冬至，是中国传统二十四节气（the 24 traditional Chinese solar terms或简写为the 24 solar terms）中的第二十二个节气，也是冬季的第四个节气。冬至为农历十一月中，“至”是极致的意思，冬藏之气至此而极。它包含三层意思：阴寒达到极致，天最冷；阳气始至，上升才逼天气寒彻；太阳行至最南处，所以昼最短，夜最长。
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Winter Solstice
The Winter Solstice falls on December 22 on the Gregorian calendar this year. It is the first recognized solar term in Ancient China. Also called Winter Festival or Changzhi Festival, the Winter Solstice is a traditional Chinese festival. In China, there’s a long tradition of offering sacrifices to people’s ancestors on this day.On the Winter Solstice day, the sun beats down almost directly over the Tropic of Capricorn with the shortest daytime and longest night in the northern hemisphere. After the Winter Solstice, hours of daylight in the northern hemisphere get longer with each passing day.In ancient China, people divided the wintry days after the Winter Solstice into nine sessions, with each one covering nine days, called Shujiu. The tradition has been passed down for generations. Our wise ancestors invented a way to record the passing of winter. They drew nine plum blossoms, each with nine petals. With a day passing, a petal was painted red. When all the nine blossoms were finished, winter was over.![]()
On this day, in almost every household in the north, the whole family gets together to make dumplings. Some knead the dough; some make dumpling wrappers, and some peel garlic to make dipping sauces. The whole house is filled with warmth and laughter owing to the boiled dumplings. In Chinese restaurants or canteens, dumplings are also specialties of the day.It is said that eating dumplings on this day is in memory of the “medical sage” Zhang Zhongjing (around AD 150 to around 215) from the Eastern Han Dynasty. After Zhang Zhongjing resigned from his official post, he went back to his hometown one year, and saw that people suffered frostbite on their ears. He then came up with a solution: putting herbs into dough wrappers to make ear-shaped food and then boiled them to send to the poor, which magically cured their frozen ears.![]()
Tropic of Capricorn n. 南回归线
Shujiu n. 数九
petal n. 花瓣
frostbite n. 冻伤
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冬至
今年冬至是公历12月22日。冬至是中国古代第一个被确定的节气。冬至也被称为冬节或长至节，是一个传统的中国节日。在中国，在这一天向祖先献祭有着悠久的传统。冬至当天，太阳直射点几乎直接落在南回归线上。在这天，北半球白天最短，夜晚最长。冬至过后，北半球的日照时间每天都在变长。在中国古代，人们将冬至后的寒冬分为九个阶段，每个阶段持续九天，称为“数九”。这一传统已被一代代流传下来。睿智的祖先们发明了一种记录冬日的方法：他们画了九朵梅花，每朵梅花有九个花瓣。每过一天，就描红一片花瓣。当九朵梅描完时，冬天就结束了。（译者注：即梅花型九九消寒图）在这一天，在北方几乎每个家庭，全家都会聚在一起包饺子。有人揉面团；有人擀饺子皮，有人剥蒜调蘸料。整个屋子都热热闹闹，其乐融融。在餐馆、食堂，饺子也是当天的特色菜肴。据说在冬至吃饺子是为了纪念东汉时期的“医圣”张仲景（约公元150年至公元215年）。张仲景辞官后，有一年回到家乡，看到人们耳朵冻伤。于是他想出了一个办法：把草药放在面皮里做成耳状食物，然后煮沸送给穷人，神奇地治愈了他们冻僵的耳朵。----------------------------------
