What is the custom of eating eggs on March 3?

The local dish is shepherd's purse, which is not only a custom in southern, central and northern Hunan.

In fact, about this folk custom, there are the following stories for textual research.

The first story is that every year on the third day of the third lunar month, it is a day for Han people to greet their ancestors' souls and mourn their ancestors by eating eggs, hoping to get some aura.

The second story is about the communication custom of young men and women in Song City on March 3rd of Zhuang nationality: touching eggs. Eggs are things that dye boiled eggs in various colors to convey feelings. The young man held an egg in the song market to touch the egg in the girl's hand; If the girl doesn't want to, just take the egg and don't touch it. If it's urgent, let the boys touch it. After the egg cracked, they ate the egg, which sowed the seeds of love.

March 3, an ancient festival, evolved from the "Shangji Festival" in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. At that time, there was no fixed date for this festival, usually in early March. "Ji" is the stem position in the earthly branch. In previous years, there were 60 daily necessities, that is, the cross of "A, B, C, D, E, G, N, N" in the sky, and the twelve characters of "Zi Chou Chen failed to apply for the afternoon to keep the sea" in the ground branch. Sixty combinations were formed through mathematical combination to record the diary year. Episode I was named Episode I because it appeared on the first day of March.

In the past, on this day, people went for an outing. Young men and women have been completely liberated on this day, and they can communicate freely without being bound by ethics. By the time of the Qin Dynasty, the activities of "Episode I Festival" were officially scheduled for the third day of March. On this day, people will swing, fly kites and watch the scenery in the suburbs near the water. Young men and women express their feelings about songs and enjoy them. By the Tang Dynasty, this trend had been circulating, and even the heavily guarded royal court opened its doors to let concubines and ladies spend a day in the suburbs. The poet Du Fu wrote when describing Yang Yuhuan, the favorite concubine of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and his sisters having an outing outside Chang 'an: "On March 3rd, it was a beautiful day, and there were many beauties by the Chang 'an River". The festival of March 3 has gradually faded away in people's lives. Even in some places where this custom still exists, the content has changed greatly, and it has gradually become a festival for rest, entertainment and market trade activities. But in our hometown, there is no such thing as traveling and resting. Eating a boiled egg is the third day of March.

According to folklore, eating boiled eggs with cauliflower on March 3rd can cure dizziness. Although it is a traditional custom to eat cauliflower and boil eggs on March 3, its scientific nature remains to be verified. However, from a nutritional point of view, cauliflower is a wild vegetable, but it is rich in nutrition, containing a lot of carotene, vitamin B and vitamin C, and the content of calcium and iron is also relatively high. These nutrients are beneficial to human health. In addition, the protein content of eggs is high, and lecithin and vitamin A are also rich, so the two nutritious foods are naturally good for the body.

On March 3rd, there was a local legend about the origin of boiled eggs. During the Three Kingdoms period, the famous doctor Hua Tuo came to Miancheng to collect herbs. One day, when he was sheltering from the rain in an old man's house, he saw that the old man had a headache, dizziness, pain and embarrassment. Hua tuo immediately diagnosed the old man, picked a handful of vegetables in the old man's garden, and asked the old man to take juice and boil eggs to eat. The old man obeyed, took three eggs and recovered. The story spread, people boiled eggs with vegetables in succession, and the craze spread throughout urban and rural areas. Hua Tuo treated the elderly on March 3rd, so it became a custom in Mianyang to cook eggs with local dishes on March 3rd. Later, it gradually spread and became popular in Jianghan Plain.

On March 3rd, boiled eggs with rice is a well-known folk custom here. On this day, people collect a handful of rice dishes from the ground, wash them, put them in a pot, add a proper amount of water, add spices such as cinnamon, star anise, spiced powder and soy sauce, cook them with eggs, and pick them up after cooking. This is not only delicious food, but also health and medical care.