Working and Living by the Sun

Winter Solstice Sacrifice in Sanmen

In folk culture the winter solstice is special. As an old saying goes, “Winter solstice is as important as the Spring Festival.” In ancient times, the emperors would hold a grand ceremony to worship Heaven, while common people offered sacrifices to ancestors and deceased family members.

 

A complete winter solstice sacrificial ceremony with a 700-year-old history is still carried out today in Yangjiacun, a village in Sanmen County of Taizhou City, on the east coast of Zhejiang Province.

In the early hours of the morning on the day of the winter solstice, the ceremony processes in an orderly fashion in front of the Yang clan’s ancestral temple. Dressed in the traditional costume of yellow with colorful patterns, the officiator first washes hands, straightens up garments, and offers joss sticks and wine. He then kowtows to Heaven in four directions, and, accompanied by dozens of other worshippers, chants a eulogy to the ancestors of the family.

To a salute of fireworks, the congregation then goes into the temple and offers sacrifices to their ancestors. The whole ceremony lasts about two hours and is attended by representatives of the clan’s branches in the county. For those who live far away, the winter solstice sacrifice is the one event for which they will come back no matter what.