February 2nd is also known as the Zhonghe Festival. Here are some information I found!
March 1st, 26 is the second day of the second lunar month, and it is the Zhonghe Festival (also known as the Dragon Head Up and the Dragon Head Festival). It is also the legendary birthday of the Yellow Emperor, a festival for the descendants of the Chinese people.
The Zhonghe Festival was formulated by Tang Dezong Li Shi in the fifth year of Zhenyuan (789), also known as the "Dragon Rise" on February 2nd. Originally on February 1, the birthday of the land god was included in it, so it was changed to February 2. According to the biography of Li Bi in the Tang Dynasty, before the middle of the Tang Dynasty, there were only three festivals in spring-the ninth day of the first month, the 3th day of the first month, and the third day of March, and there were no festivals in February. When he was in Tang Dezong, Li Bi wrote a letter, saying that the first month was unlucky, and February 1st was the Zhonghe Festival, as a sign of service. Dezong agreed very much, and ordered that the ninth day of the first month, the new moon of February and the third day of March be collectively called the Three Orders Festival. ?
These records show that the Zhonghe Festival was confirmed from the period of Tang Dezong. However, some activities of the Zhonghe Festival did not begin in the Tang Dynasty. For example, the Zhou Dynasty went to the eastern suburbs to worship the sun at the vernal equinox and went to the western suburbs to worship the moon at the autumnal equinox. The origin of sun cake is also earlier, and it has been used until the Sui and Tang Dynasties. When he was in Tang Dezong, he learned the contents of the memorial day from the activities of the vernal equinox, which enriched the Zhonghe Festival, so the Zhonghe Festival and the vernal equinox were mixed and inseparable.
(1) the sun god?
the sun god, also known as the sun god. This is one of the oldest nature worship, and there are images of worshipping the sun god in Yinshan rock paintings in Inner Mongolia and Cangyuan rock paintings in Yunnan. After the rise of Taoism, it is often called offering sacrifices to the sun, stars and gods. In ancient China, there were three times to offer sacrifices to the sun god: the first day of February, the 19th of March and the 19th of November. ?
There are many legends about the sun. Tao Zun in Dawenkou has the image of the sun and the moon. Legend has it that there were ten suns at the earliest, and it took Houyi to shoot the sun before it became a sun. It is also said that the sun is a man and the moon is a woman. From the stone reliefs of the Han Dynasty, it can be seen that three feet lived in the sun, and later the sun god was personified, becoming a man's image and even having a wife. So there are sun gods and lunar gods. Legend has it that they live in the Sun Palace and the Moon Palace and dominate world affairs. Although these legends were created by people in ancient times, they also reflected their actual feelings. People work at sunrise, with warmth, they can plant crops, and the sun disappears at night and on cloudy days. Such changes make people associate, and finally create the sun god. As for the legend of the jade chicken in the sun, it may be that the sunrise is associated with the cock crow, and that the sun and the chicken are companions. Once the cock crow and the sun rises, people get up and start a day of cultivation. ?
When offering sacrifices to the sun, you should offer sun cakes, which are made of rice flour with patterns of the sun and crows printed on them, and some cakes are made of chickens. People also eat sun cakes as food. (2) the birthday of the land god?
zhonghe festival also offers sacrifices to the land gods. The land god, the ancient social god, is also one of nature worship. However, the birth dates of land gods or social gods vary from place to place. Some places are set on February 2, some on the first day of June, and some on July 7, but most of them are on February 2. ?
It is said that the earliest land god was land, and there were no gods at that time. The land gods of Li nationality in Hainan are mostly made of stones, and then they are personified. At first, the personified land god was Goulong, and later it was the land god. The land god was originally a woman, so she was called Mother Earth. Later, there were men and women, called Tugong, Mother Earth, Land Lord, Grandma Land, and Land Temple. The popular "land to marry a woman" is also a social sacrifice. In "Water Margin", it is said that there is a picture of "the earth god dispels the water monster", which describes the situation that the land god assisted the rebel army in the battle, indicating that the land god has a deep foundation among the people. Jiangsu and Anhui have grand land fairs to worship the land gods. When offering sacrifices to the land god, some places also worship the valley god. Jilin folklore: In ancient times, there was a woman named Gu Hui. When she gave birth to a child, she only had sorghum rice to satisfy her hunger, so she died. Later, two millet plants grew on her grave. She asked her husband to plant millet in a dream, and only then did she have millet ground from millet, and Gu Hui became the god of millet.
(3) offering sacrifices to Shennong?
