On the seventh day of the first lunar month, everyone cooks seven kinds of vegetables and fruits together to make a good start, which means seeing clearly and making a lot of money. This custom can be traced back to the Southern Song Dynasty. Dong Xun and Jin Ichiro wrote in the Question and Answer Ceremony: "The first day of the first month is a chicken, the second day is a dog, the third day is a pig, the fourth day is a sheep, the fifth day is a cow, the sixth day is a horse, and the seventh day is an upright person." Man's Day is also called "Man wins the Day". Chaoshan custom, on the seventh day of the first month, people must eat a cake made of seven kinds of vegetables. With the change of time, Chaoshan people stopped making cakes, so they immediately cooked seven kinds of vegetables in the pot and ate them in the afternoon, which was called "seven kinds of soup". These seven kinds of vegetables are generally carrots, thick vegetables, onions, garlic, amaranth, lettuce and spring vegetables. Among them, Lyu3 bu4 means "integrity"; Amaranth, also known as Jiucai, takes "rejuvenation" like spring vegetables; Onions take "wisdom"; Lettuce is diligent; The combination of garlic and thick "is a good deal." Before eating these seven dishes, the old people always talk about: the whole family is honest, rejuvenated in the new year, smart and diligent, everything is cost-effective, and everything is unscrupulous.
Five of the seven dishes are generally fixed, namely lettuce, garlic, onion, coriander and amaranth. The "Qin" of lettuce begins with "Qin"; Garlic sounds "counted"; Onions sound like clumps; The "edge" of coriander; Amaranth's "leek" sounds "long". These five dishes cooperate with each other, which sounds auspicious. The key is to have a better New Year. The other two are flexibly matched according to the customs and tastes of all parts of the country. In some areas, fish and meat are used instead of them. Fish means "more and more year by year". Eating meat means a better life, and it can even be replaced by fresh fruit. It is said that after eating the "seven dishes", you can pick up the gold and silver of the year and make a fortune. It is a must-eat dish for every household in Chaoshan, Guangdong Province on the seventh day of the first month.
Seven kinds of dishes in Meizhou Hakka area are mainly lettuce, garlic, onion, amaranth and coriander. These five kinds of dishes must be available, in addition to fish and raw pork (or other dishes such as meatballs and Cai Jie). Seven dishes should be cooked separately and eaten by the whole family. These seven dishes have meanings according to their pronunciation. The word "Qin" in "lettuce" and the word "Qin" in "Qin" are similar to "Qin". The word "garlic" is homophonic with the word "calculation" of "playing with one's mind" and "painting well", which means "eating and using sparingly, painting well"; The word "onion" is homophone with the word "smart", which means "smart and capable". The word "leek" in "leek" is homophonic with the word "long", meaning to grow old together; The word "pill" of "meatball" is close to the word "circle" of "family reunion", which means "harmony and beauty"; The word "Yu" of "fish" and "leftover" means more than one year; The word "rot" and "rich" of "water tofu" began to sound like a beautiful life.
Hakka people in Guangdong feel that after eating these seven dishes, they hope that people will be hardworking, promising, wise, predestined, long-lasting and rich. "Seven dishes" are auspicious dishes in the final analysis. Eating seven dishes can not only bring good luck in festivals, but also regulate the spleen and stomach. In addition, there is a saying in Hakka cultural area: "After eating seven kinds of vegetables, everyone will do odd jobs", which means that after eating seven kinds of vegetables, they need to start working. Therefore, eating "seven dishes" on the seventh day is also a groundbreaking ceremony after the year. These seven dishes sell well every time on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year. In various farmers' wholesale markets and shopping malls, seven kinds of vegetables, including lettuce, onion, garlic, Cai Jie, spring vegetables and amaranth, are sold together in the morning, or put in baskets, so that people can enjoy the happiness of "self-help" selection of "seven kinds of vegetables". Some hotels, restaurants and restaurants also specially release this "auspicious dish", which is deeply loved by customers.