The significance and symbol of winter solstice

The solstice of winter means that the cold winter is coming. On the winter solstice, the yellow meridian of the sun is 270 degrees? . On the solstice of winter, the sun shines almost directly on the tropic of Capricorn. Our northern hemisphere has the shortest day and the longest night, and it has begun to enter several cold days. Astronomy stipulates that this day is the beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere. After the winter solstice, the direct sunlight gradually moved northward, and the days in the northern hemisphere gradually became longer. As the proverb goes, eating noodles on the solstice in winter will make the day longer. The meaning and symbol of winter solstice in ancient times, winter solstice was considered a very important day, and people even called it off-year. Every year when we celebrate the winter solstice, we have to make a lot of preparations, and there are even many celebrations among the people. So the solstice in winter often symbolizes reunion. In addition, among the 24 solar terms, the winter solstice is also an important solar term. Its arrival means that the days outside will be longer and longer, the nights will be shorter and shorter, the temperature will gradually drop, and it will gradually enter the severe winter.

The winter solstice is a very important solar term, and it is also a traditional festival in China's lunar calendar. Up to now, there are still many places where the winter solstice festival is held. The winter solstice is usually called the winter festival, which is as long as the Japanese festival and as young as one year old. As early as 2500 years ago, during the Spring and Autumn Period, China had determined the winter solstice by observing the sun through the soil return, which was the earliest of the 24 solar terms. The time is between February 22nd and 23rd of Gregorian calendar 12.

The origin of the winter solstice, Duke Zhou, arrived in Luoyang, measured that Luoyang was in the world by the method of returning to the earth, and then began to divine the land of the country. According to the Book of Luogu in Shangshu, Duke Zhou inspected several places around Luoyang, and finally determined that Jianshui East, Zhuoshui West and Zhuoshui East were all good places to build ancestral temples. The historical fact that Duke Zhou chose Luoyi as the site to survey the landscape in Tugui was recorded in ancient books and was regarded as the law of sealing the country by later generations.

The purpose of landscape investigation in Tugui is to find the center of excavation (the center of China). The essence of this method is that the tree is eight feet high and the length of the scene is five inches from summer to sun. On the winter solstice, the scene is 10 feet, 3 feet and 5 inches long (that is, the benchmark of 8 feet high is erected. When observed from summer to the sun, the shadow at noon is 65,438+0.5 feet, and the shadow at noon from winter to the sun is 65,438+03.5 feet), and the shadow is positive when the soil depth is measured. Find the ground and check at four o'clock. What is measured by this method is the theoretical position of Luoyang and Luoyi in the soil.

According to the investigation of Duke Zhou, Zhou people made a detailed plan for the first national capital after the demise of Shang Dynasty. Yizhou Book records that it is a big city, built in the earth, with Luoshui in the south and Mangshan in the north, thinking that the world is one. After the national society (capital and ancestral temple) was completed, Duke Zhou formulated the national etiquette system in detail in the Rites and Music System of Chengzhou Tang Ming. According to records, the first month of the Zhou Dynasty is winter and November, and the winter solstice is the beginning of the New Year. In other words, Duke Zhou chose the longest day of the year calculated by Tuguifa as the day when the New Year began.

From meditation to Qin dynasty, winter is always the same as the beginning of the year. This is still the case in the Han Dynasty. There is a saying in Hanshu: The sun shines on the winter solstice, and the monarch is long, so congratulations. In other words, people originally celebrated the Winter Solstice Festival to celebrate the arrival of the New Year. The ancients believed that since the winter solstice, the yang of heaven and earth began to flourish and become stronger, representing the beginning of the next cycle, which is a good day. Therefore, later, during the Spring Festival, customs such as ancestor worship and family dinners often appeared on the winter solstice. The solstice in winter is also called off-year. First, it shows that the year is approaching and there are not many days left. The second is to show the importance of the winter solstice. As a festival, the winter solstice originated in the Han Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and has continued to this day. The first month of the week calendar is November of the summer calendar. Therefore, the first month of the Zhou Dynasty is equal to today's November, so there is no difference between New Year greetings and He Dong. It was not until Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted the summer calendar that the first month was separated from the solstice in winter. Therefore, it can also be said that the special winter solstice festival has existed since the Han Dynasty and flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties.