冬至是一年中第22个节气，在民间有“冬至大如年”的说法。
Winter Solstice is the 22nd solar term of the year. There was a saying in ancient China, 'The Winter Solstice is as significant as the Spring Festival.'这倒不是不吉之语，而是告诉我们，冬至这天最适合待在室内，保持愉悦，静养性情。在我国南方沿海的部分地区，至今仍延续着冬至祭祖的习俗。而在北方，每逢冬至这天，饺子成为家家户户必不可少的节日饭。谚语云：“十月一，冬至到，家家户户吃水饺。”（注：十月一，是十月又一的意思，也就是十一月。）
他看到白河两岸乡亲面黄肌瘦，饥寒交迫，不少人的耳朵都冻烂了。
便让其弟子在南阳东关搭起医棚，支起大锅，在冬至那天舍“祛寒娇耳汤”，医治冻疮。他把羊肉和一些驱寒药材放在锅里熬煮，然后将羊肉、药物捞出来切碎，用面包成耳朵样的“娇耳”。煮熟后，分给来求药的人，每人两只“娇耳”、一大碗肉汤。人们吃了“娇耳”，喝了“祛寒汤”，浑身暖和，两耳发热，冻伤的耳朵都治好了。后人学着“娇耳”的样子，包成食物，也叫“饺子”或“扁食”。张仲景是南阳涅阳人，著有《伤寒杂病论》，集医家之大成。南阳至今仍有“冬至不端饺子碗，冻掉耳朵没人管”的民谣。冬至吃饺子，原来是不忘“医圣”张仲景“祛寒娇耳汤”之恩。People in Suzhou are accustomed to eating wontons in midwinter.据传，在2500年前的冬至宴席上，吴王厌倦了各种名贵的食物，想要吃一些特别的东西。According to legend, during the midwinter feast 2,500 years ago, the King of Wu was disgusted with all kinds of costly foods and wanted to eat something different.
美女西施下厨给他做了一碗“馄饨”，满足了他的愿望。The beauty Xishi came into the kitchen to make 'wontons' to honor the king's wish.
He ate a lot and liked it very much.为了纪念西施，苏州的人们把馄饨作为庆祝冬至节的官方食物。
To commemorate Xishi, the people of Suzhou made wontons the official food to celebrate the festival.
In Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, people call midwinter the 'Ghost Festival'.On that day, it is customary for people there to drink mutton and vermicelli soup and eat the dumplings in the soup.他们给冬至的汤起了一个奇怪的名字叫“头脑”，而且还会和邻居们一起分享。They give the midwinter soup a strange name - 'brain' - and share it with their neighbors.Taiwan residents keep the custom of offering nine-layer cakes to their ancestors.People with the same surname or family clan gather at their ancestral temples to worship their ancestors in order of their ages.
在长江以南部分地区，全家人会在冬至第一天聚在一起享用一顿有红豆糯米饭的大餐，从而驱赶鬼魂和其他邪恶的东西。In some regions south of the Yangtze River on the first day of Winter Solstice, the whole family gets together to have a meal made of red bean and glutinous rice to drive away ghosts and other evil things.When midwinter arrives, vital movement begins to decline and calm down.
In this period, eating an appropriate amount of nuts is good for one's body.
中医传统理论认为，坚果性温，大部分坚果都有滋养肾脏、强脑强心的功效。
Traditional Chinese medical
science teaches that the quality of a nut is tepidity and most nuts
have the function of nourishing the kidneys and strengthening the brain
and heart.“画九”指画素梅一枝，梅花九朵。每朵梅花九个花瓣，一共八十一瓣。
每过完一天，就用颜色染上一瓣，染完一朵梅，就过了一个“九”。
这九个字，每个字（繁体）都是九画，每天写一画，写完这句话，春天便来了。数九寒天，写九画九，是古人在冬天保持耐心、静候春天的一种雅趣和修养之法。
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