We are now transitioning into the third Nine Nine Day Period. Take warning; dress warm, eat soups and get good sleep. The next two to three weeks will be very cold and we are looking for the opening of the sun at the 7th period.

According to historical texts in China, people began to use instruments to figure out the first day of winter solstice as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. By as early as the Han Dynasty Chinese thinkers began to analyze the universe according to correlations and eventually by the Song Dynasty using mathematics to analyze the cosmos.

According to Chinese philosophy, the day of Winter Solstice marks the time where yin begins to wan and yang begins to wax or the yin begins to sink into the storage and the qi of yang begins to rise. The people of the Song Dynasty started their Nine Day Periods on the First day of the Winter Solstice. All together there were nine nine-day periods. One nine day period was a time cycle. People early on used to refer to the Winter Solstice as the Winter Festival or that the Nine Nine Period Transitions were coming.

There were many songs and poems that describe the changes that happen to the weather and climate during winter. The Nine Nine Day Period Transition starts on the Winter Solstice. The third and the 4th Nine Day Period Should be the coldest. The seventh Period will open the sun. It is sung that on the last Nine Nine Day Period peach trees will blossom and mark the beginning of spring.

From the science of the Nine Nine Day Period Transitions the Nine Nine Day Game eventually emerged. It was common for people to paint paintings of trees with nine branches with nine flowers. Everyday the people would paint a flower. If it was overcast the top of the circle would be painted; the bottom for a sunny day, the left for a windy one and the right side of the circle for a rainy day. Every day a circle would be painted which would let the people know which period there were in and to be prepared for the next transition. Even Pu Yi the last emperor played the game but he played one that was made up of circles and squares.

The game gave common people a way to get through the winter and protect themselves against the hard winter. By the Ming Dynasty many gave Nine Nine Day paintings to friends and family as gifts of the Winter Solstice.

Winter Solstice
Nine Nine Period Transitions was very important to people and considered the beginning of New Year to many. The day of the Winter Solstice marked the first day of the transition. In the “History of the Eastern Han Dynasty” civil and court officials were giving days off and expected to take part in a traditional role and official ceremonies.

Around the Winter Solstice, both the civil and the military officials enjoy a few days repose and no longer handle work; they choose auspicious days to examine themselves.

By the Song Dynasty officials had to wear special uniforms and from all over the empire they would come to present themselves to the emperor. It was the Emperor’s responsibility to make sure the calendar was accurate and that the ceremony of the Winter Solstice was celebrated properly with the right decoration and of course the right music. The emperor was also responsible to make sure proper sacrifices were made to their ancestors. Many rituals that were passed on generation to generation like explained in the Confucius’s the book of rituals.

All and all it was a grand ceremony with rituals and celebration. The common people also celebrated by visiting friends and exchanging presents and red envelopes. Nine Nine Games and Cards were also exchanged and families would get together and drink and eat wine to their heart’s content. Many families would eat Jiaozi a traditional Festival food dating back to the Eastern Han Dynasty. Other families would eat long noodles.

At some point in History (most likely Song) the Winter Solstice was a considered the New Year’s Day. Even though later dynasties considered Spring Festival more important, it was considered second only to Spring Festival.

Modern Qingdao Dong Zhi Celebration
Like in ancient times Qingdao’s Dong Zhi is still a time for many families and friends to get together. The Qingdao supermarkets are stocked up for the occasion with rices, more fruits and rice wines. People still visit their friends and baring gifts and greetings. Fireworks get thrown off hear and there and the people are generally merry. Qingdao families get together and have reunion dinners mainly emphasized with seafood and of course the dumplings.

Dong Zhi Kuaile!