What to eat during the Chinese Valentine’s Day in ancient times

The seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar every year is the Chinese Valentine’s Day. The ancients were more reserved and they would also eat some traditional food to celebrate. Do you know the food eaten during the Chinese Valentine’s Day in ancient times? Below, the editor of SmartView will tell you about the ancient food Let’s take a look at the foods eaten on the Chinese Valentine’s Day!

Foods eaten on the Chinese Valentine’s Day in ancient times 1. Five Sons

Worshiping the Weaver Girl on Chinese Valentine’s Day is a major event for girls and young women. The worship offerings include tea, wine, fresh fruits, etc. Five seeds (longan, red dates, hazelnuts, peanuts, melon seeds) are indispensable. After burning incense and praying silently, these offerings become their late-night snack food.

2. Qiaoguo

On this day, people all over Zhejiang make various small objects with flour, fry them in oil and call them "Qiaoguo". Qiaoguos are displayed in the courtyard at night. , lotus root, white lotus root, red water chestnut, etc. Qiao Guo is the most famous food for Qixi Festival. Qiaoguo is also called "Qiqiaoguo" and comes in many styles. The main materials are oil, flour, sugar and honey. "Tokyo Meng Hua Lu" calls it "Laughing Weary Children", "Fruit Eater Patterns", and the patterns include Na Xiang, Fang Sheng, etc.

3. Dumplings

The custom of begging for tricks in Juancheng, Caoxian, Pingyuan and other places is very interesting: seven good girls gather food and vegetables to make dumplings, and give one copper coin, one A needle and a red date were wrapped in three dumplings respectively. After the begging activity, they gathered together to eat dumplings. It is said that those who get money will be blessed, those who get needles will be dexterous, and those who get dates will get married early.

4. Cloud noodles

Jiaodong people eat Qiaoguozi on Chinese Valentine's Day, while Linyi people eat cloud noodles on Chinese Valentine's Day. Eat cloud noodles. This noodle must be made with dew. Eating it will bring you ingenuity.

5. Chicken

In order to express people’s hope that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl can live a beautiful and happy family life every day, in Jinhua, Zhejiang, every family will kill a chicken on July 7th. , meaning that on this night the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet, if there is no rooster crow, they will never be separated.

6. Qiaoya noodles

In addition to eating Qiaoguo, in some places, Qiaoya noodles are eaten on the seventh day of July. The bean sprouts used to make Qiaoya noodles must be grown seven days in advance. Choose a small bowl of mung beans that are not eaten by insects, wash them, spread them flat on a plate, cover them with wet gauze to block the sun, put them on the bed and spray them a few times a day. water to keep it moist. After seven days, when the bean sprouts grow to two or three centimeters long, you can make hand-rolled noodles, cook them in a pot, and drain them through cold water; then heat the pot with oil, add diced pork and stir-fry until cooked, stir-fry onions and ginger, soy sauce and vinegar. Heat a pot, add mung bean sprouts and stir-fry until cooked, add water to boil, add salt and MSG to make bean sprout soup; put the noodles into a bowl, pour the bean sprout soup over it and eat.

The ancient custom of worshiping Kuixing on Chinese Valentine's Day

According to folklore, Lord Kuixing was very ugly during his lifetime, with spots on his face and a lameness. Someone wrote a limerick to make fun of him: If you don't show it, what's the use of decorating it with lead? Even if it's lead, don't cover it up. Marrying Magu makes two beauties, and the results of the hive are perfect. There are claws below the eyebrows, and geese are treading on the sand beside the mouth and nose. Don't be tempted to take a nap in front of the eaves, while the wind blows plum blossoms from your forehead. Xiangjun's jade toe is the most bizarre, one step up and one step down. The body feels like dancing when the movements are moving, and the movements are as fluttering as the mouth. Just because the world is full of dangers, I am so tired that all my beauty is gone. Mo Xiao's waist branches are often half-folded, and sometimes they sway in various ways.

However, this Mr. Kuixing was very ambitious and worked hard, and he even passed high school. During the emperor's palace examination, he was asked why his face was covered with spots, and he replied: "Pockmarked and full of stars"; when asked why his feet were lame, he replied: "One-legged jump from the Dragon Gate". The emperor was very satisfied and admitted him.

Another completely different legend says that although Master Kuixing was full of knowledge during his lifetime, he failed every exam, so he was so angry that he threw himself into the river and committed suicide. Unexpectedly, he was rescued by Turtle Fish

and ascended to heaven to become Kuixing. Because Kuixing can influence the academic fortunes of scholars, scholars solemnly worship him every July 7th, his birthday.

Seventh Sister's Birthday

Married women are generally not allowed to participate in Guangzhou's Chinese Valentine's Day festival, but newlywed brides must hold a ceremony to celebrate the first Chinese Valentine's Day. ceremony. That is, when worshiping the gods on the sixth night of the Lunar New Year, in addition to the sacrifice of sweet wine, red eggs, sour ginger, etc. (to get a sign to get a son), snow pears or sand pears are also added to express the meaning of farewell to the Girl's Day.

