Hainan New Year folk customs - the historical origins and legends of eating vegetarian food

My hometown is in the beautiful and rich Hainan Island. During the Spring Festival, there are many customs in my hometown. Eating vegetarian food on the first day of the new year is one of the many customs.

When I was young, I heard from my grandpa that the requirements for fasting were very strict in the old days. You had to eat fast all day long on the first day of the new year, and you were not allowed to eat any meat. During the fast, the whole family wears new clothes and gathers around the Eight Immortals table. The elders bring vegetables to the younger ones and say some blessings while holding the vegetables. For example, when holding eggplants, they would say, "I ate eggplants. I will definitely "eggplant" others in my studies this year." It means being better than others). Similarly, the younger generation can also bring vegetarian dishes to the elders and say I wish grandpa good health and longevity, etc.

I have not verified the origin of fasting on the first day of the Lunar New Year. I heard from grandpa that it was passed down from our ancestors.

Be particular about vegetarian dishes

The requirements for vegetarian dishes are very strict, and not all vegetables can be selected. There are only eggplants, mung tofu, six ginger (mustard heads), water celery (a type of celery grown in paddy fields, with large and white roots that are edible, a specialty of my hometown) and so on. Why only choose these kinds of vegetarian dishes? There is a reason for this. It turns out that the word "qie" for eggplant means better than others in Hainanese. Eating eggplant symbolizes being better than others; the word "qin" in water celery is pronounced in Hainanese and is homophonic with the word "qin" in Mandarin. Eating celery symbolizes hard work and prosperity in the new year; six ginger roots are numerous and white. It looks very much like Shou Weng's silver beard. People in my hometown eat six gingers, including the roots and leaves. Eating six gingers means longevity. The elderly can live to be like Shou Weng, with white hair and yellow beards. Tofu is tender and has no fiber, so you can still enjoy it without teeth. Eating tofu also has a good wish, that is, to live until all the teeth fall out naturally (in ancient times, people in my hometown believed that the longest life was for a person to live without teeth); the shape of the bean sprouts is like a longevity old man, and the bean sprouts are like a longevity old man with bald hair. The head and slightly curved bean pole resemble the body of a longevity man. Eating bean sprouts also symbolizes longevity.

Busy at the end of the year to prepare vegetarian dishes

Every year at the end of the year, people in my hometown are busy preparing vegetarian dishes. I remember when I was young, my mother always bought eggplants a few days in advance and soaked them in water. Although it is the twelfth lunar month of winter, the weather in Hainan is hot, and eggplants can still be produced in winter. I often ask my mother why I need to buy eggplants in advance. My mother says that eggplants are a must-have for vegetarians, so don’t worry if you buy them in advance. Otherwise, if the market is short, you will have to pay one or two yuan for an eggplant. My family has paddy fields and can grow celery. Every year before New Year's Eve, the whole family is busy pulling, washing and selling celery. It takes a lot of work to get celery. You have to pull out the roots and leaves from the paddy fields, then take them to rivers and ditches to clean them before selling them on the market. When eating, remove the small hairy roots of water celery and leave the large white roots behind.

Vegetarian vegetables should be fried on New Year’s Eve

Vegetable oil must be used to stir-fry vegetarian vegetables. In ancient times, after the vegetarian vegetables were fried, they were brought to the Eight Immortals table in the main hall to worship the ancestors and keep the New Year's Eve. I started eating fast on the morning of the first day of the new year. I remember when I was a kid, I used to stand in front of the stove. As soon as the vegetarian food was cooked, I would eat it first. There are usually two kinds of celery fried by my father, one with salt and the other with some sugar, which makes it a little sweet. I love sweet things the most.

Eating vegetarian food on the first day of the Lunar New Year in my hometown has a long history and profound cultural connotations. It not only has the flavor of the New Year customs, but also is a scientific dietary custom. Because the New Year’s Eve dinner is all about big fish and meat, eating a lot of meat makes people feel greasy. In the first year of junior high school, you don’t eat meat and eat only vegetarian food. This relieves people’s greasy feeling to a certain extent. If you eat fish after the second day of junior high school, it will be more fragrant and beautiful. This New Year eating custom is the best way to eat during the Spring Festival from the perspective of scientific diet. No wonder eating fast on the first day of the Lunar New Year has been passed down from ancient times to this day.

