《丙申猴年冬至聖日》
冬節大過年，
戶戶慶賀。
甜圓小而暖，
人人歡愉。
Winter Solstice for Year 2016
Time flies and Time passes, its again the end period of a
Lunar Year and so, All Taoists and Chinese will be preparing to celebrate the
Winter Solstice Festival aka Dong Zhi Day.
For Year 2016, Dong Zhi Day aka Winter Solstice
falls on 21 Dec, a Wednesday, starting time at 18:46 Hours.
So what is Winter Solstice?
According to Scientific Explanation, Winter
Solstice is a Day of the starting of the change of the Weather and also the
Sun-shining duration for both the North & South Hemisphere (南北半球).
And so, from this Day onwards, the Sun-shine Duration for
the North Hemisphere will be shorter and vice-versa for the South Hemisphere.
And this is why, in one of our Old Hokkien Saying,
for those Lazy Ladies who are not able to wake up early in the Morning, she
wont be able to finish her chores in A Day.
So what Winter Solstice means in Chinese Custom?
In Chinese Custom, Winter Solstice Festival will be
the Day for the Chinese to celebrate their Harvesting of the Year and also to
have a Reunion Gathering with the Family Members.
Besides that, Taoists and Chinese will have to pay
respect to Deities & Ancestors, returning the Gratitude to them for the
necessary Blessings for the Year.
In Taoist Records, this is a Day that Taoists will
visit Temples to pay respect to Deities in-order to request for Blessings and
also, the eliminating of debts and sins. In some Big Taoist Temples, Priests
will conduct Rituals/Ceremonies for Taoists and other Followers to participate
in.
So what are the Traditional Items that are
associated with Winter Solstice Festival?
In Ancient Era, the Chinese will prepared Buns,
Pastry, etc, to celebrate whereas in Summer Period, Chinese will prepare
Noodles for the Celebration.
After a certain period, Chinese changed they habit
of eating Buns & Pastry to eating of Sweet Dumplings aka Tang Yuan (湯圓).
Tang Yuan, shape in Round or Ball, represent Reunion,
Happiness and Full. This does not only represent Reunion for the Family but
also, represent having a Nice Round-off for the Years’ Harvesting.
Till today, the Chinese still practice the
consuming of Tang Yuan to get the Blessing of Reunion and Happiness.
So how and what to prepare for the Honouring of
Deities and Ancestors?
For those who have Altars, dedicating to Deities
and Ancestors, at home, remember to wake up early in the Morning to prepare the
Tang Yuan aka Ee.
Nowadays, due to busy working life of the Modern
Adults, Tang Yuan can be brought from Supermarket in Ready-made packing.
Oneself just need to get a little bundle of Pandan Leaves and a pack of
Red/Brown sugar and the cooking of Tang Yuan will be able to take place.
After the cooking is ready, scoop the Tang Yuan
into 3 Bowls for offering to the Deities and at least 2 Bowls for the Ancestors
(1 bowl for Male Ancestors and other for Female Ancestors).
Remember to prepare some Paper Offerings such as
Tian Gong Jin (天公金) and Shou Jin (壽金) for Deities, Gold &
Silver Papers (金銀紙) for Ancestors.
Wait for about 15 minutes; send off the Paper
Offerings for the Deities and after 3 rounds of Offering Incenses to Ancestors,
the Gold & Silver Papers can be sent off.
Usually after the Offering, the Tang Yuan can be
retrieved back and distributed out to the Family Members for eating. Do not
throw them away, cos All consuming items on Dong Zhi Day cannot be waste.
In order not to left the Altar empty, after retrieving
the Tang Yuan from the Altar, oneself can prepared a set of Five Oranges to
replace the Tang Yuan.
Dong Zhi Da Guo Nian (冬至大過年)
In Chinese, we have a Saying of Dong Zhi Da Guo Nian (冬至大過年),
meaning that, Dong Zhi Day is a Day that worth Celebrating and this Celebrating
must be as Grand as the Celebration of Lunar New Year.
Why is there such a practice?
According to Chinese Belief, Winter Solstice is a
Day of Changes not only in the Weather and Sun-shining Duration, but also the
Luck and the Natural Element in the 3 Realms.
During these Changes, certain Elements in one’s
Spiritual & Physical Body will also be changed. For those who encountered
Negative Issues in the Year, after this Day, the Negative Issues will be
eliminated and by doing Requesting of Blessings, hoping that the following Days
of the Year will be Blessed with Good Luck.
And this is why, on this Day, Taoists and Chinese
will have to prepare for a Grand Celebration, such as wearing new Clothing,
consuming of Good Items, visit Temples, etc, to gain the Happiness and Good
Blessing from the Deities and Big Dao.
Other Information 其他相關資訊﹕
Offering Tang Yuan to Deities on Dong Zhi (冬至敬湯圓)
http://javewutaoismplace.blogspot.sg/2012/12/honouring-tang-yuan-to-deities-on-dong.html
Hokkien Song on Dong Zhi aka Winter Solstice (閩南語賀年金曲-冬節)
http://youtu.be/Evj9y6o29fA
Hokkien Theme Song on Dong Zhi aka Winter Solstice
Dumpling (閩南語金曲-冬至圓)
http://youtu.be/vhz9j3I2K8I
