In Tomb-Sweeping Day, there will be sacrificial ceremonies, grave-sweeping, outing and other activities all over the country. In terms of diet, eating Qingtuan (wormwood regiment) is popular in the south, and other regions also have distinctive Qingming diets, such as eating eggs and painting eggs, tasting snails, eating mustard rice and spreading seeds. Let's take a look at the food customs ~~

The first one: eating green balls (wormwood balls)

The custom of eating green balls in Tomb-Sweeping Day was only popular in Jiangnan at first, but with the inheritance of food culture and the spread of food, it gradually made many places have the custom of eating green balls. Some of the Youth League are called "Qingmingbing", others are called "Ai Zan", and here, I am called "Ai Tuan".

The overall color of Qing Tuan is green and beautiful, with a soft and waxy taste, which is quite suitable for the green in spring. It is delicious and nutritious, and it is a traditional snack that cannot be missed before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day.

Second: Eating Eggs

Tomb-Sweeping Day's custom of "eating eggs" comes from ancient allusions. As early as the pre-Qin period, it was clearly stipulated that fire was forbidden in Tomb-Sweeping Day. Faced with a temporary fire ban, the people ran out of cooked and hot food, so they had to prepare food that could be put away before the arrival of Tomb-Sweeping Day, and boiled eggs and some steamed buns were the best dry food.

Tomb-Sweeping Day eats eggs, which symbolizes a happy reunion, many children, and the offspring of the new generation. It also symbolizes the meaning of breaking out of its shell and getting ahead, and there is even a beautiful implication of the saying that "Tomb-Sweeping Day eats an egg and has good health all year round".

Now, the custom of painting eggs has been passed down in some places, that is, before the eggs are cooked in the pot, they are painted with beautiful colors, which is also called "colorful eggs".

The third one: snails or snails

Before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day, the meat of snails and snails was the most delicious, and there was a saying among the people that "a clear snail is better than a goose" to set off the nutrition and delicacy of snails.

After several months of hibernation, snails or snails didn't wake up in large numbers until warm and humid spring and around Qingming, and they haven't started to breed yet. The meat is fat and tender, and a large number of them are cheap to market.

The only disadvantage may be that snails have just been unearthed, and there is a lot of sediment, so keep them for 1~2 days before cooking, and let them spit out the sediment and impurities before cooking, which is delicious and delicious.

fourth: eat mustard rice

in many places, it is not only the custom to eat mustard rice during the Qingming period, because mustard is the most prosperous time in spring. Compared with other daily vegetables, the leaf sales of mustard is more rough and plump, but the smell of the leaf is blunt, and the taste is a little bitter, just like the nature of bitter gourd. People who like to eat mustard will think it is delicious.

There is a folk saying, "Cooking with mustard will keep you from getting scabies this year".

fifth: eating the seeds

The seeds, also called "prickly heat", are fried snacks. They are slender and tortuous in appearance, crisp in taste, golden in appearance and rich in oily fragrance. Usually, as snacks, they are very popular with children and adults. Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the Cold Food Festival in ancient times, had the custom of "forbidding fire and cold food", so many places would start to prepare seeds in front of Tomb-Sweeping Day to prepare for the food after the fire was forbidden, and this traditional custom has been passed down to the present.

In fact, these traditional diets all contain our thoughts about our ancestors. Although they are only a small part of many traditional cultures, we may not have tasted all of them, but we should have a proper understanding of them. After all, traditions can't be forgotten, which means smooth and healthy and will be passed down from generation to generation.

The origin of Tomb-Sweeping Day

It is said that the origin of Tomb-Sweeping Day began with the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the tombs of ancient emperors, and later the people followed suit, and it became a fixed custom of the Chinese nation to worship ancestors and sweep graves on this day.

Originally, the Cold Food Festival and Tomb-Sweeping Day were two different festivals. In the Tang Dynasty, the day to worship the grave was designated as the Cold Food Festival. The correct date of the Cold Food Festival is 115 days after the Winter Solstice, around the Qingming Festival. Because the two dates are similar, Qingming Festival and cold food are merged into one day.

Tomb-Sweeping Day's story and legend

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhong Er, the son of Jin Dynasty, was in exile, and he fainted on the way. The minister meson pushed him to cut off the thigh meat to eat. Later, Zhong Er, the son, became Jin Wengong, and the loyal minister forgot to push the meson. When Zhong Er remembered it, Jiezitui refused to be an official again, and lived in seclusion behind his mother's back in Mianshan. Zhong Er let Yamakaji force him out of the mountain, but the fire burned for three days and no one came out. He went up the mountain to find that he and his mother had been burned to death. On the charred willow tree, there was a big fairy with a bloody poem, "I hope the Lord will always be clear when I cut my flesh and serve you." So Zhong Er designated the day when Yamakaji was released as the Cold Food Festival. The next day, Zhong Er climbed a mountain to pay homage, and found that the old willow tree was resurrected, so he named it "Qingming Willow" and named it Tomb-Sweeping Day, in order to pay homage to Jietui. This is also the story and legend of Tomb-Sweeping Day.

That's the introduction of some food customs, sources, stories and legends in Tomb-Sweeping Day. I hope I can help you ~ ~