The Dongzhi Festival or Winter Solstice Festival is a

traditional Chinese festival The traditional Chinese holidays are an essential part of harvests or prayer offerings. The most important Chinese holiday is the Chinese New Year (Spring Festival), which is also celebrated in overseas ethnic Chinese communities (for example in M ...

celebrated during the Dongzhi solar term (

winter solstice The winter solstice, or hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's geographical pole, poles reaches its maximum axial tilt, tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern Hemisphere, Northern and So ...

), which falls between December 21 and December 23. The origins of this festival can be traced back to the

yin and yang Originating in Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (, ), also yinyang or yin-yang, is the concept of opposite cosmic principles or forces that interact, interconnect, and perpetuate each other. Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary an ...

philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. After this celebration, it is believed that days will have longer daylight hours and therefore create an increase in positive energy flowing in. The philosophical significance of this is symbolized by the

I Ching The ''I Ching'' or ''Yijing'' ( ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. The ''I Ching'' was originally a divination manual in ...

hexagram , can be seen as a compound polygon, compound composed of an upwards (blue here) and downwards (pink) facing equilateral triangle, with their intersection as a regular hexagon (in green). A hexagram (Greek language, Greek) or sexagram (Latin l ...

'' fu'' (, "Returning"). Also, many people think it is the day with the shortest daylight, and longest night.

Traditional activities

In Chinese, the word "Dong" means "winter" while "Zhi" means "arrival" giving the literal meaning of the festival "the coming of winter". Dongzhi celebrates the winter solstice, usually around December 21 to 23, and is observed on the longest night of the year. Symbolizing the victory of light over darkness, Dongzhi, represents that the days will start to grow longer and bring a sense of balance and harmony to people's lives. Based on Chinese beliefs of

yin yang Originating in Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (, ), also yinyang or yin-yang, is the concept of opposite cosmic principles or forces that interact, interconnect, and perpetuate each other. Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary an ...

, "Yang" represents positive energy, warmth, and light. Following the Dongzhi Festival, daytime will gradually lengthen, as "Yang" will also increase. It was also believed by some that it was the day the

Kitchen God Kitchen gods are mythical beings that represent abstract concepts such as luck or just propel the minor changes of everyday life. Little things that cannot be explained, such as losing small objects like socks in the laundry, are often attribut ...

went to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor the conduct of a family. The festival was first celebrated by the Chinese people during the

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military ...

(1045 BCE–256 BCE) and declared an official celebration during the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

(206 BCE–220 CE). The Han people would take a break from work to celebrate with their families. They would hold heaven worshipping as well as honoring their ancestors by burning

joss paper Joss paper, also known as incense papers, are papercrafts or sheets of paper made into burnt offerings common in Chinese ancestral worship (such as the veneration of the deceased family members and relatives on holidays and special occasions). ...

at their ancestral shrines to show gratitude. In ancient times, the day was also known as the "festival of extreme length () as the sun's extreme position lengthens shadows. It was traditionally a very important holiday, comparable to

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival (see also #Names, § Names), is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of the most important holi ...

. The Chinese people still celebrate certain practices during the Dongzhi festival, such as the union of family. In

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, many businesses let employees off early to spend time with their families on this day, while in some areas shops close for the holiday. In

Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

, it is traditional to light

incense Incense is an aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremonial reasons. It ...

at dawn. The Dongzhi Festival has historically been associated with various agricultural activities in China, particularly in rural areas. As the festival represents the winter solstice, it is a crucial time to harvest winter crops, such as wheat, barley, and radishes. It is also an important time to pay respect to certain livestock and feed these animals special meals to celebrate the occasion. Traditionally, the Dongzhi Festival is a time for families to eat together. One activity that occurs during these get-togethers (especially in the Asia and in Overseas Asian communities) is the making and eating of '' tangyuan'' (湯圓) or balls of glutinous rice, which symbolize reunion. ''Tangyuan'' are made of glutinous rice flour and are sometimes coloured pink or green. Each family member receives at least one large ''tangyuan'' in addition to several small ones. The flour balls are cooked in a sweet soup or savory broth with both the ball and the soup/broth served in one bowl. It is also often served with ''

jiuniang ''Jiuniang'' is a sweet, soup- or pudding-like dish in Chinese cuisine. It is also known as sweet wine or sweet rice wine. It consists of a mixture of partially digested rice grains floating in a sweet saccharified liquid, with small amounts o ...

,'' a mildly alcoholic, unfiltered

rice wine Rice wine is an alcoholic beverage fermentation, fermented from rice, traditionally consumed in East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia, where rice is a quintessential staple crop. Rice wine is made by the fermentation of rice starch, during wh ...

containing whole grains of

glutinous rice Domestication syndrome refers to two sets of phenotypic traits that are common to either domesticated plants or domesticated animals. Domesticated animals tend to be smaller and less aggressive than their wild counterparts; they may also hav ...

