Winter Solstice Festival

Dongzhi (Winter Solstice) is also known as dongji (the peak of winter), dongjie (winter festival), hedong (celebrating winter), and yasui (little new year). It is the 22^nd of the 24 solar terms in the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, and usually falls in the middle of the 11^th lunar month. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually falls a few days before Christmas, between 21 and 23 December.

The Winter Solstice is said to herald the arrival of spring. In ancient times, it was regarded as the beginning of a new year, hence the saying dong daguo nian (the Winter Solstice is more important than New Year’s Day) or feidong shounian (more gifts are given on the Winter Solstice than New Year’s Day).¹

Defining the solar terms through celestial observation

The celebration of the Winter Solstice began in the Zhou dynasty, more than 2,500 years ago, when the 11^th month of the Xiali (the predecessor of the lunar calendar) was designated as the beginning of the year. As described in the Book of Han: Astronomy, “The Winter Solstice happens when the Sun is at Altair, when the Earth’s pole reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun, hence the shadow cast by the sundial is long.”²The sundial was used in ancient times to determine the distance and position of the Sun, so people could tell that the Sun was at its southernmost point, causing the shadow to be at its longest during the Winter Solstice.

To explain using modern science, the Winter Solstice is when the Sun shines directly on the Tropic of Capricorn and the day is at its shortest while the night is at its longest in the northern hemisphere. After the Winter Solstice, the Sun begins to move north, and the day gradually gets longer, temperatures start to rise and new life begins to grow.

The evolution of the Winter Solstice

During the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220), the Winter Solstice was known as dongjie (winter festival). Official celebrations and rituals were held, and family and friends visited each other with food gifts in a custom known as hedong (celebrating winter). During the Six Dynasties period (220 – 589), rituals to pay respect to ancestors were added, and from then on ancestral rites during the Winter Solstice became a common practice. The custom was recorded in a Song dynasty memoir Dongjing meng hua lu (The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendour): “The Winter Solstice in the 11^th month is the most important festival in the capital, even the poor save throughout the year to buy new clothes, prepare food and drinks, worship their ancestors; the officials open their gates, celebrate and exchange greetings, just like during the New Year.”³

As Singapore does not have four seasons and has never experienced freezing winters, the Winter Solstice Festival has taken on a different meaning, becoming a day of reunion and remembrance of our ancestors. More than 100 years ago, the local English language newspapers had published articles introducing the significance of the day to English readers, showing the cultural importance of the day to the ethnic Chinese community.⁴ Among the Chinese festivals celebrated locally, Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival share the same significance of family reunion as Winter Solstice Festival.

Culinary traditions of the southern Chinese

In the past, the local Chinese community was largely made up of migrants from the southern Chinese provinces of Fujian and Guangdong, who had a tradition of eating tangyuan or sweet glutinous rice balls on the Winter Solstice. They were known as tuanyuanzi, symbolising family reunion.⁵ The traditional sweet glutinous rice balls are pink and white, with fillings of black sesame, peanut and red bean paste.

In the few days before the Winter Solstice, glutinous rice flour is sold, usually at stalls that also sell tofu and bean sprouts. On the evening of the day itself, families gather to prepare the sweet glutinous rice balls together and a little rock sugar or brown sugar is added to taste. Longan, red dates, slab sugar and pandan leaves are boiled together to make a soup base for the sweet glutinous rice balls. Today, most people choose to buy pre-packed tangyuan for convenience. The elderly in the family will often first serve tangyuan to the ancestors, before everyone eats them, to thank the ancestors for their blessings throughout the year.

The origins of eating tangyuan during Winter Solstice can be traced back to a folk tale about a father and daughter who arrived in a small town in Fujian — where the daughter was to stay on and work as a maid. Before leaving, the father made a sweet glutinous rice ball and they each ate half, promising to eat a whole one when they reunited. On the next Winter Solstice, the daughter made two large sweet glutinous rice balls and stuck them at the door, and her father came as promised. The touching story soon spread, and from then on, families would stick sweet glutinous rice balls on their doors or windows to symbolise reunion and happiness.⁶

The culinary traditions of the northern Chinese

Over the past four decades, as more and more immigrants from all over China moved to Singapore, traditions from northern China have also become popular in Singapore. As the Chinese sayings go, “Winter is harsh on the elderly” and “If you don’t eat dumplings on the Winter Solstice, your ears will freeze and fall off”, northerners have a custom of eating jiaozi or dumplings during the Winter Solstice. This custom is said to have originated during the Eastern Han dynasty, when the charitable master physician Zhang Zhongjing (c. 150–219) treated the sick and saved lives.

Once, on his way back to his hometown, Zhang came across many people with frostbitten ears, so he came up with a formula for treating the condition on the Winter Solstice – wrapping mutton and other warming medicinal herbs in dough in the shape of an ear. He cooked the dumplings and served them to the locals, and from then on it became a tradition to eat dumplings on the Winter Solstice to remember his kindness.

Northern Chinese also have the tradition of eating mutton and drinking mutton soup to ward off cold on the Winter Solstice. Some local restaurants have also started offering mutton hotpot to satisfy the appetites of their homesick customers.

The meaning of charity

In Singapore, some charity organisations distribute gifts to underprivileged elderly and children in December, giving a charitable meaning to the festival. In ancient China, when the Winter Solstice arrived, some wealthy families would give out food to the poor at their doorstep or in their ancestral hall or a temple, and blankets to keep the needy warm.⁷ Evidently, the Winter Solstice Festival is not merely a time to feast on sweet glutinous rice balls or dumplings and pay respect to our ancestors, but also a time for charity.

While life today is very different from the past, many people still hold the Winter Solstice traditions close to their hearts. Families still gather on the Winter Solstice to eat tangyuan and share photos and festive greetings via social media and text messages.