Make dumplings on New Year’s Eve. It is one of the most important contents of the Chinese New Year in the vast areas of northern my country. It has stipulated many rules and agreed-upon customs. These customs are all designed to match the needs of the New Year atmosphere. ..

Dumplings on New Year's Eve

Folk proverb goes: "In the Great Cold and Xiaohan, eat dumplings to celebrate the New Year." The 30th day of the twelfth lunar month of each year is a time for people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. On this day, people prepare a lot of delicious food and hold various meaningful activities from morning to night. People call this day "New Year's Day". The Chinese New Year is the most solemn annual festival for the Chinese nation. In order to celebrate the New Year, farmers in the old days started busying themselves with the New Year as soon as they entered the twelfth lunar month. Especially since the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, commonly known as the "Little New Year", people have entered the countdown to the New Year and are busy day and night. There is a widely circulated "New Year Song" among the people in Henan:

Twenty-three, worship the kitchen official;

Twenty-four, clean the house;

Twenty Five, grind tofu;

Twenty-six, cut the meat;

Twenty-seven, kill pigs and chickens;

Twenty-eight, steam jujube flowers; < /p>

Twenty-nine, go get a drink;

On New Year’s Eve, make dumplings;

On New Year’s Day, kick your buttocks and make random bows.

Make dumplings on New Year’s Eve. It is one of the most important contents of the Chinese New Year in the vast areas of northern my country. Dumplings on New Year's Eve are an important part of the festival, so there are many rules and customs. These customs are all to match the atmosphere of the New Year. The first thing to pay attention to when making dumplings is to mix the dumpling fillings. Dumpling fillings can be either meat or vegetable, and in some places they are strictly differentiated, but most of them are a combination of meat and vegetable. The dumplings made on New Year's Eve should be enough for the whole family to eat on the night of the New Year's Eve and on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year. The filling of dumplings on New Year's Eve is usually a combination of meat and vegetables. Pork or mutton is used, cut into small dices, marinated with seasonings, then chop the young cabbage leaves into coarse pieces with a knife, squeeze out part of the water, and add human meat. Mixed with fillings and seasonings. In the process of making stuffing, the most important thing is to chop the stuffing, which is the process of finely chopping the Chinese cabbage with a knife. When chopping vegetables, the knife collides with the chopping board, making a powerful "bang bang" sound. Because the force is constantly changing, the sound emits a rhythmic change of strong and weak rhythm, like a particularly beautiful piece of music. Neighbors all around. Everyone hopes that the sound of chopping vegetables at home is the loudest and longest in the village. Meat and vegetables are mixed with stuffing, which is homophonic to "have wealth". The sound of chopping the stuffing is the loudest and takes a long time, which means "you will have more money for a long time". The longer it takes to chop vegetables, the more dumplings will be made, which symbolizes a prosperous and prosperous life. The shape of dumplings is also particular when it comes to making dumplings on New Year's Eve. Most areas are accustomed to maintaining the traditional crescent shape. When making this shape, fold the dough in half and knead it along the semicircular edge with the thumb and index finger of your right hand. Knead it carefully and evenly, which is called "Kneading Fu". Some farmers pinch the two corners of a crescent-shaped dumpling together to form a "yuanbao" shape and place it on the curtain, symbolizing wealth everywhere and the house full of gold and silver. Some farmers also knead the dumplings with wheat ear-shaped patterns, like plump and huge ears of wheat, symbolizing a bumper harvest in the new year. But more importantly, the dumplings are wrapped in several shapes, which indicates that the house will be full of wealth, the warehouse will be full of grain, and the life will be prosperous in the coming year. The dumplings placed on New Year's Eve are exquisite not only in their shape, but also in their placement. First of all, it cannot be placed randomly. As the saying goes: "You are so busy that you don't let the dumplings wander around." When making dumplings every day, you can arrange them horizontally or vertically as you like, but the dumplings made on New Year's Eve cannot be made. In Shandong and other places, round curtains are used. First, a few ingot-shaped dumplings are placed in the middle, and then arranged neatly layer by layer around the ingots. Folk custom goes like this: "encircling blessings." Some families even stipulate that no matter how big or small the curtains are, only 99 curtains can be placed on each curtain, and they must be covered with curtains. Therefore, it can only be achieved by adjusting the spacing and row spacing of dumplings, which is called "endless happiness." Regarding this custom, there is an interesting story in folklore: A long time ago, in a poor mountain village, there was a very poor family who often had no meal at all. On New Year's Eve, there was no flour or vegetables at home. I listened to the sound of chopping vegetables all around, and I was very anxious. I had no choice but to borrow rice and noodles from relatives and friends. After making the noodles, I mixed some mixed vegetables into the filling and made the dumplings. Because the noodles are borrowed, the dumplings are especially precious. When placed, they are placed in a circle from the inside to the outside, very neat and beautiful. The Kitchen God, who had just returned from heaven, was very happy to see it. There was a rich man in the same village. His family had tens of thousands of dollars. He was used to eating delicacies from all over the world, so he didn't take dumplings seriously at all. On New Year's Eve, stuffings with meat, eggs and other ingredients are used to make dumplings and placed randomly on the curtain. After the dumplings are cooked, their taste changes completely. Pork filling turned into radish dish. But that poor family's dumplings turned out to be stuffed with meat and eggs. It turned out that the Kitchen God was very dissatisfied with the rich man's attitude towards making dumplings. In order to punish him, he secretly mixed the dumplings from the two families. The next day, the news spread in the village. From then on, no matter how busy people are, the New Year's Eve dumplings must be arranged neatly to get a "lucky circle". But in farmers in some areas of Heilongjiang, dumplings cannot be placed in a circle. It is said that arranging dumplings in a circle will make the days worse and worse. They must be arranged sideways so that money can flow in all directions.

