Dongzhi

Chinese lunisolar calendar The traditional Chinese calendar (also known as the Agricultural Calendar ��曆; 农历; ''Nónglì''; 'farming calendar' Former Calendar ��曆; 旧历; ''Jiùlì'' Traditional Calendar ��曆; 老历; ''Lǎolì'', is a lunisolar calendar ...

festival is a traditional holiday of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, that has a long history and specific customs. Dongzhi means the extreme of winter. The history of Dongzhi was arrived since the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

(206 BC-220 AD) and it became important until

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) ...

and

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

, when they decided to officially made a day to worship their god and ancestors. In the present days, in some regions of

, people still gather around to eat a special meal or to visit their ancestral tombs.

China

The traditional

Chinese calendar The traditional Chinese calendar (also known as the Agricultural Calendar ��曆; 农历; ''Nónglì''; 'farming calendar' Former Calendar ��曆; 旧历; ''Jiùlì'' Traditional Calendar ��曆; 老历; ''Lǎolì'', is a lunisolar calendar ...

divides a year into 24

solar term A solar term is any of twenty-four periods in traditional Chinese lunisolar calendars that matches a particular astronomical event or signifies some natural phenomenon. The points are spaced 15° apart along the ecliptic and are used by lunisola ...

s. ''Dōngzhì'', ''Tōji'', ''Dongji'', ''Tunji'' (in Okinawan), or ''Đông chí'' (in Vietnamese) is the 22nd solar term, and marks the

winter solstice The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winter ...

. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 270° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 285°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 270°. In the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years d ...

, it usually begins around 21 December (22 December East Asia time) and ends around 5 January. Along with

equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and se ...

es,

solstice A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many count ...

s () mark the ''middle'' of Traditional Chinese calendar seasons. Thus, in "", the Chinese character " 至" means "extreme", which implies "solstices", and therefore the term for the ''winter solstice'' directly signifies the summit of winter, as "midwinter" is used in English. In China, Dongzhi was originally celebrated as an end-of-harvest festival. Today, it is observed with a family reunion over the long night, when pink and white '' tangyuan'' are eaten in southern China in sweet broth to symbolise family unity and prosperity. Whereas in Northern China, the traditional Dongzhi food would be the jiaozi.

Korea

In Korea, the winter solstice is also called the "Small Seol," and there is a custom of celebrating the day. People make porridge with red beans known as

patjuk ''Patjuk'' ( ko, 팥죽 ) is a type of Korean juk consisting of red beans and rice. It is commonly eaten during the winter season in Korea, and is associated to '' dongji'' (winter solstice), * as people used to believe that the red color of ''pa ...

() and round rice cakes ( ) with sticky rice. In the past, red bean porridge soup was sprayed on walls or doors because it was said to ward off bad ghosts. In addition, there was a custom in the early days of the Goryeo and Joseon Period in which people in financial difficulty settled all their debts and enjoyed the day.

Japan

In Japan, Tōji is also one of the 24

s. On this day, it is customary to drink grapefruit hot water and eat pumpkin in certain places. The とうじ‐カボチャ【冬至カボチャ】.The habit of eating pumpkin during the winter solstice is because it makes sense to provide products for the festival during the winter when vegetables are lacking. とうじ‐ばい【冬至梅】is a variety of plum. White flowers begin to bloom around the winter solstice. とうじ It is still a surname in Japan and has a long history.

Pentads

*蚯蚓結, 'Earthworms form knots', referring to the hibernation of earthworms. *麋角解, 'Deer shed their antlers' *水泉動, 'Spring water moves'

Date and time

References