《甲辰龍年。冬至聖節。2024》
冬節大過年,
戶戶慶賀。
甜圓小而暖,
人人歡愉。
Winter Solstice for Year 2024
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 2024, Dong Zhi Day aka Winter Solstice falls on 21 Dec,
starting time at 17:21 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.