In addition to eating spring cakes, what are the customs of Lichun?

"The mud cow whip scatters the dust of the six streets, and the lettuce picks the leaves and leaves spring." Li Chun is the first of the traditional twenty-four solar terms. Folklore expert Gao Wei said that in the past folklore, many solar terms corresponded to festivals, and Lichun corresponded to the Spring Festival. Therefore, the festival folklore of Lichun also has the characteristics of "removing the old and welcoming the new", dai chunsheng, "biting spring", etc., all have a sense of ceremony that suits the scene.

"Spring begins and builds also"

What is Li Chun? Literally, "standing" means "beginning", and in people's minds, this festival means that the spring of vitality has arrived, and the peasants must begin to prepare for a new round of cultivation.

The "Qunfang Genealogy" explains Li Chun in this way: "Li, The beginning of the construction also." Spring begins and builds also. "If you look at it from the perspective of climate, during the spring period, the temperature, sunshine and rainfall tend to rise and increase, but for some regions, the spring is only the prelude to the arrival of spring."

According to historical records, since the Qin Dynasty, Lichun has been used as a symbol of the beginning of the Mengchun festival and is also one of the important traditional festivals of the Han people.

There is a legend that it is estimated that when spring is approaching, the county officials will take local celebrities to dig a pit in the field and put feathers, chicken feathers, etc. in the pit. When feathers and chicken feathers float up from the pit, this moment is the time of spring, everyone sets off firecrackers to celebrate, and prays for a year of abundant grain.

Sometimes, due to calendars and other reasons, "Li Chun" coincides with Chinese New Year's Eve. According to experts, this situation is a normal phenomenon, but it is not common, and it occurs about 3 times in a hundred years.

"Whip the spring cattle" to pray for a good harvest

In the agrarian society, Lichun is of great significance to agricultural activities, and both the official and the people attach great importance to it, and the folk celebration activities are more lively. The activities held in Lichun are called "Welcoming Spring", and it is necessary to repay the spring, send Lichun posts, and also greet the gods and "sprinkle beans to eliminate disasters".

Women will cut out various spring animal shapes, or paste them on the screens of doors and windows as decorations, or wear them on their heads, which is a suitable ornament. In the "Chronicle of the Jingchu Years", it is said: "On the day of the establishment of spring, the ribbon cut is Yan Daizhi, and the word Yichun is the same." ”

People care about land cultivation, and when spring comes, the custom of "whipping spring cattle" appears naturally. The so-called "spring cow" may be made of paper paste, or it may be made of mud, and then the "spring cow" is filled with grains in the belly.

After the "spring cattle fighting" activity begins, when the belly of the "spring cow" is broken, people will eat the grains that flow out, looking forward to ushering in a bumper harvest year.

Li Chun "bites the spring" to eat the spring plate

The diet in Lichun is also exquisite. For example, Li Chun wants to eat spring cakes, and some people will make some melon and fruit cakes into platters for eating, which is called "spring plate".

Spring cake, also known as lotus leaf cake, is a kind of hot noodle pancake, take two small pieces of water, roll into thin slices, burn and uncover, it becomes two cakes. This is used to cook vegetables to eat.

In the past, when eating spring cakes, it was necessary to go to the box shop and call it "Su Pan". The shopkeeper sent someone to send vegetables to the home, and the food box was sorted and coded with smoked belly, pine nut belly, stove meat and other cooked foods, which were cut into thin strips when eating; and then several home-cooked stir-fried dishes... Simply delicious.

Also, Li Chun needs to "bite the spring". As recorded in the Ming Dynasty's "Zhizhong Zhi", "When spring is established, there is no noble and cheap chewing of the lob, which is called 'biting spring'." ”

"In the past, when Li Chun was in lichun, there were vendors selling 'heart beauty' radishes along the street in old Beijing, and cut the radishes along the circle from top to bottom, until the final shape was like petals, which was very beautiful." Gao Wei said that Lichun should eat some foods that are adapted to spring, and the bean sprouts and leeks in the spring cakes are also vegetables of the "hair growth" category, which is considered seasonal food.

"Li Chun is the first of the twenty-four solar terms. Everything grows in the spring, and eating some watery turnips reminds people to wake up from the chaos of 'cat winter' and be full of hope for the new year. Gao Wei explained.

(China News Network)