冬至 Winter Solstice

Summary

The Winter Solstice, or Dongzhi (冬至), is the shortest day of the year, around 21–22 December. As a solar term it lands on a near-fixed Western date. An old saying holds that the solstice matters as much as the New Year (冬至大如年).

History

Dongzhi is one of the twenty-four solar terms and has been observed for over two thousand years, since at least the Han dynasty. In the yin–yang view it marks the turning point when yin is at its peak and yang begins to return with the lengthening days — a moment of renewal worth honouring with family and ancestral rites.

What people do

Families gather for a warm meal: glutinous rice balls (汤圆) in the south, where eating them is said to add a year of age, and dumplings (饺子) in the north. Ancestors are remembered, and in some places people mark the count of the “nine times nine” cold days that follow the solstice.

Festival idioms

• 数九寒天數九寒天 shǔ jiǔ hán tiān ㄕㄨˇ ㄐㄧㄡˇ ㄏㄢˊ ㄊㄧㄢ sou3 gau2 hon4 tin1 nine periods of nine days each after winter solstice, the coldest time of the year
• 冰天雪地 bīng tiān xuě dì ㄅㄧㄥ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄒㄩㄝˇ ㄉㄧˋ bing1 tin1 syut3 dei6 a world of ice and snow
• 天寒地冻天寒地凍 tiān hán dì dòng ㄊㄧㄢ ㄏㄢˊ ㄉㄧˋ ㄉㄨㄥˋ tin1 hon4 dei6 dung3 (idiom) bitterly cold; frigid
• 冰清玉洁冰清玉潔 bīng qīng yù jié ㄅㄧㄥ ㄑㄧㄥ ㄩˋ ㄐㄧㄝˊ bing1 cing1 juk6 git3 clear as ice and clean as jade (idiom); spotless
• 鹅毛大雪鵝毛大雪 é máo dà xuě ㄜˊ ㄇㄠˊ ㄉㄚˋ ㄒㄩㄝˇ ngo4 mou4 daai6 syut3 goose feather snow (idiom)

Public-holiday status

• Mainland China Observance Widely celebrated with family meals, but not a day off work.
• Taiwan Observance
• Hong Kong Observance Not a general holiday, though many workplaces finish early by custom.
• Macau Public holiday A gazetted public holiday.

Lunar and Western dates

Further reading

• Dongzhi (Winter Solstice) Festival — Wikipedia