Dong zhi, winter solstice festival, One of the most important festival before the Chinese new year, celebrated across Asia country, especially in the southern parts of China & Chinese communities .
Dongzhi occurs when the sun's position in the sky is at its greatest distance away from the earth resulting in the shortest day of the year. Depending on changes in the calendar, the winter solstice occurs some time between December 20 and 23. This year (2013), the solstice falls on December 22, which is tomorrow!
The reason of celebrating dongzhi is to make all the family to reunite.It is on this day that people who are working far away from home come home to visit for a while. Also, it indicates the reversal of the gradually lengthening nights and shortening days. Once winter solstice is past, the days become longer and longer. Because of this particular significance, most cultures have associated this day with rebirth, in the form of holidays, festival, gathering and rituals.During the festival, there is one thing that is very common for people to practice, which is eating festive food called "Tangyuan"
Tangyuan is a food made of glutirious rice flour. Glutinous rice flour is mixed with a small amount of water to form balls and is then cooked and served in boiling water. Tangyuan can be either plan or stuffed.
Tang in chinese means soup, yuan means round or ball; when two words combine, phrase is similar in sound with the term for reunion "tuan yuan" in chinese. Apart from its symbolic meaning, eating tangyuan also have a meaning that you are one year older.
In the past, the Dongzhi Festival was a day in which families visited each other and took the day off from work. Large meals, similar to those eaten during Chinese New Year, would also be enjoyed during the Dongzhi Festival. Today, most people have to work so the Dongzhi Festival is celebrated with less fanfare.
Different people from different country celebrate DongZhi in different way, How do you think about Malaysian? =)
If anyone is interested in learning how to make Tangyuan
The link below will show the details =)
http://mandarin.about.com/od/chineseculture/r/tangyuanrecipe.htm
Dongzhi occurs when the sun's position in the sky is at its greatest distance away from the earth resulting in the shortest day of the year. Depending on changes in the calendar, the winter solstice occurs some time between December 20 and 23. This year (2013), the solstice falls on December 22, which is tomorrow!
The reason of celebrating dongzhi is to make all the family to reunite.It is on this day that people who are working far away from home come home to visit for a while. Also, it indicates the reversal of the gradually lengthening nights and shortening days. Once winter solstice is past, the days become longer and longer. Because of this particular significance, most cultures have associated this day with rebirth, in the form of holidays, festival, gathering and rituals.During the festival, there is one thing that is very common for people to practice, which is eating festive food called "Tangyuan"
Tangyuan is a food made of glutirious rice flour. Glutinous rice flour is mixed with a small amount of water to form balls and is then cooked and served in boiling water. Tangyuan can be either plan or stuffed.
Tang in chinese means soup, yuan means round or ball; when two words combine, phrase is similar in sound with the term for reunion "tuan yuan" in chinese. Apart from its symbolic meaning, eating tangyuan also have a meaning that you are one year older.
Different people from different country celebrate DongZhi in different way, How do you think about Malaysian? =)
In a word, We sincerely wish everyone of you who celebrate Winter Solstice Festival will have a great day ahead =)
The link below will show the details =)
http://mandarin.about.com/od/chineseculture/r/tangyuanrecipe.htm
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