The 14th and 15th of July in the lunar calendar are the traditional ancestral festivals in ancient times, commonly known as "July and a Half" and "Ancestor Worship Festival", which are routinely used to worship the ancestors and report the autumn harvest to the ancestors with new rice and other offerings. The Song Dynasty's "Tokyo Dream Record" records: "The day before the Middle Yuan, that is, to buy a practice leaf, lay the table when enjoying the ceremony, and buy a magu nest, which was also tied to the foot of the table, which was the meaning of telling the ancestor Qiucheng." ”
This day is called "Zhongyuan Festival" in Taoist culture, and if there is "Zhong", there must be "up and down", such as the more familiar Fifteenth Lantern Festival of the First Month in Taoist culture is the "Shangyuan Festival", and there is a less familiar October 15th "Lower YuanJie", which is an important festival in the entire Taoist system. More coincidentally, the july and a half day is also the more solemn Obon Festival of Buddhism, different cultures and ideas on this day blend and influence each other, and its historical origin is quite complex, gradually evolving into a "ghost festival" with rich folk customs and many taboos, but in secular culture, the core of the "July and a half" is still to honor the ancestors and fulfill filial piety, which has not changed.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > the folk activities of the Zhongyuan Festival mainly have these 3 things:</h1>
Ancestor worship: There is a saying in folklore that ancestors will return home in the middle of July to visit their descendants, so on the day of July and a half, they must invite the ancestors' tablets out, respectfully place them on the offering table, light the offering incense, and provide tea and dinner three times in the morning, noon and dusk.
Burning paper: Folk folklore superstition says that the paper in the yang is the money in the underworld, so on this day it is necessary to fold some "yuan treasures" in advance, and the grave is to burn paper money to the ancestors.
Sacrifice the land: In the past farming society, after the ancestors were sacrificed, the tribute was sprinkled into the field to sacrifice the land, hoping for the autumn harvest to obtain a good harvest.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="23" > Zhongyuan Festival is also called "Ghost Festival", the old saying "July and a half, ghosts wandering", the old ancestors also left 3 taboos, over the Middle Yuan Festival to remember. </h1>
1, do not "night tour" alone, the ancients believe that this day "yin qi" is very heavy, lonely ghosts are running around, "eight characters weak" people do not want to travel at night to find trouble.
2. Do not hang wind chimes. According to folk tradition, wind chimes attract ghosts, especially on the day of July and a half.
3. Do not eat tribute. The ancestor worship time of the Middle Yuan Festival is relatively long, and the ancestors in the folk custom will come back to eat and visit their descendants all day, so the tribute on the day cannot be "stolen", otherwise it will be punished.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="24" > half-eaten duck in July</h1>
There is also a very peculiar custom in July and a half: eat ducks, because the white duck swims in the water, like a bright lamp, taking its meaning of "river lamp Pudu". There is also a saying that "duck" is "pressure" harmonic, said to eat duck is to suppress the "soul", in short, this day to eat duck meat in a very many places, autumn diet duck meat is also a good tonic, warm and not dry, rich in nutrition, share a nourishing water duck soup method.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="25" > [tonic duck soup].</h1>
Ingredients: 1/2 duck, 20 grams of ginger, 8 grams of angelica, 4 grams of astragalus, 4 grams of baizhi, 5 grams of ginseng, 10 grams of lilies; rice wine, salt and monosodium glutamate.
1: Cut the duck into large pieces and soak in water for 10 minutes, rinse well, put cold water into the pot and add ginger slices and a small amount of cooking wine to boil for 2 minutes, then fish out the duck meat and set aside.
2: Prepare 20 grams of sliced ginger, about 5 grams of angelica, astragalus, white root, ginseng, 10 grams of lilies, rinse with water and set aside.
3: A small amount of oil in the pot, pour the blanched duck meat into the pot and stir-fry the grease, fish out the duck and set aside, the excess oil should not be.
4: Put all ingredients into a casserole dish, add a little salt to taste, pour boiling water that submerges the ingredients, bring to a boil on high heat, simmer over low heat.
5: After simmering for about 1 hour, add a little salt and MSG to taste, and then boil again for 1 minute.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="26" >— said LaoJing</h1>
Zhongyuan Festival is an ancient festival, has thousands of years of history, although now by many people called "ghost festival", but the main folk purpose of this festival is still "respect for the ancestors to fulfill filial piety", those folk customs and taboos are mostly feudal superstitions do not have to be taken too seriously, but the respect for ancestors and the deceased, as well as the desire for a better life is real, these folk activities retain the treasures of Chinese civilization, which is worth passing on from generation to generation.
I am a foraging record of the city, and I have been fighting with the world for many years, and I am still glorious and full of interest! Like to focus on eating, drinking and having fun in the city, updating recipes and food anecdotes every day, paying attention to me, enjoying food without getting lost.