MUZIChinese Matrix
Winter Solstice · FFET10318
On the solstice, Tengzhou in Shandong, Yinchuan in Ningxia and some other places drink lamb soup; Tengzhou calls the day xiaonian.
Longest shadow, shortest day: the sun begins its return
Eating lamb at the winter solstice is customary in Tengzhou and Zaozhuang in Shandong, Yinchuan in Ningxia and parts of Sichuan; Tengzhou calls the day xiaonian and drinks lamb soup with shaobing. The seasonal custom feidong in the Qing gazetteer Huailai xian zhi (1882) includes exchanging lamb and wine; this is a secondhand account, and the original text was not consulted.
On the winter solstice, people in some places eat lamb and drink lamb soup: Tengzhou and Zaozhuang in Shandong, Yinchuan in Ningxia and parts of Sichuan.1,2,3
On the day of the winter solstice. In a 2021 account, people in Tengzhou call the solstice xiaonian. The seasonal custom feidong in the Qing gazetteer Huailai xian zhi (1882) includes exchanging lamb and wine; this is a secondhand account, and the original text was not consulted.1,2
Tengzhou (2021 account) and Zaozhuang in Shandong, Yinchuan in Ningxia (2024 account), and parts of Sichuan.1,2,3
In Tengzhou, meat is ordered separately, vinegar is added to the soup, and it is eaten with shaobing (2021 account). In Yinchuan, the dish is mutton and vermicelli soup with dumplings (December 2024 account).2,3
The seasonal custom feidong in Huailai xian zhi includes exchanging lamb and wine; the account is secondhand.1
In Tengzhou, the day is called xiaonian and lamb soup marks it; in Yinchuan, the solstice soup holds vermicelli and dumplings.2,3
A folk tale about the Han physician Zhang Zhongjing involves lamb soup and ear-shaped dough, and in the north some tell this as the start of the dumpling. The Chinese Wikipedia entry on dumplings calls it hearsay and carries a notice asking for a rewrite; the entry on the solstice also mentions the tale.
Told in: A folk tale found in the Chinese Wikipedia entries on the winter solstice and on dumplings; no old text recording it was opened.
