Tangyuan (湯圓)
In the West, the general population usually equates the yin yang with balance, harmony and unfortunate ankle tattoos. However, his curvy black and white symbol has the honor of being a prominent figure in the Chinese Dongzhi Winter Solstice Festival.
What’s the yin yang/solstice connection? Well, balance and harmony are indeed a big part of it, but according to the Chinese the yin yang also represents the flow of energy, warmth and light. Each year when winter solstice rolls around (generally December 21 or 22, the shortest day of the year) the warm, positive energy -which had apparently turned cold, dark and lazy throughout the fall – revs back up again and sets its sights on spring. Put simply, winter solstice opens up the floodgates of happiness, joy, optimism and all those other fuzzy feelings.
How the locals do Dongzhi - Back in the day, the Dongzhi winter solstice festival literally brought the country to a halt. Soldiers were brought in from their posts, farmers and fishermen kicked up their boots and everyone indulged in some much needed post-harvest R&R. Emperors staged elaborate ancestral-honoring ceremonies, while the common folk simply used the break for spending time with family and friends, honoring the dearly departed and eating their weight in special Dong Zhi dishes.
Winter Solstice Festival 冬至
Celebrated during the 11th lunar month, this festival is also known as the Dongzhi Festival. Traditional foods eaten are tangyuan, the glutinous rice balls with sweet fillings, like the ones eaten during the Lantern Festival.
In northern China, wheat dumplings with meat fillings are also eaten. This festival marks the shift to longer daylight hours and usually takes place around 22 December. The festival’s origins trace back to the Han Dynasty where a physician, appalled by the weak health of the poor, had dumplings filled with meat and fortifying ingredients made for them. Since then, the festival has celebrated as a time of taking care of one’s health as well as a time for gathering the family together for a reunion.
Tonic foods are prepared according to traditional recipes to fortify the body. Nourishing the body with meat and fatty foods to fight the cold has become a way of observing the festival.
read more
Tangyuan (湯圓)
Celebrated during the 11th lunar month, this festival is also known as the Dongzhi Festival. Traditional foods eaten are tangyuan, the glutinous rice balls with sweet fillings, like the ones eaten during the Lantern Festival.
In northern China, wheat dumplings with meat fillings are also eaten. This festival marks the shift to longer daylight hours and usually takes place around 22 December. The festival’s origins trace back to the Han Dynasty where a physician, appalled by the weak health of the poor, had dumplings filled with meat and fortifying ingredients made for them. Since then, the festival has celebrated as a time of taking care of one’s health as well as a time for gathering the family together for a reunion.
Tonic foods are prepared according to traditional recipes to fortify the body. Nourishing the body with meat and fatty foods to fight the cold has become a way of observing the festival.
read more