Be careful about cooking and eating dumplings

Dumplings are not only made but also eaten on New Year’s Eve. As the saying goes: "Eat dumplings on New Year's Eve - no outsiders." It means that dumplings for New Year's Eve dinner are a symbol of family reunion. Dumplings on this day are eaten on New Year's Eve, which not only means family reunion, but also means renewing friendship. The custom of eating dumplings on New Year's Eve has a long history, at least in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. "Ming Palace History" records the custom of eating dumplings during the New Year. "At the fifth watch..., eat water and snacks, that is, flat food." After being passed down and perfected, the custom of eating dumplings on New Year's Eve was formed in later generations, which was regarded as the meaning of saying goodbye to the old and renewing. Dumplings on New Year's Eve are accompanied by the sound of firecrackers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. The dumplings are put into a boiling pot, cooked and taken out. They are first offered to the gods and ancestors, and then eaten with other foods.

There is also something special about cooking dumplings on New Year’s Eve. The firewood used to make the fire should be bean or sesame stalks, because the fire will become more prosperous as it burns, and the days of the coming year will grow taller and brighter like sesame seeds blooming. When cooking dumplings in the pot, do not stir them randomly with a shovel. Instead, shovel them in one direction against the edge of the pot to form a round shape, which is the same as placing the dumplings. In eastern Shandong, boiled dumplings are usually cooked to break a few, but taboo words such as broken, broken, rotten, etc. should not be used, but should be said to be "earned" or "raised". Because there are vegetables in the dumplings, and the vegetables are homophones for "wealth", so the dumplings are "earned", which means "earning wealth". They are for good luck and luck, so as to increase the joyful atmosphere of New Year's Eve. In some places in central Gansu, when cooking dumplings on New Year's Eve, a little noodles are added to cook and eat together, which is euphemistically called "silver-wrapped ingots." The noodles should be thin and the dumplings should be wrapped in the shape of ingots, which symbolizes longevity and wealth. It is also auspicious and reposes people's good hopes.

There are also customary rules when eating dumplings. The first bowl must be offered first, to the ancestors and to the gods. The dumplings offered here are also very particular. There is a saying among the people in Hebei that "three gods and four ghosts". That is to offer 3 bowls to the gods, with 3 dumplings in each bowl; to offer 4 bowls to the ancestors, with 4 dumplings in each bowl; only the Kitchen God is the least respected, and only offers 1 bowl of dumplings. Only one can be served, but some people feel sorry for themselves and just serve a few. In some places, after the dumplings are brought to the offering table, the elderly in the family will recite a prayer-like jingle devoutly, such as:

A flat piece of food with two pointed ends,

put it into the pot. Thousands.

Scoop with a golden spoon, carry it in a silver bowl,

Bring it to the table to respect God.

The gods like it when they see it.

Promise peace all year round.

The second bowl of dumplings should be served to the livestock to show love for the livestock. In the old days, large livestock such as cows and horses were the main working tools of farmers. People also hoped that livestock would have a safe and successful year just like people. The family started eating the third bowl. There are many kinds of New Year's Eve dinner on New Year's Eve, but you don't have to eat anything else, only dumplings are a must. Remember when eating, it is better to eat even numbers, not odd numbers. Some elderly people at home recite old sayings such as "there are many vegetables (money), there are many vegetables" while eating. After a meal, a few (an even number) must be deliberately left on the plates and bowls used to hold dumplings, even the pots used to cook dumplings, and the curtains on which raw dumplings are placed, which is called "more than enough every year." Even the stuffing and dough used to make dumplings must have "surplus".