The customs of Beginning of Summer, what are the customs of Beginning of Summer?

Eating Beginning of Summer Rice

In the old days, red beans, soybeans, black beans, green beans, mung beans and other five-color beans were mixed with white japonica rice to cook "five-color rice" in the countryside. Later, it evolved into Japanese beans. The meat is boiled with glutinous rice and the vegetables include yellow croaker soup, which is called "beginning of summer rice".

Tie the beginning of summer rope

Summer cramps are common symptoms of abdominal distension, anorexia, fatigue and weight loss in summer, and children are especially prone to summer cramps. There are also five-color silk threads used to tie children's hand ropes, called "Lixia ropes".

Eat shrimp

In southern Fujian, people eat shrimp noodles at the beginning of summer. They buy shrimps and mix them into noodles for cooking. When the shrimps are cooked, they turn red, which is an auspicious color. "Xia" is homophonic in Chinese, which is a wish for summer.

Eat "foot bone bamboo shoots" and Junta vegetables

In the beginning of summer, Ningbo custom is to eat "foot bone bamboo shoots", which are cooked with black bamboo shoots, each one is three to four inches long. Without cutting them open, you should pick two bamboo shoots of the same thickness and eat them in one bite. It is said that eating them can "keep your feet strong" (good health).

Then eating soft vegetables (junta vegetables), it is said that after eating it, you will not get prickly heat in the summer, and your skin will be as smooth as soft vegetables.

Everyone in Sichuan and Yantan mountainous areas eats bamboo shoots and locust beans. He said that eating bamboo shoots made his leg bones stronger, making it easier to climb mountains. They also eat green plums and make green tea to prevent "summer rot".

Eating "foot bone bamboo shoots" means that people's legs are as strong and strong as spring bamboo shoots, and can travel long distances, which means leaning on the legs.

Ear piercing

In the old days, mothers chose to pierce the ears of girls on the first day of summer. While doing so, they would coax their children to eat tea eggs. When the children opened their mouths to bite the eggs, the needle would pierce them. There are also people who pierce the ears of domestic cats and tie them with red headbands.

Going out of the city to welcome the summer

The ancient kings often went out of the city to welcome the summer on the first day of summer. The day to welcome the summer was the beginning of summer.

According to ancient records, as early as the Zhou Dynasty, on the day of the Beginning of Summer, the emperor would personally lead hundreds of civil and military officials to the countryside to "welcome summer" and instruct officials such as Situ to go to various places to encourage farmers to work hard.

Eating Beginning of Summer Soup

People in Changsha, Hunan Province eat soup balls made of glutinous rice flour and sage grass on the Beginning of Summer, which is called "Lixia Soup". The folk proverb goes, "If you eat Beginning of Summer Soup, it will be like stone." "Step into a pit", "Eat a dumpling (pronounced 'Tuo') at the beginning of summer and cross the river with one foot", the metaphor is extremely powerful and the body is as light as a swallow.

It is popular among people in Zhejiang Province to eat glutinous rice porridge with red dates and tea eggs in the morning, and soup at noon. The rice flour paste is mixed with dried tofu, garlic sprouts, pork, bamboo shoots, etc., which is called "Lixia soup".

Eat Beginning of Summer paste

Some villages in Chunchi Town, Zhouning County, Eastern Fujian, eat "Beginning of Summer paste". There are two main types, one is rice paste and the other is sweet potato powder paste. A large pot is used to cook the soup, which is extremely rich in content, including meat, bamboo shoots, wild vegetables, chicken and duck offal, tofu, etc. Neighbors invite each other to drink the soup.

Eat "Qijia porridge" and drink "Qijia tea"

There is a custom of eating 'Qijia porridge' in the beginning of summer in rural areas of eastern Zhejiang. 'Qijia porridge' and 'Qijia tea' "It can also be regarded as another form of trying something new in the Beginning of Summer. Qijia Porridge is a collection of rice from neighboring families, plus various beans and brown sugar, cooked into a big pot of porridge, and everyone shares it.

For Qijia Tea, each family brings their own newly roasted tea leaves, mixes them, cooks or brews them into a large pot of tea, and then everyone gathers together to drink them. These porridges or teas are not necessarily very delicious. Food, but these rituals can be said to be important social activities in rural society in the past.

