The second day of the second month of the lunar calendar, anciently known as the "festival of peace", commonly known as "dragon head-raising". In the past, it was also one of the important folk festivals in the minds of the old Beijingers. Therefore, around the "hibernation" of the 24 solar terms, spring returns to the earth, everything recovers, insects, snakes and beasts hibernating in the soil or caves will wake up from hibernation, and the legendary dragon also wakes up from its slumber, so it is known as "dragon head-raising". Once the dragon raises its head, the clouds will rise and the rain will fall, signaling a new year of good weather and good harvests.
From then on, the rain will gradually increase. The so-called "dragon's head" refers to the hibernation, the insects began to wake up. Therefore, as the saying goes, "February 2, the dragon raises its head, and scorpions and centipedes show their heads." Therefore, this day is also called "Spring Dragon Festival".
The second day of the second month of the lunar calendar or "hibernation" before and after the earth began to thaw, the weather is gradually warming up, spring, everything is recovering, hibernating in the mud or cave insects, snakes and beasts, from hibernation to wake up, the legendary dragon also woke up from his slumber, the farmers said goodbye to the farm idle, began to work the ground. Therefore, in ancient times, the "February 2" is also called "on the second day". Therefore, the Spring Dragon Festival, which is prevalent in China's folklore, was also known as the "Spring Plowing Festival" in ancient times. It is said that if you are not awake on this day, the booming thunder will come to call you.
In the north, February 2 is also called Dragon Head Raising Day, Spring Dragon Festival, Nongtou Festival. Widely circulated "February 2, the dragon carries the head; big warehouse full, small warehouse flow." The folk proverb. In the south is called Treading Green Festival, the ancient name is Pick Vegetable Festival. According to the law of climate, the second day of the second month of the lunar calendar, most parts of China by the monsoon climate, the temperature rises, the number of hours of sunshine increases, rainfall is also gradually increasing, light, temperature, water conditions have been able to meet the growth of crops, so the second day of the second month of February is also the southern rural agricultural festival. Since about the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese have had the custom of celebrating February 2nd.
★Folklore
Folklore says that the second day of the second month of the lunar calendar is the day when the Dragon King, who is in charge of clouds and rain, raises his head in the sky; from then on, the rain will gradually increase. Therefore, this day is called "Spring Dragon Festival".
The origin of the Spring Dragon Festival, in the northern part of China's folklore is circulating such a myth. Said, Wu Zetian became emperor, annoyed the Jade Emperor, Oracle four sea dragon king, three years shall not rain to the earth. Soon, the Dragon King, who was in charge of the Heavenly River, listened to the cries of the people's families and watched the tragic scene of the starving people, and feared that the way of life on earth would be cut off, so he disobeyed the Jade Emperor's will and sent rain to the earth once. The Jade Emperor was informed that the Dragon King was knocked down to the mortal world and pressed under a big mountain to suffer, and a monument was erected on the mountain:
The Dragon King violated the rules of heaven by sending down rain, and suffered a thousand sins on the earth;
To climb back up to the Heavenly Pavilion, it would not be possible unless the golden beans blossomed.
People looked everywhere for blossoming golden beans in order to save the Dragon King. To the second February of the next year, people are turning corn seeds, think of this corn is like a golden bean, fried a fried flowers, is not a golden bean blossom? On the family popcorn flowers, and set up in the yard burning incense, for the blossom of the "golden beans". Dragon King looked up, know that the people to save it, then shouted to the Jade Emperor: "Golden beans bloom, quickly let me out! The Jade Emperor looked at the earth in the courtyard of the golden bean flowers open, had to pass the Oracle, edict the Dragon King to return to Heaven, continue to give the earth to the clouds and rain. From then on, the folk formed a habit, every February 2 this day, people will pop corn flower to eat.
In fact, in the second month of the lunar calendar, after the "rain" festival comes, the winter phenomenon of little rain ended, rainfall will gradually increase up, which is originally the characteristics of the monsoon climate in North China.
★Traditional customs
Whenever the Spring Dragon Festival arrives, most of the northern part of China in the morning of this day, every family with a lantern to the well or the river to pick up water, back to the home will light, burn incense, offerings. In the old days, people called this ceremony "lead field dragon". On this day, families will also eat noodles, fried cakes, popcorn, than as "picking the dragon", "eat gentian", "golden bean blossom, the Dragon King ascends to the sky, Xingyunbuyu, grains," in order to show the auspicious celebration.
On February 2, there are more folk activities in old Beijing.
First of all, there is a certain amount of food and drink, because people believe that "the dragon's power is great", the wind and rain will be smooth, in order to be able to have a bumper harvest, so the food and drink on this day is mostly named after the dragon. Generally eat spring cakes, also known as eating "dragon scale"; eating dumplings, also known as eating "dragon ear"; eating noodles, also known as eating "dragon beard", Beijing's dragon beard noodles, also named after. One of the most elaborate is to eat spring pancakes, commonly known as pancakes, which is unique to Beijing's folk food, is a kind of white flour branded into a double layer of lotus leaf pancakes, can be opened, coated with sweet flour sauce, rolled "box vegetables", that is, the wood mustache meat, bean sprouts mixed with vermicelli, elbows in sauce, and so on. They are very tasty and easy to eat. As the saying goes, "If you have all kinds of boxed vegetables, you'll have a good year with plenty of grains."
