Beginning of Winter Customs

Welcoming winter was the most solemn official ceremony held on Beginning of Winter in ancient China. The ancients grouped Beginning of Winter together with Beginning of Spring, Beginning of Summer, and Beginning of Autumn as the “Four Beginnings,” regarding them as highly important festivals. According to the *Book of Rites · Monthly Ordinances*: “先立冬三日，大史谒之天子曰：某日立冬，盛德在水。天子乃斋。立冬之日，天子亲帅三公九卿大夫以迎冬于北郊。” Three days before Beginning of Winter, the Grand Astrologer informed the Son of Heaven that Beginning of Winter would fall on a certain day and that its flourishing virtue lay in Water, after which the emperor fasted. On the day itself, the Son of Heaven personally led the Three Dukes, Nine Ministers, and high officials to the northern suburbs to welcome winter. There he sacrificed to the winter deities — Zhuanxu, god of the north, and Xuanming.

The winter-welcoming ceremony followed extremely strict ritual regulations. The Han-dynasty *Treatise on Sacrifices* in the *Continuation of the Book of Han* records: “立冬之日，迎冬于北郊，祭黑帝玄冥。车旗服饰皆黑。歌《玄冥》，八佾舞《育命》之舞。” On Beginning of Winter, winter was welcomed in the northern suburbs and sacrifices were offered to the Black Emperor Xuanming. Chariots, banners, and garments were all black, corresponding to the winter virtue of Water. The hymn *Xuanming* was sung, while an eight-row ritual formation performed the dance *Yuming*. After the ceremony, the emperor also bestowed winter clothing upon his ministers and gave relief to widows, widowers, orphans, and others without support in order to secure the realm. During the reign of Emperor Wen of Han, palace attendants and officials were given padded jackets of five-colored embroidered silk or brocade on Beginning of Winter; under Emperor Wen of Wei, people of every rank wore warm hats; during the Tang, square flat caps were presented, all expressing the need to guard against the cold. In the Song dynasty, the Bureau of Sacrifices prescribed one day of leave for Beginning of Winter, while the court dispatched officials to sacrifice to the deities of the land and to the celestial deity Taiyi. Sacrificial rites were likewise performed on Beginning of Winter under the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The custom of welcoming winter began in the Zhou dynasty and continued without interruption through the Han, Wei, Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties, enduring for nearly three thousand years. It reflects the ancient philosophy of “following Heaven and responding to the proper time” — at the turning of the seasons, state ritual answered the rhythm of Heaven and Earth. Although imperial winter-welcoming ceremonies have now passed into history, reconstructed performances are occasionally staged at places such as Beijing’s Temple of Heaven, allowing people a glimpse of the grandeur of the ancient rites.

During Beginning of Winter, visitors can follow announcements from Beijing’s Temple of Heaven, Temple of Earth, and other sites for reconstructed winter-welcoming ceremonies. Some historical and cultural attractions also organize experiences centered on traditional sacrificial culture around the solar term, which visitors may observe from designated viewing areas.

After Beginning of Winter, the cold gradually deepens, and the opening of the stove for warming-stove gatherings generally took place around the beginning of the tenth lunar month. According to Meng Yuanlao’s Southern Song work *Dongjing Meng Hua Lu*, the first day of the tenth month was called “Little Spring” or “Little Yang Spring,” and on that day “民间皆置酒作暖炉会” — people everywhere prepared wine and held warming-stove gatherings. Jin Yingzhi of the Song dynasty likewise wrote in the *Zuiweng Tanlu*: “旧俗，十月朔，开炉向火，乃沃酒及炙脔肉于炉中，转坐饮啗，谓之暖炉。” According to the old custom, on the first day of the tenth month people opened the stove and lit the fire, poured wine, roasted pieces of meat over the flames, then sat around eating and drinking; this was called warming the stove.

