[ **up: [[Festivals]] | [[Winter]]** ] --- # Winter Solstice ## Chinese Winter Solstice (*Dongzhi*) - [[2024-0803. The Winter Solstice Festival is celebrated with the immediate family to commemorate the shortest day of the year. The only fixed ritual for this festival is to make tangyuan (sweet dumplings).|'The Winter Solstice Festival is celebrated with the immediate family to commemorate the shortest day of the year.']][^1] + [[2024-0803. The Winter Solstice Festival is celebrated with the immediate family to commemorate the shortest day of the year. The only fixed ritual for this festival is to make tangyuan (sweet dumplings).|'The only fixed ritual for this festival is to make *tangyuan* (sweet dumplings). Usually, the whole family helps to prepare the filling and then forms the dumplings out of dough made of glutinous rice.']][^1] ### Etymology - [[2024-0803. 'Dong’ means ‘winter’ while ‘Zhi’ means ‘arrival’. Thus the name of this festival literally means ‘the coming of winter’.|'‘Dong’ means ‘winter’ while ‘Zhi’ means ‘arrival’. Thus the name of this festival literally means ‘the coming of winter’. This festival usually falls on the 21st, 22nd or 23rd December which marks the furthest position of the earth from the sun. During this period, the day time is the shortest while night times the longest.']][^2] - [[2024-0803. After Dongzhi, the days will stretch longer and positive energy (yang) will increase.|'After Dongzhi, the day time will stretch longer while positive energy, “Yang” will increase']][^2] [^1]: Peter O. Staub, et al., ‘[[Staub, et al. ‘Incense and Plant Ritual Use in Southwest China_ A Case Study Among the Bai in Shaxi’, 2011.|Incense and Plant Ritual Use in Southwest China: A Case Study Among the Bai in Shaxi]], *Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine*, vol. 7, no. 1, Dec. 2011, p. 43. [^2]: Goh Sang Seong, ‘[[Goh. ‘Penang Chinese Customs and Traditions’, 2015.|Penang Chinese Customs and Traditions]]’, *Kajian Malaysia* 33, Supp. 2 (2015), p. 144.