves of ancestors for incineration during the winter solstice, commonly known as "sending cold clothes." After the sacrifice, relatives and friends get together to drink wine, commonly known as "winter solstice wine", which not only misses the dead, but also connects feelings. It is the custom in Shaoxing, Xinchang and other counties to go to the grave every day to add mud, weed and repair the foundation to break ground for this day, otherwise it may be a disaster. The winter solstice, also known as the "long solstice", is the longest night in a year. Therefore, there is a folk proverb, "Sleeping is sleepy from winter to day and night", which means that a night's sleep on the winter solstice can save a good dream every day. In the past, rice was cooked with stones and mortar. Shaoxing people like to cook rice in advance from winter to around, which is called "winter cooking rice". On the one hand, after the solstice of winter, there is still one month to "spring", and family affairs will be very busy, so everyone will be busy preparing for farming and have no time to cook. Secondly, because of the air in spring, rice buds float, and rice grains are not as solid as in winter. Rice grains in winter can avoid being fragile and bruised, and reduce food loss.

When Shaoxing people make wine, they generally like to put it in the jar from winter to the day before, which is called "winter brewing". After brewing, the aroma is tangy and particularly attractive. In addition, the water at this time is still winter water, so the brewed wine is easy to preserve and will not deteriorate. At this time, you can also make "dimple wine" and "honey hospitality wine" with special techniques, and give them to the elderly or as gifts for relatives and friends.

Dongzhichi wonton

On the night of winter solstice, Shaoxing people also have the custom of "making a fire". The fire will be lit overnight and wrapped in a quilt, which means that the charcoal fire in Rosty Yi will not go out, which can indicate the prosperity of family affairs in the coming year. In old Vietnam, every man and woman cooked a bowl of wonton on the solstice of winter. On the solstice in summer, you have to eat noodles door to door, which is called "winter solstice wonton and summer solstice noodles". This custom has been circulating for a long time. But in the end, there are different opinions about why it is popular. Or the shortest day, with a wonton-shaped ball; Eat noodles from summer to day, noodles (strips) are long, and summer to day is long. Although the latter can be proved by the custom of eating noodles to live longer, it is not recorded after all. Fan Yin, a Shaoxing scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, said in "Yue Yan Diet" that wonton was "wrapped in flour with sesame sugar or fermented meat and eaten at the solstice in winter", which shows that there were sweet wonton in ancient Shaoxing. On that day, Shaoxing people had many taboos, such as quarreling and swearing, and breaking dishes and bowls. If a woman doesn't go back to her mother's house, she must go back to her husband's house that day and can't spend the night at her mother's house. It is not allowed to beat and scold children, even the most naughty students can be exempted from punishment on the solstice of winter. Mr. Wang Can just held up a ruler and warned, "I will remember this bill for you until tomorrow!" " " .

Quanzhou people "don't go home in the winter festival and have no ancestors"

Every year in the middle of lunar calendar1February, about 65438+ Gregorian calendar February 22nd (or the day before and after), it is a winter solstice festival, also known as the Winter Festival. Winter solstice is one of the twenty-four solar terms, which is especially valued by people. Quanzhou people call it the "Winter Festival", which seems to be less important, but the festival period is also very grand.

The food in winter varies from place to place, with wonton in the north, jiaozi in the northwest, glutinous rice balls and horse history in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Suzhou people eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter, also known as "jiaozi on the solstice in winter", which is divided into two types: Zongzi and Zongzi. "Jia Qinglu" says: "Those who have stuffing are zongzi, and the winter solstice is the first day and night sacrifice; The small ones without stuffing are pink, and the solstice in winter is also for the gods. " The "Winter Festival Pill" eaten by Quanzhou people is actually a festival food powder ball imported from Suzhou by land. On the eve of the festival, every family should "rub pills", which are red and white. "Rubbing pills" is exquisite. The women in Huian Shenhu, Shishi Xiangzhi and Chongwu fishing villages are amazing in rubbing pills with high speed and good quality, and the grains are as small as fish eyes. While rubbing pills for winter festivals, they also rub some small fruits and animals with rice balls, as well as gold ingots and silverware symbolizing prosperity and wealth, commonly known as "being hens and bitches".

There is a saying in the spring custom that "if you don't go home during the winter festival, there will be no ancestors and no sects", so everyone who goes out will try to go home for the New Year. In the morning of the winter festival, sweet pill soup is cooked to worship the ancestors, and then the whole family eats sweet pill soup for breakfast. Some people will leave a few rice balls after dinner and stick them on the door, which is called "respecting the door god". People in Quanzhou eat pills, calling Yuanxiao Pill "head pill (round)" and Winter Festival "tail pill (round)", so that the head and tail are round, which means that the whole family is happy all year round. However, Qing Jiaqing's "Hui 'an County Records and Customs Records" explains eating pills in the winter festival like this: "In November, winter, the yang will sprout, and eating rice pills will stick to the door. Where the sun is still round and the yin is still square, the sun will be born in May, and the millet will be cooked first in the valley, which is a corner millet, like yin, angle and square. At the beginning of the winter solstice, there are rice balls, sunny, pills and circles; Everyone has their own image. Summer is not a festival, but it also suppresses yin. " Worship ancestors at noon, offering five kinds of meat and vegetables. Family sacrifices such as New Year's Eve are held in the evening, and tender cakes and vegetables must be included in the offerings. Spring Festival is a popular festival. There is only a winter festival in a year. On New Year's Eve and Tomb-Sweeping Day, tender cakes should be prepared. It is said that all of them have the meaning of "wrapping gold with silver", hoping that the family will prosper. In the old days, if they belonged to a big family, they would open the doors of ancestral temples and hold ancestor worship ceremonies, which, together with ancestor worship activities in Tomb-Sweeping Day, were called spring and summer sacrifices. The ceremony was very strict, and the participants were sincere and sincere.

