Winter Solstice Festival

We celebrate Winter Solstice (Dongzhi Festival) tomorrow. When I was young, I used to prepare the tangyuan or glutinous rice balls for my family. It was my yearly duty rolling the red and white coloured dough into small round balls for the family. I would make a batch of  white ones, another batch of red ones for prayers and a mix of red and white coloured ones for fun.

 

After I finished rolling, I would throw them into a pot of boiling water to cook them. My mother would then use them to make a sweet dessert of tangyuan in sugar water flavoured with pandan leaves and ginger. My father, however, loved them in a savoury soup of meat and seafood. We would have them for our lunch. I loved it too.

Though I looked forward to this yearly festival, my parents never did share what Winter Solstice was all about. So, I associated it with eating tangyuan and a special feast for dinner. My mother said that after eating tangyuan, I became a year older but I could not see why. I think it is quite a shame not to know the history behind our rich Chinese culture and traditions. Over time and with the younger generation, more and more is lost if we do not make an effort to impart to our children.

The Winter Solstice is the day when the distance between the Tropic of Capricorn and the sun is the shortest. Because of the earth's tilt, the Northern Hemisphere is leaning farther away from the sun than at any other time during the year. This makes the Winter Solstice the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere. The Northern hemisphere on this day experiences the shortest daytime and longest nighttime and marks the arrival of winter. The Chinese characters for Dōng Zhì are 冬至. The first character means “winter” and the second character means “arrival.”   In traditional Chinese society, the arrival of winter meant that the farmers would lay down their tools and celebrate the harvest by coming home to their families. A feast would be prepared to mark the occasion.


Also, because ancient cultures were unaware of the changes in the Earth's position, they feared that the sunlight would never return. To bring it back, they engaged in many celebrations and ceremonies. In fact, there are more ceremonies and "rituals associated with the winter solstice than any other time of year" .

Traditionally, the Dongzhi Festival is also a time for the family to get together. The glutinous rice balls symbolize reunion. The festive food is also a reminder that we are now a year older and should behave better in the coming year. Even today, many Chinese around the world, especially the elderly, still insist that one is "a year older" right after the Dongzhi celebration instead of waiting for the Chinese New Year.

I will be celebrating with my parents and siblings. As my parents are now old, the grand feast has been replaced with packed restaurant food as the younger generation is too busy to cook. Maybe that is the price of progress.