209. Spring Dragon

Before we knew it, the festive New Year lasted for so long, and gradually the first month of the year has passed.《》.com

There are occasionally firecrackers in my ears. I remember that in the most prosperous stage, I heard it all day long.

There is an advantage in the New Year. There are many free time. People who have not seen each other for a long time can meet you and receive guests. It is very warm and the bustle is over. The Lantern Festival has passed and the beginning of spring has passed. Formal, it is time to prepare for the four seasons, start sowing, and wait, the busy year is about to begin again.

Finally, it’s the first lunar month. You can’t buy shoes or shave your head in the first lunar month.

Buying shoes will bring evil spirits and shaving your uncle to death. Of course, Sun Gang is not promoting superstition here, but just thinks that the pretext passed down by the elderly is quite interesting.

The second day of the second lunar month every year is the traditional Chinese festival "Spring Dragon Festival", commonly known as the "Dragon Rising Head" day by the people.

From this day on, the vernal equinox fell, and the spring breeze brought warmth. At this time, the rain gradually increased. The grass and trees on the fields in the countryside were competing to sprout and turn green, and spring in the north had quietly arrived.

In fact, the so-called "dragon raises its head" refers to the solar term that the northern land begins to thaw around the "Jingzhe" period, and the weather gradually becomes warmer. The insects that have passed through hibernation have begun to wake up. The farmers say goodbye to the slack farming and are busy going to the fields to farm.

In rural northern China, there are widely circulated folk proverbs and sayings that "the dragon raises its head on February 2nd; the big warehouse is full, and the small warehouse flows." "The dragon raises its head on February 2nd; the dragon raises its head; if the dragon doesn't raise its head, I raise its head." "The dragon raises its head on February 2nd; the scorpion and centipede all show its head", "The dragon raises its head on February 2nd, and repairs the iron plow, and calls the ox to plow the ox" and other folk proverbs and sayings closely related to production and life.

According to historical records, the Chinese have had the custom of "February 2" since the Tang Dynasty, which has this direct connection with ancient astronomy's understanding of the movement of stars and the agricultural solar term. Therefore, in ancient times, "February 2" was also called "Previous 2 Days". Therefore, the "Spring Dragon Festival", which is popular among the people of our country, was also called "Spring Plowing Festival" in ancient times.

It is said that if the hibernating animals led by dragons have not woken up on this day, the rumbling thunder will come to call them. "《》.com

Whenever the "Spring Dragon Festival" comes, the people in the village will get up early, pick up lanterns to the well or river to carry water, and when they return home, they will light lamps, burn incense, and offer offerings. In the old days, people called this ritual "Tiantianlong".

On this day, the people in the village consciously abide by various customs left over thousands of years. Every household, adults and children, before getting up early in the morning, chant "February 2nd, the dragon raises its head, and if the dragon does not raise its head, I will raise my head."

After getting up, I turned on the light and looked at the beams of the room, and while I looked at it, I said: "The beams of the room on February 2nd, and there is no place for scorpions and centipedes to hide."

Then, the adults took out the stove ash from the stove and scattered one big circle after another in their home yard. The children followed behind them and placed an appropriate amount of grains and cereals in the middle of each circle according to the adult's instructions, which was called "ashing stock" or "filling the stock" or "adding stock" for short.

The purpose is to wish you a bumper harvest that year, a bumper harvest, and a full warehouse.

Food customs are more particular, and most of them are named after "dragon".

Eating dumplings is called "Dragon Ear"; eating spring cake is called "Dragon scales"; eating noodles is called "Dragon beard"; eating rice is called "Dragon seeds"; eating donkey rolling bean noodles is called "Dragon turnover", eating wontons is called "Longyan", etc.

People have good wishes in their hearts and pray devoutly to the Dragon King for good luck in the year and to achieve a good harvest.

On this day, no matter how diligent a woman is, she will not move needles and threads, for fear of hurting the dragon's eyes; she will not wash clothes, for fear of hurting the dragon's skin.

The most important thing for rural people to eat pork heads during February 2nd is of course.

In ancient times, pig heads were called offerings to worship ancestors and offering sacrifices to heaven, so pig heads cannot be eaten casually on ordinary days.

It is generally believed that farmers have worked hard for a year and slaughtered pigs and sheep at the twelfth lunar month. ("《" website is updated 7*24 hours a day without interruption of pure txt hand-telling novels.com)

From this day on, even the most struggling families will start to improve their food to relieve the fatigue of hard work over the past year.

Therefore, from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to the first lunar month, all families who kill pigs see meat almost every day.

By the time the first lunar month passed, the pork was basically eaten.

In the end, there was only one pig's head left, so it was left on February 2nd to eat.

Because in the minds of farmers, the Dragon King is in charge of rainfall, so farmers have to offer the best offerings to the Dragon King. Since then, the people have left the habit of eating pig heads on the "February 2" to worship the Dragon King to pray for the sunny rainfall, sow the dew, and moisten the people.

Now all the refrigerators are available. In the past, in order to prevent the meat from drying and getting rid of the smell, people said that pig heads were "sealed wax".