At such gatherings, relatives and friends sat around the hearth, drinking wine and roasting meat in a warm and cheerful atmosphere. People also sent firewood, charcoal, wine, meat, silk, and cloth to relatives and close associates, and newly married daughters were also given stoves. The *Jingchu Suishiji* likewise records: “庐山白鹿洞，游士辐凑，每冬寒醵金市乌薪为御寒之备，号黑金社。十月旦日，命酒为暖炉会。” At White Deer Grotto on Mount Lu, traveling scholars gathered together, and every winter they pooled money to buy black firewood as protection against the cold, calling themselves the Black Gold Society; on the first day of the tenth month, they ordered wine and held a warming-stove gathering. These gatherings answered the practical need for warmth while also serving as social occasions for relatives and friends to reunite at the turn from autumn to winter, reflecting the Chinese winter aesthetic of gathering around the fire in conversation.

The warming-stove custom was already highly popular during the Song dynasty. Before the Tang, it had become customary in northern China to add coal fires on the first day of the tenth lunar month. The Qing work *Yanjing Suishiji* records: “京师居人例于十月初一日添设煤火。” Residents of the capital customarily added coal fires on the first day of the tenth month. From gathering around the fire for warmth, people began to prepare wine and banquets, gradually developing the social custom of the warming-stove gathering. It shows how the ancients transformed a necessity of surviving severe cold into a pleasure of daily life.

After Beginning of Winter, relatives and friends can be invited to gather around a stove, drink wine, and roast meat to experience the atmosphere of an old-fashioned warming-stove gathering. Some folk-style restaurants in northern China offer seasonal warming-stove banquets around Beginning of Winter.

Beginning of Winter marks the day when ingredients are first added and fermentation begins for Shaoxing yellow rice wine. For centuries, people in Shaoxing have called the period from Beginning of Winter to Beginning of Spring the following year “winter brewing,” regarding it as the most suitable season for making yellow rice wine. Winter water is clear and cold, while the low temperatures effectively suppress unwanted microorganisms and help fermentation proceed smoothly. At the same time, long fermentation at low temperature allows the wine to develop a rich and rounded flavor. For this reason, breweries large and small across Shaoxing traditionally sacrifice to the God of Wine on Beginning of Winter and pray for blessings. This opening ritual has evolved into a distinctive Shaoxing wine custom and folk tradition.

Traditional brewing follows the timing of Heaven — wine starter in the seventh month, wheat koji in the eighth, rice ferment in the ninth, brewing begins at Beginning of Winter, and the first pressing comes at the beginning of spring — passing through dozens of stages, including soaking the rice, steaming it, filling the vats, and fermentation. People in Shaoxing commonly call yellow rice wine “old wine.” They draw water from Jianhu Lake before their doors and say that from it comes Shaoxing wine whose fragrance travels ten thousand *li*. Beyond Shaoxing, traditional brewing techniques such as Tuopai Qujiu, Luzhou Laojiao, and Wuliangye, all listed as national intangible cultural heritage, likewise follow this natural seasonal rhythm.

The Shaoxing tradition of winter brewing can be traced back to the Hemudu culture of the Neolithic period. The *Book of Songs · July* records that Beginning of Winter was precisely the time when sorghum, rice, and other brewing ingredients were dried and stored, making it an excellent season for wine production. Ming- and Qing-dynasty texts such as the *Tiaoding Ji* also contain explicit records concerning the choice of season for winter brewing. Beginning the brewing season at Beginning of Winter has remained a traditional Shaoxing custom for centuries. It embodies the central principle of Chinese brewing — “following Heaven and responding to the proper time”: making the finest wine in the season best suited to it is a crystallization of the ancient wisdom of using natural rhythms to create flavor.

