Cover news reporter Li Yuxin
"When the swallows came to the new society, the pear blossoms lagged behind the Qingming." In the blink of an eye, it is the Qingming season, at the intersection of mid-spring and late spring, when the qi is clear and the scenery is clear, and everything is revealed, hence the name Qingming. As one of the twenty-four solar terms, Qingming is somewhat special, because it is both a natural festival and a traditional festival, with both natural and humanistic connotations, and has a long historical origin.
When it comes to the Qingming Festival, people can always think of Du Mu's "The rain during the Qingming Festival, the pedestrians on the road want to break their souls." On this day, people sweep the graves to worship their ancestors, remember their ancestors, and express their sorrows and remembrance of their deceased relatives and friends. But at the same time, the Qingming Festival is also integrated into the customs of the Shangwei Festival, which is similar in time, in this person, people in ancient times also stepped on the green, planted trees, flew kites, swung swings, bowed, and took a family out in the spring light, enjoying the joy and brightness of spring.
"Qingming Festival, together with the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival, is known as the four traditional festivals in China. During the Qingming Dynasty, it is the time when all things are full of vitality and new things. The earth presents the image of spring and jingming, which is a good time to perform the tomb festival and travel to youth. Folklore expert Liu Xiaochang said that in the changes of historical years, the Qingming Festival has integrated the customs of the Cold Food Festival and the Shangwei Festival, and only then has the Qingming Festival today.
Incorporate cold food and shangwei customs Feasting and drinking and reminiscing about ancestors
If you mention the Cold Food Festival to young children at the moment, it is estimated that few people know about the existence of this festival. The festival has lasted for more than 2,000 years on the land of China, and is known as the first festival day of Chinese folk, and it is the only festival in the traditional Han festival named after food customs. Only because with the passage of time, the Cold Food Festival has quietly integrated into the Qingming Festival.
"Legend has it that the Cold Food Festival was established to commemorate the Spring and Autumn Period." Liu Xiaochang said, but there is also a saying that the Cold Food Festival follows the ancient habit of changing fire. "In the early spring, the climate is dry, not only the fires that people save are easy to cause fires, but also the occurrence of spring thunder is also easy to cause mountain fires." The ancients carried out a solemn sacrifice in this season, extinguishing all the fires handed down from the previous year, called 'forbidden fire'. Then re-drill the flint to take out the new fire, as the starting point of the new year's production and life, called 'changing the fire'. During this time without fire, people must prepare enough cooked food to survive cold food, that is, "cold food", so it is called "cold food festival".
Su Shi's "Cold Food Post"
Historically, the Cold Food Festival was held on the 105th day after the winter solstice in the summer calendar, that is, one or two days before the Qingming Festival. Because the two festivals are similar in time, over time, they become one festival. Although at present, the Cold Food Festival is rarely known, but people have a convention not to worship the ancestors on the day of the Qingming Festival, but to visit the tomb one or two days before it, which is also a trace of the customs of the Cold Food Festival.
In addition to the Cold Food Festival, the Qingming Festival also incorporates the customs of the Shangwei Festival. "On March 3, the weather was new, and there were many people on the water's edge of Chang'an." On the third day of the third month of the third lunar month, shangwei festival is an extremely ancient and true Valentine's Day. On this day, people go to the water's edge to bathe together, called "Qi Yu", and young men and women can also take advantage of the spring light to go out and play. Literati and scholars also had elegant customs such as sacrificial feasting and drinking, and bending water to visit.
"To bend the flow of water is to throw a cup into the upper reaches of the water, to listen to it go down with the waves, and to stop somewhere, then its people will take it and drink it, and give it a poem." Liu Xiaochang said that the Liubei Pond built next to the Wangjiang Tower in Chengdu during the late Qing Dynasty is the best witness of the Shangwei Festival culture. "In the old days in Chengdu, there was also a custom of sacrificing Xue Tao during the Shangwei Festival."
Liubei Pond in Wangjianglou Park, Chengdu
Legend has it that on weekdays, the water in Xue Tao's well cannot make Xue Tao's notes, and only on the day of the Shangwei Festival, the notes floated out of Xue Tao's well water are peach red. Therefore, there is a saying that "on the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar, Xue Taofang's soul returns, and the plain notes become colored notes".
Xue Taojing in Wangjianglou Park, Chengdu
Qingming only knows how to eat green dough? Don't miss out on these delicacies
Because the cold food festival prohibits fire, so every household eats cold food, which is called "cold food". During the Qingming Dynasty, people often eat festival foods such as green dumplings and steamed buns, and also retain the custom of "cold food". At present, the youth group has become a "net red" food in recent years, and the large and small merchants on the street have advertised on the Qingming Festival, and the green group has derived a variety of novel ways of eating and "strange" tastes, such as chocolate green dough, snail powder green dough, etc.
But in addition to the Youth League, Qingming also has many seasonal foods. According to the Han Dynasty Cui Yi's "Four People's Moon Order", "The Qi people called cold food as a cold festival, and used the mound as a steamed cake, and the jujube was attached to it, and the name was jujube cake." "In the evolution of history, jujube cake has become a seasonal delicacy of the Qingming Festival. The jujube cake is also called "zi push cake", in the old days, people in the northern region also used to make the date cake into a flying swallow shape, with wicker skewers hanging on the door, can be cold food, in order to commemorate the noble quality of the meson pushing not to seek fame and fortune.
Date cake (image from the Internet)
In addition, there is a Qingming Festival delicacy similar to jujube cake, called "Zi Tui Yan". It is reported that the swallow is made of flour and date paste, kneaded into the shape of a swallow. In addition, Shanxi Province still retains the food tradition of making sub-steamed buns during the Qingming Festival, and its shape is very chic, looking like a steamed bun dressed up. Judging from the name, Zi Tui Feng and Zi Tui Yan both have the meaning of commemorating the mezzo-tui.
According to Liu Xiaochang, in the southwest corner of Shudi, there is also a unique Qingming food custom - Huanxi Tuan. "In the past, in Chengdu, whenever there were a few days before and after the Qingming Dynasty, there were hawkers carrying burdens or carrying bamboo baskets along the street to sell, 'selling happy groups', and constantly ringing the small gong in their hands, and suddenly a group of dolls gathered in front of the burden." Liu Xiaochang described that the production of huanxi tuan is simple, first steamed glutinous rice, dried and scattered into grains, then fried until puffed, dipped in maltose and kneaded into a tangyuan-sized ball, pasted with a few rice flowers dyed red and green, respectively, three or five balls were passed on with red threads, that is, joyful balls.
"Joy Ball is cheap, loved by dolls, and colorful, sweet and crispy, melting in the mouth." One person buys a bunch, eyebrows open and smiles. "Liu Xiaochang said that the miraculous thing is that soon after the Qingming Dynasty, the vendors selling happy groups disappeared without a trace." This is a very strange thing for the dolls. ”
"The pear blossoms are rising and clear, and the wanderer is looking for spring and half out of the city." In a song by the Song Dynasty poet Wu Weixin, "Su Di Qingming is a Matter", you can see the lively scene of tourists going out of the city and singing in the midst of spring. During the Qingming Dynasty, the spring is bright and the grass and trees are green, which is a good time for people to travel in the spring, and they may wish to feel the charm of traditional folk customs in the spring light.
Some of the pictures are from the official website of Chengdu Wangjianglou Park