A man making a lantern at a Winter Solstice Lantern Festival Workshop. | Photo by ItzaFineDay, Flickr
Amidst the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, the shortest day of the year is approaching. While the winter solstice may not be a significant event for us in North America, it has been observed for thousands of years in other parts of the world. The winter solstice falls on Dec. 21 and marks the first day of winter. It is also when the days begin to lengthen again.
Winter Solstice in China
Many cultures have their own ways of celebrating the arrival of winter. For example, the Chinese call it Dong Zhi or ‘winter arrives.’ According to Jing Huey Yang, a Mandarin instructor at Langara College, the beginning and end of each season is marked by a festival. She says in spring there is the Spring Festival, in summer there is the Dragon Boat Festival and in autumn there is the Autumn Festival.
“Each season there is a festival to signal change. Some say [the winter solstice] is almost as important as the Spring Festival,” says Yang.
Yang, who is from Taiwan, says it is common for people to visit Chinese medicine stores and stock up on herbal remedies to increase their chi (life force energy). She says this seasonal change is when they start looking after their health during the cold winter months. According to Yang, most families celebrate the winter solstice by gathering together to eat nutritious food. One common food item is glutinous rice dumplings or tong yuan.
“The stuffing is put in a pan and then the pan is shaken to coat the stuffing with the glutinous rice flour,” explains Yang.
The Chinese have been an agricultural society for thousands of years, and many farmers did not have the chance to usually eat sweets. Hence eating tong yuan was a great treat for them. Traditional fillings include black sesame or red bean.
Winter Solstice in Japan
Misuzu Kazama, a lecturer of Japanese at UBC says the Japanese do not really consider the winter solstice a festival. For the Japanese, who call the winter solstice Toji, it is more of a traditional practice.
She explains that since the sun rises in the east and Japan is the furthest east in Asia, they will be the first ones to welcome the new year.
The Japanese want to start the year off with good luck. Celebrating with food is a must for most traditional practices. Kazama points out the Japanese will consume foods ending with the Japanese sound “un.” These sounds are similar to the word for good fortune, and so the Japanese hope to bring more good fortune in the new year by consuming these foods. Some examples are ninjin (carrot) and kabocha (Japanese squash) which used to be called namkin.
“Another traditional thing to do is to take a hot bath with yuzu [fruit],” says the Japan native.
This practice is believed to prevent colds in the harsh winters.
“Taking a hot [yuzu] bath with my grandma was my favourite part of this event,” says Kazama.
She explains it is now uncommon to find three generations living under one roof in Japan, and so this tradition is a contributing factor to one of her fondest memories of the winter solstice.
A Local Celebration
Here in Vancouver, the Roundhouse Community centre has a winter solstice festival of its own. The 20th Annual Winter Solstice Festival is held in partnership with the Secret Lantern Society. On the evening of Dec. 21, there will be a lantern procession through David Lam Park and a ‘labyrinth of light’ in the Roundhouse gymnasium. Lantern making workshops and drumming workshops are also happening in the weeks leading up to the event.
Roy Liu, special events program assistant for the community centre, says the centre will be closed that evening to accommodate the event and forecasted turnout to be between 1500 and 3000 people.
For more information,
visit http://www.roundhouse.ca
