Customs and sentiments of Xuanhua

Customs and customs of Xuanhua

Food customs in Xuanhua were affected by geography, climate, customs, etc. In the past, no wheat was grown in the territory and very little rice was produced. The crops were mainly grains. Develop your own characteristics in diet. There is a saying that "eggplant cooked with yam is so fragrant that the old man will die", and there is also a saying that "thirty miles of oatmeal noodles, forty miles of cakes, and ten miles of buckwheat noodles will break your waist if you are hungry." In the past, the staple food of Xuanhua people was mainly oatmeal, yellow rice noodles, buckwheat noodles, corn flour, sorghum noodles, millet, yams, and beans.

Non-staple foods mainly include Chinese cabbage, cabbage, celery, red, carrot, and white radish, eggplant, spinach, leek, beans, cucumber, pumpkin (sweet melon), tomatoes, and peppers. Xuanhua people have the custom of pickling vegetables: pickled vegetables include Chinese cabbage and sauerkraut. Celery, carrots, cabbage, and peppers are all called pickled pepper vegetables. Brassica japonicus and mustard greens are pickled into pickles. Due to the location of the earth, it is far away from rivers, lakes and seas, and there are even few ponds. In the old days, the people in Xuanhua rarely ate fish, and some did not know how to cook fish. Only a few outsiders or wealthy households bought food. Today, material life With continuous improvement, fish is one of the non-staple foods on the table of ordinary people. The Han people like to eat pork, and the Hui people like to eat mutton. Lamb boiling has become a delicacy on the Hui Han table.

There is a jingle in Xuanhua that goes like "Howl in mourning on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, and howl with naan on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month", which means you can eat hard on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. In the past, on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the prelude to the new year began. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God ascended to heaven. Therefore, starting from the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, children, rich or poor, began to grab and eat. Nowadays, people in the city have started to burn gas and have stopped worshiping the Stove King for a long time. However, on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, adults still remember to buy some sesame candy to call to their children, which means they have inherited the custom of eating sesame candy on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. On the twenty-sixth or seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, people begin to cook meat, stir-fry chicken, boiled bean paste, fried cakes, steamed bean buns, etc., which are reserved for the first month. On New Year's Eve, we make a lot of dumplings, and we have to eat them at least until Powu (the fifth day of the Lunar New Year). This year actually runs from the 30th to the 5th day of the Lunar New Year. During these days, every household eats better meals. Almost every day, they eat meals carefully prepared in advance. The first meal is dumplings, and the next meal is rice cakes (fried cakes that are then steamed). . On the fifth day of the lunar month, we will end the day with another meal of dumplings to celebrate the New Year. Legend has it that the tenth day of the lunar month is the wedding day of the rat, and people outside the city have to eat cakes again, which is meant to satisfy the rats and save them from chewing grain bags or clothing. On the fifteenth day, eat Lantern Festival. Xuanhua people like to buy Yuanxiao at Chaoyang Tower. Yuanxiao can be eaten either fried or boiled. On the 16th day of the first lunar month, the old people of Xuanhua have the custom of eating fried fruits (fried pancakes). The twentieth day of the first lunar month is the Little Tiancang Festival. There is a popular saying called "Tiancang Wowo Cross Cake", that is, Wowo can be eaten on the tenth day of the lunar month. This kind of Wowo is a silk cake with bean noodles, rice noodles, white noodles, beans, and dates. composition. The 25th is the "Laotian Cang" Festival. That’s it for eating in the first month of the year. Next is February 2, when men have to take a bath and shave their heads. It means "February 2, the dragon raises its head". On this day, you eat thousand-layer cakes, which is called "pulling the skin of the dragon." The two days before Tomb-Sweeping Day are the Cold Food Festival. In some places, it is not allowed to eat cold food. However, Xuanhua people do not pay much attention to this festival and do not have much opinion about it because the local climate is not suitable for eating cold food. On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, it’s the Dragon Boat Festival. There is a custom of eating rice dumplings and eating cold cakes. On this day, some families have to make their own rice dumplings. Some families do not make rice dumplings and give them to each other. Some have to steam a few small steamed buns and decorate them with red dots to worship the souls of the dead at home. Some people buy them. Some fruits are given to deceased relatives at the crossroads at night. The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is the Ghost Festival. Xuanhua people make steamed noodles and give them to their grandchildren, nephews, etc. On the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th, people eat with great fanfare, including good meals, moon cakes and fruits. More emphasis is placed on eating grapes, giving grapes, mooncakes, and wine. On this day, relatives will sit together, eat moon cakes and admire the moon. Some families simply move the meals to the courtyard, under the grape trellis, eat moon cakes and fruits, and admire the Mid-Autumn Moon, creating a peaceful atmosphere of harvest. In addition, Xuanhua also has a saying of "Winter Solstice Dumplings and Summer Solstice Noodles". On the Winter Solstice, people eat dumplings to tell people that winter is coming. The "wrapping" should be better. (The local area is colder.) During the Summer Solstice, it is easy to get angry due to the heat. On this day Eat noodles to prevent heatstroke and cool down.

