What are the legends about February 2nd?

It was in the Yuan Dynasty that the "Dragon Rising on February 2" officially formed a folk festival. China has been an agricultural country since ancient times, and the climate plays a decisive role in agricultural harvest. This festival reflects the expectations of the general public for the spring rain, hoping that there will be enough rain in spring to lay the foundation for a bumper harvest in autumn.

Why does it take "February 2" to raise the dragon's head? Because February of the lunar calendar has entered the mid-spring season, at this time, the sun is in full swing, the earth is recovering, and plants are sprouting. It is very necessary for farmers to plow and sow in spring, so it is necessary to keep the soil moist and water-retaining. If it rains at this time, it is really precious, so there is a saying that "spring rain is as expensive as oil". In terms of solar terms, early February is between "rain", "fright" and "vernal equinox". This is a time when it needs to rain, and it may rain. How people hope to achieve the purpose of rainfall by praying for dragons.

Why does the dragon "look up"? Because before and after the shock pad in early February, all kinds of animals that had been dormant for a winter recovered their vitality, so it's time to do something. The dragon looks up, indicating that the dragon is also moving and has to perform the duty of rainfall. However, this statement is the usual explanation of "the dragon rises on February 2", which is easy to understand. However, "the dragon looks up" has an ancient astronomical explanation and is often ignored.

The ancients thought that the earth was motionless and the sun was moving. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period or even earlier, people regarded the annual orbit of the sun between stars as a circle, which is the so-called ecliptic. Then divide the circle into 28 equal parts with some stars to form 28 intervals, which are called 28 places. "Accommodation" means living. If you observe the movement of the moon, you basically stay for one night every day, 28 nights in turn, about one month, so it is called "lodging". Divide these 28 huts in four directions: southeast, northwest and northwest, and there will be 7 huts in each direction. For these 28 nights, they are all named. The seven hotels in the East are called Jiao, Kang, Bian, Fang, Xin, Wei and Ji, which are combined into one group and called the Oriental Black Dragon. Among them, the horn is the symbol of the dragon's head, the kang is the dragon's neck, the night is the dragon's chest, the room is the dragon's stomach, the heart is the dragon's heart, and the tail and jump are the dragon's tail. In winter, these seven nights in the Black Dragon are hidden under the horizon and can't be seen after dusk. In early February, when dusk came, hornbills appeared from the eastern horizon. At this point, the whole body of the black dragon is still hidden below the horizon, and only a corner is exposed, so the black dragon looks up. Explaining the word "dragon", Shuo Wen Jie Zi said: "Dragon is the length of scale worm. It can be quiet and clear, detailed and huge, short and long. The vernal equinox ascends to the sky and the autumnal equinox dives deeply. " They all refer to the subtle changes of black dragon's seven nights, but there are not really beasts and dragons changing. "Ascending to the sky at the vernal equinox" means that at the vernal equinox, corner beams begin to appear in the sky, and the oriental black dragon appears, that is, the dragon looks up.

In ancient China, the worship of dragons continued, and dragons were more and more clearly regarded as animal gods in charge of rain. Therefore, in the fifth year of Zuo Zhuan, Huan Gong said that "the dragon is now", which means that the dragon will appear after being electrocuted and stung, and a sacrifice to pray for rain will be held at this time. Shan Hai Jing, a geographical myth work during the Warring States Period, also said that Ying Long lived in the south, "so it was rainy in the south", while Candle dragon "didn't eat or sleep, and the wind and rain were a disaster", which often attracted wind and rain. Because imaginary dragons can fly in clouds and fog, superstitious dragons can bring good luck to people, and when they arrive on earth, they can become emperors, so the emperor is called the real dragon emperor.

The earliest record of holding a rain-seeking activity directly with the help of the image of a dragon can be found in Dong Zhongshu's Spring and Autumn Stories in the Western Han Dynasty. The book mentions dancing dragons for rain. The stone reliefs of the Han Dynasty are also engraved with the dance scene of "playing with dragons". These can be regarded as the origin of playing dragon lanterns in later generations.