Hangzhou is most particular about the beginning of summer. Every family cooks new tea and serves it with various fruits. , as a gift to relatives and friends. LL -zN, called "Qijia Tea", also puts two "green fruits", namely olives or kumquats, in the teacup to express good luck.

Eating "wheat silkworms"

Farmers in Shanghai suburban counties use wheat flour and sugar to make inch-long strips of food called "wheat silkworms" on the first day of summer. People eat them to avoid "sick summer"

Eating strawberries

People in Tongshan County, Hubei Province regard the Beginning of Summer as an important festival. Tongshan people eat pickles (strawberries), shrimps and bamboo shoots at the beginning of summer. "Bamboo shoots strengthen the bones of the feet."

Eating "Guang Pancakes"

In the Beginning of Summer in Fujian Province, "Guang Pancakes" (baked with flour and a little salt) are the main food.

In Zhouning, Fu'an and other places in eastern Fujian, the cakes are soaked in water and made into dishes, while in Jiaocheng, Fuding and other places, the cakes are cut in half and fried bean sprouts, leeks, meat, pickled vegetables, etc. Eat it.

On the Beginning of Summer in Shanghai, pancakes made of taro and golden cauliflower are eaten.

Eating "Wild Summer Rice"

Hangzhou people also have the custom of eating "Wild Summer Rice" at the beginning of summer. On this day, children and teenagers gather in groups to beg rice and meat from neighboring families. The broad beans and bamboo shoots on the ground are allowed to be mined, and then they go to the wild fields to set up pots and stoves with stones to cook and eat by themselves, which is called eating "wild summer rice" or "beginning of summer rice".

This custom is to compare yourself to a beggar, thinking that you can avoid disasters.

"Feeding Festival"

Suzhou eats sea clams, gluten, white bamboo shoots, mango vegetables, salted duck eggs, and green broad beans in summer. Hotels in Suzhou have a special attitude towards the customers who come into the store on this day. Customers give away fermented rice and shochu without taking any penny, so the Beginning of Summer is also called the 'Giving Festival'.

"Three New" Festivals to worship ancestors and taste food

In Jiangsu and Zhejiang, there is a saying of "Tasting the New at the Beginning of Summer" " custom. There is a proverb in Suzhou that "see three new things at the beginning of summer". "Three new things" refer to newly ripe cherries, green plums and wheat. People first worship their ancestors with these "three new things", and then they taste them.

Spring Sorrows in Poems

The day of the Beginning of Summer was also called the end of spring in ancient times. Generally, poets and poets would inevitably have sentimental feelings about spring. Spring Sorrows were put into poems and invited friends to have a drink, leaving behind many masterpieces that have been handed down for generations.

Eating locust beans

In many places in my country, there is a custom of eating locust beans and peas in the Beginning of Summer.

Locust beans, also known as broad beans and mango beans, are popular in the Beginning of Summer. Locust beans are generally mature. Folklore believes that eating locust beans can strengthen the waist and nourish the kidneys, making it easier to plant rice seedlings and work in the fields. It is very common among rural and urban residents to fry and eat dried locust beans. It can strengthen teeth and is especially suitable for children and young people.

On the day of the Beginning of Summer, many places in Jiangnan will string cooked broad beans into necklaces for children to take out and eat.

There is also the custom of eating tofu, which is said to prevent people from getting wet in the rain or being stung by red bees.

Eye-diseases in the shell were common in ancient times, and people ate peas to pray for a year. The eyes are as clear as fresh peas, and there is no disease or disaster.

Eating plums for beauty

There is a folk custom of eating plums at the beginning of summer, and there is also a saying about eating plums at the beginning of summer for beauty. Said:

“You can eat plums at the beginning of summer, which can make the color beautiful. "That is to say: On the day of the Beginning of Summer, women squeeze plum juice and mix it into wine to drink. It can keep their youth forever, which is called "ZuSe Wine".

Eat summer cakes, flour cakes and spring rolls

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Wheat is mostly grown in northern my country, and the Beginning of Summer is the season when wheat comes into season. Therefore, most areas in the north have the custom of making and eating pasta during the Beginning of Summer to celebrate the wheat harvest.

The main dish of Beginning of Summer is pasta. There are three types of cakes: summer cakes, noodle cakes and spring rolls.

Summer cakes are also called sesame cakes, with different shapes, such as Zhuangyuan riding a horse, Guanyin giving a son, monkey holding a peach, etc.

