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
。
Winter Solstice
The Winter Solstice falls on December 2
2
on the Gregorian calendar this year. It is the first recognized solar term in
Ancient
Chin
a
.
A
lso 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.