During Beginning of Winter, visitors can travel to Shaoxing in Zhejiang to observe the opening ceremony of the yellow rice wine brewing season. Local producers often hold brewing festivals on the day itself, where visitors can learn about traditional brewing methods and taste newly brewed wine. Winter-brewed yellow rice wine can also be purchased in Shaoxing to experience the distinctive flavor evoked by the phrase: “Draw water from Jianhu before the gate, and brew Shaoxing wine whose fragrance travels ten thousand li.”

Congratulating winter, also known as “paying winter respects,” is an important folk custom of Beginning of Winter. In ancient times, people held solemn winter-congratulation ceremonies on this day, treating it almost like a small New Year. While the emperor led his ministers in the grand state ceremony of welcoming winter, ordinary people practiced paying winter respects — younger generations greeted their elders, while neighbors visited one another and exchanged congratulations.

According to the *Qing Jia Lu*, by the Qing dynasty, scholar-officials would pay congratulatory respects to elderly and honored members of the household on Beginning of Winter and would also go out to visit one another. Men and women, old and young alike, changed into new clothing and exchanged bows and formal greetings, a practice known as “paying winter respects.” Cui Shi of the Eastern Han also wrote in the *Monthly Ordinances for the Four Classes of People*: “冬至之日进酒肴，贺谒君师耆老，一如正日。” On the winter festival, wine and dishes were presented and congratulatory visits paid to rulers, teachers, and elders, just as on New Year’s Day. During the Song dynasty, people similarly changed into new clothes and exchanged congratulations and visits as they would during the New Year festivities. The custom reflects social ethics centered on respecting the elderly, caring for the young, and maintaining harmonious relations.

The custom of congratulating winter was already widespread in the Han dynasty. From the Han description “just as on New Year’s Day,” to the Song comparison “just like the New Year festival,” and finally the Qing custom of paying congratulatory respects to elders, the exact form changed somewhat from dynasty to dynasty, but its cultural core — binding the community together through ritual courtesy — remained unchanged. In agricultural society, Beginning of Winter marked the end of the autumn harvest and the beginning of the quieter winter season. People used the occasion to visit relatives and friends and strengthen emotional ties, both celebrating the harvest and storing spiritual warmth for the cold winter ahead.

On Beginning of Winter, one can greet the elders in the family and send good wishes to relatives and friends. Some traditional villages hold collective winter-respect ceremonies that visitors can observe and experience. Changing into new clothes is another way to enjoy something of the old atmosphere of congratulating winter.

Beginning of Winter marks the transition from autumn harvest to winter storage. To thank deities and ancestors for the harvest bestowed during the past year, and to pray for favorable weather, household peace, and another abundant year, many regions hold sacrificial ceremonies. Some places preserve customs of ancestor worship, divination for the coming year, and communal banquets, offering seasonal delicacies to ancestral spirits, remembering the ancestors, and praying to Heaven for another rich harvest.

Among ordinary households, people offer seasonal delicacies to their ancestors in fulfillment of the duties and responsibilities of descendants, while praying for Heaven to grant an abundant harvest in the coming year. Farmers themselves are also rewarded with wine and rest. Among the Manchu, Beginning of Winter ancestor worship includes the custom of burning meat-scented incense, followed by ten consecutive days of vegetarian eating to express reverence and devotion. Folk communities also place particular importance on sacrificing to the God of the Land, thanking the deity for protecting the crops and bringing abundance to the five grains.

The custom of worshipping ancestors and Heaven at Beginning of Winter has very ancient roots. As early as the pre-Qin period, Beginning of Winter was already an important sacrificial season. The ancients regarded the transition from autumn to winter as a crucial point in the transformation of the qi of Heaven and Earth. Sacrificing to ancestors and deities at this time both expressed gratitude for the protection received during the past year and sought favorable winds, timely rains, and abundance in the year ahead. The custom closely unites the seasonal calendar, family ethics, and religious belief, embodying the deep cultural principle of “revering Heaven and following the ancestors.”

