Dongzhi Festival

Origins and meaning

The festival took shape during the Zhou dynasty and became an official celebration under the Han dynasty. In traditional cosmology, the winter solstice represents the hexagram for returning in the I Ching, signaling a shift where daylight lengthens and bright, positive energy begins to rise again. Historically, Han workers rested from their duties to join relatives for sacrifices to heaven and ancestors. Across many generations, people regarded this milestone as a marker of ageing, considering themselves one year older immediately after the midwinter feast rather than waiting for the arrival of the lunar new year.

Feasting on dumplings and tangyuan

Food forms the heart of Dongzhi celebrations. In southern China and across overseas communities, families prepare tangyuan, which are round glutinous rice balls served in sweet soup or savoury broth. Their spherical shape symbolizes completeness and reunion. In northern areas, people eat ear-shaped dumplings filled with meat. This practice is traced to the ancient physician Zhang Zhongjing, who cooked lamb dumplings to save villagers from frostbitten ears during bitter cold. Some households attach cooked rice balls to doorways and windows as protective amulets to safeguard young children from harmful spirits.

Regional customs

Traditions vary across regions. In Taiwan, families offer steamed nine-layer rice cakes shaped like chickens, ducks, sheep, and tortoises to venerate ancestors, before sharing tonic hot pots brewed with ginger duck, mutton, and fortifying herbs. In Suzhou, worshippers light incense at dawn. Korean households historically cooked red bean porridge with rice balls to dispel bad spirits and settled lingering debts. In Japan, the day brings customs such as eating squash or drinking hot water infused with citrus, while farmers across rural areas gather late winter harvests like radishes, wheat, and barley.

How Dongzhi Festival is kept

Observance begins with family reunions and ancestral veneration. In clan halls or at home altars, relatives burn joss paper and present offerings of wine, dumplings, or sculpted rice cakes to honour departed kin. Workplaces often close early to allow employees to travel home. Households gather around the kitchen table to roll glutinous rice dough into smooth balls or fold dumplings. After offering prayers, families sit down to an evening reunion feast. Some stick boiled rice balls onto door frames and furniture as protective talismans for children before retiring for the night.

When and where

Dongzhi is the twenty-second term in the traditional solar calendar. It falls annually at the December solstice, usually between 21 and 23 December, marking the moment when the sun reaches 270 degrees celestial longitude.

The festival is widely observed across China, Taiwan, and East Asian diaspora communities. Regional variations are also kept in South Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, where seasonal foods and midwinter rites mark the solstice.

What Dongzhi Festival means

Dongzhi represents the turning point of the year, where darkness reaches its peak and begins yielding to light and warmth. The spherical shape of tangyuan embodies family wholeness, unity, and harmony. Steamed cakes shaped like domestic animals signify prosperity and good fortune, while the shared meal acknowledges that each participant has safely advanced one year in age.

On the table

Flavours: Ginger

Days Dongzhi Festival is marked

Dongzhi Festival dates: 2026, 2027, 2028

Questions people ask about Dongzhi Festival

See also

KadomatsuA Japanese New Year gateway decoration of pine and bamboo where a visiting deity can restDouble Ninth FestivalAn autumn festival of mountain walks, chrysanthemum wine and ancestor remembranceDaeboreumA Korean festival of the first lunar full moon, marked by fires, wishes and feastsFlying Fish FestivalA months-long seasonal fishing observance kept by the Tao people of Orchid Island

Good reading and sources

• A Chinese sweet that’s a homophone for reunionBBC, Article
• A Chinese sweet that’s a homophone for reunionBBC, Article

• Dongzhi on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-06.