According to Volume 17 of "Guangzhou City Chronicles", on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, there was an old custom of women boating to Chenxiang Pu in Shimen.

The yacht is decorated with frangipani and jasmine and is called a flower boat. They believe this day is "Fairy Shower Day". The water quality of Shimenpo is clear, and the two mountains are reflected back at sunrise and sunset. Sometimes, some illusions appear in the sky like mirages. Boaters hope to be lucky enough to see Qizui appear, so the girls' Chinese Valentine's Day tour to Shimen Chenxiangpu has become an important part of the festival. It is very lively and has become a festival custom.

Dyeing your nails

Dyeing your nails is a Chinese Valentine's Day custom that spreads in southwest China. It is also practiced in many counties in Sichuan Province, as well as in Guizhou and Guangdong. Young girls in many areas like to wash their hair with tree sap mixed with water during festivals. Not only can they stay young and beautiful, but unmarried women can also find their right husband as soon as possible. Dyeing nails with flowers and plants is also a hobby of most women and children in holiday entertainment, and it is also closely related to fertility beliefs.

Women's hair washing

It is also a special custom for women to wash their hair on Chinese Valentine's Day. This record is found in Hunan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. For example, "You County Chronicles" in Xiangtan area, Hunan Province: On July 7th, women picked cypress leaves and peach branches and boiled them in soup to bathe their hair. ?The famous prose writer Qi Jun (born in Zhejiang) also mentioned that his mother, uncles and other female relatives all bathed their hair on the Chinese Valentine's Day. This custom is probably related to the belief in Qixi Festival and Holy Water. People believe that taking spring water and river water on Qixi Festival is like taking milky water, which has the sacred power of cleansing. In some places, it is simply called "Tian Sun (i.e. Weaver Girl) Holy Water". Therefore, it has a special meaning for women to wash their hair on this day. It means that if you use the holy water from the Milky Way to clean your hair, you will be protected by the Goddess Weaver.

The custom of using a basin to catch dew is also popular. It is said that the dew during the Chinese Valentine's Day is the tears of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl when they meet. If it is applied on the eyes and hands, it can make people's eyes sharp and their hands sharp.

Qixi Festival customs in various places Zhejiang: Qixi Incense Bridge Party

There is a Qixi Festival Incense Bridge Party in Gudoujing Village, Tanghui Township, Jiaxing, Zhejiang. Every Chinese Valentine's Day, people come to participate and build fragrant bridges. The so-called incense bridge is a bridge about four to five meters long and half a meter wide made of various thick and long incense sticks (thread incense wrapped in paper). It is equipped with railings and tied with five-color threads. Made of flower decoration. At night, people worship the twin stars, pray for good fortune, and then burn the incense bridge, symbolizing that the twin stars have crossed the incense bridge and met happily. This fragrant bridge is derived from the legendary Magpie Bridge.

Hunan and Zhejiang: Women wash their hair and collect dew

People believe that taking spring water and river water on Qixi Festival is like taking milky water, which has the sacred power of cleansing. In some places, it is simply called "Tian Sun (i.e. Weaver Girl) Holy Water". Therefore, it has a special meaning for women to wash their hair on this day. It means that if you use the holy water from the Milky Way to clean your hair, you will be protected by the Goddess Weaver. There is also a popular custom of using a basin to catch dew. It is said that the dew during the Chinese Valentine's Day is the tears of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl when they meet. If it is applied on the eyes and hands, it can make people's eyes sharp and their hands sharp.

Jiaodong: Worship the Seventh Sister God

In Jiaodong area, it is more common to worship the Seventh Sister God on Chinese Valentine's Day. Young women put on new clothes, gathered together happily, and formed an alliance with the seven sisters in the court, singing a ballad: "Emperor of Heaven, Emperor of Earth, I invite the Seven Sisters to go to heaven." I don't care about your needle, I don't care about your thread, I just use seventy-two good methods. "Qiaohua" is also made in many places. Girls use flour to make cakes and buns with flowers such as peony, lotus, plum, orchid and chrysanthemum (or Qiaoguo), as well as Qiaocai, which is to cultivate malt in a wine cup. (This is the "seed production" of the Song Dynasty), using clever fruits and vegetables to worship the Weaver Girl.

Southwest China: Nail Dyeing

Nail dyeing is a Chinese Valentine's Day custom spread in southwest China. This custom is also practiced in many counties in Sichuan Province, as well as in Guizhou and Guangdong. Young girls in many areas like to wash their hair with tree sap mixed with water during festivals. Legend has it that not only can they stay young and beautiful, but unmarried women can also find a husband as soon as possible.

Dyeing nails with flowers and plants is also a hobby of most women and children in holiday entertainment, and it is also closely related to fertility beliefs.

Guangzhou: Welcome the Immortals

The Qiqiao Festival in Guangzhou is unique. Before the festival, girls prepare various kinds of Qiqiao using colored paper, grass, strings, etc. As a gadget, grain seeds and mung beans are put into a small box and soaked in water to germinate. When the buds grow to more than two inches long, they are used to worship gods, which are called "worshiping gods" and "worshiping vegetables". .