During Beginning of Winter, visitors can observe rites of ancestor and Heaven worship in traditional villages. Some heritage villages open to the public allow visitors to watch the ceremonies from a distance. It is advisable to consult local cultural and tourism authorities in advance and to respect the solemn nature of the rites.

“立冬补冬，补嘴空。” — at Beginning of Winter, nourish winter and fill the empty mouth. In northern China, the rule for Beginning of Winter is to eat dumplings. After a year of hard work, once the autumn harvest is complete and winter stores have been put away, people enter the quieter season and reward themselves with good food on Beginning of Winter while strengthening the body against the cold. This is known as “winter nourishment.”

The custom of eating dumplings at Beginning of Winter comes from the idea of “交子之时”, the moment of transition. New Year’s Eve marks the transition between the old year and the new, while Beginning of Winter marks the transition between autumn and winter; at this moment of “交”, dumplings cannot be absent. The word *jiaozi* is associated through sound with “交子,” suggesting the point where autumn and winter meet. More playfully, dumplings closely resemble ears in shape, giving rise to the folk saying “立冬吃饺子，耳朵不怕冻” — eat dumplings at Beginning of Winter and your ears will not fear the cold. Another popular saying goes: “立冬不端饺子碗，冻掉耳朵没人管。” — if you do not lift a bowl of dumplings at Beginning of Winter, no one will care if your ears freeze off.

On Beginning of Winter, dumplings filled with pumpkin are traditionally eaten. In Shandong, housewives prepare cabbage-and-pork filling in advance, and the family gathers around the table on the heated *kang* to roll wrappers and fold dumplings while steam rises from the boiling pot. Dumpling fillings are often made from warming meats that help resist the cold. According to legend, near the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, the renowned physician Zhang Zhongjing resigned from office and returned home. Seeing that the people of Nanyang had suffered frostbite on their ears, he chopped mutton together with cold-dispelling ingredients, wrapped the mixture in dough shaped like ears, and distributed the dumplings among the people. After eating them, their ears were indeed healed. Thereafter, people ate dumplings whenever Beginning of Winter arrived, and over time the practice became a tradition.

The custom of eating dumplings at Beginning of Winter has a long history and is closely connected with the wheat-based food culture of northern China. In antiquity, dumplings were called huntun. Yan Zhitui of the Northern Qi wrote: “今之馄饨，形同偃月，天下之通食也。” — the huntun of today are shaped like a recumbent crescent and eaten throughout the realm. In 1959, a wooden bowl containing intact dumplings was unearthed from a Tang-dynasty tomb in Turpan, Xinjiang. Their shape was identical to that of modern dumplings, showing that boiled dumplings were already widely eaten during the Tang. The symbolism of eating dumplings at a moment of transition allowed the custom to extend from Beginning of Winter all the way to the Spring Festival, becoming a food tradition that runs throughout the winter.

On Beginning of Winter, seasonal dumplings can be enjoyed at northern restaurants or made at home together with the family. Dumpling restaurants are especially busy on the day itself. Traditional fillings such as pumpkin are worth trying, along with the playful saying “立冬不端饺子碗，冻掉耳朵没人管.”

“Sweeping away scabies” is a long-standing bathing and health custom associated with Beginning of Winter in Jiangnan and the Central Plains. Tian Rucheng of the Ming dynasty recorded in *Xihu Youlan Zhiyu · Xichao Leshi*: “立冬日，以各式香草及菊花、金银花煎汤沐浴，谓之扫疥。” — on Beginning of Winter, various aromatic herbs together with chrysanthemums and honeysuckle were boiled into a decoction for bathing, a practice known as “sweeping away scabies.” Zhou Mi’s Southern Song work *Wulin Jiushi* contains a similar record.

