Winter Solstice

By Zhang Chengyi

The 22nd of December marks the Winter Solstice for the year of 2018. As one of the 24 solar terms, Winter Solstice is quite unique.

Approximately three thousand years ago, Sage Zhou,one of the greatest politicians,educators, and thinkers in Chinese history, measured the “center of the world” with a stone plate and a needle.After that, through extended observation of the movement of the sun, sagacious Chinese ancestors came up with a system of determining the seasonal alternation by dividing the entire solar period by a factor of 24, which still serves as an important guide for continental monsoon climate agriculture.

As the twenty-second solar term, Winter Solstice is when the daytime is at its shortest and nighttime at its longest. In other words, Winter Solstice occurs when the earth travels around the near-sun point and the sun shines straight on the tropic of Capricorn. Due to the fact that Earth's orbit around the sun is actually 365 days 5 hours and 48 minutes, the date for the Winter Solstice varies from the twentyfirst to the twenty-third of December, and it is also known as “the day of revival.” After the Winter Solstice, the relative position of the sun travels northward, and daytime in the northern hemisphere increases.“YIN,” the air of darkness starts to decline, while “YANG,” the air of brightness begins to bounce.Because the YANG arises, the Winter Solstice in Chinese is named as the “initial warmth rise.” Consequently, Winter Solstice is when the livelihood of nature is awakened—and a new cycle of the year begins. In this sense, Winter Solstice is known as the “vice new year,”indicating its significant roleamong all 24 solar terms.

Phenology is the study of the periodic change of living organism's response to seasonal changes. The Winter Solstice constitutes one of three major phenological phenomenon—traditionally, it causes the earthworms agglomerate, five days later the elks slough their antlers, and ten days later the springs and brooks start to flow.

On the day of Winter Solstice,YIN reaches its maximum,as we've mentioned before.Earthworms, as our ancestors said to be, are animals that curl in darkness and extend outward in brightness. As a result, at the Winter Solstice, earthworms remain agglomerated in the soil.Five days after Winter Solstice,the rise in YANG becomes noticeable. Elks, with their antlers pointing backward, are considered to be animals that prefer darkness to brightness.Consequently, five days after the Winter Solstice, elks slough their antlers in response to the declining YIN. Ten days after Winter Solstice, the rise in YANG becomes more influential.Springs, which were frozen in previous seasons, start to melt now. The streams murmur and the water it holds is comfortably warm instead of freezing cold,and other living things can then begin to sprout and grow.

As the saying goes, “Winter Solstice is as important as New Year.” Indeed, Winter Solstice was one of the most important solar terms among all 24. The tradition of praying on Winter Solstice has been established since the Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC-256 BC). Praying at Winter Solstice is believed to be effective in reducing famine, epidemics,and the overall death rate. In the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220),Winter Solstice is celebrated with a day off and a national-scale concert for celebrating the new cycle. In the Tang Dynasty (618 -907), people bought new clothes,threw feasts, and honored their ancestors at the Winter Solstice.

Nowadays, Winter Solstice is celebrated less grandly, for Chinese traditions are diluted with all those fascinating western celebrations. Still, traditional cuisine keeps on reminding us of this once-in-a-year celebration.In Gusu, Suzhou, local people brew “winter-brewed wine,”a rice-based wine with the fragrance of osmanthus flower—they sip the wine gently at the night of Winter Solstice. In Northern China, it is a longheld tradition to eat dumplings at the Winter Solstice, because two thousand years ago, Zhang Zhongjing, the saint of medicine,used these ear-shaped, warm,delicious morsels to cure the frozen ear symptoms of residents on the Winter Solstice Day. In Southern China, people eat red bean sticky rice stew to prevent frightening phantoms from haunting them.

The 22nd of December might be an ordinary Saturday for some, since many Chinese now no longer lead an agriculturebased life, and the solar terms are less indispensable to our lives. However, as the inheritors of a culture with thousands of years of history, it's still quite pleasant and enjoyable for us to have a bowl of hot dumplings or some red bean sticky rice together with the family on the day of Winter Solstice,just as what Westerners do on Christmas Eve.

冬 至

文/張成熠

2018年12月22日是中國二十四節氣之一的冬至日。

約莫三千年前，政治家、教育家和思想家周公，用石盤與石針制成的土圭測量出了“天下之中”。自此以后，中國古代天文學者通過對太陽軌跡的長期觀察，將太陽運行周期二十四等分，形成了可以衡量季節交替的節氣系統，成為中國農耕的重要指引。

冬至是中國二十四節氣中的第二十二個，是北半球晝極短夜極長之日。這一天，地球運行在近日點附近，太陽正好直射南回歸線。由于地球圍繞太陽運行一周（一個太陽年）的實際時間為365天5小時48分多鐘，故冬至日的時間會有所變動，一般在12月21-23日之間，也稱為“活節”。冬至日一過，太陽北回，北半球從此日照增加，陰氣由極盛轉衰；陽氣由極衰開始復蘇。陽氣增長，此稱“一陽升”。因此，冬至之時萬物復蘇，新年伊始，古人稱之為“亞年”——這一稱謂也從側面反映了冬至在二十四節氣中的重要性。

中國古人將冬至分為三候：“一候蚯蚓結，又五日麋角解，又五日水泉動。” 冬至之日，如前文所提，陰氣盛至極點。蚯蚓，如老祖宗所說，是陰曲陽伸的生物。所以，此日蚯蚓仍虬結于土中。冬至五日之后，陽氣漸生。麋、鹿同源，而麋因其角向后生長，被古人認為趨陰避陽。因此，冬至五日后，麋感到陰氣漸退而解其角。冬至十日之后，陽氣更盛。封凍的山泉開始流動。至此，山泉潺潺，而且溫熱，萬物才可萌發生長。

俗語有云，冬至大如年。 各地皆有過冬至的習俗自周朝 （前1046—前256）起，人們在冬至日祭祀，以求消災、減免瘟疫饑荒以及延緩死亡。在漢代（前202—公元220），人們會在冬至日休息一天，舉國上下鼓瑟吹笙，以表慶祝。在唐朝（618—907），人們會在冬至日置辦新衣，大擺宴席，祭祀先祖。

如今，冬至日的盛況不復從前，中國的傳統習俗已被花哨的、吸引人的西方節日沖淡了不少。盡管如此，冬至的傳統佳肴依然令人思念和向往。 在蘇州，人們會釀“冬釀酒”，把桂花加在米酒中釀成香醇美酒。冬至日開壇，小酌幾杯，酒香、桂香滿屋。在中國北方，餃子是冬至日的傳統食物。相傳醫圣張仲景在冬至那天用暖暖和和的“嬌耳”（餃子）緩解了當地居民的凍耳朵癥狀；而后，嬌耳演化為如今家喻戶曉的餃子。在中國南方，人們會吃赤豆糯米飯來消災避邪。

2018年12月22日，一個普通的星期六。作為繼承著已傳承了千年之久的文化精髓的一代人，在凜冬已至之時吃一碗熱乎乎的餃子或紅豆糯米飯，圖一個親人相聚的時刻，像西方過圣誕那樣，也是一種愜意和享受。