There is also an important activity on February 2, which is to receive the "aunt", that is, the mother's family to receive back the married daughter, so there is a "February 2 to receive the baby" said. Because of the old Beijing people's etiquette, which in the first month of the "aunts and grandmothers" are not allowed to live in the mother's home, the second to the mother's family to pay tribute to the New Year must be rushed back to the in-laws on the same day, especially newlyweds soon "aunts and grandmothers". But on the second day of February, the mother's family to pick up their daughters to go back, live for a few days or half a month, one is the first month of the busy work for a long time, more tired, to take back to the mother's home to take a good rest; two is the beginning of the new year, and to be busy, so to treat her. Usually, spring cakes, or pancakes, were used as a treat. In addition to eating and drinking, the "Auntie" is a relaxed and enjoyable place to chat.
Another activity on February 2 is the Emperor's plowing. Because every year on February 2 this day is almost in the hibernation before and after, "hibernation a plow soil, the equinox of the ground through." Since then the north has come to the spring plowing busy time. In order to mobilize people to put into spring production, do not miss the farm, February 2 this day, the emperor should symbolically rate of officials out of the palace to his "one acre and three quarters of land" plowing loosening the soil. Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty emperors every year on February 2, have to plow the soil in the first farmland, from the Qing Dynasty Emperor Yongzheng began, every year on February 2 this day changed to out of the Yuanmingyuan, to the "mu garden" (now the west side of the Yuanmingyuan in Haidian) help plow plow plow field. In the past, there was a painting, called "the emperor plowing map", the painting is a crown, wearing a dragon robe of the emperor is hand-held plow plow plow handle, followed by a minister, a hand-held bamboo basket, one hand in the seed, the cattle is wearing a robe of the seventh-grade magistrate, the far end of the basket to send the empress and the courtesan. The painting is also inscribed with a limerick: "February 2, the dragon raises its head, the Son of Heaven plows the land and the minister drives the ox, the Empress of the Palace sends the meal in old age, the minister of the dynasty throws the seed, plows the land in spring and plows in summer at the rate of the whole world, and the five grains are plentiful and peaceful in autumn." This painting also shows that people hope that there will be an enlightened emperor who can plough the land in spring and work in summer so that the people will have plenty of food and clothing.
◆Spring Cake
Beijing's folk food is a kind of thinly-breaded pastry, also called pancake. Every year, Beijingers eat spring cakes on the day of the first spring, which is called "biting spring".
The second day of the second month of the lunar calendar is the day when the dragon raises its head as the old Chinese proverb says ("February 2, the dragon raises its head"), and on this day Beijingers also eat spring pancakes, which is called "eating dragon scales".
Spring pancakes than eating roast duck pancakes to be large, and tough (Beijingers called to have "bone strength"), because to roll a lot of vegetables to eat. In the old days, when eating spring pancakes, it was important to go to the box store to call "Su Pan" (also known as box dishes). The box store is the meat store, the store sends people to deliver the dishes to the home.
The box is divided into compartments to put smoked tripe, pine nuts tripe, stove meat (a kind of hanging oven roast pork), clear sauce meat, smoked elbow, sauce elbow, sauce mouth strips, smoked chicken, sauce duck, etc., to eat when you need to change the knife and cut into thin threads, with a few other kinds of home-style fried vegetables (usually shredded meat fried leeks and sprouts, shredded meat fried spinach, vinegar cooking mung bean sprouts, veggie fried vermicelli, eggs, etc., if you have a freshly marketed "pheasant neck leeks" stir-fried lean meat, coupled with stalled eggs, is more fresh and flavorful), rolled together into the spring pancakes to eat. Accompanied by finely shredded green onions and soy sauce drizzled with sesame oil (roast duck with sweet noodle sauce).
When eating spring pancakes, the whole family sits together, put the branded spring pancakes in the steamer, eat as you take, in order to eat a hot. If you eat spring cakes on February 2, Beijingers also pay attention to take the married girl home.
◆Donkey roll
A kind of bean-flour cake, a Beijing halal flavor snack. Steamed yellow rice (or glutinous rice) is kneaded into a ball, sprinkled with fried soybean flour, then added with red bean filling, rolled into long strips, and sprinkled with sesame, cinnamon and sugar for consumption. As the food stalls in the Qing Dynasty made and sold "donkey rolls," they sprinkled soybean flour along with the production as if the country donkey rolled around and stuck all over the yellow soil, so it got the tongue-in-cheek name.
The custom of old Beijing, people always like to buy "donkey roll" in the second month of the lunar calendar to taste, and thus operate this food vendors and cart vendors are many, to the Tianqiao market, the white food stalls and "rice cake tiger" (Tiger Zhanfu) to do the most famous.