Video Production: Hu Yanzhu
On March 20, the "Spring Equinox" festival was ushered in. On this day, although there are no large-scale celebrations in mainland china, some interesting customs have been handed down, and some of them have been preserved to this day, such as "festival day", "eating spring vegetables", "erecting eggs" and so on.
As early as 3,000 years ago, Zhou Tianzi "sacrificed the sun on the altar" during the "spring equinox". This ceremony continued into the Qing Dynasty and was exclusive to the royal family. In the Qing Dynasty's "Jisheng in the Age of Emperor Jing", it is said: "The spring equinox festival day and the autumn equinox festival are the great ceremonies of the country, and the people are not allowed to worship without permission." "The ancestral temples established with the approval of the imperial court are all sacrificed by the ministers during the "spring equinox", and the ancestral halls of the family can be sacrificed by themselves.
Poster Maker: Fang Jinyang
"In order to make people understand the traditional etiquette, in recent years, the Beijing Ritan Temple has repeatedly restored the Scene of the Qing Dynasty Festival during the 'Spring Equinox'." Luo Shuwei, a historian and researcher at the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences, said.
In the folk, according to the characteristics of different regional environments, people carry out various special activities to enrich daily life. First of all, let's talk about eating, Luo Shuwei introduced, in the Lingnan region, there is a custom of "eating spring vegetables in the spring equinox". "Spring vegetables" is a kind of wild amaranth, commonly known as "spring artemisia", and the fish fillet "rolling soup" is "spring soup". The folk proverb says: "Spring soup is dirty, washing liver and intestines; family members, young and old, safe and healthy."
Livestock and birds should also be "treated". In the spring, the cattle begin to toil to "walk everywhere", and at the time of the "spring equinox", they must feed the glutinous rice balls, and at the same time feed the birds with glutinous rice, so as to stick to the bird's beak, so as not to destroy the grain ears.
Let's talk about drinking. There is a custom of brewing wine on the "day of the spring equinox" in the countryside of Jiangnan, "'Spring equinox' made wine stored in an urn, after three volts of dregs self-transformation, its color is red, the taste is not bad for a long time, called 'spring equinox wine'". In some places, they also sacrifice wine and vinegar to the first farmers, praying for the wind and rain to be smooth and the grain to be abundant.
"The spring equinox is here, and the eggs are pretty." In many places, there is a custom of "spring equinox eggs": choose a fresh egg and gently put it on the table. It is said that if it is erected, it will not fall for more than ten days.
Luo Shuwei said that the "spring equinox vertical egg" represents the balance of day and night on this day, so the "autumn equinox" also has the custom of "vertical egg". After observation, although the eggshell itself is curved, it is actually uneven, as long as you patiently find the 3 protruding points in contact with the tabletop, plus the egg yolk sinks to reduce the center of gravity of the egg, you can stand the egg.
During the "spring equinox" season, folk also have customs such as flying kites, walking on green, fighting grass, "sending spring cattle figures", planting "fire-proof grass" on the roof, knocking on the drum to "chase the epidemic gas", and praying to the gods and praying for blessings. "Some customs have been eliminated with the development of the times and social progress, but after all, they also express people's good wishes for peace and auspiciousness when spring comes, and also add colorful colors to the traditional festivals of the mainland." Luo Shuwei said.
Producer: Hu Qinghai
Coordinator: Liu Xinhui, Liu Yuanxu
Reporter: Zhou Runjian
Editors: Li Min, Tang Jianhui
Jointly produced by Xinhua News Agency and Tianjin Branch
Produced by Seasonal Studio