The annual Chinese Valentine's Day is coming. This "Valentine's Day", known as China, is a traditional festival in China, which has a history of more than 2,111 years. Let's take a look at the origin and traditional cuisine of Chinese Valentine's Day that I compiled for you. Welcome to read it, for reference only.
The origin of Chinese Valentine's Day
Qixi Festival, formerly known as Qiqiao Festival. Qixi Begging for Qiaoqi originated in the Han Dynasty. In the Miscellanies of Xijing written by Ge Hong in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it is recorded that "women in the Han Dynasty often use the seven-hole needle on the stone reliefs of the Han Dynasty on July 7 to open the front floor, and everyone is Xi Zhi", which is the earliest record of begging for Qiaoqi that we have seen in ancient literature. In later Tang and Song poems, women's begging for cleverness was repeatedly mentioned. In the Tang Dynasty, Wang Jian wrote a poem that "the stars are shining with pearls, and the palace moths are busy with begging for cleverness". According to "The Legacy of Kaiyuan Tianbao", every time Emperor Taizong and his concubines had a banquet in the Qing Palace on Tanabata, the ladies-in-waiting begged for their own ingenuity. This custom was also enduring among the people and continued from generation to generation.
Qixi originated from people's worship of nature. According to historical documents, at least three or four thousand years ago, with people's understanding of astronomy and the emergence of textile technology, there were records about Altair Vega. People's worship of stars is far more than Altair and Vega. They think that there are seven stars representing directions in the east, west, north and south, which are collectively called Twenty-eight Nights, of which the Big Dipper is the brightest and can be used to tell the direction at night. The first star of the Big Dipper is called Kuixing, also known as the champion. Later, with the imperial examination system, the champion in the middle school was called "Dakui Tianxia Scholar", and the scholars called Tanabata "Kuixing Festival", also known as "Book-drying Festival", keeping the trace that the earliest Tanabata originated from the worship of stars.
"Qixi" also comes from ancient people's worship of time. "Seven" is homophonic with "period", and both the month and the day are "seven", which gives people a sense of time. In ancient China, the sun and the moon were combined with the five planets of water, fire, wood, gold and earth to be called "Seven Obsidian". Seven numbers are staged in time among the people, and the calculation of time often ends with "July 7th". In old Beijing, when doing Dojo for the dead, it was often complete with "July 7th". It is still reserved in Japanese to calculate the current "week" with "seven obsidians". "Seven" is homophonic with "auspicious", and "July 7th" has the meaning of double auspicious, which is an auspicious day. In Taiwan Province, July is called "Joy brings good luck" month. Because the shape of the happy character in cursive script is like "seventy-seven", the 77-year-old is also called "Happy Birthday".
Tanabata originates from the love story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl. Couples who celebrate the festival on this day believe that they cherish and cherish this feeling.
Chinese Valentine's Day's traditional food
1, jiaozi
Juancheng, Caoxian, Pingyuan and other places are very interesting: seven good girls collect food and vegetables to wrap jiaozi, and wrap a copper coin, a needle and a red date into three dumplings respectively. After the begging activities, they get together to eat dumplings. It is said that they are lucky to get the money and the hand that gets the needle.
2. proper fruit
On this day, various small objects are made of flour, which are called "proper fruit" after frying in oil, and proper fruit, lotus, white lotus root and Hong Ling are displayed in the courtyard at night. Proper fruit is the most famous festive food for the Qixi Festival. Proper fruit, also known as "Kiki Kiki Fruit", has many styles. The main materials are oil, flour, sugar and honey. "Dream of China in Tokyo" refers to it as "laughing at children" and "fruit eating patterns", while the patterns include holding incense and winning.
3, clever bud noodles
In addition to eating proper fruit, in some places, clever bud noodles are eaten on the seventh day of July. To make bean sprouts for smart bud noodles, seven days in advance, choose a small bowl of mung beans that are not moth-eaten, clean it, spread it on a plate, cover it with wet gauze to block the sun, put it on the kang, and spray water several times a day to keep it moist. Seven days later, when the bean sprouts grow to two or three centimeters long, they can be made into handmade noodles, cooked in a pot and pulled through with cold water; Then put oil in a hot pan, add diced meat and stir-fry, stir-fry onion and ginger, stir-fry soy sauce and vinegar, stir-fry mung bean sprouts, add water and boil, then add salt and monosodium glutamate to make bean sprout soup; Grab the noodles into a bowl and pour them with bean sprout soup.
