Dongzhi Festival

Dongzhi Festival
Tangyuan, a traditional Dongzhi Festival food
Observed byChinese people
TypeCultural
SignificanceMarks the winter solstice
Observancesmaking and eating of tangyuan, ancestor worship
DateDecember solstice (between December 21 and December 23)
Frequencyannual
Related toWinter solstice
Dongzhi Festival
Chinese冬至
Literal meaningwinter's extreme
(i.e. winter solstice)
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinDōngzhì
Bopomofoㄉㄨㄥ ㄓˋ
Wu
RomanizationTon tsy
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingdung1 zi3
Southern Min
Hokkien POJTang-chì
Eastern Min
Fuzhou BUCDĕ̤ng-cé
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese冬節
Simplified Chinese冬节
Literal meaningwinter festival
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinDōngjié
Hakka
Pha̍k-fa-sṳTûng-chiet
Southern Min
Hokkien POJTang-cheh or Tang-choeh
Eastern Min
Fuzhou BUCDĕ̤ng-cáik
Dongzhi Festival dumplings

The Dongzhi Festival or Winter Solstice Festival (Chinese: 冬至; pinyin: Dōngzhì; lit. 'winter's extreme') is a traditional Chinese festival celebrated during the Dongzhi solar term (winter solstice), which falls between December 21 and December 23.[1][2]

The origins of this festival can be traced back to the yin and yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos.[3] After this celebration, it is believed that days will have longer daylight hours and therefore create an increase in positive energy flowing in. The philosophical significance of this is symbolized by the I Ching hexagram fu (Chinese: , "Returning").

  1. ^ "Traditional Chinese Festivals". china.org.cn. 2007-12-29. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  2. ^ Aksjeselskap, Time and Date (2016). "Dōngzhì Festival in Taiwan". timeanddate.com. Time and Date AS.
  3. ^ Linda Sigurðardóttir, Dongzhi-Celebrating the Winter Solstice, GBTimes (Dec. 21, 2012) https://gbtimes.com/dongzhi-festival-celebrates-winter-solstice Archived 2018-08-15 at the Wayback Machine