The Dong Zhi or Winter Solstice Festival
A very long time ago the Chinese people observed Dong Zhi (also known as the Winter Solstice Festival) similar to the Chinese Lunar New Year when they went to see family members and friends. There is usually a banquet and the businesses are closed on that day. This is the day that people will come around and eat “tang yuan” (glutinous flour balls) which represents family togetherness and peace.
What do we mean when we use the term “winter solstice”?
A solstice is an astronomical term used to describe the day of the year when the sun is the greatest distance from our equator. There are two solstices, therefore, one in the summer and one in the winter each causing either the longest or shortest day of the year. The times of these vary, however, depending on which hemisphere you are discussing.
Solstices happen when the earth turns away from the Sun at the greatest distance for that hemisphere. The earth orbits around the sun while, at the same time, rotating on its axis. The sideways turn results in one hemisphere being nearer the sun, bringing summer, but the other hemisphere is turned far away, bringing winter.
The term solstice actually come form the Latin word solstitium. They derived the word solstitium from sol meaning the sun and stitium, which means to stop. During the solstice, the sun appears to do exactly that. It reaches almost the same elevation everyday at noon for the several days before and after the solstice.
The winter solstice happens in the northern hemisphere on either one of these days: December 21st or December 22nd each year and the sun glows exactly over the tropic of Capricorn. The winter solstice for the southern hemisphere is around June 20th or June 21st, which happens when the sunlight is fixed over the tropic of Capricorn.
The shortest day and longest night of the year are celebrated by the Winter Solstice. This day is considered to be the mid-point of winter by many societies on their calendars. Amazingly, in the past 3,000 years, the date of the solstice has moved only one day.
Many ancient cultures celebrated the winter solstice as a time of new birth because the sun seemed reborn as the days began to stay lighter longer. This was often seen as a positive change and a purge of evil from the world as the darkness (evil) was defeated by light (good.)
Today, festivals of light are still celebrated by some cultures. In addition to the Chinese Dong Zhi festival, the Germanic cultures celebrate Yule and Hindus celebrate Diwali, a festival of light.