Culture 2023.12.22.
From olden times, our people have enjoyed the winter solstice as a folk holiday.
The winter solstice is the 22nd of the 24 seasonal divisions of the year in the lunar calendar.
The night is longest and the day shortest on the winter solstice.
Our ancestors believed that the New Year began on the winter solstice because the days grow longer from the following day. They predicted that when it snowed copiously in December it would rain appropriately next May for the crops to grow well and that when it snowed little and the cold wind often blew in December the weather would be unfavorable next May.
Therefore, December was called the May-related winter solstice.
It is one of our folk customs to cook and eat adzuki bean gruel on the winter solstice. This is said to be the product of the creative wisdom of our ancestors. They diversified their dietary lives so as to take necessary nutrients in reasonable proportions and maintain their health. Since they considered the winter solstice another New Year’s Day, they said that they grew a year older when they ate a bowl of adzuki bean gruel.
Adzuki bean gruel was a symbol of bumper crops. Our ancestors looked back on the whole year, eating adzuki bean gruel. They shared it with their neighbors and promoted concord among themselves from a desire to reap an abundant harvest next year.
The custom of eating adzuki bean gruel on the winter solstice has so far been followed to scent the life of our people with national fragrance.
The winter solstice for this year falls on December 22.
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