Late autumn is fading away, early winter is coming; northern geese fly south, and rain and dew turn into frost. The roaring northwest wind rolled up the fallen leaves and threw them into the air again and again, the leaves that fell in the small river drifted all the way, and kept spinning in the whirlpool, the transition season from late autumn to early winter, the sky was often gray, in this one after another hazy weather, the autumn rain was several days, the crops in the field had been harvested, people curled up on the kang head all day without going out, the midnight temperature dropped, the autumn rain turned into snowflakes, and the whole earth was wrapped in silver, frozen for the first time in winter.
"Ten Eyes Moon" is the Jingle people lunar calendar first of the first month of the elegant name, the first month of the lunar calendar is called "October Dynasty", is the festival of honoring the ancestors, on this day the descendants to the ancestors to the grave sacrifice sweep, send cold clothes, "October Dynasty" and spring "Qingming Festival", autumn "Zhongyuan Festival" and called the three "ghost festivals", so some places are also called "Hades Festival". Early winter is coming, the weather is getting cold, the human world should be dressed to protect against the cold, and the ghosts in the underworld also feel cold, this day is not only to commemorate the first to die, but more importantly, to "send cold clothes". The biggest feature of the "Ten Eyes Moon" is different from the "Qingming" Festival and the "Zhongyuan" Festival is "sending cold clothes", Qingming and Zhongyuan are only to pay tribute to the ancestors, and the "Ten Eyes Moon" in addition to the sacrifice, the more important content is to "burn the cold clothes". This legend comes from Meng Jiangnu. Legend has it that Meng Jiang's newlywed Yan'er, her husband was arrested to repair the Great Wall, spring to winter, Meng Jiang woman traveled thousands of miles to send clothes for her husband to keep warm. When she came to the foot of the Great Wall and learned that her husband had died, Meng Jiangnu was devastated, wailing to the heavens, touching the heavens, crying down half of the Great Wall, finding her husband's body, she used the new cotton clothes she brought to reload her husband's body and bury it, it was the first day of the first month of the tenth month of the lunar calendar, which gave rise to the custom of sending winter clothes in the "Ten Eyes Moon".
The "October Dynasty" has existed since ancient times. According to research, as early as the Zhou Dynasty, the first day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar was the day of the Waxing Moon, and a solemn sacrifice was held on this day. The Book of Rites and Moon Decrees describes the situation of the Zhou Dynasty La Sacrifice: "With prey as sacrifices, the Son of Heaven sacrificed the gods of the sun, moon, stars and stars on the altar, and sacrificed five generations of ancestors in the gate, while comforting the peasants and promulgating a new system of work and rest." The Book of Poetry and the Wind of July once mentioned that "the fire flows in July, and the clothes are given in September", which means that from September onwards, the sky gradually becomes colder. It's time for people to buy clothes to keep them warm, so the first day of October is also commonly known as the Clothing Festival. The "Collection of Edicts of the Tang Dynasty" volume Xuanzong Tianbao in August of the second year of the year was made: "Zen worshippers, so show their sincere respect, recommend new ones, so Shen Shuanglu thoughts." It is the time when the king of Zhixian made a ceremony, and when he felt the affection... This edict directly affected the folk custom of going to the grave to pay homage to ancestors and "sending cold clothes".
