第七章 - 冬至快乐
“冬至”的字面意义很清楚的告诉人们，这一天到来，宣佈著严冬季节开始到来。虽然马来西亚常年皆夏，它还是被当地的华人视為一种习俗，世代流传至今。把冬至看成一年中的盛大日子的说法从周代便流传，而且演变出许多重要的仪礼。它不只是一个朝廷节日，也是民间的大节日，以為冬至是每年的24节令的第1个节令的首天，这一天应该祭天、祀祖，除了家人团聚，亲友也互相贺节。至今，中国不少地区仍旧是流传了“冬至大如年”的说法。北方谚语说“肥冬瘦年”是从经验中得到教训：為了每年这一天起要準备度过冬天，许多人都会儘量设法找钱开销。等他们庆贺了冬至和过了冬天之后，到了春天过新年之刻，袋中钱财已所剩无几了。迄今广东人还是沿著旧俗，称冬至日為“亚岁”、“小年”、“冬节”和“亚节”。
习俗
1）祭祖是使冬至内容与人间伦理相关的重要活动，既有家家户户举行，亦有由宗祠会馆统一办理“冬祭”。隆重的冬祭仪式包括扫祭社团总坟以及设宴聚会亲族。
2）冬至的食物特徵是汤圆。从搓糯米丸到煮糯米丸，一直到全家老幼吃糯米丸，是当天不可缺少的风俗。福建人以红糖煮糯米丸祭神；潮汕人，除了製作糯米丸，也有制作梗米丸的。至於客家人，又有以為这一日是“冬年”，出现在冬至日进补“补冬”的习惯。各籍贯人之间，亦流行在冬至打边炉，客人又有以為冬至日吃烘番薯补身的习惯。
3）福建人迷信说，在冬至煮汤丸时，有机会辨别家中尚在母腹的婴儿的性别。如果汤丸的表面像气泡突起，就表示產妇未来会生男婴，如果汤丸的表面凹下而出现缺孔，则表示会生女。由於过去缺乏科学鉴证，才有如此预测方法。
Chapter 7 – Happy Winter solstice
Winter Solstice is a very important solar term in Chinese Lunar Calendar. Being a traditional holiday as well, it is still now celebrated quite often in many regions. Early during the Spring and Autumn period, 2500 years ago, Winter Solstice was first determined as the Chinese traditional solar term among the 24 terms in total.
Ancient china did pay great attention to this holiday, regarding it as a big event. There was the saying that "Winter solstice holiday is greater than the spring festival". Nowadays, many regions still celebrate it as a big holiday. Northerners may have dumplings and raviolis that day while southerners may have dumplings made by rice and long noodles. Some places even have the tradition to offer sacrifices to the heaven and earth.Traditional
1. Winter Solstice worship is an important activity that held by every household, there are unified by theancestral hall for "Winter Festival." Winter festival includes a grand ceremony and grave sweeping festival hosted a gathering of the total community kinship.
2. The symbolic Winter Solstice food is rice balls. From the rub to cook glutinous rice balls, until the whole family eats the rice balls, is indispensable to the custom of the day. The Hakka, another thought that this day is a "winteryears", appeared in the winter solstice tonic "fill the winter," the habit. Between the origins is also popular hot pot in the winter solstice, winter solstice, guests have to eat baked sweet potato that supplement habits.
3) Hokkian superstition that the soup in the winter solstice when the pills, the family have the opportunity to identify the gender of the baby. If the surface of the rice ball like bubbles protruding, this indicates that mothers would give birth a baby boy, if the the surface of the rice ball appear a dent lack of holes, then will be a girl. But this is because the ancients are lack of forensic knowledge, so they only have such a prediction.