Drinking Customs: Wine is a favorite drink among people. Whether it is weddings or weddings, or gatherings of relatives and friends, people cannot do without wine. Therefore, drinking rituals, drinking orders, drinking taboos, etc. appeared along with it. When guests come, they will get 70% of the food and 80% of the wine. After three rounds of wine, they can feel comfortable. Pay attention when pouring wine, the wine should be full and the tea should be shallow; when giving the wine, it is a courtesy to drink first, and those who come late will be punished with three cups of wine. The first cup is a toast, the second cup is about "good things come in pairs", and the third cup is about "everything is a courtesy". When people offer sacrifices, one cup is used to worship the sky, the other two cups are used to worship the earth, and the third cup is used to worship the ghosts and gods.

Wine is magical, and sometimes it plays a magical role. People in Xuanhua like to say, "Drinking makes you close, gambling makes you far away." The wine at the wedding banquet is called a banquet. Without wine, it is not a banquet. Treating guests without wine is not called an invitation. In the past, people in Xuanhua loved to drink Beijing Erguotou, Shacheng Laoyao and Shacheng San Baijiu. Since the establishment of a brewery in Xuanhua, "Bell Tower Beer" has become an indispensable drink on people's tables.

Banquet Customs Xuanhua people are warm, hospitable and down to earth. When entertaining guests, put them first. The master often sits down and is accompanied by the prime minister. The number of dishes for entertaining guests should be an even number. Cold dishes should be served first, but the number of cold dishes should not exceed the number of hot dishes. Usually, the number of dishes is about 10 to 16. When there are few people, it can be 4 to 8 dishes. If you are a distinguished guest, one dish each of chicken and fish is essential. When making a toast, the host should fill up the wine for the guests and drink first as a token of respect. The first three drinks are served by the guests. After three rounds of drinks, the guests look for opportunities to toast to the host. When accompanying a guest, you should wait until the guest has finished drinking before serving the meal. The host cannot eat first and leave the guest alone. If the guest has not finished eating, the host must eat slowly and wait until the guest puts down the bowl before placing the bowl himself. "Dog meat is not served at the banquet." When entertaining guests, especially happy events, dog meat is not served.

Tea-drinking custom Xuanhua is known as the "Shatuo Kingdom". It can be seen that the wind and sand are heavy. In addition, the people were poor in the old days and had insufficient food and clothing. They only relied on a stove for indoor heating, so a pot of coarse tea became their warm pot. The body is a way to lift the spirit. In the past, the old people in Xuanhua drank tea and boiled water with a "water bottle", which was a tin box slightly larger than a cup. A handle or handle was twisted with an iron wire. Xuanhua people called this "water bottle". After having iron kettles, aluminum kettles and thermos kettles, Shuizhuzi withdrew from the stage of life. Because it is geographically adjacent to Shanxi and Mongolia, it has become the only way for Shanxi, Hebei and Mongolia to trade. Xuanhua merchants often bring back brick tea from Dahuunun. It has become a custom for the elderly to drink brick tea, and to drink brick tea, they must smash it. The famous tea house in Xuanhua in the old days was Wu Deyu Tea House. There is a waiting room for serving tea in the Xuanhua Grand Theater, and there is a teahouse for drinking tea next to the theater. After the reform and opening up, southerners flocked to Xuanhua to do business, and green tea was also accepted by Xuanhua people.