Inevitably, on the winter solstice the emperor went to the edge of the capital to perform a ceremony in which he paid homage to the day and the first emperor of China. Among the common folk, every household lit ceremonial incense, revealing again the emphasis that the early Chinese placed on worshipping the heavens and ancestors.
冬至時節，不可免的還是皇帝的郊祭，包括祭天和祭開國先皇；民間則家家戶戶焚香上供，再次顯露先民對敬天祭祖的重視。