Dong Zhi, or Winter Solstice Festival, is an important observance in Singapore, where longstanding Chinese traditions remain strong. While celebration is most common among ethnic Chinese, people of all backgrounds get involved in Winter Solstice activities. This day is not a public holiday, but it is nevertheless an important cultural day on the Singapore calendar.
Winter Solstice comes six weeks before the Chinese New Year, which is also much celebrated in Singapore. It marks the shortest day of the year, which in Singapore is only about eight minutes shorter than the longest day due to its location a mere one degree latitude above the Equator. On this day, families may go out on the town to see public decorations or attend special events, but the heart of the holiday is at home. The main dish served, traditionally, is called “Tang Yuan”. It is a kind of pea soup into which are placed sweet, cooked rice dough balls. Some of the balls are white and the others pink, with the pink ones being intended to bring good luck.
Even though there isn’t much of a “winter” or radical seasonal changes in Singapore, the traditions of Winter Solstice live on and find new expression here year after year.
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.
Dongzhi Festival
Tangyuan (湯圓)
The Dongzhì Festival or Winter Solstice Festival 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. The origins of this festival can be traced back to the yin and yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos.
After this celebration, there will be days with longer daylight hours and therefore an increase in positive energy flowing in.
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