冬至

Winter Solstice (冬至)

Winter Solstice on 22 December 2026 is the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Different countries celebrate it in different ways, yet all these traditions share common themes: the return of light, renewal, hope, reunion, and, last but not least, food.

In Iran, the winter solstice is celebrated as the Night of Yalda (Shab-e Yalda). The word ‘Yalda’ is Syriac for ‘birth’. It is an appropriate term for the winter solstice because Yalda symbolically represents the rebirth of light. Families and friends gather on the year's longest night to listen to music, recite the poetry of the great Persian poet Hafez, feast on watermelons, pomegranates, nuts and dried fruits, stay awake till the break of dawn, and await the triumph of light over darkness. This simple human gesture beautifully expresses the universal theme of renewal and hope for the return of light after the longest night. Gathering of family and friends is key. The long dark winter night is perceived as a time of danger and uncertainty. Hence, feeling the warmth of companionship, enjoying music and poetry, and feasting on energy-dense food during the longest night is protection against darkness.

In the United Kingdom, people gather around a circular arrangement of enormous stones on Salisbury Plain in southern England, known as Stonehenge, every year during the winter solstice. The monument they see today is the extant portion of a much larger prehistoric ceremonial landscape containing burial mounds, avenues and other monuments. Its construction took place over several stages, beginning about five thousand years ago. The circular structure of vertical sarsen stones and horizontal bluestones was erected five hundred years later. The most fascinating feature of Stonehenge is its astronomical alignment. The monument is carefully positioned in relation to the sun. During the winter solstice, the setting sun aligns with the monument’s central axis. It is a powerful reminder that human beings, since the days of prehistoric agricultural societies, have been tracking the movement of the sun. They witness the shortest day of the year during the winter solstice gradually lengthen, symbolizing the rebirth of the life-giving Sun!

In Northern Europe, the ancient Germanic and Norse peoples celebrated Yule during the winter season. This English word ‘Yule’ survives in expressions associated with Christmas: Yuletide for the Christmas season, Yule log for the traditional log burned during the Christmas season, and Yule feast for the Christmas feast. The Norse word equivalent of Yule is ‘Jól’. Several Scandinavian languages still use a form of ‘Jól’ as their word for Christmas: Jul in Danish; Jul in Norwegian; Jul in Swedish; Jól in Icelandic; and Joulu in Finnish. The traditional customs included communal gatherings, drinking and feasting, lighting fires, bringing evergreen plants indoors, and burning the Yule log. Many historians see echoes of these older winter traditions in the modern Christmas customs: family feast on Christmas Eve, Christmas lighting, the Christmas tree in the living room, and the Yule log, which has been transformed into a chocolate log cake on the dining table! Although the origin of Christmas is uncertain, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ was fixed on December 25th, three days after the winter solstice, since the 4th century AD. The parallel between the “... the light shineth in the darkness ...” in John 1:5 of the King James Bible and the rebirth of the life-giving Sun is noteworthy.

In China, the winter solstice is celebrated as Dongzhi (冬至), which means ‘winter arrives.’ The festival is rooted in ancient Chinese cosmology and movement between yin and yang. The longest night symbolizes the peaking of yin, followed by the gradual transition to the positive force of yang. The Dongzhi celebration, like the other winter solstice celebrations, is characterised by family reunions, honouring of ancestors, and feasting. In Northern China, eating Jiaozi is a must to ‘protect ears from frostbite, according to an ancient legend.’ In Southern China, Tangyuan (glutinous rice balls with fillings) is served during the winter solstice as their round shape symbolizes family unity and togetherness. In Ningxia, they cook mutton with sweet potato vermicelli and share the brain (头脑) soup with the neighbours to keep warm. In Zhejiang, people make rice cakes to honour their ancestors and present them as gifts to friends.

In Hainan, winter solstice is known as Dongxue(冬雪). It is a vibrant festival with a character as diverse as the island itself. Unlike the saying, "north eats jiaozi, south eats tangyuan", Hainan's celebrations are wonderfully varied, featuring unique local customs and foods. In Qiongzhong, families from the Miao minority gather to pound steamed glutinous rice with sugarcane syrup, shape them, and share the warm cakes on banana leaves with neighbours and friends. In Wanning, the farmers rest their cattle and eat a snack made from rice cooked in a woven bag of screw pine leaves. In Haikou, the winter solstice is often called a ‘mini Qingming Festival’ (小清明). Families get together to sweep tombs and pay respects to their ancestors, making it a significant day for family reunions. The dining table must showcase sweet potato milk (甜薯奶), a thick, milky soup made from local sweet potatoes that can be served sweet or savory. A proper feast, however, will have to feature chicken, mutton, and a sweet and spicy stew of pig's feet cooked with ginger, which are all body-warming foods for the winter!