As the saying goes: winter solstice dumplings and summer solstice noodles, spring equinox and autumn equinox to eat indiscriminately.
This is not a popular science article, nor is it a cultural folklore research article, the first half of the above proverb is true, and the second half is made up by me blindly, in order to be smooth.
Behind all the sayings there is a period of poor people who do not have enough to eat, and in the eyes of those who have been running around for food all their lives, nothing can be more sacred than food: "Heaven and earth eat the greatest", "The people take food as the sky". Every so-called misinterpretation of the philosopher's words is actually a correct interpretation of suffering. Our ancestors never sang the praises of suffering, but they were not intimidated by it, looking for pleasure in "eating", and creating small surprises for their own deliberateness.
Winter solstice dumplings and summer solstice noodles are actually nothing special. In the past days, when I couldn't eat enough for two meals of mixed noodles a day, it was a luxury to be able to eat a bowl of white noodles on the summer solstice. Enjoyment is not in vain, it also means that the crops are about to be harvested, and strong physical labor is coming.
Think about it again when people in the past were still worried about freezing their hands and feet, which shows how hard life is. As for dumplings, they are something to eat during the New Year, and if you can eat them on the winter solstice, you can't do it if you are not wealthy. It's like now, dumplings can be eaten casually, and you don't want to eat them.
We respect Xi, we are actually worshipping our ancestors, which is our heritage and our faith.
Why is there no smooth proverb for the spring equinox? What do you eat if the former is not green? You can't take it on the table even if you eat mush. The poorer we are, the more we pay attention to face, not hypocrisy, that is the hope we give ourselves. Friends who have lived in the countryside should know that when they are busy farming, they eat all the foolishness, and they can eat to their heart's content. If you are not busy at the moment, how can you eat dumplings on the winter solstice?
You have to say that the spring and autumn equinoxes are not particular at all, and they are not all. When I was a child, when the spring equinox was approaching, my grandmother would make a cake for the family, either a cake that was rolled up like spring cakes, or a simple sesame oil pancake. Interestingly, such pancakes can also be eaten by stingers. On the contrary, it is the popular eating of spring cakes since the Song Dynasty, which I have never eaten when I was a child, that is, it has only been refined in recent years.
Regarding eating pancakes on the spring equinox, grandma gave a saying: It's been a while after the New Year, and the delicious ones are almost gone. Translating the description of the dialect into Mandarin is: If there is no explanation, I will do it for you, old lady.
Eating cakes on the spring equinox is quite interesting, because the grandmother is older in the village, and the kindness of people is generous and has been from everyone's background, her every move is very easy to cause the villagers to follow suit, year or two, people have begun to eat the bread on this day, ask the reason, the way of speaking is varied, no one can say why.
If you can't say it, shut up and eat it, it's a pancake. Although it was no longer a problem to eat well in the 80s, eating well was still people's persistent pursuit. Noodles are people's daily life, and anything in white noodles can be regarded as improving food.
Later, I pondered that my grandmother's approach also made some sense. The Bashang area was cultivated late, and people began to move after the Qingming Festival. In the year when I think of working as soon as I eat well, I eat pancakes about 20 days before I go to the field, which is intended to remind people that they have nested their lazy muscles and bones for a winter, and they are ready to move.
Eating pancakes on the spring equinox is made out of nothing, and eating stewed meat on the autumn equinox has continued in the village. It is said that it is the autumn equinox, but it is not punctual. It's probably between the autumn equinox and the Mid-Autumn Festival. The stewed meats are lamb and pork.
In the past, people raised sheep all in the field. At the end of September and the beginning of October, the grass began to turn yellow, and if you want the sheep not to lose fat, you need to feed and replenish. The people who "pick the door" are reluctant, and the sheep have to deal with part of it. Most of them were sold, leaving at most one or two to be slaughtered and eaten as a reward for a hard year's work.
People who are anxious will bring their unpleasant sheep to the table before the Mid-Autumn Festival. Speaking of sheep, sheep are quite wronged, sheep raisers, there are always a few sheep that look unpleasant, love and hate for no reason.
After all, there are a few people who are willing to eat their own mutton in advance. More people choose to buy some pork, stew it in a big pot, and eat it hard and drink a cup at a time. Pork belly is served with thick pork belly to save energy for the harvest that unfolds. If it happens to be a wedding or funeral at this time, the money will be saved, and the gift will be sent to the banquet to satisfy the hunger.
With the departure of the older generation, with the desertion of the countryside, and with the promotion of mechanized farming, no one remembers the self-created statement of what to eat on the spring and autumn equinoxes, and even the serious winter solstice dumplings and summer solstice noodles are gradually unpopular in the village.
On the contrary, the people in the city seem to have fewer and fewer happy times, but they keep using the festival solar terms to find reasons for themselves to be happy, and the time to get together. Eat dumplings on the winter solstice, unless you have to, you have to go home and eat the dumplings made by your mother. There are thousands of flavors in the world, and there are countless delicacies, only the meals made by the hands of relatives are full and heartwarming.
#今日冬至#