Related reading: The meaning of Hainanese vegetarian food

Hainanese people should have eaten vegetarian soup, because eating vegetarian food on the first day of the Lunar New Year is a must for most families in Hainan. So, do you know the meaning of the ingredients used in vegetarian vegetable pot?

Fa Cai means getting rich, and the wealth is rolling in and making money every day.

Beet, sweet and happy life.

Cress, hard-working and willing to work hard, can make people sleepy and not die (hard-working people will not die of hunger).

Green garlic can speak well and will not suffer any loss.

Qiaotou, buckwheat and Hainan dialect are homophonic, meaning stronger than others, more powerful than others. Some articles also said it was eggplant, but that was probably a clerical error. There was no eggplant in the vegetable pot, and Hainanese rarely eat eggplant during the Chinese New Year.

Cigu, the homophonic pronunciation of "Cigu" in Hainan dialect, means to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.

Punice, a kind of vermicelli. It means that the steady flow of water will help the family and business flourish.

Day lily is called golden needle in Hainan, which means wealth and a strong family.

Fungus, also known as cat ear in Hainanese. Slang: Ermaomao (ears wrinkled), listen to the mother tongue. Teach people to be filial.

Sweet bamboo, a type of yuba, symbolizes further progress.

Dried soybeans, strips, dyed yellow. It means gold bars, it is the last word to have the goods in hand.

Peanuts, longevity fruit, wish your family health and longevity.

In the eyes of Hainanese, all folk customs are artificially made according to people's will and wishes. Therefore, in Hainan dialect, all folk customs are preceded by " The word "do" is used for doing Qingming Festival or doing in-laws (i.e. getting married), while northerners "celebrate the New Year" and the Hainan dialect calls it "doing the New Year". It should be noted that "making the new year" refers to "making the old year", that is, celebrating the Spring Festival. While in the north, celebrating New Year’s Day is called “making New Year’s Day” in Hainan. However, in rural areas of Hainan, "New Year" is not "done" in previous years.

As the saying goes in Hainan, "The year is afraid of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the moon is afraid of the fifteenth day."

As soon as the Mid-Autumn Festival is over, preparations are made for the New Year in the countryside: caponing roosters, stuffing ducks, penning domestic pigs, and preparing New Year money. As soon as we enter late December of the lunar calendar, the atmosphere of "making the New Year" becomes more and more intense!

The first is to send "Zo Gong" on December 24th. According to legend, "Zo Gong" is the god sent by the Jade Emperor to the human world to supervise good and evil. On this day every year, he must report to the Jade Emperor. To this end, every household uses bamboo handles or branches to clean the front and back of the house, inside and outside the house, and above and below the house. The incense burner must also be cleaned and replaced with new ashes. At night, wine and fruits are prepared as sacrifices to the "Zog Gong". "Send off.

As soon as the "Zao Gong" was delivered, the head of the family was busy "promoting the market". In the past, the "markets" in various towns and villages lasted 365 days a year. Only in the past few days did the "markets" have "fa"! Those who sold three birds, sold gold and silver incense and candles, etc. There are those who sell Jingguo candy and cakes, those who sell "doll paintings" (New Year pictures), those who sell "Wang Le plaster" (that is, wandering around the world), those who sell bowls, chopsticks and pottery basins, those who sell "Oranges to celebrate the New Year", and those who sell all kinds of clothes... Buy when you sell, buy pork, buy dry vegetables, buy wet vegetables (i.e. seasonal vegetables), buy "gong worship" offerings, buy clothes for the New Year, buy New Year paintings and couplets... Throughout the morning, everyone In the "market", there are people carrying burdens, carrying baskets, pushing carts, carrying children, old and young, men and women... There is an endless flow of people coming and going. Farmers use burdens to pick up new year's goods and carts to push them. They spent all their hard-earned savings for a year! A year's consumption energy burst out in these few days!

