Text | Chongfu rotten pen head
Fifty or sixty years ago in the middle of summer, it is the rural "double robbery" busy season, the sun is shining on the earth, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon members go out to work in the field to plant seedlings, feet stretched into the paddy field will be scalded and shrunk, nevertheless, that has to endure, the closer to the "closed seedling door", the more critical moment, but also the time when the body is extremely tired, at this time, the production team leader in order to encourage everyone's morale, at this moment to inform the members of the "July and a half" days, so, the members were injected with a "heart shot", The potential is stimulated again......
After more than 10 days of hard work, the seedling planting was completed on the day of the beginning of autumn, and then the threshing stage of early rice was relatively relaxed.
(Picture from the Internet)
After the "July and a half", it seems that many squad leaders of the whole brigade have breathed in private, and they will stagger the sun in an orderly manner.
A family whose family has passed away with an elderly person in the previous year or in that year must be the first to celebrate the "July and a half" on July 13, which is a rule handed down from the old foundation.
On the night before the "July and a half", almost the entire group of men and women rushed to the livestock farm, where they gathered around to watch the slaughter of the pigs. Generally, a team needs to kill two pigs, and a team with many farmers needs three pigs. After the pig is killed, it is divided according to the parts of the meat knife by knife, and then, the lot is drawn and taken home by family in order. The whole process is busy from after dinner until the second half of the night. After the families got the meat back, they had to rush to the brigade dock and wait in line to buy the skins.
At this time, although it is the middle of the night, but the lights are bright, there is already a long queue outside the house where the machine port shakes the skin, and the people who come to buy the skin have to wait for an hour before it is their turn, and some finally have their turn, and it happens to be sold out, so they have to wait a little longer. Ordinary people want to buy back seven or eight catties of leather, and some people reach more than ten catties.
In some teams, after July and a half, there were no pigs to kill in the livestock farm, so the farmers had to go to the market to buy pork, so they had to rush to the meat stall of the food company in the market at three or four o'clock in the morning to line up, and if they went late, they would not be able to buy it.
Whether it is the meat in the squad or the meat bought on the street, the amount is "buckled", not too much. As the old saying goes, one pound and four taels of meat "return to God" (sixteen taels for one catty). That is, the pork that worships the gods and worships the ancestors only needs one pound and four taels. It's not like now, people worship the gods and worship their ancestors for three or four catties of rib meat.
The pork used for worshipping gods and ancestors should be formed with a knife (enough weight), which is called a knife head, and it cannot be solved (mending the knife) knife. Pork is considered a nutritious ingredient in traditional Chinese culture. In addition, pigs play an important role in agricultural production, and pork worship is also a sign of gratitude for the hard work of ancestors. In Chinese culture, fish symbolizes abundance, abundance and auspiciousness, as well as a happy family life.
Worshipping ancestors with fish and meat represents nostalgia for ancestors, and at the same time, it is hoped that the family can continue the tradition of auspiciousness and happiness. Chicken is a symbol of longevity, festivity, and good fortune in Chinese tradition. Offering chicken to ancestors has the meaning of thanking ancestors and praying for the health and longevity of family members. In short, the use of these three kinds of meat when worshipping ancestors is to express respect and nostalgia for ancestors, and at the same time to convey good wishes to family members. These customs originated from ancient Chinese farming culture and traditional concepts, and are still widely passed down today.
(Picture from the Internet)
After buying back the meat, fish and skin, the head of the family chopped the meat filling on the head of the meat mound, and put a lot of peeled green onions and putou in the meat, and some people would add some mustard and put some salt to chop it finely.
The hostess cut a lot of aloe vera leaves from the river early and washed them, set up a bamboo plaque in the main gate, and when the meat filling was ready, she and the children began to wrap the wontons around the bamboo plaque...... Even though it's hot and sweaty, you can't shake the fan, because it will dry the skin, so you have to endure it.
