Older traditions require those of the same ancestral heritage to gather at their ancestral temple to worship their ancestors and, often, also their deities. Lucky Thirteen Wiki is a FANDOM Games Community. For example, in Spring, there is “Start of Spring (立春, Lìchūn)”, “Spring Rain (雨水, Yǔshuǐ)” in February, “Awakening of Insects (惊蛰, jīngzhé)” in March, and so on. In both Northern and Southern celebrations, tang yuan or dumplings are usually served hot as a promise of warmer days ahead and as a contrast to the cold outside. js.async = true; The Dōngzhì Festival or Winter Solstice Festival (Chinese: 冬至; pinyin: Dōngzhì; lit. Festivals bring freshness in life . The two colors symbolize family unity and prosperity. The Winter Solstice, too, is one of the solar terms in December. Old traditions also require people with the same surname or from the same clan to gather at their ancestral temples to worship on this day. Since the harvest is finished, Dong Zhi is somewhat comparable to Thanksgiving; harvested food is stored, and celebrants express thankfulness over the bounty provided that year. working on her first novel. After this celebration, there will be days with longer daylight hours and therefore an increase in positive energy flowing in. Traditionally, the Dongzhi Festival is also a time for the family to get together. In the Chinese calendar, the 24 solar terms classify each season into six phases matching with the specific periods of time. It is the day with shortest day time and longest night in the Northern Hemisphere. These may be stuffed, and may be served in a broth, or a sweet soup depending upon family tradition. Why is the Dongzhi festival celebrated? The origins of this festival can be traced back to the Yin and Yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. In Northern China like Shandong Province, dumplings (饺子, Jiǎozi) are a must for Dongzhi Festival. On one cold winter day, he saw the poor suffering from chilblains on their ears. They remove boredom . Miss Panda Chinese is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, ©2020 Miss Panda Chinese All Rights Reserved |, Recommended Materials for Learning Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin Chinese Pronunciation Guide-Pinyin Cheat Sheet, Miss Panda Chinese – Mandarin Chinese for Children, special dishes and you can read about it here, Back To School – A Different First Days of School, This Is Just A Test – Read Around The World Summer Series. From that time on, it has been a tradition to eat dumplings on the day of Dongzhi. In Taiwan and southern China, people celebrate this day by eating tangyuan and going back for a family reunion. Then, when the Winter Festival Dong Zhi arrives that means winter is here and the New Year is coming. Celebrations of Dong Zhi usually involve families gathering together, again bearing resemblance to Thanksgiving as celebrated in Canada and the US. On one cold winter day, he saw the poor suffering from chilblains on their ears. Winter Solstice in Chinese culture, also known as “Dongzhi” (冬至,  Dōngzhì), is coming this year on December 22nd, which would be one of the annual celebrated festivals for Chinese people. In some regions of China, some families still gather together to eat a special meal, visit ancestral tombs, and worship their ancestors. The Dōngzhì Festival or Winter Solstice Festival (Chinese: 冬至; pinyin: Dōngzhì; literally "the Extreme of Winter") is one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Chinese and other East Asians during the Dongzhi solar term (winter solstice) on or around December 22 when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest. She is especially passionate about reading and writing, although her other interests include He then ordered dumplings to be made and handed out to them to warm them and keep away the chilblains. contributor for many years. Some tangyuan have sesame and peanut butter as fillings,  some have salty meat or vegetables as fillings. You may also want to ask your Singapore catering service about the traditional way the Taiwanese celebrate the Dongzhi festival; it involves nine-layer cakes that take the form of animals that, in Chinese culture, all signify auspiciousness, and fit with the theme that after this day life will get better. “No Pictures Here.” – Free Learn Chinese PDF. Since then dumplings have been consumed on the day of the Dongzhi Festival. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the day was to sacrifice to the heaven and the ancestors. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); (function(d, s) { Getting One Year Older after this Bowl of Tangyuan. Dongzhi is the term used in the Chinese lunar calendar to represent the extreme of winter. Origins The flour balls may be plain or stuffed. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Since “Dong Zhi,” is the “Extreme of Winter,” Taiwanese regard it as the best time of the year to take tonic foods. The festive food is also a reminder that we are now a year older and should behave better in the coming year. It occurred on December 22 (East Asia time) in 2010. Traditionally, the Dongzhi Festival is also a time for the family to get together. Tangyuan are glutinous balls of rice flour that symbolise reunion, the can be fill or unfilled and of varying sizes. Required fields are marked *. It is also a tradition for Taiwanese to eat tangyuan during this day. Chinese 24 Solar Terms introduction and Dongzhi Festival celebration. })(document, 'script'); © Miss Panda Chinese, 2011-2019. js.type = 'text/javascript'; In Singapore, the Dongzhi festival is often celebrated by eating the traditional tangyuan. Just like the full moon symbolizes family reunion, Chinese people really love the idea of “round” things and words. In addition to following some of the customs practiced in China, the people of Taiwan have their own unique custom of offering nine-layer cakes as a ceremonial sacrifice to worship their ancestors. It is the day with shortest day time and longest night in the Northern Hemisphere. Tricia has a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and has been a frequent wiseGEEK It is also. The day gets longer after Winter Solstice day and another solar term starts. In Southern China like Sichuan, people enjoy a table of mutton feast and having the hot mutton soup with their family on this day. The Dongzhi, “Winter Solstice,” Festival is celebrated mainly in China, Japan, and South Korea to celebrate the coming of longer days and shorter nights. In the old days, this is a day in which everyone (workers, soldiers and emperors alike) stay away from work and gather with their families to celebrate the changing of the season. The idea of family reunion soon became intertwined with the holiday, because traditionally this was when many agricultural workers would have finished their work and would return to their families, often after being away for many months. And speaking of winter, there’s winter solstice, or midwinter, an astronomical phenomenon that has the shortest daytime and longest nighttime of the year. The origins of this festival can be traced back to the yin and yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. The typical tangyuan for winter solstice is small ones in red and white colors. This festival can be traced back to yin and yang philosophy, where the yin-yang symbol represents the flow of energy, warmth and light throughout the universe. Old traditions also require people with the same surname or from the same clan to gather at their ancestral temples to worship on this day. Dong Zhi, sometimes spelled as Dongzhi, is the Chinese (and sometimes other Asian group’s) celebration of the Winter Solstice.This holiday is usually held on 22 December, though this date may change yearly depending upon when the Solstice falls, and is often considered only slightly less important than traditional Chinese New Year celebrations. https://luckythirteen.fandom.com/wiki/Dongzhi_Festival?oldid=4347. The Northern Chinese tend to prefer to serve hot dumplings, almost always stuffed with meat. These “empowered” “tangyuan supposedly serve as protective talismans to keep evil spirits from coming close to children. They are cooked in a sweet soup or savoury broth with both the ball and the soup/broth served in one bowl. tjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, tjs); Although the making of the tangyuan is part of the Chinese tradition it is very common to find these in the supermarket, and, if you’re throwing a large party, you can even ask your caterer in Singapore what they can provide for you on this special day.