? Before answering the question "the origin of biting spring", I think I'd better introduce it first-
What on earth is "biting spring"? ? The saying of "biting the spring" is still poetic. It is said that it is taken from the meaning of the ancients that "if you bite the grass roots, you can do everything". With a word "bite", the artistic conception really came out. "Spring" is an abstract concept, but it uses a vivid word "bite", which is the "analogy" in literary techniques.
? As a major custom in beginning of spring, "biting spring" refers to the custom of eating spring plates, spring cakes, spring rolls and chewing radishes in beginning of spring. Of course, among these foods with the word "spring", the most crucial one is "radish". Therefore, in the past literature, many people directly said that "biting spring" meant that beginning of spring ate radish that day. For example, "Jing Shi Fang Xiang Zhi Draft" said that "beginning of spring is getting raw radish every day, which is called biting spring"; "Miscellanies of Jinmen" said that "in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was the custom of Beijing and Tianjin to eat fresh radish every day in beginning of spring, which was called biting spring". "The Story of Yanjing's Years Old" is rather slick, saying that "rich people eat more spring cakes, while women buy more radishes and eat them, which is called biting spring".
? In a word, the most important thing of "biting spring" is to eat radish, in addition to spring rolls and other foods containing "spring".
? I figured out what "biting the spring" is, and then I will come back-
Answer the question "The origin of biting spring in beginning of spring, Beijing". ? At present, there is no exact statement about the origin of "biting spring". But what is clear is that this custom appeared at least in the Jin Dynasty, when there was a "five-spice dish", which was equivalent to the later "spring dish". The so-called five spices refer to five spicy vegetables: shallots, garlic, peppers, ginger and mustard.
? It is also clear that the custom of "biting spring" comes from people's need to keep fit, that is, human beings are formed out of their own health needs. For example, eating five spices can kill bacteria and drive away cold. The main folk custom of biting spring is to eat big radish, which is also because radish is spicy and has the effect of "eating it to get rid of spring sleep", and it also has the functions of nutrition, fitness and disease removal. This may be the real intention of the ancients to advocate eating radishes in beginning of spring.
? There is another legend about the origin of "biting spring". One year in ancient times, the day before in beginning of spring, an old Taoist came to a village. When he saw that the village was quiet everywhere, he felt very strange.
? After inquiring, the old Taoist priest knew that all the villagers nearby were infected with a strange disease, and all the infected villagers were weak and dizzy, so they could only lie in bed all day.
? So, the old Taoist went into the villagers' home to observe the patient's symptoms, and then sat down under a big tree, mumbling something. After a while, the old Taoist stood up, went to the villagers' home and prescribed a prescription for the villagers.
? There is no magic herb in the prescription prescribed by the old Taoist priest, but it is an ordinary food, that is, radish. The villagers found radishes and tried to eat them. Unexpectedly, the villagers who ate radishes were much better. After that, the villagers told the people in the nearby village about this folk prescription, and the villagers began to eat radishes in succession.
Since then, people have been eating radishes in beginning of spring every year, and their good wish is to be healthy. This beautiful moral has been passed down to this day.