There is only a little bit of meat filling in the wontons, and there is a way: catch some green onions firmly, and don't catch them tightly. If the children put too much minced meat, the mother will complain and tell them to put less of it, so that there will not be enough minced meat. After wrapping the meat wontons, you have to wrap the steamed wontons dry. The filling of the dry steamed wontons is mostly sweet, mixed with brown sugar and flour.
The festival of "July and a half" originated from the early agricultural harvest and autumn tasting ancestor worship, and its birth can be traced back to the ancient ancestor worship and ancestor worship during the agricultural harvest. In ancient times, people often relied on the blessing of the gods for the harvest of farming. Ancestor worship is practiced in spring, summer, autumn and winter, but the "autumn taste" of early autumn is very important. Autumn is the harvest season, and people sacrifice to the spirits of their ancestors, offering seasonal products to the gods, and then tasting the fruits of these labors and praying for a good harvest in the coming year.
After the meat, chicken (most people use eggs instead in the seventh and a half months), fish and two other vegetarian dishes, the ancestor worship begins. Of course, on this day's table, there is no less bowl of steaming water wontons and dry steamed wontons, just like the "Qingming Festival" on this day, bud wheat balls are indispensable, and brown-headed balls are the same. Worshipping the gods and ancestors is a necessary procedure for farmers, and such solemn ceremonies are generally held on Chinese New Year's Eve, Qingming Festival and the half of July.
When the worship of the gods and the worship of the ancestors are almost over, the relatives will arrive one after another, and some relatives will come early to wrap the wontons in their hands. The relatives sat for a while, and the wrapped wontons were put into the pot, and a bowl of piping hot wontons was eaten as a snack, although they were sweating profusely, but after all, such a delicacy had been waiting for a year.
In the era of the big collective, after the "July and a half", the team was on holiday, and every household was lively, and some families and relatives were in the same team, so they did not interact with each other. Most of the people have to put up several tables, and the men and women are not lively.
Although the dishes on the table are not as rich as the current festival, they are absolutely pollution-free. Roasted pork with vegetables, braised silver carp, braised thousand pieces of bean sprouts, roasted taro with bok choy, winter melon, etc. There is a bowl of wontons to cushion the belly, and some rice and side dishes are saved for lunch.
After eating, men, women and children are under the big tree or beside the bamboo garden to enjoy the cool breeze, adults recall the "double guns" just experienced, there is sadness and fun in the words, there is no lack of jokes to make everyone laugh and laugh. In the bamboo garden, children chase each other on the waist of a branch of bamboo, or twist a spider web to build a knowledge, or swim around the wooden boat in the river and dive, while the grandmother on the bank shouts loudly for the children to go ashore early......
(Picture from the Internet)
The hostess is steaming sugar wontons at home at this time, and the freshly steamed wontons should be poured with cold water.
The candied wontons drizzled with cold water are sugar-colored, the skin is white, and the aloe vera leaves on the wontons are green, which is very beautiful. Some of the steamed wontons are kept for themselves, and the rest is taken home by relatives. After steaming the wontons, the hostess took mulberry scissors, cut a lot of reed millet in her own field, and distributed them to the people who were riding the wind under the trees to taste together.
(Picture from the Internet)
It is in the afternoon, the sun is unusually hot, but the edge of the bamboo garden is still quite shady, although there is no wind, but there is a puff fan in the hand, it is still very comfortable at the moment, people enjoy a trace of happiness in this short festival......
"July and a half" is called "Zhongyuan Festival", which is derived from the Taoist saying after the Eastern Han Dynasty. Taoism has the "Three Yuan Theory", "the heavenly official Shangyuan blesses, the local official Zhongyuan forgives sins, and the water official Xiayuan relieves misfortune, and the name of "Zhongyuan" comes from this.
After the end of the "July and a half", everyone was greeted with hard work: many baled rice was still on the ridge or on the field horizon waiting for the threshing of the rice, the planted late rice fields should be managed in the field, the silkworms in early autumn were about to be fed, the weeding of the mulberry orchards had to be paid close attention, and the threshed rice had to be dried and sold to the grain station in good weather......
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