When Is the Winter Solstice? The Exact Date and Solar Term Timing Explained
The winter solstice is the earliest of the 24 solar terms to have been established. As far back as the Spring and Autumn period over 2,500 years ago, China was already using the earth sundial to observe the sun and determine the winter solstice, which falls between December 21 and 22 on the Gregorian calendar each year. It is commonly known as the Winter Festival, the Longest Night Festival, and the Lesser New Year. Let's take a look below at exactly when the winter solstice falls!
When is the winter solstice?
The winter solstice of 2016 fell on December 21, 2016, the 23rd day of the 11th lunar month of the year of the Monkey (Bingshen year). Auspicious activities: forming alliances, proposing marriage, making carts and implements, offering sacrifices, and praying for blessings. Inauspicious activities: breaking ground, burial, holding funerals, and opening graves.
Climatic Characteristics of the Winter Solstice
In astronomy, the winter solstice is taken as the beginning of winter, which for most regions of our country is clearly too late. As a poem goes, "The northwest wind strikes, a hundred grasses wither; after several bouts of cold, a single yang returns. The day is shortest in its hours of light, yet golden plum blossoms vie in brilliant bloom." (Zuo Heshui) The winter solstice is the day with the shortest daytime of the year. After the winter solstice, the sun's direct point gradually moves northward, and in the Northern Hemisphere the days gradually grow longer and the nights gradually grow shorter. Hence the saying, "After eating winter solstice noodles, the day grows by a thread."
From a climatic perspective, during the winter solstice the average temperature on the northwestern plateau is generally below 0°C, and even in the southern regions it is only around 6°C to 8°C. In addition, the "counting of the nines" begins at the winter solstice, making the winter solstice the first day of the "counting of the nines." Regarding the "counting of the nines," a folk rhyme goes like this: "In the first and second nines, hands stay in sleeves; in the third and fourth nines, walk on ice; in the fifth and sixth nines, watch the willows along the river; in the seventh nine, the river opens; in the eighth nine, the swallows come; in the ninth nine plus one nine, plough oxen walk everywhere." However, in the low-altitude river valley regions of the southwest, even in the coldest period of early January, the average temperature remains above 10°C, truly a place where autumn passes and spring prevails, with no winter all year round.
The ancient Chinese divided the winter solstice into three pentads: the first pentad, earthworms coil; the second pentad, the elk sheds its antlers; the third pentad, the spring water stirs. Legend has it that the earthworm is a creature that curls up in yin and stretches out in yang. At this time, although yang qi has already begun to grow, yin qi is still very strong, so the earthworms in the soil still curl up their bodies. The elk and the deer belong to the same family, yet differ in yin and yang. The ancients believed that the elk's antlers grow backward, and so it is yin; when the winter solstice brings the birth of a single yang, the elk senses the gradual retreat of yin qi and sheds its antlers. Because yang qi has just been born, the spring water in the mountains can flow and is warm at this time.
Historical Origins of the Winter Solstice
According to records, in the Zhou and Qin dynasties the eleventh month of winter was taken as the first month, and the winter solstice was taken as the beginning of the year to celebrate the New Year. The Book of Han says: "At the winter solstice, yang qi rises and the way of the ruler grows, therefore congratulations are offered..." That is to say, people began to celebrate the winter solstice festival in order to celebrate the arrival of the new year. The ancients believed that from the winter solstice onward, the yang qi of heaven and earth begins to rise and gradually grow stronger, representing the start of the next cycle, a most auspicious day. Therefore, later the customs of ancestor worship and family gatherings during the Spring Festival were often chosen to take place at the winter solstice. The winter solstice is also called "Minor New Year," which on the one hand indicates that the end of the year is near and few days remain, and on the other hand shows the importance of the winter solstice.
Observing the winter solstice as a festival originated in the Han dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, and has continued to the present day. The first month of the Zhou calendar was the eleventh month of the Xia calendar; therefore, the first month of the Zhou dynasty equals the eleventh month of today's Gregorian calendar, so paying respects to the year and congratulating the winter were not distinguished. It was not until Emperor Wu of Han adopted the Xia calendar that the first month and the winter solstice were separated. It can also be said that simply celebrating the "Winter Solstice Festival" only began after the Han dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, and has continued to the present day.
In the Han dynasty, the winter solstice was the "Winter Festival." Government offices held congratulatory ceremonies called "congratulating the winter," official holidays were taken as a rule, and the custom of "paying respects to winter," in which officials exchanged congratulations, was popular in official circles. The Book of the Later Han records: "Around the winter solstice, the gentleman settles his body and quiets his being; the hundred officials cease their affairs and do not attend to government, choosing an auspicious hour and then handling matters." So on this day the entire court, high and low, took a holiday and rested, the army stood by, the frontier passes closed, merchants and travelers stopped business, relatives and friends exchanged fine foods and visited one another, joyfully spending a festival of "settling the body and quieting the being." During the Wei, Jin, and Six Dynasties, the winter solstice was called "Lesser New Year," and people paid festival respects to their parents and elders. After the Song dynasty, the winter solstice gradually became a festive occasion for sacrificing to ancestors and spirits.
During the Tang and Song periods, the winter solstice was a day for sacrificing to heaven and ancestors. On this day the emperor went to the outskirts to hold the grand ceremony of sacrificing to heaven, and the common people paid respects to their parents and elders. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, emperors all held the grand ceremony of sacrificing to heaven, called "sacrificing to heaven at the winter solstice in the suburbs." Within the palace there was a ceremony in which the hundred officials submitted congratulatory memorials to the emperor, and they also exchanged calling cards to offer congratulations, just like on New Year's Day.