People in the Tang Dynasty have regarded the second day of February as a special day, saying that it is a day to welcome wealth, and eating "fruit to welcome wealth" on this day means eating some snacks. The court of the Song Dynasty also had special activities on this day. When the Song people carefully recorded the Southern Song Dynasty in Old Wulin, there was a "Cai Cai" royal banquet in the palace on the second day of February. At the banquet, fresh vegetables such as lettuce are planted in some small hooves (measuring instruments with small mouths and big bottoms), and the names are written on silk and placed under the hooves for everyone to guess. According to the result of the guess, there are rewards and punishments. This activity is both an early adopter and an entertainment, so at that time, "the palace is also more effective." However, these "February 2" activities in the Tang and Song Dynasties have nothing to do with "Dragon Rising".

February 2 of the Yuan Dynasty was clearly "the dragon looked up". Analysis of Tianjin Record mentioned that "February 2nd is the day when the dragon rises" when describing the customs of metropolis in Yuan Dynasty. On this day, people eat noodles, which is called "Longxu Noodles". There are pancakes called "Longlin"; If it includes jiaozi, it is called "dragon tooth". In short, it should be named after the dragon body.

After the Yuan Dynasty, there were more records about various folk activities of "Dragon Rising on February 2". People also call this day the Dragon Head Festival, Spring Dragon Festival or Qinglong Festival. The Chronicle of Yanjing Years Old in the late Qing Dynasty said: "February 2nd ..... Today people call for the dragon to look up. During the eclipse, those who eat cakes are called Longlin cakes, and those who eat noodles are called Longxu Noodles. Don't sew in the boudoir, lest you hurt the dragon's eyes. " At this time, not only do you want to eat cakes and noodles, but women can't do needlework for fear of hurting the dragon's eyes. "Liaozhong County Records" recorded the local folk custom of February 2 in the Republic of China, saying: "February 2, commonly known as the dragon looks up. In the morning, knocking on the beam with a pole means knocking on the tap, which means that the dragon stabbed to the ground and covered the shock stage. Farmers eat cakes and steamed bread made of coarse rice flour for breakfast. Therefore, women shave their children every day, covering up the meaning of the dragon's head. " This is a folk custom in Liaoning. Knock on the beam with a long pole in the morning to wake up the dragon. At the same time, I also make some pasta to eat.

In addition to eating pasta, there are activities to fetch water from home. The Qing Dynasty's "Wan Shu Miscellaneous People" said: "On February 2, everyone called the dragon to look up, and the villagers used gray twisted cloth to enter the kitchen from the outside and circled the water tank, which was called bringing the dragon back." This activity is in the early morning of the festival. People scatter plant ash and chaff all the way from the river and the well to the water tank at home, just to have good weather. If you don't trust, only when it rains, you must bring water into your home and let the rain fall on your own fields, so that you can get what you want. This is a reflection of the economic consciousness of small farmers. In some places, there are activities of playing dragon lanterns, which also means begging for rain. It is a custom in many places to pay attention to shaving your head on this day.

Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the activities of "smoking insects" and "frying beans" have been added on February 2nd. The Ming Dynasty's "A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of the Imperial Capital" said: "On February 2, the dragon looked up ... smoked the bed kang and smoked the insects, so as to attract the dragon, the insects could not get out." In the Qing Dynasty, Kangxi's Daxing County Records recorded that "on February 2, each family made vegetarian cakes and fried them, which was called smoked insects."

Why do you want to smoke insects? At the beginning of February in the lunar calendar, the weather is getting warmer and the insects are beginning to stir. Some insects are harmful to human health. Therefore, on this day, more and more people use fried food and pancakes to smoke and kill insects. This is a concept that emphasizes hygiene. In the north, such as Hebei, Shandong, Shaanxi and other places, there is also the custom of eating fried beans to repel insects. People soak soybeans in salt water for a period of time, then take them out and stir-fry them in a pot. Soon, soybeans jumped in the pot to warn insects and drive them away. As for some articles mentioning that there are some folk customs in Beijing, such as "picking up aunts on February 2", I don't need to go into details here.

As an ancient folk festival, the rise of the Dragon on February 2 has basically faded out of the modern life of China people. However, we should also realize some cultural connotations of "the dragon rises on February 2", such as the worship of dragons by the ancients and the materialistic explanation of "the dragon rises" in ancient astronomy, which still has research value.