In earlier times, winter was cold and bathing inconvenient, allowing scabies mites, fleas, and other parasites to multiply on the body, while skin diseases could spread easily. People therefore bathed on Beginning of Winter in water decocted with aromatic herbs, chrysanthemums, honeysuckle, and other medicinal plants, cleansing the body thoroughly and killing parasites so that they would not suffer from scabies throughout the winter. Chrysanthemum can dispel wind and relieve heat, remove damp obstruction, and clear the head and eyes; bathing in honeysuckle decoction has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying and can dispel wind-damp conditions and harmful sores. The early Republican work *Huyan Waibian* also records the custom. After the 1950s, as medical and sanitary conditions improved and people suffered less often from sores and scabies, the custom gradually disappeared.

The custom of “sweeping away scabies” can be traced back to the Southern Song and has a history of nearly a thousand years. Ancient works such as *Wulin Jiushi* and *Xihu Youlan Zhiyu* contain explicit records of it. The custom closely combines seasonal timing with personal hygiene and disease prevention, reflecting the simple wisdom of the ancients, who in an age without modern medicine protected their health by observing the medicinal value of nature, including aromatic herbs and chrysanthemums.

On Beginning of Winter, chrysanthemums, honeysuckle, and other herbs can be boiled into a bathing decoction at home to experience this old health custom. Commercial herbal bath packs may also be used instead. This is one of the most direct ways to experience the ancient wisdom of “sweeping away scabies.”

In Zhangzhou, Nanjing, and other areas of southern Fujian, Beginning of Winter is associated with the custom of pounding “Jiaodong ci.” Jiaodong ci are glutinous-rice cakes made at the transition from autumn to winter, with glutinous rice as the principal ingredient. Preparation begins the night before, when the rice is washed and soaked; early the following morning, it is placed in a steamer and cooked. Once done, the hot glutinous rice is quickly poured into a stone mortar and repeatedly pounded with wooden pestles until it becomes soft, sticky, elastic, and cohesive.

The finished rice cake is pinched into pieces about the size of ping-pong balls and carefully rolled into rounds. Peanuts are roasted until fragrant, ground finely, and mixed with white sugar. The small rice cakes are then rolled in the sweet peanut powder and arranged in large bowls. When eaten, several can be threaded onto the chopsticks at once, making them resemble a pellet drum, which is why they are also called “rattle ci.” Once the Jiaodong ci are finished, some are offered to the God of the Land in gratitude for his generous gifts. Pounding glutinous-rice cakes at Beginning of Winter both celebrates an abundant harvest and expresses hope for an even better life in the coming year.

The custom of pounding Jiaodong ci has been passed down for generations in southern Fujian. By Beginning of Winter, the autumn harvest is complete and the new glutinous rice has reached the market. People use the fresh grain to make rice cakes, both to taste the flavor of the harvest and to perform a ritual of gratitude toward the gods. The custom closely joins seasonal timing, local produce, and folk belief, reflecting the southern Fujian philosophy of depending on Heaven for one’s livelihood while revering and thanking Heaven. In the tulou of Nanjing, the fragrance of glutinous rice fills the homes every year around Beginning of Winter.

During Beginning of Winter, visitors can travel to Zhangzhou, the Nanjing tulou region, and other areas of southern Fujian to taste Jiaodong ci. Tulou families often prepare them around the solar term, allowing visitors to observe the process and sample the finished food. Simple glutinous-rice cakes can also be made at home.

Nanjing has a saying: “一日半根葱，入冬腿带风。” — half a scallion a day, and when winter comes your legs will carry the wind. As soon as Beginning of Winter arrives, people in old Nanjing pay particular attention to eating raw scallions. According to the explanation of older generations, scallions are warming in nature and pungent in flavor and can disperse and induce sweating, allowing stagnant yang qi in the body to be carried out with the sweat. Once yang qi flows freely, harmful influences are likewise expelled through perspiration. Nanjing people also often repeat the saying “立冬嗖嗖疾病盘，大葱再辣嘴中盘.” Scallions are considered warming and pungent, able to drive away cold and dispel harmful influences; eating them raw at Beginning of Winter helps resist Nanjing’s damp winter cold and reduce illness.

