Why do you eat glutinous rice balls on the solstice in winter? Customs and legends of winter solstice in Rugao

Eating glutinous rice balls on the solstice in winter is a traditional custom in China, especially in the south of the Yangtze River. Tangyuan is also known as the "winter solstice group", and there is a folk saying that "eating tangyuan is one year older". Tangyuan can be used for ancestor worship or as a gift to relatives and friends.

Another explanation is that the winter solstice is the longest night in a year. On the winter solstice, before dawn, women get up and make a fire to cook dumplings. First, they worship their ancestors, and then the whole family will sit around and eat dumplings. Therefore, eating jiaozi on the solstice in winter means not only the gradual return of the sun, but also reunion. Modern people prefer to regard it as a symbol of perfection.

Custom:

Although the customs and people's feelings in different parts of our country are different, they are roughly the same. When making the winter solstice circle, children often pinch some small animals, such as kittens, puppies, rabbits, tigers and so on. Before eating the winter solstice yen, you should stick a winter solstice yen on the back of the bed lamp in the doors and windows, which is called "waste day" and "send the stove" before baking food.

If there are pregnant women at home at this time, the winter solstice will be full, and boys will be born, otherwise girls will be born. When eating the winter solstice, the entrances must be paired for good luck. In the end, there are only two pieces left, the married are the best, and the single and unmarried are the best.

Legend:

In ancient times, Emperor Yao ordered the Ho brothers to calculate the sun, moon and stars, and set the solar terms at the age of. In the Zhou Dynasty, with the winter festival, the king would hold a ceremony to worship heaven on the solstice of winter. After the Han Dynasty, every winter solstice, there will be ceremonies to worship heaven, gods, ancestors and Hedong. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, sacrificial ceremonies were more grand, and grand ceremonies were held as usual in various places. There is even a saying that the solstice in winter is as big as a year.

On the day of the Ming, Qing and Winter Solstice, every family will pack jiaozi to worship the gods and ancestors, and then the family will gather around jiaozi to eat, which is called "adding years", so it is a folk custom to eat jiaozi in the winter solstice to make them one year older.