People in China think that dragons are auspicious things, in charge of sex and rain, and the second day of the second lunar month is the day when dragons will ascend to heaven. In terms of solar terms, the first day of the second lunar month is between "rain", "fright" and "vernal equinox", and many places in China have begun to enter the rainy season. This is a natural law, but the ancients thought it was a "dragon". In addition, the dragon has a very high status in the minds of China people, and it is not only regarded as an auspicious thing, but also regarded as the master of wind and rain. Therefore, there is a saying that "on February 2, the dragon looks up."
On February 2nd, the legend of the dragon raising its head (1)
Legend has it that the rise of dragons originated from Fu, the leader of the period. Fu "attaches importance to farming and farming". On February 2nd every year, "The Queen Mother delivers meals and plows the fields with her own horses" to take care of herself. Later, the Yellow Emperor, Tang Yao, Yu Shun and Yu Xia all followed the example of their predecessors. For Zhou Wuwang, we have not only followed this traditional practice, but also implemented it as an important national policy. On the second day of February, a ceremony was held, and all civil and military officials could personally plow an acre of land. This is the historical legend of the Dragon Head Festival.
The legend of the dragon raising its head on February 2 nd
According to legend, after the death of Tang Gaozong Emperor Li Zhi, Wu Zetian came to power, first appointed his sons Li Zhe and Li Dan as Zhongzong and Zong Rui, and then abolished them one after another. In the second year of Yu Yongchang (AD 690), he abolished the Tang Dynasty and changed to Zhou Dynasty, and became emperor himself, calling himself Wu Zhou. This angered the Jade Emperor, who ordered Taibai Venus to tell the Four Seas Dragon King that it would not rain on the earth for three years as a punishment. It didn't rain for more than 50 days from long summer to cold dew that year. Because of drought, the land dried up and crops died, it was difficult to drink water in many places, and the people were miserable.
Yulong, who is in charge of Tianhe, can't bear to witness all kinds of human tragedies. At the risk of violating the dogma, he talked nonsense, drank enough water from Tianhe, distributed rainwater privately, and saved the whole world, but attracted the anger of the jade emperor, drove Yulong to earth and suffered under a mountain. There is also a stone tablet in front of the mountain, engraved with four words: "Yulong rain broke the sky and should be punished through the ages." If you want to go back to Lingxiao Hall, unless the golden beans bloom. "
People passed by here and read the words on the tablet before they knew that Yulong was suffering here to save the people. In order to rescue Yulong and return to the sky and Tianhe, people are determined to find the flowering golden beans, but they can't find them. I searched and searched until I found the first day of the second lunar month. It happened that there was a meeting in the street. An old woman went to the market with a bag of corn. Because the mouth of the bag was not fastened firmly, she went over and opened the bag, and golden corn grains were scattered all over the floor.
People are very happy when they see it. This kind of corn looks like golden beans! If you fry it in a pot, won't it explode golden flowers? So, one spread ten, ten spread a hundred, and everything was known. It is agreed that the next day, the second day of February, we will act together and pop popcorn together. When Yulong saw this scene, he shouted happily, "Old Taibai, the golden beans are blooming. Let me out quickly. " Venus, whose eyes were dim, looked at it. It turned out that the golden beans were blooming, so he moved the mountain that was pressed on Yulong, and Yulong jumped into the air, and then it rained.
Since then, people have formed a habit. On February 2nd every year, people pop popcorn and stir-fry beans. Adults and children still read: "On February 2, the dragon looked up, the big warehouse was full, and the small warehouse flowed." In some places, kitchen waste ash is scattered in the yard to form a big circle, and whole grains are put in the middle, which is called "hoarding" or "filling". It means to wish the grain a bumper harvest and a full warehouse. During the Dragon Head-raising Festival, the names of foods are generally named "Dragon". Eating jiaozi is called eating "dragon ears", eating spring cakes is called eating "dragon forest", eating noodles is called eating "dragon beard meat", eating rice is called eating "dragon son" and eating wonton is called eating "longan".
The custom of holding the dragon head on February 2.
1, shaving tap
As the old saying goes, "Shaving the dragon's head on February 2nd is a good spirit all year round", because it will make clouds and rain on the day when the dragon looks up, nourishing everything. Shaving children's heads on this day will bring good luck, good luck. Especially for boys, there is a saying called scraping the faucet.
2. Sacrifice to the Dragon God
This is very popular in many areas in the north. People will carry lanterns to draw water from wells in the morning, and then go home to light lamps, burn incense and offer sacrifices. This process is called "recruiting dragons" and its purpose is to pray for a bumper harvest.
3. Najib
This is also a folk activity. People organize dragon dances, wear dragon tails and write pens, hoping for a bumper harvest in the new year under the protection of dragons.
Step 4 eat dragon food
On February 2nd, most of the folk foods on this day were named after dragons, such as eating jiaozi as "eating dragon ears", eating wonton as "eating longan", eating rice as "eating dragon seeds", eating noodles as "helping dragon whiskers" and so on. In addition, in Jiaodong, there is a custom of eating chess pieces, because this diamond-shaped chess piece symbolizes Long Lin.