Dongzhi, which is also called "Winter Solstice", is one of the 24 solar terms. It is considered as an important festival in China and other Asian countries.
After this day, many places in China will go through the coldest period of the year, which is called "Shu Jiu"in Chinese, literally means counting nine. In total, there are nine periods with nine days for each.
TCM believes that it is the best time to nourish human body. Today, we recommend a soup called "Duck soup with four gods". The four gods refer to four Chinese herbal medicines, namely, dried Chinese yam, lotus seeds, poria cocos, and gorgon fruit. These four medicines are called four "Chenzi" (official in feudal times) in TCM, which has a same pronunciation as "Shen" (god) in Minnan dialect. Therefore, the soup is named "Duck soup with four Gods".
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