Li Dong is the first solar term in winter, whichmeans the beginning of winter, usually in November 7th or 8 of the Gregoriancalendar every year.During the beginning of the winter, people stillhave the food custom to supplement and spend the cold winter according to thetime sequence. As the end of the calendar and the beginning of the month ofHai, the beginning of the winter is the 19th solar term in the 24 solar terms.After the beginning of Li Dong, the sunshine time will continue to shortenand the temperature will continue to decrease.

In October of the lunar calendar, the beginning ofwinter, as a time point, is not only the time for ceremonious harvest sacrificeand feast in the Spring Festival, but also the season when the cold wind blows.In ancient times, people used to start the winter with Lidong. For example, thecollection of seventy-two waiting for the Moon said, "Li dong, thebeginning of winter ". In addition, it is also mentioned that "inwinter, everything will be collected in the end", which means that allautumn crops have been collected and dried, and animals have been hidden forhibernation. Therefore, the beginning of winter not only represents the comingof winter, but also reminds people to pay attention to the storage of food andavoid the cold.

After the beginning of winter, the plants witherand the insects hibernate. In order to fight against the severe winter, thefolk gradually formed the custom of starting winter to fill the winter, as thesaying goes, "starting winter to fill the winter, filling the mouthempty". In terms of food customs, there is a custom of eating dumplings inthe beginning of winter. In some places, you can make dumpling stuffing withJapanese melon or Chinese cabbage at this time, and you need to dip it invinegar and eat it with garlic. In some areas of South China, people like toeat chicken, duck and fish in the beginning of winter. Why eat dumplings inLidong? There is a saying that dumplings have the meaning of "the time ofmaking love" and the beginning of winter is also the turn of autumn andwinter, so we should eat dumplings. Modern people still continue this custom.Before and after the beginning of winter, dumplings are always an indispensabledelicacy.

"The beginning of winter is the time for allthings to collect, and also the time for long winter materialpreparation." Xiao Fang, a folklore expert, said that when it comes to thebeginning of winter, people are busy storing wine, pickles and rice. Amongthem, pickles are ancient winter dishes, which are said to have originated inthe Zhou Dynasty. Every household in ordinary families has a big vegetabletank, which can be eaten after being pickled for one month.

Source: China News Network

Time: November 8, 2019