In Hui 'an, in addition to ancestor worship, Tomb-Sweeping Day also has some similar customs, such as going to the mountains to pay money for ten days before and after, and there is no taboo to repair graves and move places.

As an important solar term, winter solstice has many related proverbs. Such as "eat the winter festival, last winter; Eat Qingming and go 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 less farm work, which becomes the slack season, which is called "last winter". Tomb-Sweeping Day has a warm climate and lush vegetation, and agricultural production is mostly busy with spring ploughing and sowing, which is the most tiring stage for farmers, so it is called "going into a bitter pit". However, the slack season does not forget the busy season, and the proverb reminds farmers in time: "Winter to the sixth day of the day is Qingming." 106 The solstice after beginning of winter is Qingming, so we should prepare for farming as soon as possible. In addition, there is "dry winter festival, wet year pocket". "The winter solstice is at the beginning of the month, and the cold is in the middle of the year; The solstice in winter is at the end of the month, and the cold is February. " "Before the winter solstice, the price of rice was long, and poor children kept it for a long time; Before the winter solstice, the price of rice fell, poor children became dim, and so on.

The custom in some mountainous areas of Quanzhou is to sweep graves from the winter solstice, which is a well-known grave-sweeping season. Strangely, in some mountainous areas of Quanzhou, sweeping graves is not in Tomb-Sweeping Day, but from the winter solstice. How long has this custom been circulating and what is the mystery? Before the custom of winter solstice in Yunguichuan, there were not so many Han people in Yunguichuan now, so the emphasis on winter solstice was far less than that in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. However, the local civil and military officials are not free on the winter solstice, and they still greet each other according to the ancient ceremony. If aristocratic families in Guizhou have ancestral temples, they will hold ceremonies to worship their ancestors on the solstice in winter, and worship their ancestors together with the drums and music at dawn. This ceremony is similar to Tomb-Sweeping Day. Those wealthy families started killing pigs and curing meat on the solstice in winter, and making New Year wine, rice cakes and rice grains. When slaughtering the pig, invite more guests, share the happiness and enjoy the happiness after harvest. Different regions in Yunnan pay different attention to the winter solstice festival. In some places, families gather relatives and friends to pay homage to their ancestors and hold banquets for fun. They say that the winter solstice is as big as the New Year. At that time, glutinous rice flour mixed with bean dregs will be kneaded into balls and eaten with sugar, which is called "bean noodles". In some places, relatives and friends give rice noodles as gifts, and some people cook them with medicine and mutton, or with red bean soup. People always want to cook some traditional food and enjoy it at this time.

Compared with Yunnan-Guizhou area, Sichuanese celebrate the winter solstice festival with a stronger atmosphere. On this day, local officials will, as usual, congratulate the Long Live Pavilion in the academy and congratulate each other. People call the winter solstice "off-year", so it will naturally show some weather similar to the New Year. For example, scholar-officials worship each other, which is called "winter worship", and scholars worship masters and elders, which is also called "harmony and Changzhi"; In some places, every family should go to Hideki to sweep their graves in winter. The ceremony is the same as Qingming Festival, and it is called "Last Winter Grave". Those who live together should hold a "winter solstice meeting", which is a family sacrifice. At that time, the family will sacrifice pigs, sheep, wine, vegetables and other sacrifices to their ancestors. After the sacrifices, they will hold a banquet, have a family dinner and enjoy the day. In Mianzhu, the winter solstice ancestor worship is more particular. The Ho Ancestral Hall is magnificent, displaying carved bluestone shrines or carved wood colored paintings, and offering sacrifices to pigs, sheep, chickens, fish, fruits and vegetables. On the solstice of winter, the people knocked three times and nine times at the ancestral tablet. After reading the congratulatory message, the patriarch told everyone about the ancestors' admonition, mainly about unity and harmony, persuading evil to do good, and then held a banquet together. If anyone breaks the rules and gets drunk, he will be punished for running away. In Sichuan, people are used to eating nourishing foods such as mutton and dog meat during the winter solstice to "nourish", and eating mutton and drinking mutton soup at night to keep warm and drive away the cold, so as to welcome a good omen for the coming year.

The winter solstice custom in Taiwan Province Province still retains the tradition of using nine-layer cakes to worship ancestors in Taiwan Province Province, China. Glutinous rice flour is used to knead chickens, ducks, turtles, pigs, cows, sheep and other animals that symbolize good luck and happiness, and then put them in a steamer to steam them in layers to show that they don't forget their ancestors. In the early days of the winter solstice or before and after the agreement, people with the same surname and clan gather in the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors one by one in the order of generations. After the ceremony, there will be a grand banquet for the people who come to worship their ancestors. Everyone drinks heartily and meets again after a long separation, which is called "food ancestor". The ancestors of the winter solstice festival are handed down from generation to generation in Taiwan Province to show that they have never forgotten their roots.