The words that acquaintances in the "Fa Nian Market" ask each other when they meet are: "Brother! Is the castrated rooster fat?" "Third sister-in-law! Is there a chicken capon for New Year?" "Third wife! Are you doing work in your house? (Children who work outside) want to come back for the New Year?" "Second Master! You have a 'New Year's batch' (New Year's letter sent from relatives in Nanyang) in your house, do you want to send it back?"

People Full of the joy of "making the New Year", they put the New Year pictures they bought in the living room and couplets on the lintels. Some people also put red paper with "profitable market" on the furniture and fruit trees. A few days ago, every household was busy soaking glutinous rice, grinding rice milk, and making rice cakes. Wenchang and other places were busy making rice krispie treats and peanut candies (these rice cakes are made in large quantities, both for home consumption and as gifts. , usually until the end of the first month).

Every time at this time, whether it is dignitaries and literati working in large, medium or small cities, whether they are peddlers and lackeys, whether they are driving cars and selling pulp, whether they are honoring their ancestors, their pockets are dry. No matter how big or small they are, they bring their wives and children back to their hometown where they were born and raised...

There is a saying in Hainan that goes, "Thirty nights - the knife and anvil are not idle." Because in Hainan, no matter how poor a family is, on the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, if they want to borrow money or rice, they will kill chickens and ducks. Seven large plates and eight large bowls of braised pork, pig's trotters, meat dishes, and vegetarian dishes are placed on the Eight Immortals table in front of the incense burner, waiting for sacrifices. After the ancestral ceremony is completed, firecrackers are set off, and the food is taken down after it has cooled down. The whole family eats the New Year's dinner around the stove (commonly known as "circling the stove"). On New Year's Eve, after taking a bath, men, women and children all put on new clothes, which means saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new. Even in the coupon era, people had to save kerosene on daily basis. Starting from the 30th night, lights would be lit in every room and every household would have lights, day and night, for several days in a row until dawn on the fourth day of the lunar month. Commonly known as "Fa Leng", it means "adding children and making a fortune". On the thirtieth night, many people "stay up all night" and stay up all night until the first day of the Lunar New Year arrives. At this time, according to the time, every household competes to set off New Year's Eve firecrackers, which means "welcoming the spring and bringing blessings", and then each younger generation kowtows and salutes to their elders. , wishing "good luck and longevity", and the elders give "New Year's money" to the younger ones.

In the early morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, both young and old have to get up and eat "vegetarian rice" (that is, to be clean and white in memory of their ancestors). "Zhai rice" is not only similar to Islamic halal food, but also just like northerners must eat fish during the Chinese New Year (every year has more than enough), the food must also have auspicious meanings, among which must be fried eggplant (eggplant, which means a year in Hainanese) better than last year), stir-fried water celery ("celery" and "qin" are homophones, I hope the whole family will work hard in the new year), long vermicelli (meaning to live a long and smooth life), yellow tofu shaped like a gold ingot Qian (meaning to attract wealth)...

On New Year's Day, there are many taboos: you can't carry water (you have to fill the water tank on New Year's Eve), you can't sweep the floor (even firecracker paper and nutshell paper Even if the crumbs are scattered all over the floor, you can’t sweep them away (it’s said that the “God of Wealth” has been swept away), you can’t curse, fight, or break utensils (meaning “harmony and harmony”), and you must say auspicious New Year greetings when you meet...< /p>

The customs of New Year greetings are different in different parts of Hainan. In some places, people come to visit people on the first or second day of the Lunar New Year, but it is boring to come on the third or fourth day of the Lunar New Year. In some places, they cannot go to other people’s homes to pay New Year greetings on the first day of the Lunar New Year. New Year gifts usually include citrus fruits or orange leaves sandwiched in the gifts to express the blessing that "this year will bring good luck and good luck".

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, a married daughter takes her husband and children back to her parents' home to pay New Year's greetings. If it is the first year of marriage, she will bring her own firecrackers and set off a string of firecrackers before entering the door to express her notice. It is the most solemn New Year greeting for a daughter and son-in-law to pay their father-in-law and mother-in-law. On this day, everyone else in the family (especially the elders) must be at home to accept the New Year greetings. The father-in-law and mother-in-law have to prepare a sumptuous feast, and when the daughter and son-in-law leave in the afternoon, they have to give the daughter candies, rice cakes, etc. wrapped in red paper to "greet the way."

