Since ancient times, the Chinese people's pursuit of dragons has been endless. As if possessed by Ye Gong, people stubbornly believed that the dragon was a divine object only because it existed in heaven, and it was rare to hear it in the human world.
To express the reverence for the dragon, many traditional Chinese festivals are named after the dragon. For example, the day of "the dragon looks up" is also called the "Green Dragon Festival". According to folklore, this is the day when the Dragon King, who is in charge of cloud rain, raises his head, which also means that after this rain will gradually increase.
In the "Commentary on the Interpretation of Texts": "The dragon, the long in the scales, can be mysterious, can be thin and huge, can be long and short, the spring equinox ascends to the sky, and the autumn equinox and dives into the abyss." "Probably the earliest record of February 2nd." In the past, ordinary people relied on the sky to eat, and called the day after the first month "dragon head", which was nothing more than wanting to please a good head, hoping that the wind and rain would be smooth in the coming year, and the grain would be abundant.
There are many ways to celebrate this day, the most interesting of which is of course eating.
Eating dragon whisker noodles on the second day of the second month of the lunar calendar is a custom passed down by word of mouth by the people, and dragon's whisker noodles, as the name suggests, are a thin and long noodle like a dragon's whiskers. According to legend, the predecessor of this kind of noodle was invented by a master of a royal dining room in the Ming Dynasty, because the play was like a dragon's whiskers, and the tianzi's appetite was greatly opened, and the dragon's face was very happy.
The history of "dragon's whisker noodles" has been more than 300 years, during which successive generations of tianzi have to eat a bowl of "dragon's whisker noodles" carefully concocted by the imperial kitchen every year on the day of the dragon's head, just like eating longevity noodles, this kind of noodles must be swallowed in one go to seek the good intentions of the country.
Records of noodles can be seen in the Yuan Dynasty's "Drinking and Eating". "Dragon's whisker noodles" is one of the varieties of traditional feast noodles in northern China, which has been handed down to this day and can be said to have a long history, and the second food of dragon's whisker noodles in February has the beautiful meaning of "smooth and slippery, smooth and satisfactory".
The unique feature of the dragon's whiskers is the stripe, which is a word that only the north can understand. The physical work of cutting strips must be done by a strong man, and the hands are repeatedly crossed, and there is no intention of stopping. After a few hours, the noodles came out with some dragon whiskers.
Dragon's whisker noodles are highly malleable, and if they are too monotonous, there are also the debuts of tomato dragon's whisker noodles and egg dragon's whisker noodles. This was made by the chef in the palace in order to adjust the taste of the emperor, and it also became a folk snack with a very court flavor in the following centuries.
Dragon's whisker noodles have lasted for a long time, but they are still popular and included in the ranks of intangible cultural heritage, and the popular documentary "China on the Tip of the Tongue" in previous years has placed it at the beginning of the film, which shows how deeply this long noodle is loved by the majority of diners.
And this folk cuisine is also related to elegant art. The Dunhuang Grottoes are the longest-lasting, largest and best-preserved treasure house of Buddhist art in the world today, and can probably be said to be the big brother of the elegant world. The Dunhuang murals depict not only the unworldly fairies with flowing clothes, but also the ancient Chinese culture and folklore. From residential furniture, clothing and makeup, to transportation business, almost every conceivable is covered.
Although it is only scattered in various corners of the grotto, it flashes the breath of life. For example, there is a cloud in the "Maitreya Sutra": "A woman begins to marry at the age of five hundred", according to which a dozen wedding murals painted in just one verse record in detail the ceremonial etiquette of feasting, drinking, performing ceremonies, laying geese, music and dancing, and combining at the wedding. February 2 as an auspicious and festive day, in order to take the auspicious, this day folk food is mostly named "dragon", such as eating dumplings is called eating "dragon horn", eating pig's head is called eating "dragon head", etc., eating noodles is not called "noodles", called "dragon whisker noodles". The sight of people eating "dragon's whisker noodles" on the day the dragon raises its head is also depicted in detail.
The picture shows "Mogao Cave 245 - Mogao Cave - Mojing - Uighur"
In the Lotus Sutra and Herb Metaphors, there is a cloud that says, "The Dharma is like Ganlin, and the hundred herbs and crops are all beneficial." This simple expectation of the people for the coming year is drawn in detail in "Farming in the Rain - Sheng Tang", in which a family of three is sitting around a food basket and enjoying lunch behind a gentle slope nearby. In the middle of the scene, a farmer wields a whip and drives a calf to plow the land. In the distance, the heavy rain in the background is torrential, and the harvester who is rushing to the load is painted. In the other painting, people are holding noodles and eating steamed buns to celebrate the arrival of the "Dragon Rising".
The Book of Miscellaneous Yin and Yang says: "Hai is the heavenly warehouse, the beginning of cultivation." The "Filial Piety and Aid to god contract" says: "The community, the lord of the land." The land is vast and cannot be respected, so the land is sealed as a society and worshiped, and the merits are also repaid. "This noodle is both lunch and food sacrificed to the earth and the Dragon King, which probably contains infinite blessings for the cultivation of the coming year."
The picture shows "Mogao Cave 23 - Farming in the Rain - Sheng Tang"
(The picture shows "Mogao Cave 236 Cave - Zhai Monk Food - Zhongtang")
The transformation art of the dragon's beard in the mural has become an important physical evidence for future generations to investigate and study ancient folklore. And this kind of noodles also appears continuously in the works of later generations. Zuo Chuan, a famous cartoonist in Tianjin, once created a series of folk cartoons with the theme of February 2, one of which is a long-lived old man happily eating dragon whisker noodles, implying another layer of blessings for people, hoping that eaters can live a long life.
Such a dish does not only exist on the tip of the tongue, but the culture it gives to Chinese people is elusive and unimaginable. If you can come to Beijing city and eat a bowl of authentic dragon's whisker noodles, it is really an addiction of the day.
Dragon's whisker noodles have never been favored, the wonderful taste that has wandered on the taste buds for thousands of years seems to have never changed, and today's dragon's whisker noodles are more grounded and more cater to the tastes of most people, making people not forget to admire them when they sweat. Such a surprise taste is not only a patent belonging to the emperor.