Winter Solstice

(As the sun creeps further to the south, the longest night of the year comes. The Chinese call this day Dongzhi (冬至). It usually falls on December 21 or 22. )

As the sun creeps further to the south, daytime in the northern hemisphere gets shorter and shorter, the weather colder and colder. Finally, the longest night of the year comes. It is the Winter Solstice, after which the sun begins its slow return to the North. The Chinese call this day Dongzhi. It usually falls on December 21 or 22.

Why do the Chinese celebrate the shortest day of the year? Well, the custom comes from the theory of Yin and Yang. Yin sytnbolizes the feminine, negative and dark qualities of the universe, while Yang stands for the opposite-the masculine, positive and fiery qualities. In a sense, the theory is dialectical. When something goes to one extreme, it will then go to the opposite extreme.

On the day of Dongzhi, when sunshine is weakest and daytime shortest, the Yin qualities of darkness, of cold, are at their most powerful. From this point on, they begin to weaken, giving way to the light and warmth of Yang. As has happened since the beginning of time, once again the black forces bringing sickness and death slowly submit to their opposites bringing life and health. From this day on, Yang gets stronger and stronger until it prevails with the earth' 5 awakening in the glorious rebirth of spring. It is a time for optimism, for joyful celebration..

The Winter Solstice has heen an important festival for millennia. Records from the Eastern Han Dynasty about 1,800 years ago tell us that the emperor and court officials would take a few days off work for the occasion.

By the time of the fourth century, celebration of Dongzhi had developed into a grandiose ceremony. Regiments of soldiers and cavalry, smart in full dress uniform, were stationed in and around the Imperial City. Colorful flags flapped stiffly in the north wind. The sound of pipes and drums echoed through the brightly decorated streets.

The ordinary people also celebrated in style. The longest night of the year was a time to put on one' 5 best brand new clothes, to visit friends with gifts, to laugh and drink deep into the long night. The giving of gifts was particularly important. Three hundred years ago, a Qing Dynasty poet wrote a poem describing how people racked their brains out to buy the most appropriate presents only to get them back from other friends a few days later. When we think of Christmas and birthdays, this would seem to be a universal phenomenon!

During the Western Jin Dynasty about 1,700 years ago, shoes and socks were very popular presents among both royalty and the common folk. Court officials would present the emperor with elaborately-made shoes and socks, wishing the divine "Son of the Dragon" wansui or ten thousand birthdays." Similarly, all married women were supposed to make a set of embroidered shoes and socks and present them to their in4aws. We are not sure why this custom evolved, perhaps it had something to do with the importance of keeping one' 5 feet warm in winter.

Food is an important part of all Chinese festivals. But the kind~ of food people eat during the Winter Solstice vary from place to place. In Northern China, many people eat mutton and dog meat. These are hot Yang foods, bringing warmth to the body and dispelling the cold of Yin. Noodles are popular in many areas. For from now on, daytime starts to get longer and we say "every day gets longer by the length of a thread." So the noodles specially made for the festival are called "long Thread Noodles".

In the old days, dumplings were often eaten in memory of Doctor zhang Zhongjing. Doctor zhang was not only a brilliant doctor, able to cure all sorts of diseases, he was also very kind to the poor.

One year the winter was so cold that many people in zhang Zhongjing' s hometown of Nanyang, in today' 5 Henan Province, suffered from very painful chilblains. Seeing that his small clinic was no longer able to accommodate the ever increasing number of patients, Zhang asked his brother to put up a tent in the village square. A large cauldron was placed inside the tent to prepare a decoction of red pepper mixed with other medicinal herbs. Doctor Zhang had dumplings stuffed with mutton boiled in this medicinal soup. Every patient got a bowl of the spicy decoction with two dumplings. He had only just invented this mixture, but it worked like a dream: chilblains disappeared in a day or two. Doctor hang' 5 mixture soon became a popular recipe throughout the land. When Zhang zhongjing died, people began to eat dumplings on the day of the Winter Solstice in memory of the kind doctor, and also, perhaps, to prevent or cure chilblains.

The close relation between the number "nine" and the Winter Solstice is also based on the theory of Yin and Yang. The ancient Chinese believed the theory could explain all phenomena in the universe. Numbers play a significant role in the theory. Even numbers belong to Yin and odd numbers to Yang. Nine is the largest Yang number and represents infinity and extremity. For a festival like this, when Yang begins to take root and gain ground, the greatest Yang number mine should certainly play a part.

The day of the Winter Solstice is the beginning of the first nine-day period. There are altogether nine nine-day periods, making a total of 81 days. The weather should improve a bit every "nine days", and at the end of the ninth period, spring comes.

Based on practical experience and probably to speed things up a bit, people have created "cold dispelling" songs. Here is the translation of one of these songs.

The first and second "nine days" are so cold

That we dare not hold out our hands,

Stray cats and dogs freeze to death

During the third and fourth "nine days",

The fifth and sixth "nine days" see a thin veil of green

On the far bank of the river

The rivers thaw during the seventh "nine days",

The eighth "nine days" welcome the wild geese back,

Winter finally draws to an end in the last "nine days",

When bright blossoms and flowers smile in warm spring.

People also invented all kinds of entertainment to help pass the time during the long cold days, when the earth was asleep and there was no work to be done in the fields. One is painting to dispel the cold. Before the Winter Solstice, people hang on the wall an unfinished painting, which contains a plum tree with 81 flowers. They have not been colored in. Starting on the day of the Winter Solstice, one flower is painted red every day. At the end of the ninth "nine days", 81 cheerful red blossoms brighten the room, welcoming the birds and bursting buds of spring' 5 return.

Another custom uses a piece of paper with 81 squares drawn on it. Just like the plum blossoms, one square is filled in every day. If it is cloudy, the upper half of the square is filled in; if it is clear, the lower half. A windy day is marked on the left half, and a rainy day on the right half. What if it snows? Well, there will be a small circle decorating the center of the square. When the squares are all filled, spring has arrived and one has a weather report of the past 81 days.

In many families, the kids draw the 81 squares and then have fun filling them in. They can use different colored paints or crayons, and with a bit of luck, end up with a cheerful piece of abstract art. It is good for their arithmetic and stimulates their interest in climatology. And being rationed to one square a day teaches them patience. It might even keep them out of mischief for a few minutes!