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, some places in Hainan call it "Chaokao", which means that the dry rice, chicken, and duck heads and feet specially cooked for the New Year's Eve are stir-fried in a pan with oil before eating to express this. If something is leftover from last year to this year, it also means that the year has passed.

What Haikou people call “vegetarian” means vegetarian food in a broad sense.

The streets and alleys of Haikou are so lively with red lights and couplets hung up during the New Year! Every New Year’s Eve evening, every household in Haikou is busy preparing food in the kitchen. On one side are the chicken, duck and fish prepared for the New Year's Eve dinner, and the aroma fills the surroundings. On the other side are vegetables such as mushrooms, black bean sprouts, beets, cress, and dried soybean curd, which are all cleaned and placed. These are vegetarian dishes prepared for the vegetable pot on the first day of the Lunar New Year. . On the first day of the Lunar New Year, every household eats "zhai", which is a traditional custom spread among the people in Haikou.

Delicious vegetarian dishes

At Laojie Lao Wang’s house on Xinhua South Road in Haikou, every Lunar New Year’s Eve is a joyful and lively scene. Lao Wang's wife, Grandma Wang, said that every year when preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner, they would wash and plate the dishes for the "vegetarian" on New Year's Day and put them in the food cabinet. After the New Year's Eve dinner, the younger generations would give them to their elders. To pay New Year greetings, the elders give lucky money to the younger ones, and the whole family drinks tea and chats, staying up all night. This is called staying up late on the New Year's Eve. The housewife will fry the food prepared for fasting and put it on the plate for worshiping the gods. After the New Year bell rings, the whole family starts to get busy placing the steaming vegetarian dishes on the god's table, as well as wine, With tea, rice, incense, candles, new year fruits and other items, the parents led everyone to worship gods and pray for peace in the coming year. Later, they changed to worshiping ancestors. Now, some young people wait for the bell to ring for the first day of the new year at the Spring Festival Gala broadcast by CCTV on the night of New Year's Eve. Some young people go out to play with friends after the New Year's Eve dinner. . Regardless of whether the younger generations keep the New Year's Eve or not, the elders in the family still prepare vegetarian dishes for the morning of New Year's Day every year. People in Haikou who don’t eat a vegetarian meal during the Chinese New Year are like people in northern China who don’t eat dumplings during the Chinese New Year.

Beautiful Haikou

Haikou Vegetable Pot is a traditional folk dish in Hainan. Its prototype is Taoist and Buddhist cooking, which is mainly based on fungi, fruits, vegetables and soy products. Vegetarian dishes, also known as "monastery dishes". It is said that Chinese folk vegetarian customs began as early as the Pre-Qin period more than 2,000 years ago. When Buddhism was introduced to China, Han monks began to practice vegetarianism. Later, vegetarian dishes in monasteries could be prepared into high-quality all-vegetarian banquets. The development of vegetarian cooking in temples has made it unique in people's dietary life and promoted folk vegetarian customs. Traditional Hainanese vegetarian dishes are made with day lily, bean curd, vermicelli, beans and other vegetables. The vermicelli is smooth and tender in the mouth, the bean curd is fragrant and soft, plus the umami of mushrooms, beans and beets. Once cooked, it is a delicious dish. The fragrance is everywhere.

Haikou city scenery

The making method of Haikou vegetarian vegetable pot is very particular. First, soak and rinse dried vegetables such as yuba, vermicelli, day lily, mushrooms, and black fungus separately, then add them in boiling water. Medium, drain, then stir-fry evenly with hot oil, simmer until cooked and set aside; wash and cut black bean sprouts, beets, cress, etc., stir-fry until half-flavored; cut dried yellow tofu into long strips, Fry in hot oil until it turns yellow, then add seasonings until half flavored. Then heat a clean pot. After the oil is hot, put all the vegetables in, add water, add an appropriate amount of light soy sauce, monosodium glutamate, and sesame oil, and cook over low heat. Then put the cooked vegetarian vegetables into a casserole according to the colors of their raw materials, bring to a boil over medium heat and serve. This dish has distinct color, smooth and crisp texture, fragrant smell and appetizing taste. Regular consumption is good for physical and mental health.