The fifth day after beginning of spring is the vernal equinox, which is often regarded as a social day, during which land gods and grain gods are worshipped. Eating club meals and drinking club wine is a legacy of ancient village residents who ate when they sacrificed to the land god. Before and after offering sacrifices to the god of the earth, the imperial courts of all dynasties offered sacrifices to Shennong, and the emperor himself held a ceremony of ploughing. The so-called Shennong mainly refers to Emperor Yan. There are also sacrifices to the afterearth, which is a country, also known as Tian Shen. In the past, Shennong Temple was built in every big city, with Kyoto as the most important. Because when offering sacrifices to Shennong, the emperor has to personally offer sacrifices and hold a ploughing ceremony in order to advocate agricultural production, so the Xiannong altar in Beijing is very large. When offering sacrifices to Shennong, it is mostly in the spring when there is no rain, so it is also offered to the Dragon King to pray for rain.
(4) Does the dragon look up?
zhonghe festival, also known as dragon head-up and dragon head festival. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, spring came, vegetation revived, and all kinds of bugs revived. At this time, people draw dragons back. China had a belief in dragons as far back as 6, years ago. At that time, there were jade dragons and dragon plates. There were more dragon images in Shang and Zhou Dynasties, and the Dragon King appeared after the introduction of Buddhism in Tang and Song Dynasties. There was a Spring Dragon Festival in Huimin, Shandong Province, in which a dragon was painted on the ground with stove smoke, commonly known as attracting money dragons. There are two purposes to bring dragons back: one is to invite dragons back, to sow rain and pray for a bumper harvest in agriculture; Second, the dragon is the god of all kinds of insects. When the dragon comes, all kinds of insects will hide, which is beneficial to human health and crop growth. On February 2nd in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, people made peaches and five animals with flour, steamed them and inserted them on bamboo sticks. At night, it is planted in graves and fields, thinking that it is food for the God of Insects and offering sacrifices to ancestors, praying for ancestors to drive away insect disasters, and hoping that the God of Insects will not harm crops. At the same time, in order to harvest agriculture, we need plenty of sunshine, fertile land and rain water. Therefore, pray for rain to become an important part of the Sino-Japanese Festival. At the same time, it is necessary to play dragon play, which is to combine dragon festival with rain. ?
zhonghe festival is also quite influential in minority areas. Dong people, also known as the dragon heads up in February, invite relatives and friends to have a meal in the wild during the festival, hoping for a bumper year. However, the Dong people call the solitaire the cow, that is, the rhinoceros, and think that the rhinoceros is a symbol of the dragon. On holidays, people take calves from outside the village and use them as bait to lure dragons into the village. Then, dragon festival, the cow, was killed, and beef was shared, and each family ate wine. While drinking, they shouted "Jade Dragon Return Boxing" and sang "Jade Dragon Return Song". Finally, the horn is buried under the rhinoceros pond, which indicates that the rhinoceros will go home, the dragon will return to its place, and the village will have a bumper harvest. Daur people also call Zhonghe Festival "February 2", while Manchu people call it Insect King Festival.
(5) Flower Festival?
Flower Festival, also known as Flower Festival, has different specific times, one is the second day of February, the other is February 12th, and the other is February 15th. Legend has it that this day is the birthday of the flower. At this time, all places worship the flower temple to celebrate the birthday of the flower god, which is accompanied by going to the wild to watch flowers, plant flowers and trees, catch butterflies, or hold a flower viewing party. People in Beijing often go to the Temple of Heaven and other places to enjoy peony and plant flowers and grass. Flower arranging festival is popular in Yunnan and other places. You Jiang Festival in Sichuan and Xiang Shi in Hangzhou are also activities of outing and flower viewing. ?
In addition, the third day of February is the birthday of Wenchang (the god who dominates fame and fortune), and the Japanese scholar worships Wenchang and asks him to get the first place in the imperial examination. ?
after February 2, the vast rural areas began to cultivate land, while mulberry trees were widely planted in the south and spring hunting was carried out in the mountainous areas.
February 2nd is one of the traditional folk festivals in China. On this day, Li Shi, a Tang Dezong in the Tang Dynasty, personally advocated to designate it as "Zhonghe Festival" in the fifth year of Zhenyuan (AD 789), which was also called "Dragon Head Festival" among the people. During the festival, people carry out various entertainment activities around offering sacrifices to the dragon gods and praying for good weather and good harvests. Playing dragon lanterns is also due to this, and this festival is inseparable from people's farming activities.
According to legend, this festival originated in the Fu Xishi period, when Fu Xishi "attached importance to farming and mulberry, and cultivated the fields". Every year, on the second day of the second lunar month, he personally plowed and plowed. Later generations of Huangdi, Yao and Shun followed suit. Going to Zhou Wuwang is even implemented as an important state affair.
