About the winter solstice

Winter solstice is one of the twenty-four solar terms and one of the most important solar terms. Winter solstice is a solar term divided by astronomy, which was called "short day" and "short day" in ancient times. From winter to the sun, the sun is located at 270 degrees of the Yellow Meridian, and the sun shines almost directly to the Tropic of Capricorn, which has the shortest day in the northern hemisphere. Accordingly, the daytime from winter solstice in the southern hemisphere is the longest in the whole year.

The winter solstice, also known as the Winter Festival, according to the traditional calendar of China, takes five days as the waiting period, three days as a section or breath, and a year is divided into twelve sections and twelve qi, which are collectively called twenty-four solar terms. This is the solar term used to study the date selection, which is based on the solar term of the lunar calendar, and the so-called lunar calendar is a combination of the solar calendar and the lunar calendar, which refers to the 24 solar terms (the solar cycle is divided into twelve stages, and the lunar calendar is a pure month (according to the moon cycle). ), the date is1February 2 1 day or 22nd in the national calendar.

Winter solstice is one of the 24 solar terms. Because the winter solstice is not fixed on a certain day, it is called a "living festival" like Qingming. On the solstice in winter, for Taiwan Province Province, which is located in the northern hemisphere, the sun is directly on the tropic of Capricorn (also known as the winter solstice daily line), which makes Taiwan Province Province in winter, thus making the days shortest and the nights longest in the northern hemisphere. After the winter solstice, the sun slowly moved to the Tropic of Cancer, and Taiwan Province Province also approached spring from winter. The days in the northern hemisphere gradually became longer and the nights became shorter. Therefore, in ancient times, there was a saying that "winter solstice makes the sun shine", which means that the spirit of the sun slowly picks up from winter solstice.

The ancients believed that by the solstice of winter, although it was still in the cold season, spring was not far away. Everyone who goes out at this time will go home for the winter vacation, which indicates that there will be a home at the end of the year. People in Fujian and Taiwan believe that the annual winter solstice is a festival for family reunion, because it is a day to worship ancestors. Going out and not coming home is a person who denies his ancestors.

According to the records of the Zhou Dynasty, people worship heaven in the suburbs on the winter solstice. Since the first month of the weekly calendar is 1 1 month in the summer calendar, the first month of the Zhou Dynasty is equal to our present 1 1 month, so there is no difference between celebrating the New Year and celebrating the winter. It was not until Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted the summer calendar that the first month and the winter solstice were separated. Therefore, it can be said that the "Winter Festival" was not celebrated until after the Han Dynasty. Due to the different calendars, people have been inheriting the weekly calendar, thinking that after the winter solstice, a new year will begin (there is a saying that eating jiaozi will make you one year older), which is why the winter solstice is so valued by the people. However, this wrong inheritance makes the folk concept very different from the summer calendar used in Japanese learning. This erroneous concept should be corrected and the correct calendar should be passed down.

In addition, people have predicted the future weather according to the weather quality and the arrival order of winter solstice. As the saying goes: "the solstice in winter is at the beginning of the month, and it should be cold at the end of the year;" The winter solstice is at the end of the month, and the first month should be cold; The winter solstice is in the middle of the month, without snow and frost "(this is based on the arrival of the winter solstice, and it is speculated that the cold current will reach Taiwan Province Province sooner or later); As the saying goes: "the winter solstice is dark, and the new year's goods are rare; The winter solstice is sparse, and the New Year is dark "(meaning: if there is no sun on the winter solstice, the New Year will be sunny, on the contrary, if the winter solstice is sunny, the New Year will rain).

In ancient China, the winter solstice was divided into three phases: "the first phase of earthworm knot; Two-phase angular solution; It is said that earthworm is a kind of creature with yin bending and yang stretching. At this time, although the yang has increased, the yin is still very strong, and the earthworms in the soil are still curled up. Mi and deer belong to the same family, but Yin and Yang are different. The ancients thought that Mi Jiao was facing the afterlife, so it was Yin, while winter was Yang. Mi felt that Yin was receding and the angle was dissolved. Because of the birth of yang, the spring water in the mountain can flow and be warm at this time.

The winter solstice usually falls on the Gregorian calendar1February 2 1 day or 22nd. In ancient China, people attached great importance to the winter solstice and thought it was a grand festival. There is a saying that the winter solstice is as big as a year, and there is a custom to celebrate it. "Han Shu" said: "The sun shines on the winter solstice, and you are long, so congratulations." People think that after the winter solstice, the days become longer and longer and the sun rises. This is the beginning of a solar cycle and an auspicious day, which should be celebrated. The Book of Jin records: "On the winter solstice of Wei and Jin Dynasties, people from all over the world celebrated ... its appearance was not as good as that of Zheng Dan." Explain the ancient emphasis on the winter solstice. In China's traditional theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, the winter solstice is the key solar term of Yin-Yang transformation. In the twelfth year, divination is a complicated divination in a mine, which is called the winter solstice. Yi Yue: My late king and even the Japanese were closed to the outside world, so business travel was no good. In winter solstice, different places have different customs. For example, northerners eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter, while people in southern Jiangsu eat fried tofu with green onions on the solstice in winter.