Grandma Wang said that the biggest feature of vegetarian food is that it does not use animal raw materials, but not all vegetables can be selected as raw materials for vegetarian food. Even some plant raw materials, such as garlic and pickles, can be used as raw materials for vegetarian food. Among the banned. Grandma Wang said:

"Every ingredient in vegetarian dishes is the experience passed down by ancestors from generation to generation. They are all carefully selected and have profound meanings."

Most of the raw materials in vegetarian dishes are According to the homophony of the names of vegetables, choose ones with auspicious meanings. For example, beet means sweetness and a happy life; cress means hard work and hard work, which means that you will get rich through hard work in the new year; green garlic means you can speak well and will not suffer losses; the word "cigu" is from the Hainan dialect. The homophonic pronunciation of "chujiu" has the meaning of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new; thorn powder is a kind of vermicelli, which means long-lasting water, which can run the family and prosper the business; day lily means wealth and a strong family; fungus, also known as black fungus, is called cat in Hainan dialect Ear means listening to the elders and being filial; Tianzhu is a kind of yuba, which means "bamboo", which means making further progress; dried soybeans are cut into strips and dyed golden in vegetarian dishes. , meaning getting rich; peanuts are the fruit of longevity, wishing your family health and longevity.

In fact, the way of eating in Hainan folk families does not pay attention to the presentation. When eating, just add all the ingredients to the casserole, stir and boil. The more it cooks, the more fragrant and delicious it becomes. Add some salt when frying. Peanuts are put on a small plate and served in a pot with vegetarian vegetables. It can also be paired with freshly steamed or fried Hainan rice cakes, which is even more delicious.

Lao Wang’s daughter has a friend named Xiao Feng who did not return to his hometown in the north during the Spring Festival this year and was invited to Lao Wang’s house to celebrate the New Year. The vegetarian food she ate on the morning of her first day of junior high school left an unforgettable impression on her. She said that early on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the house was filled with the strong aroma of vegetables. She was invited into the main hall, where steaming vegetarian pots and various vegetarian dishes were already placed on the Eight Immortals tables in all directions. During the dinner, Xiao Feng also served Grandma Wang some vegetables according to local customs, and also said some auspicious words to wish her health and longevity. Throughout the fasting meal, there is always a warm, happy, auspicious, harmonious and jubilant New Year atmosphere.

Xiao Feng also said that Haikou people’s New Year’s Eve dinner just doesn’t involve making dumplings like they did in their hometown.

According to Haikou's New Year customs, the New Year's Eve meal is very rich, including chicken, salted duck, mackerel, shrimp, cuttlefish and other high-end delicacies. After the big fish and meat, everyone feels a little greasy. The next day, we had a fast on the first day of the Lunar New Year, which was exactly what everyone wanted. She said:

"These vegetarian dishes are really interesting. Each vegetarian dish has a deep meaning and rich cultural customs. Eating vegetarian food on the first day of the Lunar New Year not only adjusts the New Year's diet structure, but also has a good impact on the body. It is very beneficial to health. I was attracted by Hainan’s food culture of eating fast on the first day of the Lunar New Year.”

Lao Wang’s daughter also agrees with the habit of eating fast on the first day of the Lunar New Year. She said:

“Eating vegetarian food on the first day of the Lunar New Year in Haikou is a Spring Festival custom passed down from our ancestors. People do not eat meat on the first day of the Lunar New Year and must eat vegetarian food, which means they will not kill animals in the coming year and be clean; eat ‘vegetarian food’ on the ninth day of the Lunar New Year. , wishing for a safe and prosperous life. ”

In recent years, vegetarian dishes have entered the catering market due to their health benefits and unique taste, and have become very popular among consumers. There are restaurants specializing in vegetarian (vegetarian) cuisine in Hong Kong and major cities in China, and their business is booming. Although there are currently no vegetarian food specialty stores in Hainan, "Zhai Vegetable Pot" has become a popular dish and is promoted in many Chinese restaurants in Haikou. The preparation method is based on the traditional folk preparation method in Haikou, with slight improvements, so it is called "Hainan Vegetable Pot" and has been widely welcomed by diners from all over the world.

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