The winter solstice is the twenty-second of the twenty-four solar terms and the fourth of winter.
Every year from December 21 to 23 in the Gregorian calendar, the sun shines directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, and the Northern Hemisphere has the shortest day of the year.
After the winter solstice, the direct point of the sun begins to move northward, and the days in the northern hemisphere gradually become longer, so there is a saying that "after eating winter solstice noodles, a line grows in a day".
In ancient China, the winter solstice was regarded as an important festival, and there is a saying that "the winter solstice is as big as a year".
On this day, people hold various celebrations such as worshipping ancestors, eating dumplings, drinking mutton soup, etc. Among them, eating dumplings is one of the most common customs.
According to legend, the dumplings were originally called "Jiao'er", which was invented by the medical saint Zhang Zhongjing in order to treat people whose ears were frostbitten. He wrapped mutton, chili peppers, and some cold-warding herbs in dough, cooked them, and distributed them to the people to help them ward off the cold.
Later, in order to commemorate Zhang Zhongjing's merits, people ate dumplings on the day of the winter solstice, and gradually formed a custom.
In addition to eating dumplings, there are many other customs on the winter solstice:
In the northern regions, people eat foods like wontons, mutton soup, noodles, etc.;
In the southern region, there are traditions such as eating glutinous rice balls, glutinous rice, and glutinous rice cakes. In addition, there are also places where activities such as ancestor worship and worship are held to express respect for ancestors and gods.
The winter solstice is not only an important solar term, but also a festival full of cultural connotations. It represents the advent of winter and the growth of yang energy, and at the same time, it also carries people's thoughts about their ancestors and beautiful expectations for the future.