Introducing five customs related to Xiaoman

Xiaoman’s custom 1: grabbing water

In the old days, water trucks and water drainage and irrigation were important events in rural areas. As the proverb goes: "Xiao Man moves three carts (the three carts refer to the silk cart, oil cart, and water cart)." The water cart starts at Xiao Man's hour. Previously, farmers held a "water grab" ceremony in the village village and walked around Haining, which was meant to be a practice. Most of the time, senior deacons gather together with each household to determine the date and arrange preparations. At dawn on that day, they go out in groups, light torches and eat wheat cakes, wheat cakes, and wheat balls on the foundation of the waterwheel, and wait for the deacons to play the gongs. As a signal, the group used hammers to harmonize with each other, and stepped onto the waterwheels installed in advance on the small river. Dozens of them moved together to divert the river water into the fields until the riverside was full of water.

Xiaoman’s Custom 2: The Birthday of the Silkworm God

Xiaoman Festival is said to be the birthday of the Silkworm God, so on this day, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas in my country, which are famous for sericulture, are also very lively. The Xiaoman Festival is in early summer, when silkworm cocoons are formed and are waiting to be picked and reeled. Planting mulberry and raising silkworms is a traditional sideline in rural areas in Jiangnan. Silkworms are treasures all over their bodies and are the source of food for the villagers. People are full of anticipation and gratitude for them. . Therefore, this festival is full of rich silk folk customs.

According to records, in the seventh year of Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty (1827), the Shengze Silk Industry Office in Jiangnan built the Silkworm Temple. A theater building was specially built in the temple, and a wing building (equivalent to a box in a theater) was set up on the side of the building. The stone square below the stage can accommodate 10,000 people to watch the show. The three days before and after Xiao Man were funded by the Silk Industry Corporation, and each class was invited to perform on the stage to sing a big drama. However, there is also a taboo in the acting industry, that is, dramas with plots about illegitimate children and dead people cannot be staged, because "private" and "death" are both The homophony of "Si" means that the plays performed in the three days are all auspicious plays determined by the directors of the Silk Industry Corporation to bring good luck.

Xiaoman's custom three: worshiping the three gods<. /p>

Xiaoman has a custom in our history called sacrificing three carts. Which three carts are called water carts, ox carts and silk carts?

What do you call the god of water carts? It is said that the "God of Cars" is a white dragon. Farmers place fish, incense, candles, etc. on the base of the car in front of the car to worship it. The special feature is that there is a cup of white water in the sacrifice, which is poured into the fields during the ceremony to wish for a prosperous water source. The above old custom shows that farmers attach great importance to water conservancy and irrigation.

There is a saying in Jiangnan that "Xiaoman drives three carts". It is an image summary of the so-called "three carts" in Jiangnan. Water wheel, spinning wheel, oil wheel. In farmers' proverbs, people use "man" to refer to the abundance of rain. Xiaoman is the season for top dressing of early rice and transplanting of middle rice in the south of the Yangtze River. If the fields are not filled with water, it will cause the field ridges to dry out. It is impossible to transplant rice seedlings, which affects the harvest of crops. Therefore, in drought years, people will consider early and make clever arrangements to use human or animal power to drive water trucks to irrigate the paddy fields. In the past, when walking beside the paddy fields in the remote Jiangnan ancient town, you would often see water buffaloes moving around with their eyes covered. The wooden cart plate of the waterwheel drives the keel waterwheel to lift water, or the scene of people using their feet alternately to lift water.

Xiaoman’s custom 4: Eating bitter vegetables

The spring breeze blows. Bitter vegetables grow in the wilderness, and they are one of the earliest wild vegetables eaten by the Chinese. "Book of Zhou" says: "Bitter vegetables are harvested under the sun." In order to survive, Wang Baochuan ate Kukucai for 18 years. In the old days, farmers relied on Kukucai to satisfy their hunger. , once ate bitter vegetables to satisfy their hunger, and overcame many difficulties. There was a song in the Soviet area of ??Jiangxi: bitter vegetables, with yellow flowers, were used as both wild vegetables and food. The Red Army ate them and went to the battlefield to kill the enemy bravely and win the battle. The vegetable is known as "Red Army cuisine" and "Long March cuisine".

Bitter vegetables are spread all over the country. In medicine, they call it "Bitter Pickle", people in Ningxia call it "Bitter Vegetable", and people in Shaanxi call it "Bitter Vegetable". "Macai", Li Shizhen called it "Heavenly Herb". Mr. Nie Fengqiao, a famous Chinese gourmet, discovered the yellow-flowered Kucai in Ningxia in 1958, which was named "Sweet Kucai". It has large leaves, crisp stems, and is bitter yet sweet. . It has many advantages compared with the common bittercress with blue flowers.

Bitter vegetables are bitter and astringent, astringent and sweet, fresh and refreshing, cool and tender, rich in nutrients, and contain a variety of vitamins, minerals, choline, sugars, riboflavin and other nutrients needed by the human body. Mannitol, etc., have the functions of clearing away heat, cooling blood and detoxifying. "Compendium of Materia Medica" (Compendium of Materia Medica): Taking it for a long time can help you feel at ease and replenish your qi, lighten your body and resist aging. Kucai is often used in medicine to treat fever, and the ancients also used it to sober up. Ningxia people like to blanch bitter vegetables, eat them cold, and mix them with salt, vinegar, spicy oil or minced garlic. They are cool and spicy, and can be eaten with steamed buns or rice to increase appetite. You can also use yellow rice soup to pickle bitter vegetables into yellow color. It tastes sour and sweet, crisp, tender and refreshing. Some people also boil the bitter vegetables in boiling water and squeeze out the bitter juice, which is used to make soup, stuffing, stir-fry, and noodles, each with its own flavor.

Xiaoman’s Custom Five: Harvesting Bananas during the Xiaoman Festival

During the Xiaoman Festival, black pomfret can be caught in the waters near Changhua, Taiwan, and flying fish can be caught in Suao in the northeast and in the southern waters. Bananas in Qishan, Meinong and other places in Kaohsiung County have entered their peak production period. Taiwan is a famous banana producer, and many bananas are exported to all over the world every year.