All animals have eating activities, but only humans’ eating activities have special emotional and cultural colors. The cultural attributes of human eating activities are most fully reflected in the New Year’s Day eating activities. People express their emotions, feelings, and ambitions during the New Year's Eve food activities, expressing their pursuit and yearning for a better life.
The first of the twenty-four solar terms of the lunar calendar is the Beginning of Spring, which often comes before the Spring Festival. Therefore, ancient people attached great importance to this festival, unlike modern people who view it indifferently. In the "Wang Ju Ming Tang Li" quoted in the "Book of Rites", it is recorded that on the day of the beginning of spring, the emperor of Zhou personally led the three princes and nine ministers, princes and officials, to the eastern suburbs to perform the spring ceremony and reward the officials. This shows the antiquity of the ancient rituals of the beginning of spring. of attention. According to later documents, it is known that there were feasts and festivals named after "spring" on the first day of spring, among which "spring plate" was the most special. The main contents of the spring plate are radishes, spring pancakes, and raw vegetables, which are not considered delicacies. The Tang Dynasty's "Four Seasons Treasure Mirror" said: "In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Li E served each other with lettuce and celery on a vegetable plate at the beginning of spring. On the first day of spring, spring cakes and lettuce were served as a spring plate." There is a similar statement in "Yi Yi", and it is said that the spring plate It was first spread among the Jianghuai River and later spread to the palace. "Yandu Tour Chronicles" records that in the Ming Dynasty, "on every spring day, spring cakes are given to all officials outside the Meridian Gate." Spring pancakes are also served with a five-spice plate, made with five or more lettuces such as celery, leek, radish and vermicelli, which is somewhat different from the five-spice dish mentioned above. "Xi Chao Le Shi" records the ceremony of the beginning of spring and says, "cut the noodles into pieces, mix them with seven kinds of lettuce, and serve them during the banquet." In the cold spring, you cannot eat too much lettuce, so "Qi Ren Yue Ling" also warns: "Eat lettuce at the beginning of spring. Do not eat too much, just to welcome the new year." "Xin" and "生" both mean The meaning of "new" is to welcome the new year and welcome spring. This is the original intention of eating raw food and spicy food. Su Dongpo wrote a poem: "I feel the east wind is getting colder, and I taste the spring plate with artemisia and yellow wine." The ancients regarded the spring plate as a special medium to receive the news of spring in the cold and feel the spirit of spring in the new year.
The Double Ninth Festival on September 9th is another important autumn festival after the Mid-Autumn Festival. On this day, people will have a banquet and climb high, drink chrysanthemum wine and eat flower cakes. Wang Wei's "Remembering Shandong Brothers on September 9th" cursive post "Records of the Years of Jingchu" mentioned that "on September 9th, all the people came together to have a picnic and feast", while "Qianjin Yueling" clearly mentioned the Chongyang Climbing Tour Banquet, "to smooth autumn aspirations". In the Tang Dynasty, people paid great attention to this festival and regarded it as a specific day to miss relatives, and endowed it with many beautiful chapters. Wei Zhuang's "A cup of today's wine brings the heart of hometown thousands of miles away" and Wang Wei's "I am a stranger in a foreign land, and I miss my family even more during festive seasons" are all eternal poems left by poets on the Double Ninth Festival.
Double Ninth Festival coincides with the blooming of autumn chrysanthemums. Appreciating autumn chrysanthemums, drinking chrysanthemum wine and eating chrysanthemum cakes are the central activities of this festival. A Double Ninth Festival flower cake. Because cake has the same pronunciation as "high", which means auspiciousness, the meaning of eating cake is somewhat similar to that of climbing high. According to "Wenchang Miscellaneous Records": "In Tang Dynasty, there are dogwood wine and chrysanthemum cake on September 9th." Double Ninth Festival flower cake is sometimes decorated with chrysanthemums and is directly named chrysanthemum cake; sometimes it is mixed with jujube powder. Noodles are collectively called flower cakes. "Kyoto Scenery" says: "On the ninth day of the Double Ninth Festival, people offer flower cakes as offerings. The cakes are made of wheat flour and are made of double cakes with fruits sandwiched between them. There are two sheep figures on them, so they are called Double Ninth Festival flower cakes." According to "Yanjing Years". "Shiji" records, "There are two kinds of flower cakes: one is made of sugar dough, with two layers of fine fruits and three different layers, which is the beauty of flower cakes; the other is steamed cakes with stars garnished with dates and chestnuts. The cake is the second best. Every Double Ninth Festival, shops prepare it for use. "Such carefully decorated Double Ninth Festival flower cakes express people's pursuit of a better life.
According to the "Trivial Records", "On the first day of the new year, people in the capital put a cypress branch and a persimmon and orange on a plate, broke it into pieces, and shared it with everyone, thinking that it would be a good omen for the new year. "According to "Zhuizhongzhi", on the first day of the Lunar New Year, "the food you eat is such as persimmons, lychees, round eyes, chestnuts, and ripe dates, which are packed in a bag called Pepsi Daji Boxer." Wishing you good luck is expressed in such a way of eating. This kind of food custom can only be found in China. This is similar to the well-known practice of using red dates, peanuts, longans and chopsticks to bless newlyweds to have a baby.
Northerners eat dumplings on the first day of the Lunar New Year to express their hopes. We read descriptions of this in the Ming Dynasty's "Zui Zhong Zhi". "Zhuizhongzhi" calls dumplings "Bianshi", saying that on the first day of the first lunar month, "drink pepper and cypress wine, drink water and snack, that is, Bianshi. Or secretly wrap one or two silver coins inside, and those who get them will predict good luck for the year." . "Emperor Beijing Suishi Jisheng" says: On the first day of the Lunar New Year, "no matter rich or poor, high or low, they all make dumplings (dumplings) of white flour and eat them, which is called boiled dumplings. It is the same throughout the country, there is no difference."
Precious home, secretly hide money, small coins and gems, etc. in the pastry, the following will be smooth. "If your family has food, you will have good luck all year round." This describes the situation in the Qing Dynasty, and should refer to the north. If you eat dumplings filled with silver, coins and gems, you will be safe and prosperous throughout the year. This is a very simple wish.< /p>
In other programs, we have also seen other ways of pursuing a better life. For example, "Qing Jia Lu" said that every household in Suzhou "puts holly, cypress branches, and sesame stalks on the eaves of the house on New Year's Eve." , the name is "Jiejie Gao"; "Jiangxiang Jiewu Ci" says: "Hanggu closes its doors on New Year's Eve and bunches sugar cane trees on the side of the door, which means that it is gradually getting better. ”
Spring dishes, Double Ninth Festival cakes, Pepsi boxes, money dumplings, “higher and higher”, “getting better and better”, etc., various festival food activities express people’s desire to pursue a better life.