4. Yunmian
Jiaodong people eat clever fruits on Tanabata, while Linyi people eat Yunmian on Tanabata. Eat cloud noodles, which have to be made of dew, and you can get clever meaning by eating it.
5. Jiangmi Tiao
Old Nanjing people also have a unique custom of celebrating Tanabata: eating Jiangmi Tiao. Jiang Mi Tiao is a snack of Han nationality, which is made by steaming glutinous rice flour with bean flour in a stew pot, beating it with a stick in a stone mortar, drying it in the sun and frying it in oil, and finally dipping it in red bean paste such as plum blossom, pine blossom and sesame.
6. Qiaosu
There are also many folk pastry shops, which like to make some crisp candy with the image of the Weaver Girl, commonly known as "homo habilis" and "Qiaosu", and when they are sold, they are also called "sending it to homo habilis". This custom has been spread in some areas so far.
7. Melons and fruits
On this special festival of Qixi, fruits and fruits are of course essential! There are also many changes in the melons and fruits eaten on Tanabata. Some people like to carve melons and fruits into exotic flowers and birds, or draw "flower melons" with embossed patterns on the surface of melon skins.
8. Chicken
In order to express people's wish that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl can live a happy and happy family life every day, in Jinhua, Zhejiang, every family will kill a chicken on July 7, which means that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl will meet on this night, and if there is no cock to announce the dawn, they will never be separated.
9. Wuzi
Worshiping the Weaver Girl on Tanabata is an important event for young girls and young women. Sacrifice offerings include tea, wine, fresh fruit, etc., and Wuzi (longan, red dates, hazelnuts, peanuts and melon seeds) is even more indispensable. After burning incense and praying silently, these offerings become their midnight snack food.
11, mung bean sprouts
In Guangzhou, before the festival comes, girls prepare colorful paper, medulla tetrapanacis, string, etc. in advance, and weave all kinds of ingenious gadgets. They also put rice seeds and mung beans in small boxes and soak them in water to germinate them. When the buds grow to more than two inches long, they are used to worship the gods, which are called "worshipping Xianhe" and "worshipping the gods".
What festival is Tanabata also called
Tanabata, also known as Qiqiao Festival, Qijie Festival, Daughter's Day, Qiqiao Festival, Qiqiang Festival, Qiaoxi, Cow Bull and Woman's Day, Double Seven and so on.
double seven: the sun, the moon and the sun are all seven, so it is called, and it is also weighed seven. Xiangri: It is said that cows and girls meet on Tanabata, and the weaver girl has to dress up, paint and powder, and even smell the fragrance all over the sky, so it is called.
Week: The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl are in a special position, and they can only meet once a year, so this day is called the week.
Qiaoqiao Festival: July 7th is the birthday of Seventh Sister. It is one of the important customs to worship Seventh Sister for blessing and begging for Qiao. According to folk legend, Seventh Sister is an expert in weaving in the sky. In the old days, women "begged" Qi Jie to teach her ingenious skills. In fact, the so-called "begging for cleverness" is just "fighting cleverness". Because "begging for cleverness" is an important custom of Seventh Sister's birthday, it is also called "begging for cleverness".
Women's Day: Chinese Valentine's Day is called Women's Day, also known as Girls' Day and Girls' Day, because girls worship immortals, beg for cleverness and compete for cleverness. Cowherd and Weaver Girl, as a pair of lovers, have deeply touched the hearts of generations of people with their love stories for thousands of years. Therefore, Chinese Valentine's Day is also a festival where thousands of daughters and girls in Qian Qian place their love dreams and are eager to get together with their lovers. Therefore, it is also called "Daughter's Day" and "Girl's Day".
Blue Night: The seventh month of the lunar calendar is called "Blue Moon" in ancient times, so Tanabata is also called "Blue Night".
Bull, Bull and Woman's Day: In Vietnam, Chinese people celebrate Tanabata, and some people call it Bull, Bull and Woman's Day.
Children's Day: It is called "Begging for cleverness and begging for writing" because girls and boys mostly do it.
Needle-piercing Festival: It is called because there is a custom of needle-piercing on this day.
moral wax: Taoism's "Jade Book of the Emperors' Supreme Way" says: July 7th is a famous moral wax. On this day, the five emperors will meet in the west.