Tongji & Tongji Porridge
When the winter solstice occurs in the first ten days of lunar November, it is called aedongji, and when it falls afterwards, rodongji.
People said the early winter solstice was good for children while late winter solstice for old people.
It reflected the wish of children to grow up early and that of the elderly to live long, as they regarded the winter solstice as the New Year’s eve.
It was also said that the winter with early winter solstice had more biting cold.
Tongji porridge is a must on the day.
Tongji porridge
Taking red-bean porridge on the day of tongji (winter solstice) was a traditional custom of the Korean people.
The food is still a must on this day.
Unlike other red-bean porridge, it was prepared by adding glutinous rice dumplings with the size of a bird’s egg.
Some of the dumplings were made bigger, as a saying goes that a child who finds them would have good luck. So, mothers made sure that their children would take big dumplings equally.
The porridge was taken hot in many regions, but the locals in Kangwon Province put it on the soy-jar terrace until it got cold with thin ice sheet and then took it in a well-heated room as a midnight snack.
Those in the Pyongyang area had a custom of eating the porridge before sunrise on the day of tongji.
The Koreans tasted the porridge together with neighbours, promoting harmony with them.
