Today is December 22, 2024, the winter solstice. Literally, the winter solstice means that winter has arrived. However, before the winter solstice, there are three winter solar terms: the beginning of winter, light snow, and heavy snow, and winter has already arrived. In fact, the solstice here refers to the extreme solstice, which has the same meaning as the summer solstice.
Astronomical explanation: On the day of the winter solstice, the sun's rays hit the Tropic of Capricorn directly, so the sunlight is the most inclined to the northern hemisphere, and the solar altitude angle is the smallest, which is the shortest day and the longest night in the northern hemisphere. The winter solstice is also the turning point of the direct sun's return to the north, after which it will turn back, and the days will gradually become longer.
The winter solstice generally occurs from December 21 to 23 every year, with an error of only three or two days. This kind of precision, for the ancients, is already remarkable.
According to expert research, the ancients used sundials to observe the sun's shadows and set the concept of summer solstice and winter solstice. They found that on the summer solstice, the shadow of the sun was the shortest of the year. On the winter solstice, the shadow is the longest of the year. Subsequently, two more equinoxes of day and night were discovered: the spring equinox and the autumn equinox. After that, the ancients continued to divide the year into 24 equal parts according to natural phenomena such as the position of the sun and moon at the beginning and middle of the month, weather changes, and the growth of animals and plants. And a proper name was given to each equal portion, which is the twenty-four solar terms. By the Qin and Han dynasties, the 24 solar terms had been fully established.
This was more than 2,000 years ago, and I have to say that the ancients were really smart.
This year's winter solstice is very cold, and the temperature in Tangshan reached minus 19 degrees a few days ago. According to ** report, the temperature in Guangzhou can be seen at zero degrees, which is really a hundred years old. I used to listen to a literature lecture and said that the snowflakes in Yanshan were as big as a seat, and pieces were blown down Xuanyuan Terrace. It's an exaggerated artistic technique. But if Yanshan is replaced with Guangzhou, it will be a joke. Because there is basically no snow in Guangzhou, the last time it snowed was on December 29, 1967, more than 50 years have passed. Even if it snows in Guangzhou, it won't be very big, let alone as big as a seat.
The snow in Tangshan was a bit heavy, and it was said to be artificial snowfall. Some people also said that Hebei and Shandong engaged in artificial snowfall, which affected Henan, and this time the snow in Henan fell very heavily. In fact, artificial snowfall is a scientific means to release catalysts at the right time and place to promote cloud precipitation. Artificial snowfall can generally only affect a certain area, and it is difficult to achieve cross-provincial operations.
Due to the low temperatures, it is difficult to melt the snow off the road. The main roads are generally treated, and the other auxiliary roads are sad. If the cold temperature continues, it is estimated that it will take another week for the snow to completely melt.
It's best to go to eat hot pot on a cold day. Friends and family sit around a table and savor the joy of winter by picking up slices of lamb from the boiling hot soup and dipping them in a delicious sauce. The ancients didn't have hot pot, what did they eat in winter?
Eating dumplings, of course!
Legend has it that one winter was very cold, Zhang Zhongjing saw that the villagers were yellow and thin, hungry and cold, and many people's ears were frozen. Zhang Zhongjing set up a shed and set up a large pot to boil water.
Zhang Zhongjing put the mutton and some cold-warding herbs in a pot to boil, and then took out the mutton and medicine and chopped them, and wrapped them in dough to form an ear-shaped food, which is called "Jiao'er". After cooking, give each person who has frozen ears two "delicate ears" per person, and add a large bowl of broth.
The poor people ate "Jiao'er" and drank "cold soup", and their frostbitten ears were cured. Later, everyone learned to make dumplings, and some people called it "flat food".
This is where dumplings come from.
I remember that eating dumplings in Handan is to bring a bowl of soup, but here in Tangshan, I fished them out and ate them.
The question is why do you have to eat dumplings on the day of the winter solstice?Could it be that Zhang Zhongjing made the first dumpling on this day?History is already difficult to verify. Nowadays, people continue the custom of eating dumplings on the winter solstice, and it is said that eating dumplings on this day will not freeze their ears.
In fact, the festival and solar term of eating dumplings are not just the winter solstice. Lidong also eats dumplings. Dumplings are also eaten on Chinese New Year's Eve and Spring Festival. In the beginning of autumn, dumplings are also eaten, which is called sticking autumn fat. Today's winter solstice, what kind of dumplings should I eat?