The raw materials of Chu people's diet are produced in Chu, and its characteristics and level are consistent with the characteristics of Chu's products and resources and the level of productivity development. The food culture of Chu people most vividly embodies the characteristics of the land of fish and rice, and its main characteristics are:
Rice is the staple food
A large number of rice shells and rice unearthed from the ancient cultural sites of Qujialing in Jingshan, Maojiashan in Jiangling and Mengxi Town in Lixian County show that as early as 8, to 4,6 years ago, the land of Jingchu was inhabited by clan tribes mainly growing rice. Apart from staple food rice and miscellaneous grains, people's life has improved with the development of production for thousands of years: food production has also become diversified and refined, such as rice noodles, rice cakes, rice cakes, Tang Yuan, zongzi and so on.
Love fish
Archaeological excavations have found a large number of animal remains and lifelike animal pottery such as chickens, sheep and fish. This shows that the ancestors of Chu raised pigs, dogs, chickens and sheep and caught fish and mussels thousands of years ago. Besides livestock, fish is an important nutrient in plain valley areas. Mountain areas, plains and hills all eat pigs, beef, mutton and game. Up to now, in the wedding, funeral and festive feast in Jingchu, it is also "no fish, no table". Jingchu is a land of fish and rice, and the production and eating of fish are very complicated and dazzling. Dried fish and bacon are a landscape of Chu's winter and twelfth lunar month: "The weather in midwinter is frosty, and the bacon and salted fish are out of the jar. I'm afraid the cold wave will never end. I hang high on the balcony every day. " Some alpine mountains. Except pond culture, most farmers have no fish. In order to have more fish every year, we should go out of the mountains to buy fish before the Spring Festival. For example, farmers in the deep forests of Dabie Mountain will go to Taihu Lake, Wangjiang and Huangmei fish areas in groups to pick fish.
Variety of vegetables and foods
People in Chu eat vegetables and fruits, which can be summarized as fresh, soaked, salted and dried. Kimchi has a long history and can be cooked all the year round. It is very common in Jingchu throughout the ages. Once upon a time, in the deep forest of Yinghuo Qiantai in Dabie Mountain, many farmers had several large food vats that could hold 3-6 loads of water. Every autumn, vegetables are packed in different categories, and some peppers and radishes are pickled together. Pack the vegetables, put some salt, and press them firmly. Then put a few round stones and vegetables, put a wooden cover on them, seal them with paste, and open the jar when eating, which will make the room full of fragrance. Take out the hot and sour vegetables and cook them in a hanging pot. Add seasonal fresh vegetables such as cucumber, amaranth, lentils and radish. Sauce fermented bean curd, hanging pot to cook pickles and fresh vegetables, red rice and stove fire, it is also pleasant for the whole family to sit around and eat. Whether it is soaked or pickled, it has a special flavor, hot and sour, fresh and crisp, fragrant and delicious, and it is appetizing. Sun-dried vegetables are also a landscape in Chu. Radish, cabbage, mustard tuber, shepherd's purse, pepper, eggplant, cowpea, green bean, potato, lentil, sword bean, Toona sinensis seedling, golden needle, bamboo shoot, purslane, sweet potato stalk and leaf, Osmunda japonica, etc. can all be dried. In case of emergency.
There are many kinds of soups
People in Chu love soups because of the weather, soil and water, climate and other conditions in this area. People love simmering soup: simmering soup on holidays; Soup should be simmered for birthday celebrations; The distinguished guests want to simmer soup at the door; Women "sit on the moon" to simmer soup; The patient needs to simmer soup after his illness. There are many kinds of simmer soup, including sparerib soup, chicken soup, beef and mutton soup. The most precious are turtle soup and bagua soup. In short, fish, meat, vegetables, fruits, game and delicacies are all good stewing soup families. The average family's favorite is pork ribs and lotus root soup. Soup is made in a variety of ways, including boiling, stewing and stewing. Home simmering soup is often made of "casserole jar". The simmering soup is about heat, boiling with strong fire and simmering with slow fire, which is what people often say, "porridge is cooked with big fire and soup is simmered with small fire." The soup is oily but not greasy, and the soup is rotten but not sticky. Soup is an appetizing drink, which can promote blood circulation. In the cold winter, use soup to drive away the cold; In hot summer, appetizing with soup can supplement the salt, water and nutrition needed by the body. What needs to be added here is that there was a taboo for people in mountainous areas to eat New Year's dinner in the past, that is, they didn't drink soup, saying that they drank soup, and it was raining when they were away from home, which caused a lot of trouble. In some places in Yingshan, there is no soup for funerals, and even a spoon is not placed on the table.