(and often also

sweet osmanthus ''Osmanthus fragrans'' (), variously known as sweet osmanthus, sweet olive, tea olive, and fragrant olive, is a flowering plant species native to Asia from the Himalayas through the provinces of Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan in China, Taiwan, souther ...

flowers). People typically eat Winter Solstice dumplings (), which sounds like "reunion". This custom is said to have been started by the celebrated physician

Zhang Zhongjing Zhang Zhongjing (; 150–219), formal name Zhang Ji (), was a Chinese pharmacologist, physician, inventor, and writer of the Eastern Han dynasty and one of the most eminent Chinese physicians during the later years of the Han dynasty. He estab ...

during the

. One cold winter's day, he noticed that the poor were afflicted with

chilblains Chilblains, also known as pernio, is a medical condition in which damage occurs to capillary beds in the skin, most often in the hands or feet, when blood perfuses into the nearby tissue, resulting in redness, itching, inflammation, and possibly ...

on their ears. Moved to pity, he ordered his apprentices to make dumplings with lamb and other ingredients, and distribute them among the poor to keep them warm and prevent their ears from getting chilblains. Since the dumplings were shaped like ears, Zhang named the dish ''"qùhán jiāoěr tāng"'' (祛寒嬌耳湯) or dumpling soup that expels the cold. From that time on, it has been a tradition to eat dumplings on the day of Dongzhi. Dumplings are not only eaten by the family, but also shared with friends and relatives as a blessing. The dumplings may be molded into the shapes of animals such as dogs and cats. Common superstitions include that married people should leave two uneaten to have their wishes come true, and a single person should leave one for an auspicious year. According to one tradition, the dumplings should be eaten by an even number of people for good luck. Many people take some of the ''tangyuan'' that have been used as offerings and stick them on the back of the door or on windows and tables and other pieces of furniture. These "empowered" ''tangyuan'' serve as protective

talismans A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...

to keep evil spirits away from children. Old traditions also require people with the same

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

or from the same

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

to gather at their ancestral temples to worship on this day. There is always a grand reunion dinner following the sacrificial ceremony. Other traditional foods include

hot pot Hot pot ( zh, c=, s=wikt:火锅, 火锅, t=wikt:火鍋, 火鍋, p=huǒguō, l=fire pot, first=t) or hotpot, also known as steamboat, is a dish (food), dish of soup/stock (food), stock kept simmering in a cooking pot, pot by a heat source on ...

and

wonton A wonton ( zh, t=, s=馄饨, p=húntun, j=wan4 tan4, first=t) is a type of Chinese dumpling commonly found across regional styles of Chinese cuisine. It is also spelled wantan or wuntun, a transliteration from Cantonese zh, j=wan4 tan1, ...

s. '' Shuijiao'' dumplings are popular in

northern China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions that display certain differences in terms of their geography, demographics, economy, and culture. Extent The Qinling, Qinling–Daba Mountains serve as the transition zone ...

. The festive food is also a reminder that celebrators are now a year older and should behave better in the coming year. Even today, many Chinese around the world, especially the elderly, still insist that one is "a year older" right after the Dongzhi celebration instead of waiting for the

In Taiwan

In Taiwan, like in the culturally related province of

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

, Dongzhi is a day for spending time with families and making offerings to ancestors. It is also a tradition for Taiwanese to eat ''tangyuan'' on this day. They also use the festive food as an offering dish to worship the ancestors. As well as following some of the customs practiced on mainland China, the people of Taiwan have a unique custom of offering nine-layer cakes as a ceremonial sacrifice to worship their ancestors. These cakes are made using glutinous rice flour in the shape of a chicken, duck, tortoise, pig, cow, or sheep, and then steamed in different layers of a pot. These animals all signify auspiciousness in

Chinese tradition Chinese culture () is one of the world's earliest cultures, said to originate five thousand years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia called the Sinosphere as a whole and is extremely diverse, with custo ...

. Many people take invigorating tonic foods during this particular winter festival. To the Taiwanese, winter is a time when most physical activities should be limited and you should eat well to nourish your body. This practice follows the habits shown by many animals which follow the law of nature and

hibernate Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic reduction entered by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It is most ...

throughout winter months to rejuvenate and to preserve life. In order to fight cold temperatures, it is necessary to eat more fatty and meaty foods during winter when your body can better absorb the rich and nutritional foods at this time due to a slower

metabolic rate Metabolism (, from ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the co ...

. Since Dongzhi is the "extreme of winter", Taiwanese regard it as the best time of the year to take tonic foods. Some of the most widely popular winter tonic foods enjoyed by Taiwanese to fight cold and strengthen the body's resistance are mutton

and

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

duck hot pot. Other foods like chicken, pork, and

abalone Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen language, Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any small to very large marine life, marine gastropod mollusc in the family (biology), family Haliotidae, which once contained six genera but now cont ...

are also common ingredients used in making tonic foods with nurturing herbs such as

ginseng Ginseng () is the root of plants in the genus ''Panax'', such as South China ginseng (''Panax notoginseng, P. notoginseng''), Korean ginseng (''Panax ginseng, P. ginseng''), and American ginseng (''American ginseng, P. quinquefol ...

, deer horn, and the fungus

cordyceps ''Cordyceps'' is a genus of ascomycete fungi (sac fungi) that includes over 260 species worldwide, many of which are parasitic. Diverse variants of cordyceps have had more than 1,500 years of use in Chinese medicine. Most ''Cordyceps'' specie ...

References

External links

Taiwan Culture Portal
Taiwan Culture Portal: The Winter Solstice in Taiwan {{Winter solstice Folk festivals in China December observances Observances set by the Chinese calendar Public holidays in China Public holidays in Hong Kong Public holidays in Taiwan Religious festivals in China Winter in China Winter in Taiwan Winter festivals Winter solstice

Traditional activities

In Taiwan

See also

References

External links