Noodles. There are two types of pancakes: sweet and salty: salty pancakes are made with shredded pork, leeks, etc., and are eaten with garlic paste; sweet pancakes are made with more sugar.

Spring rolls are wrapped in refined thin pancakes and fried. The cooked bean sprouts, leeks, shredded pork and other fillings are sealed with flour mixed with egg white, then fried in hot oil until slightly brown, then scooped up and eaten.

Taste the three delicacies

Wuxi people have always had the custom of "eating three delicacies in the beginning of summer": three delicacies from the ground, three delicacies from the tree, and three delicacies from the water.

The three delicacies from the ground are broad beans, vegetables, and cucumbers. (Maybe there are Yuanmai and garlic seedlings as one of them)

The three fresh fruits of the tree are cherries, pips, and apricots (or there are plums and toon heads as one of them)

The three fruits of water are. The fresh ones are sea spiders, puffer fish, and small fish (or fish, yellow croaker, whitebait, and squid are among them).

In Changshu, people try new things at the beginning of summer, and the food is more abundant, including "nine fish." There is a saying that "eat meat and eighteen vegetables".

Eat "three roasts, five waxes and nine times new"

There is also a Hangzhou custom of eating "three roasts, five waxes and nine times new" on the Beginning of Summer " said. The "three roasts" include sesame cakes, roasted goose, and shochu (sweet fermented rice wine). The "five cured dishes" include yellow croaker, bacon, salt eggs, sea spiders, and Qingming dogs.

"Nine o'clock new" ones include cherries, plums, fish, broad beans, vegetables, soybean shoots, roses, bird rice cakes, and Geba bamboo shoots.

On this day, Hangzhou people also need twelve kinds of food. Someone sang: "Summer cakes with fish and black glutinous rice cakes, sour plums, broad beans and cherries, bacon, roasted goose and salted duck eggs, snails, vegetables and rice wine."

Wu Lang Ba Bao went to Wushan

There is also a saying on this day that "Wu Lang and Ba Bao went to Mount Wu". "Wulang" refers to the man who beats the rice, shaves his head, pours the horse (the one who pours feces into the toilet), Pilang (the young man in the pawnshop), and Failang (the one who beats tin foil); "Babao" means the bartender and the noodle waiter. , tea bao, rice bao, land bao, image bao (i.e. yin and yang), horse bao, milk bao (i.e. the business of raising babies).

In addition, there are thirteen craftsmen (i.e., carpenters, plasterers, stonemasons, blacksmiths, shipwrights, Buddhist craftsmen, carvers, painters, silversmiths, coppersmiths, sawmakers, tinsmiths, and tinsmiths) , this day is also a day off, and I will go to Wushan to play more.

Avoid snakes if you are tired of evil spirits

The folk custom of Yunnan in the beginning of summer is to avoid snakes if you are tired of evil spirits. According to "Yunnan Tongzhi" in the first year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty, on the day of the beginning of summer, "Acacia branches and red flowers were placed in the house to ward off evil spirits; they were surrounded by gray walls to avoid snakes."

Avoiding snakes in April is related to the fact that the twelve zodiac signs are snakes. The earthly branches mark the months, March is Chen, and April is Ji. At the beginning of summer, when we are tired of evil spirits, we put acacia branches and red flowers on the door, which means black (water) and red (fire) are both beneficial.

According to the ancient Five Elements theory, black is water and red is fire. It is hoped that the two will restrict each other and achieve a balance.

At the same time, the ancients not only used acacia to remove stains on a daily basis, but also used it as medicine, believing that it had insecticidal properties. Treat it as a disgusting thing and also focus on removing filth and driving away evil spirits.

In the old days, there was a custom of hanging acacias on doors in May. The acacias were shaped like a knife and were called "hanging knives". According to legend, they could scare away ghosts. "Tengyue Prefecture Chronicles" of Yunnan during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty also said: "At the beginning of summer, place saponaria branches and safflowers in the house to avoid snakes, and surround the foot of the gray wall to avoid snakes."

"Langwan County" in the Qing Dynasty "Lue Zhi" records the customs in Dali, Yunnan: "At the beginning of summer, poplars are planted on the door, and ashes are sprinkled around the house. It is named 'Gray City' to avoid the poison." What is different from other areas is that poplars are planted in front of the door.