Winter Solstice | Short Days, Long Affection Awaiting Spring's Return

At 5:48 AM Beijing time on December 22, the "Winter Solstice" solar term will arrive. It is the twenty-second of the twenty-four solar terms, also known as "Shortest Day," "Winter Festival," and "Sub-Year," an important festival in winter. On the "Winter Solstice" day, the sun almost directly shines on the Tropic of Capricorn, the Northern Hemisphere receives the least sunlight, and the day is the shortest. Although nights gradually shorten and days lengthen afterward, the accumulation of heat on the earth's surface decreases, and the coldest "Nine-Nine Cold Days" of the year arrive, lasting eighty-one days before spring returns to the earth.

In ancient folk tradition, there is a saying "Winter Solstice is as important as the New Year." On this day, people worship their ancestors and celebrate the arrival of the "new year."

The weather during the Winter Solstice is cold, so it is important to keep warm to prevent illness. It is advisable to reduce outdoor activities appropriately, keep indoor temperatures between 18~24 degrees Celsius, and when going out, remember to wear scarves and hats, cover your back, abdomen, and soles well to avoid cold wind.

Exercise and health preservation should also follow natural laws. In terms of exercise intensity, strenuous activities like ball games should be avoided as much as possible. Regarding timing, winter exercise is best done after sunrise, with 3 to 4 PM being the most suitable time.

In terms of diet, warm nourishment is appropriate, focusing on warm foods such as glutinous rice, jujube, longan, sesame, chives, and wood ear mushrooms, while reducing cold foods like cold drinks and seafood.

Since ancient times, folk customs for celebrating the "Winter Solstice" vary greatly across regions:

Eating dumplings in the North

In northern China, there is a custom of eating dumplings on the lunar Winter Solstice every year. A proverb says: "On the first day of the tenth lunar month, Winter Solstice arrives, every household eats dumplings." In ancient times, to keep warm, people made dumplings shaped like ears from flour. After eating them, the whole body felt warm, and ears that were frostbitten gradually healed. Thus, the custom of eating dumplings on the Winter Solstice to prevent frostbitten ears has been passed down.

Eating Tangyuan in the South

An ancient poem says: "Every family pounds rice to make Tangyuan, knowing that tomorrow is the Winter Solstice." Eating Tangyuan on the Winter Solstice is a traditional custom in the Jiangnan region of China. Tangyuan, also called Tangtuan, is a round sweet made from glutinous rice flour. The "round" shape symbolizes "reunion" and "completeness," so eating Tangyuan on the Winter Solstice is also called "Winter Solstice Reunion."

Eating mutton

Mutton is warm in nature. Eating mutton in winter not only increases body heat to resist the cold but also boosts digestive enzymes and protects the stomach and intestines. At this cold time, eating a bite of meat and drinking a sip of soup warms the whole body.

"Drawing Nine"

The so-called "Drawing Nine" is actually a chart used to calculate the date of spring warmth after the Winter Solstice. The "Nine-Nine Cold Dispelling Chart" generally has three types: text, circles, and plum blossom patterns.

Nine-Nine Cold Dispelling Chart

Text version: A chart composed of nine characters, mostly phrases like "Willows hanging in front of the pavilion, cherish and await the spring breeze," "Cypress in the courtyard before spring, wind brings fragrance to the room," each character having nine strokes (referring to traditional characters), totaling eighty-one strokes. Usually drawn or printed on paper, each stroke is hollow. After the Winter Solstice, one stroke is colored red each day. When all strokes are colored red, winter ends and spring arrives. The text version of the Nine-Nine Cold Dispelling Chart usually includes the four characters "Guan Cheng Chun Man". "Guan Cheng Zi" is another name for a brush, and "Guan Cheng Chun Man" means the brush fills the courtyard with spring, symbolizing the nine characters filled and spring returning to the world.

Circle version: The simplest and most popular Nine-Nine Cold Dispelling Chart still used today draws a grid of nine rows and nine columns. Each square contains a circle called a "coin," totaling eighty-one coins. One coin is colored each day, following the pattern "Yin on top, Yang below; wind on the left, rain and snow on the right, center in the middle." A folk rhyme says: "Yin on top, Yang below, snow in the middle; wind on the left, rain on the right, distinguish clearly; all eighty-one dots colored, spring returns and grass turns green."

Plum blossom version: The most artistic is the plum blossom Nine-Nine Cold Dispelling Chart. The Ming Dynasty book "Imperial Capital Scenery" records: "On the Winter Solstice day, draw a branch of white plum blossoms with eighty-one petals. One petal is colored each day; when all petals are colored, the nine-nine days end, and spring is deep."

All Nine-Nine Cold Dispelling Charts carry people's expectations and hopes, deeply longing for the arrival of spring during the long cold nights.

Time flies, another chilly winter arrives, and this winter's epidemic is somewhat fierce. In daily life, maintain a positive and optimistic attitude, keep social distance, wear masks correctly, disinfect hands properly, ventilate frequently, avoid gatherings, maintain regular routines, and with a good spirit and healthy body, win this battle against the epidemic.

On the Winter Solstice day, send a message of care and a blessing. The footsteps of winter have arrived, and spring is already waving to us not far away.

Winter has arrived, wishing you health and safety, and together we look forward to spring's return!