Good wine and more tea
There are many branches of rivers and lakes in Chudi Port. People can drive away cold and dampness by farming and fishing, and it has been a habit since ancient times. Chu is rich in grain production, and has the habit of drinking soju since ancient times. I still like to drink glutinous rice wine. The name of this glutinous rice wine varies from place to place, and some are called "Shuilaogu"; Some are called "double double"; Some are called "Juzi wine"; Some are called "sweet wine" or "rice wine" and so on. According to some sources, Dongshan old rice wine in Macheng, Hubei Province is called "Dangtou wine". Nowadays, a large number of people in Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan and Sichuan love old rice wine, which may be related to Jiangxi filling Huguang and Huguang filling Sichuan.
Hubei's custom of celebrating the Spring Festival
"Adults look forward to planting fields, while children look forward to the Spring Festival". In Hubei, the Chinese New Year begins on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. There is a folk saying: "Twenty-three, send lamps; Twenty-four, remove the fishbone; Twenty-five, knock on the drum; Twenty-six, fu pork; Twenty-seven, in addition to dirty marks; Twenty-eight, blessed chickens and ducks; Twenty-nine, every family has it. " The year of China, which has always been closely related to farming culture, has always been a special festival that people yearn for, whether in the era of material shortage or in the period of economic development. Wu Zhijian, a researcher at the Hubei Provincial Group Art Museum and a photographer of Hubei folk custom albums such as Chu Feng Chu Customs, said with emotion, "The dragon and phoenix are auspicious, the dragon lantern on stilts, the seahorse, the elephant-catching, the fire at the age of 3, and the lantern at the age of 15 ... Among the rich charm of Jing Feng Chu, those oldest and simple Hubei folk customs are really eye-opening!"
"Talking about the New Year's Dinner" and chatting to welcome the New Year
Most of the early residents in Wuhan moved in from the surrounding areas (mian yang, Hanyang, Huangpi, Xiaogan and other places) in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. Therefore, the Chinese New Year custom in Wuhan exudes a strong local flavor: besides cleaning up the house, changing Spring Festival couplets, sticking to the door, inviting the kitchen god during the New Year, and on New Year's Eve, men have to fill the water tanks. On New Year's Eve, the whole family get together and have a sumptuous "New Year's Dinner" (now called "Reunion Dinner").
On New Year's Eve in Wuhan, we usually serve "Sanquan" (whole chicken, whole duck and whole fish), "Sangao" (fish cake, meat cake and mutton cake) and "Sanwan" (fish balls, meatballs and lotus root balls). Dinner is usually served before dark, and some families eat until the clock turns, which means that "the more they eat, the brighter they get". Since it is "talking about the New Year", they have to chat while eating, review the past and look forward to the future, and express their blessings to each other.
On New Year's Eve, graves are lit everywhere.
In Jianghan Plain, Hubei Province, especially in rural areas, before New Year's Eve, people are used to "light graves" for their deceased relatives, which is also called "sending lights". It is to send delicious food to the ancestral grave and then light candles to worship the ancestors. However, this custom has faded in many places. What impressed Wu Zhijian the most was his experience of going to Yunxi County, Shiyan, Hubei Province, and one year, he specially took his son to Yunxi for the New Year.
On the 15th night, "Catching the Hairy Dog" sang "Lantern Song"
"Playing with the Hairy Dog, Playing with the Hairy Dog, Playing at the Door of Your Kitchen ..." The ballad of "Catching the Hairy Dog" is still circulating among Tujia people in western Hubei. A hairy dog is a fox. It used to be friends with people, but it often steals chickens to eat. Angered humans and set fire to its lair. Since then, there has been the custom of setting off firecrackers, burning grass and bamboo to drive away dogs on the fifteenth night of the first month. The custom of "driving out dogs" is very old, and it can be seen in the book "Time of Jingchu" in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. It is said that only when the dogs are driven away will the six animals be safe and the fields will not grow weeds.
"Lichuan Lantern Song" originated in Bai Yang, Lichuan City, with a history of hundreds of years. Many folk songs in Lichuan Lantern Songs come down in one continuous line with ancient bamboo songs, which have high national cultural and artistic value. It has been recorded that since the Qing Dynasty, people have to sing lantern songs during festivals, festive gatherings and dragon boat games. Now the well-known "Dragon Boat Tune" was formerly known as Lichuan Lantern Song. At present, Lichuan Lantern Song has successfully entered the protection list of "Intangible Cultural Heritage" in Hubei Province.
In Lichuan, the hometown of Dragon Boat Tune, there is a custom of singing "Lantern Songs" on the 15th night of the first month. On the evening of the 15th, local farmers will form a team of dozens of people, holding high lanterns tied in the shape of dragons, walking through the streets and lanes, and whoever passes by the door will set off firecrackers, which is very lively. If the team stops at someone's door, they will start singing "Lantern Song", and everyone around them who can sing will sing along.