In some places in this area, beans and popcorn are fried early on February 2nd, and some people are still chanting while frying: "On February 2nd, the dragon looks up, the big hoard is full, and the small hoard is flowing." Pray for a bumper harvest and a prosperous life in the coming year. On February 2nd, the northern land had just thawed, and everything was revived. Chun Xue urged people to prepare for spring ploughing and spring planting.
On February 2nd, 1 insects revived, and there was a custom of offering sacrifices to insects in Jiangsu. On this day, every family grinds aged glutinous rice, corn, sorghum, sesame seeds, etc. into powder and makes them into various fruit shapes such as birthday peaches, rolls, or chickens and ducks. After steaming, insert bamboo shoots and send them to the field head or ancestral grave at dusk, praying that hundreds of insects will not hurt Tanaka Jiahe, hoping that the crops will be fruitful that year.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, some places want to eat Sun Chicken Cake. The making method of Sun Chicken Cake is: making a cake with glutinous rice, making an inch-long animal symbolizing chicken with rice on the cake, or printing a pattern symbolizing chicken on the cake. The chicken in the sun chicken cake represents the sun, and the sun chicken cake is used to worship the sun.
On February 2nd, the old Tianjin Wei people pay attention to eating spring cakes, also known as "spring plates". Pay attention to the point, cut the sauce meat, smoked belly flower, sauce elbow, sausage, etc. into filaments, and some of them are mixed with southern flavor. It is made of smoked chicken shreds, small belly shreds, ham shreds, sausage shreds, raisins, fragrant wine, white sugar and soy sauce, which is salty, sweet and fragrant.
In addition, we also need to cook and pinch vegetables (that is, pinch off the tender green bean sprouts at both ends), stir-fry chives with shredded pork, stir-fry spinach powder with shredded pork, spread classic dishes, and roll pancakes with pot-stewed flavor, which is called "Long Lin cake". Children love this thing, for one thing, it tastes delicious, and for another, they can roll food with their hands and be free.
On February 2nd, people pay attention to eating spring cakes and frying braised pork. Braised pork is made of mung bean powder, which is soft and hard and elastic. Pour a little oil into the pot, cut the stew into small pieces, fry it on both sides with slow fire, pour sesame sauce and garlic juice on the plate, and add a little balsamic vinegar. It is delicious, and it is also served with sesame biscuits and crispy biscuits, all to everyone's liking.
2) The second day of the second lunar month, which was called "Zhonghe Festival" in ancient times, is commonly known as "the dragon looks up". In the past, it was also one of the important folk festivals in the minds of old Beijingers. Therefore, before and after the "fright" of the 24 solar terms, spring returns to the earth, and everything recovers. Insects, snakes and beasts crouching in the soil or caves will wake up from hibernation, and the legendary dragon will also wake up from deep sleep, so it is called "the dragon looks up". As soon as the dragon looks up, it will be raining, which indicates that the new year will be good and the crops will be plentiful.
On February 2nd, there were many folk activities in old Beijing.
First of all, there is a certain emphasis on diet, because people believe that "Rowen gets rich", the weather will be favorable and the crops will be plentiful, so the diet on this day is mostly named dragon. Generally, you should eat spring cakes, also called "Long Lin"; Eating jiaozi is also called eating "dragon ears"; Eating noodles, also called eating "dragon beard", is the name of Longxu Noodles in Beijing. Among them, the most exquisite thing is to eat spring cakes, commonly known as pancakes. This is a unique food in Beijing. It is a kind of double-layer lotus leaf cake baked with white flour. It can be uncovered, coated with sweet noodle sauce, and rolled into "box dishes", that is, moo Shu pork, bean sprouts mixed with vermicelli, and sauced elbows. The taste is palatable, and it tastes good. As the saying goes, "there are all kinds of boxes of vegetables, and the grain is abundant in good years."
On February 2nd, there is another important activity, that is, picking up the "aunt", that is, the family takes back the married daughter, so there is a saying that "picking up the baby on February 2nd". Because of the courtesy of old Beijingers, the "aunt" can't live in her mother's house in the first month, and she must go back to her husband's house on the same day after the second day of the lunar new year, especially the newly married "aunt". However, on the second day of February, her family came to take her daughter back and stayed for a few days or half a month. First, she was busy for a long time in the first month and was tired, so she took her home and had a good rest. Second, the new year has just begun, and it's going to be busy again, so treat her. Generally, spring cakes, that is, pancakes, are served. In the days when I was taken back, my "aunt" was just chatting around, relaxed and happy.
