《戊戌狗年。冬至聖節》
冬節大過年,
戶戶慶賀。
甜圓小而暖,
人人歡愉。
Winter Solstice for Year
2018
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 2018, Dong Zhi
Day aka Winter Solstice falls on 22 Dec, starting time at 06:23 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
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