The staple food of Manchu reunion dinner is rice. Most families spend some time putting "red dates" and "almonds" in rice, which not only enriches the flavor of staple food, but also has the meanings of "spring comes early" and "happiness comes". In Manchu culture, if there are long-lived elderly people in the family, the family often prepares "peanuts" as the staple food. Because peanuts mean immortality.
And the food that can be included in the "reunion dinner" menu must be extremely rich and meaningful. Most people will prepare all kinds of cooking, boiling and stewing, but the Manchu people should prepare the two recipes of "chicken" and "fish" no matter how rich the reunion dinner is. Because in local culture, they think that "chicken" means "good luck" and "fish" means "more than a year". However, there is an unwritten rule in local culture: no matter how delicious the fish is, it can't be finished. You have to save some. No matter how rotten the chicken is, you should eat it clean. This is because in their minds, if the chicken is eaten clean, it means that the famine and poverty in one year will disappear, and the remaining fish means that there will be more than enough in the coming year.
According to the custom, after eating the annual reunion dinner, the next thing is to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner. This traditional culture is not only passed down by the local people, but also observed by almost all parts of the Chinese nation: "Reunion dinner represents reunion, and then the whole family eats New Year's Eve together." However, in Manchu culture, there are some special customs that make people feel different.
For example, this New Year's Eve dinner is best left over from the reunion dinner, and there must be fish on the table. The indispensable staple food on the dinner table of Manchu people is "jiaozi". Manchu people pay attention to pleating jiaozi, that is, jiaozi, who jiaozi can't pinch the monk's head, means that he will be bald in the future, and Manchu jiaozi must be packed in rows to symbolize the wealth and prosperity of the New Year. On New Year's Eve, Manchu people have to close their doors until the next day. This kind of behavior also represents the luck of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new.
In fact, after understanding the Spring Festival customs in Manchu culture, we will find that our country is really vast in territory and abundant in resources, with different customs. However, Manchu, Han and other nationalities are inheriting and observing the traditional culture of the Chinese nation. On New Year's Eve, brothers and sisters scattered all over the world get together for a reunion dinner, which can unite family ties and exchange feelings. On the occasion of the Spring Festival, everyone welcomes another New Year with joy and laughter.