In the Song Dynasty, the "October Dynasty" was already quite solemn, and Lü Xizhe's "Miscellaneous Records of the Years" said: "In October Shuo, the Beijing master will guard the school above and give the golden robe. Shishu all went out of the city to eat the tomb, forbidden to be in the car and horse debutante courtyard and the Xijing Dynasty Mausoleum, also such as the Cold Food Festival", "Mengliang Record" records that the Southern Song Dynasty Lin'an "Shishu went out of the suburbs to sweep the pine and sacrifice the tomb with the October Festival." "Henan Program Testament" Yun: "Worship the grave on October 1, and feel frost and dew." In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the "October Dynasty" ancestor worship and cold clothing customs were more integrated. Liu Tong and Yu Yizheng of the Ming Dynasty have a detailed record of the Hanyi Festival at that time: "On October 1st, the paper was cut in five colors, made for men and women, and the length of the ruler was close, and the cold clothes were loosely printed, and the characters of his surname were recognized, such as sending books. The family repairs the night, burns its door, and sends winter clothes. Pan Rongxi described the situation of the Qing Dynasty Winter Clothes Festival in "Ji Sheng Sending Winter Clothes in the Age of Emperor Jing": "In October Shuo, the scholars' families worship their ancestors and sweep the tombs, such as Zhongyuan Yi. In the evening, the book was written in the evening, and the five-colored drapery was made into a crown and clothing, and burned outside the door, and the cold clothes were sent. ”
In order to prevent the ancestors from being cold and frozen in the Yin Cao Di Mansion, the ancients cut the shape of their clothes with five-colored paper, and then burned them on the grave, sending them cold clothes, and sending a touch of warmth with those lonely ghosts. The "Ten Eyes Moon" sends cold clothes, pinning the memory of the living for the deceased, and carrying the compassion of the living for the deceased. This day also marks the arrival of a harsh winter, not only to send winter clothes for the dead, parents must take out the cotton clothes they have made on this day and let their children change seasons. If the weather is still warm at this time, it is not suitable to wear cotton clothes, but also to urge children to try it on. On this day, men have to sort out the stove and smoke tube, and after installation, they must try to make a fire to ensure that it is cold and warm. Jingle people are very particular about the "Ten Eyes Moon", and it is essential to go to the grave to worship the ancestors and burn cold clothes.
On this day, every household in the countryside must eat oil cakes. The millets that have just been harvested from the threshing field are round and full, and the grains are golden and dazzling. Slippery, grabbing a handful in the hand, the particles slipped straight out along the finger slit, as if they were intentionally amusing people. Huang Cheng's shiny yellows glowed with a seductive breath that loomed over from the land, sunshine, rain and dew, and also from the sweat of the peasants. Jing Le's mother-in-law is a good way to make oil cakes. Before the "Ten Eyes Moon", the millet was peeled from the mill, then soaked in water, slightly dried and then crushed, at which time the stone mill in the village "squeaked" and began to turn away. The cake noodles are mixed with warm water, steamed on the steamer basket, and the steamed cake noodles should be kneaded the board while hot dipped in cold water, and an appropriate amount of white noodles should be added when kneading, so as to reduce the viscosity of the rice noodles, so as not to foam when frying the oil cake.
At this time, the kneaded dough is cut open, which is called a vegetarian cake. The vegetarian cake can be eaten with sesame oil and sugar, and is soft and smooth, sweet and sweet. Cut the vegetarian cake balls, knead them into strips by hand, and then cut them into thin slices with a knife, and wrap them with bean paste, sugar, and mixed vegetables, which are called bean cakes, sugar cakes, and vegetable cakes, respectively. After the cake is ready, it is waiting for the frying pan to be fried, and the Jingle people squeezed the oil cake with sesame oil, and the maroon sesame oil is fragrant, elegant and mellow, and the flavor is unique, which is by no means comparable to other varieties of vegetable oil. When the oil pot is boiled, put the cake in the oil pot and fry it until golden brown, that is, the oil cake, the yellow is clear and bright, and the food is crisp and refreshing. The oil cake porcelain is solid, and it is resistant to hunger, so there is a saying of "thirty miles of noodles and forty miles of cake".
Because the cake and the high harmonic tone, there is a prosperous, prosperous, high-rise auspicious meaning, Jingle people every New Year's Festival, birth of children to wish for birthday, marriage and funeral to make "oil cake" is indispensable. The yellow, soft cake bites down and pulls long, and the soft, sticky, sweet taste is unforgettable in the toothless people who grew up in Jingle. On the day of the "Ten Eyes Moon", every household fried oil cakes and made vermicelli, the mother-in-law and aunts were busy cooking, the men went to the grave to worship their ancestors and burned cold clothes, and the hillsides around the village fluttered with smoke, and the village was filled with the fragrance of fried oil cakes.
Paying homage to the ancestors is the continuation of family affection and blood, and when the ancestors are recognized, the affection and love will continue from generation to generation, just as blood flows in the veins of future generations, stretching endlessly. This has to be thanks to the ancestors, thanks to the genes of life, ancestor worship is to let everyone not forget the original, no matter how far they go, no matter how many years, the blood-linked family will never be broken. "Winter Clothing Festival" is the expression of the ancestor worship culture of the Chinese nation, before the arrival of winter, people send winter clothes to express the remembrance and commemoration of the ancestors, is a way to Chinese express not to forget the ancestors, grateful for the picture.