Some customs have long lost their original origins. The real beginning may not be sure, but the public will still follow it silently. Jintian is the winter solstice. We all know that we eat glutinous rice balls on the winter solstice since childhood, but what is the reason behind this? what? Apart from glutinous rice balls, what else do you eat during the Winter Solstice to pray for peace and security, and what are the taboos?

meaning of winter solstice

On the winter solstice, the sun moves around to the Tropic of Capricorn, which is the day of the year with the shortest day and longest night in the northern hemisphere. After this day, the days gradually become longer, which also symbolizes that the Yang energy will begin to rise, and it is the time when the solar terms begin to change. . The Winter Solstice is as important to the ancients as the Spring Festival. In ancient times, in a farming society, people relied on the sky for food. During this solar term transition, they would thank God for the bumper harvest this year. It was first used as a national sacrificial ceremony in the Zhou Dynasty. Come to worship the record, thank God and ancestors for the good weather this year, pray for continued success in the next year, and start preparing for the Spring Festival rituals and items from this day. It is a day to have a good rest at the end of the whole year.

Why eat glutinous rice balls?

It is often heard that glutinous rice balls are eaten during the winter solstice. During the Ming Dynasty, there was also a popular saying among the people: “Every family pounded rice and made glutinous rice balls, and they knew it was the winter solstice in the Ming Dynasty.” Why did this custom begin? There are actually different opinions on the origin. The most common reason is that “rounding is used to reach Yang Qi.” Starting today, the days will be getting longer and longer. We will welcome them with glutinous rice balls, which symbolize “reunion and perfection”, praying for everything to be perfect and the family to be reunited.

There is also a short story about glutinous rice balls. In the past, there was a couple from a poor family whose wife died. The husband decided to sell his daughter in order to raise funeral expenses. On the occasion of parting, he asked for a bowl of rice soup and a few glutinous rice balls, but they were late. I was reluctant to finish the remaining glutinous rice balls. Once I finished eating, we were separated forever. Later, the father divided the glutinous rice balls into two halves and said to his daughter: “We are just like glutinous rice balls. Even if we are separated, we are still one. We will be reunited one day.”

Years later, the daughter has been sold to a wealthy family. She has never looked forward to the day of reunion with her father. Every winter solstice, she hangs two glutinous rice dumplings at the door of her house, hoping that her father will see them. To this day, eating glutinous rice balls on the winter solstice symbolizes reunion.