On February 2nd, another activity was the emperor ploughing the fields. Because every year on February 2, it is almost before and after the shock, "a plow is shocked, and the vernal equinox is full of air." Since then, it has been a busy time for spring ploughing in the north. In order to mobilize people to put into spring ploughing production quickly and not to miss the farming season, on February 2, the emperor will symbolically lead officials out of the palace to loosen the soil in his "one acre and three points" arable land. The emperors of the Ming and early Qing Dynasties went to the Xiannongtan to cultivate the land and loosen the soil on February 2nd every year. From yongzheng emperor in the Qing Dynasty, they went out of Yuanmingyuan on February 2nd every year and plowed the land in the "one acre garden" (now the west side of Yuanmingyuan in Haidian). In the past, there was a New Year's picture called "The Emperor's Ploughing Map". In the picture, an emperor wearing a crown and a dragon robe was plowing the field with his hand, followed by a minister, carrying a bamboo basket in one hand and sowing seeds in the other. A seven-product county magistrate in a robe was in charge, and a queen and maid-in-waiting who picked baskets to deliver meals were in the distance. There is also a doggerel on the painting: "On February 2nd, the dragon looked up, the emperor plowed the land and drove the cattle, and the empress in the imperial palace always delivered meals. The ministers of the dynasty lost the seeds, and the spring ploughed and the summer plowed led the world, and the grain was abundant in peaceful autumn." This painting also shows that people hope to have an enlightened emperor, who can personally cultivate Xia Yun in the spring and make the people well fed and clothed.
the second day of the second lunar month, commonly known as "the dragon looks up". Early this morning, every household used the firewood ash accumulated in the firewood stove to continuously spread a long dragon on the ground, extending straight to the nearby river or well, with the intention of sending the lazy dragon away. Then use loess to start from the river or the well, and spread it into a long queue until the door of the house, with the intention of bringing Qinlong back. Because dragons can swim clouds to control water, this kind of dragon-attracting activity is intended to have several good rains after the warm spring, so as to facilitate spring ploughing, make crops grow and harvest crops. In order to respect the dragon, women must stop sewing on the day of "the dragon looks up on February 2" to avoid "damaging the longan". Since February 2nd was already a "wake-up call", the yang was rising, and all kinds of hibernating insects gradually recovered. Therefore, on this day, there was another activity to drive away poisonous insects. In the morning, the old people at home will knock on the edge of the kang with sticks and say, "On February 2, knock on the edge of the kang, but scorpions and centipedes will not meet." "On February 2nd, the dragon looked up and the scorpion centipede didn't show up. I think that in this way, scorpions, centipedes and other pests can't recover. As for the food and drink on February 2, we should change the style of eating and drinking during the Spring Festival and go vegetarian. The seasonal vegetarian food on this day is fried braised pork. Braised pork is a gelatinous piece of starch. Cut it into small pieces, put it in a pan and fry it in oil. When there is a layer of yellow crispy skin, put it in a bowl, dilute it with sesame sauce, sprinkle with minced garlic, and serve after mixing. It is very delicious with the staple food pie or sesame seed cake.
3) On February 2nd, Tang Bai Juyi
On February 2nd, it was rainy and sunny, and
grass sprouts were born for a while;
the light shirt is thin and the horse is young, and
the head of the cross is a line.
February 2nd is a traditional folk festival of Han nationality. Popular in most parts of the country, Miao, Zhuang, Man, Dong, Li, She, Buyi, Hezhe, Ewenki and other ethnic minorities also celebrate this festival. There are many customs and activities in this festival, and they are also called Flower Festival, Walking Youth Festival, Picking Lai Festival, Spring Dragon Festival, Qinglong Festival and Dragon Rise Day. Because it is on the second day of the second lunar month, it is called. This custom has been recorded in the Tang Dynasty. Bai Juyi's poem "February 2" reads: "On February 2, the new rain is dark, and the grass-toothed vegetables are born for a while. The light shirt is fine, Ma Qing is young, and the cross is full of words. " At that time and later, the people asked each other about their heritage with knives and rulers, hundreds of grains, seeds of melons and fruits, and fruits to welcome the rich, and there were activities such as picking vegetables, going for an outing and welcoming the rich. Yuan Fei wrote "The Life of China in the Past": "On February 2nd, the Youth Festival, people from Renjun County toured and enjoyed the scattered suburbs. ..... ",and Wang Hao's" Wide Groups of Scenery, Time Spectrum "quoted" Han Mo Ji ":"Luoyang custom takes February 2 as the flower.