The winter solstice is approaching, how will the ancients cope with the cold winter?

Mondo Social Updated on 2024-01-29

It's almost the winter solstice, and the weather is getting colder and colder, and as a person who is afraid of cold stars, I can't sleep without air conditioning at night.

Half leaning on the head of the bed, nestled in the warm quilt, I suddenly thought of how the ancients could live without air conditioning in this cold winter?

Thinking of this, I opened the book "Challenging the Ancients in 100 Days 3", the first two of which introduced the entertainment life and market life of the Song Dynasty respectively, and this book also has a nickname, called Moving to the Southern Song Dynasty.

It is mainly about the Jingkang Incident, the capital of the Song Dynasty moved from Bianjing to Lin'an, and the economic and political centers moved south

From the perspectives of festivals, folk customs, entertainment, food, economy, art, etc., this book is divided into more than 20 articles to tell how the people of the Southern Song Dynasty lived.

The author, Yun Jia, is a member of the Beijing Writers Association, a writer, and a film and television planner. He has published more than 20 works, including "To Dear You", "December Wind and Snow Guest", "Jade Mill", and the "100 Days of Challenging the Ancients" series.

Coincidentally, the festival used as an example is also the winter solstice.

Zhao Siniang, the official eunuch of the Southern Song Dynasty, has been confined to her home for the winter due to the cold weather, and she will never go out unless there is something necessary.

One day, while she was embroidering on the stove, the maidservant came up to her and reminded her that the winter solstice was approaching and asked her to try on new clothes.

It turned out that in the Song Dynasty, the winter solstice was a very important festival, which was one of the three traditional festivals that could be ranked alongside the Spring Festival and cold food, and it was also one of the festivals with the most holidays.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, the winter solstice was enough to take seven days off, although in the Southern Song Dynasty, the holiday also shrunk a little, but there were still five days off.

Seeing this, I really envy the people of the Song Dynasty, they take a holiday at every turn, but they can take a long vacation.

Of course, the long holiday time is also a symbol of the status of the winter solstice, which means that this festival is very important.

The people of the Song Dynasty attached no less importance to the winter solstice than the Spring Festival, and basically all activities were compared with the standard configuration of the Spring Festival.

Don't believe me?I don't think I've heard anything special about the winter solstice

Then let me give you an example, the day before the Spring Festival, is the famous Chinese New Year's Eve, everyone has to keep the New Year at night.

There is also a poem recorded: "In the sound of firecrackers, one year old, the spring breeze sends warmth into Tusu, thousands of households are on the day, and the new peach is always replaced with the old charm." ”

The day before the winter solstice, called "winter except", this night, everyone will also get together to "keep winter", there is also a folk proverb, called "keep the winter master long life, keep the old lady long life", that is, the winter removal and the Chinese New Year's Eve vigil are linked together.

Therefore, since the winter solstice is so important, Zhao Siniang naturally wants to wear new clothes, dress up beautifully, and go to the market to join in the fun.

Unlike now, when the winter solstice holiday is closed, the major shops in Lin'an City will be closed for three days.

Zhao Siniang took advantage of the fact that the store was not closed, and hurriedly made a large purchase: jewelry, sachets, embroidered shoes, and all kinds of pastries and snacks.

On the eve of the winter solstice, the family has a holiday to stay at home for winter, drinking drinks, eating snacks, chatting, and playing games around the stove, and having a great time.

Zhao Siniang was very happy when she thought that she could go out to play with the family tomorrow. Every year on the winter solstice, the people on the street are dressed beautifully, and even the passing carriages are gorgeous and extravagant, and they are extremely lively.

Grandma Zhao said, it's a pity that the south is now crossed, otherwise Bianjing is more lively, every three years on the winter solstice, the Son of Heaven will hold a grand sacrifice ceremony in the southern suburbs, and the people of the entire Bianjing City can go to join in the fun. Grandma Zhao saw it once when she was very young, and it is still unforgettable.

Seeing this, I couldn't help but imagine the sacrificial ceremony at that time, I really couldn't get there, and my heart longed for it.

Later generations always argued about whether to eat dumplings or dumplings on the winter solstice, and the northern and southern parties did not give in to each other, and as a result, the Southern Song Dynasty people chose to find another way and eat wontons!

At that time, there were many types of wontons, with a variety of colors and flavors, and the main one was fresh, curious, and distinctive.

Zhao Siniang ate a few, and it felt the same as opening a blind box. After eating the wontons, it was time for Zhao Siniang to look forward to the most: distributing gifts.

Mrs. Zhao got several red envelopes, a bunch of gifts, and also gave out a few incense burners and good incense pills.

Then I hurriedly accompanied my grandmother to the Chenghuang Temple to incense, it is conceivable that this kind of holiday to incense is equivalent to our National Day on the highway, blocking it.

Zhao Siniang felt that the entire Lin'an City was here.

It seems that the life of the ancients is also very colorful, if you also want to understand the life of the people of the Southern Song Dynasty, then this book is still very recommended.

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