According to folklore, every second day of the second lunar month is the day when the Dragon King, who is in charge of heavenly sexuality, looks up. After that, the rain will gradually increase. Therefore, this day is called the Spring Festival. There is a saying in northern China: "On February 2, the dragon looked up; Big warehouse is full and small warehouses are flowing. "Folk proverbs. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, in most parts of northern China, every family carries lanterns to fetch water from wells or rivers in the morning, and when they get home, they light a fire, burn incense and offer offerings. In ancient times, people called this ceremony "attracting dragons". On this day, every household will eat noodles, fried cakes and popcorn, and compare "picking the dragon's head", "eating gentian", "golden beans blossom, the dragon king ascends to heaven, the clouds and rain rise, and the grains are abundant" to show good luck. The origin of the Spring Festival, there is such a fairy tale among the people in northern China. Wu Zetian became emperor, which annoyed the Jade Emperor and told the Four Seas Dragon King not to rain on earth for three years. Soon, the Dragon King, who was in charge of Tianhe, listened to the cries of the people, watched the people starve to death, and worried that human life would be cut off, so he went against the jade emperor's will and sent rain for the sky. When the Jade Emperor learned that the Dragon King had been sent down to the mortal world, he was put under a big mountain to suffer, and a monument was erected on the mountain: The Dragon King's rain violated the laws of heaven and should be punished for future generations; If you want to go back to Lingxiao Pavilion, unless the golden beans bloom. In order to save the Dragon King, people searched everywhere for golden beans in full bloom. On the second day of February of the following year, when people were drying corn seeds, they thought the corn looked like golden beans. It blooms when it's fried. Isn't it golden beans? Every household popped popcorn and put a case in the yard to burn incense for the "golden beans" that have already blossomed. The Dragon King looked up and knew that people had saved him. He shouted to the jade emperor, "The golden beans are blooming, let me out quickly! " ; As soon as the Jade Emperor saw that the golden beans in the yard of every household in the world were in full bloom, he would send a message to the Dragon King, asking him to return to heaven and continue to give sex to the world. Since then, people have formed a habit. On the second day of February, people eat popcorn. In fact, after February of the lunar calendar, the "rain" solar term will come, the phenomenon of little rain in winter will end, and the rainfall will gradually increase, which is originally the characteristic of the monsoon climate in North China. Spring pancake Spring pancake Beijing folk food, a kind of pancake, also called pancake. Every year in beginning of spring, Beijingers eat spring cakes, which is called "biting spring". The second day of the second lunar month is the day when dragons look up ("On February 2nd, dragons look up"). There is an old saying in China. On this day, Beijingers also want to eat spring cakes, which is called "eating Longlin". Spring cakes are bigger than roast duck pancakes, and they are tough (Beijingers call them "strong gluten") because they have to roll a lot of dishes before they can be eaten. In the past, when eating spring cakes, we paid attention to going to a box restaurant called "Pan Su" (also called box lunch). Box hotel is a sauce meat shop, and the store sends people to deliver food to your door. There are smoked pot belly, pine nut pot belly, oven meat (a kind of roast pork), sauce meat, smoked elbow, sauce elbow, sauce mouth strip, smoked chicken, sauce duck and so on in the box. Be put in a picture frame. When eating, you should change the knife and cut it into filaments, such as several home-cooked dishes (generally fried pork with leeks, fried pork with spinach, vinegar with mung bean sprouts, fried noodles with vegetarian ingredients, and spread eggs). ) Here we go. Seasonings include shredded onion and sesame oil yellow sauce (roast duck with sweet noodle sauce). When eating spring cakes, the family sits around and puts the baked spring cakes in a steamer, taking them with them while eating, in order to have a hot meal. If you eat spring cakes on February 2, Beijingers also pay attention to taking married girls home. Rolling on a donkey is a kind of bean flour cake, a Muslim snack in Beijing. Knead steamed yellow rice (or glutinous rice) into a ball, sprinkle with fried soybeans, add red bean stuffing, roll into strips, sprinkle with sesame seeds, osmanthus fragrans and sugar. Because the food stalls in the Qing Dynasty are now sold here and there, the system is used to spread bean noodles, just like the donkeys in the country rolling on the spot and spreading loess, so it has got the name of humor. According to the custom of old Beijing, people always like to buy "snowballing usury" to taste in February of the lunar calendar, so there are many vendors and pushers who manage this kind of food, among which the white food stall in Tianqiao market and the "rice cake tiger" (tiger takes the blessing) are the most famous.