இ Happy Dōng Zhì (冬至) or Winter Solstice Festival

Image courtesy of Wikipedia
A bowl of tāng yuán 湯圓

The Dōng Zhì (冬至) lit. *winter arrive* (quite mouthful for me to pronounce zzzzhiiii) is one of the most significant festivals celebrated by the Chinese and many other East Asian nations. Thought Bananaz would not wanna touch on the subject of I-Ching after so much confusion then again somehow it relates back to the concept of Yin and Yang philosophy of balance and harmony, significantly symbolized by the I-Ching hexagram fù (復), "Returning".  Dōng Zhì (冬至) solar term (winter solstice) corresponds to the 22nd of the 24 solar terms 二十四節氣 where the sunshine is usually at its weakest and the daylight shortest, falls on or around December 22. After the celebration there will be an increase of positive flow of energy due to longer daylight hours.

It is mandatory in celebrating the Dōng Zhì (冬至) Festival, making and eating tāng yuán 湯圓 lit. *soup round*, the glutinous rice flour balls, is inevitably indispensable during this festival. Traditionally coloured in pink and white however over time more colours are added to make it much more 'prettier' to swallow. Anyway no matter what colour used, it has no impact on the taste except to for the kids to have more fun with the rice balls. Most importantly the festival is also an encouragement for the family to spent time together thus eating tāng yuán 湯圓 is symbolic of family unity and family prosperity.

Here is an abstract from Wikipedia about other similarity to the tāng yuán 湯圓 found in southern Vietnam, a similar dish, called chè xôi nước, is served in a mild, sweet liquid flavored with grated ginger root. In northern Vietnam, bánh trôi (also called bánh trôi nước) and bánh chay are also very similar, with the latter being served with coconut milk. In the Philippines, the dish ginataang bilo-bilo is also served in coconut milk, and sometimes local produce such as plantains (saba), tapioca, and/or sweet potatoes are cooked in. Gulab jamun is an Indian dessert that is made of fried dairy dough balls served in a bowl of syrup.

Of course when comes to tāng yuán 湯圓 and the Dōng Zhì (冬至) festival this song is part of the ingredient and must go hand in hand blending with the festival just like jingle bells jingle all the way with X'mas. The lyrics are not in pinyin but in Roman spelling nevertheless would be quite close if you wanna sing along. Hopefully one day Jay Chou周杰倫 or Namewee黄明志 would come out with a rap version of the new tāng yuán song. Keeping fingers and toes crossed yo! yo! yo!.

When was the last time you made or ate tāng yuán 湯圓? Bananaz could not remember the very last bowl probably many many years ago. Last year, bloggers CH Voon posted how to make tāng yuán 湯圓 with style, Tekkaus with his Malaccan way and lastly Jam and his Fuzhou Snack. Sorry cannot recollect the rest if I have missed out any its non-intentional. Maybe you can give me a buzz and say "hey what about me?" ~;)

" HAPPY Dōng Zhì 冬至快乐 "

Posted in: The Dong Zhi (冬至) or Winter Solstice Festival