Matters needing attention and blessings in winter solstice

Precautions and blessings from winter solstice: don't go to remote places.

The Winter Solstice Festival originated from the ancient "La Worship". In fact, this is due to the primitive beliefs of the ancients. Because many natural phenomena can't be explained, the ancients attributed them to the manipulation of gods, and thought that natural phenomena such as spring breeze and summer rain, autumn frost and winter snow, Milky Way, solar eclipse and moon loss, drought and flood, tsunami and earthquake were all caused by gods.

Therefore, the ancients paid special attention to using sacrificial activities to entertain gods and worship heaven and pray for the blessing of gods and gods. From a religious point of view, the winter solstice sacrifice is actually a grand religious festival for the ancients to entertain gods and worship heaven.

The folk custom of ancestor worship in the winter of solstice has been spread to today when material civilization is increasingly rich. The winter solstice has evolved into a family reunion festival, and the worship ceremony has long been simplified. The ancestor worship of Tomb-Sweeping Day, July 30th (Mid-Autumn Festival), Winter Solstice Festival and these three festivals reflects a local culture, that is, filial piety and inheritance. Although their ancestors' sacrifices were sincere, they remembered their ancestors and their true feelings.

Historical origin of winter solstice

China's astrological culture has a long history and is profound. The twenty-four solar terms were originally formulated on the basis of changing stars. In different seasons and at different times, the Big Dipper will point in different directions, that is, "bucket handle points to the East, and the world is spring;" Guide to barrel handle, it's summer in the world; Bucket handle refers to the west, and the world is autumn; The barrel handle refers to the north, and it is winter all over the world. "Twenty-four solar terms" is the product of ancient farming civilization, which is related to the time of dry farming and gossip and has a long history.

During the period of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, the "Twenty-four solar terms" were absorbed into the taichu calendar Law as a supplement to guide the agriculture in the northern part of the Central Plains, and the "Twenty-four solar terms" were measured in the Yellow River basin by Tugui's solar shadow measurement method. The current "24 solar terms" are determined according to the position where the sun returns to the ecliptic.

That is, on a 360-degree circle "ecliptic" (the apparent path of the sun on the celestial sphere for one year), the vernal equinox starts at 0 degrees, and every time the sun runs on the ecliptic 15 degrees is a "solar term". In the process of inheritance and development, the 24 solar terms have been incorporated into the lunar calendar and become an important part of the lunar calendar.