The custom of eating raw scallions has long been practiced in Nanjing. Winters there are damp and cold, and people traditionally eat pungent, warming scallions to disperse internal cold, reflecting the folk health wisdom that medicine and food share a common origin. The custom closely connects seasonal timing, local climate, and everyday diet, making it one of the Beginning of Winter health practices most closely tied to ordinary life.

Raw scallions can be eaten on Beginning of Winter or added more generously to dishes. It is one of the easiest Beginning of Winter customs to experience.

In Chaoshan, there is a saying: “立冬食蔗齿不痛” — eat sugarcane at Beginning of Winter and your teeth will not hurt. The idea is that sugarcane has fully ripened by this time and eating it will not cause internal heat. At this season, sugarcane is believed both to protect the teeth and provide nourishment. It is in season at Beginning of Winter, full of juice and sweetness, and is a distinctive seasonal food through which people in Chaoshan welcome winter.

Chaoshan is rich in sugarcane, which ripens around Beginning of Winter and reaches its best flavor at this time. Through long dietary experience, local people found that eating sugarcane at Beginning of Winter has the effects of clearing heat, generating fluids, relieving dryness, and harmonizing the center, gradually forming this distinctive seasonal food custom. The saying “立冬食蔗齿不痛” is a vivid summary of that experience.

During Beginning of Winter, sugarcane can simply be purchased from fruit shops to experience the Chaoshan tradition of “eating sugarcane at Beginning of Winter so that the teeth do not hurt.”

In the agricultural age when farming depended on animal power, draft cattle were vital “members of the household.” By Beginning of Winter, both the autumn harvest and winter sowing had been completed. To thank the cattle for a year of hard labor, many regions developed the custom of rewarding them. Farmers used newly harvested glutinous rice and grain to make rice cakes, glutinous-rice cakes, and other foods for the cattle, and sometimes allowed them to rest, expressing respect and gratitude toward these silent contributors. The custom brings the warmth between humans and animals into the seasonal calendar and reflects the agricultural society’s appreciation and gratitude toward draft cattle.

The custom of rewarding draft cattle has ancient roots and is closely connected to the agricultural belief that “the draft ox is the treasure of the farming household.” Beginning of Winter marked the end of a year’s farm work. Rewarding cattle at this time both thanked them for their labor and allowed them to store strength for the spring plowing of the following year. The custom closely connects seasonal timing, agricultural production, and ethics toward animals, expressing the simple principle within traditional Chinese agricultural civilization of “harmony between Heaven and humanity, and coexistence between self and all living things.”

During Beginning of Winter, visitors can travel to rural areas to observe the custom of rewarding draft cattle. Some agricultural tourism parks organize farming-culture activities around the solar term in which visitors can help feed the cattle.

The custom of making pickled vegetables at Beginning of Winter dates back to the Zhou dynasty. By this time, the autumn harvest is complete and large quantities of fresh vegetables have reached the market. To ensure that vegetables remain available throughout the long winter, people pickle and store Chinese cabbage, radishes, potherb mustard, and other fresh produce for later use. Pickling not only solves the winter shortage of vegetables but also creates distinctive flavors. The custom is a concrete expression of the Chinese wisdom of “winter storage” in everyday food life.

Pickling vegetables has a history of more than three thousand years in China and represents a traditional response to the scarcity of fresh vegetables in winter. Temperatures fall around Beginning of Winter, making it the best time for pickling — the cold helps suppress unwanted microorganisms and maintain the quality of the preserved vegetables. The custom closely joins seasonal timing with food-preservation techniques and reflects the wisdom of the ancients, who under limited material conditions used natural laws to improve everyday life.

Around Beginning of Winter, Chinese cabbage, radishes, and other vegetables can be purchased at local markets and pickled at home. Many northern families still preserve the tradition of making suan cai and pickled potherb mustard around this time.