The method is to pour cold water on the pig's head four or five times, and pour a layer on it outside for a night, then water it until it is frozen without exposing the hair or meat. This not only keeps the meat delicious, but also prevents the chew of mice and other animals.

After the pig's head is "sealed wax", it is placed in the yard. Some are placed in the pit and buried with ice and snow. Some are simply poured with water and frozen outside the window. This can prevent poultry and livestock from being ruined, and it also has a much better function of preventing thieves than it is now in a refrigerator.

The custom of eating pig heads on the second day of February has to start with the 26th day of the 12th lunar month. Beheading pigs is a big deal for farmers. They have to invite relatives and friends from the village to have a meal. Because they are all distinguished guests, they cannot entertain guests like pig heads, pig trotters and pig tails. On the first day of the lunar month, they cannot be served on the table again, so they are placed on the second day of February. The second day of the year, and eating pig heads happens to be consistent with the "Dragon Raising Heads on the second day of February" and have been passed down to this day.

On the day of "February 2", not only do you have to eat pig's heads, but also pig's trotters, and the front hoofs.

There is something to say here, because the pig's front hooves are to move inward, to snatch, and to hug them, so eating the front hooves is to hope to grab more money in the new year, which means to pray for money; while the pig's rear hooves are to kick and kick, mainly to try harder, and will kick away wealth after eating, so you must never eat the rear hooves on this day.

One or two days before "February 2", people will take out the pig's heads and thaw them, wash the skins, and cook them on the pot. Some villagers will smoke the pig's heads, which will make the taste more fragrant.

It is naturally a must to shave the dragon head on the day of "the dragon raises its head".

For many years, there has been a taboo saying among the people: "If you don't shave your head in the first lunar month, you will die if your uncle is shave your head."

In a whole month when we promote filial piety and follow the rules, everyone's hair has grown long and it's time to trim it.

Therefore, no matter adults or children, any man will have to shave his head on the "February 2" day, while the girl will cut her bangs and braids.

A folk proverb says, "Shaving a dragon head on February 2nd will bring you a spiritual head for a year." Therefore, if you shave your head on this day, you will have good luck and good luck in the year.

In addition, in ancient times, the dragon was believed to be a symbol of the emperor and auspicious thing in people's minds.

People have followed various names with the word "dragon" as auspicious words or code names to show good luck or good luck.

For example: Chinese people collectively call Chinese children "descendants of Yan and Huang, descendants of the dragon". They like to call their outstanding children "dragon sons and dragon grandsons". Women have children in pairs and pairs as "dragons and phoenixes". People hope that their children will make their debut when they grow up, and that they will "hope their children to become dragons."

In the past, when parents named their children, they liked to choose the word "dragon" as the pronunciation, such as: "Yulong, Tianlong, Spring Dragon, Jackie Chan, Big Dragon, Little Dragon" and so on.

In ancient times, ministers from the palace greeted the emperor and said that "the dragon body is healthy." The emperor happily called "the dragon face is very happy". He called someone with backbone "a dragon, not a bear". He taught his children to live "like a dragon, not a insect" and so on.

Legend has it that the day of "February 2" is another day when the dragon stings ascends to heaven, and the Chinese always regard the dragon as their totem. All of these reflect people's good wishes to pray for blessings and blessings of the dragon.

On the second day of February, farmers also have the custom of wearing "colored strings" and sew it on children, with the purpose of eliminating disasters, solving problems, and representing good luck.

Every time on February 2nd, in the village, we will see some lively and cute children. They are wearing beautiful clothes, and bright "colorful strings" are floating on each of them. This is the children's parents praying for good luck for their children.

Some people call it "Dragon Tail", which is a custom for farmers to celebrate "February 2". It is 40 cm long and is made of colorful plastic pieces.

The traditional method is to cut the colorful floral cloths such as red cloth, green cloth, etc. into small pieces, then cut the wheat straw or reed stalk (the middle is hollow) into small pieces, then thread a piece of floral cloth and then wear a wheat straw to separate it into a colorful long string. Finally, a cloth strip is attached to the tail and it is made into a "dragon tail". It is sewn from the parents to the child's shoulder and then throw it behind it. It means to throw all diseases and misfortunes behind it, and bless the child with safety and happiness.

"Dragon Tail" is usually made by elders himself. The older the people, the more they pay attention to this custom. Some families will hang the "Dragon Tail" on the beam of the house, which has the meaning of "staying the dragon at home".

On this day, every household wants to eat noodles, fried cakes, stir-fry popcorn, and pork head meat. This is like "picking the dragon head", "eating gentian", golden beans bloom, the dragon king ascends to heaven, the clouds and rain, and the grains are abundant, to show good luck.

I remember when I was very young, I heard adults say, "The dragon raises its head on the second day of February, and the dragon's head shaved its head on the second day of February." The second day of February should be related to "dragon", so what you eat must be covered with "dragon", but until now people don't know what the "dragon" head tastes like. It can be seen that the dragon head is rare. However, beheading pigs is much simpler, so everyone chooses to eat pig's heads.

When Sun Gang was a child, he thought that everything he thought made sense. For a long time, he had been stubbornly thinking that "dragon" meat is the best food in the world. Isn't there a saying: "dragon" meat in the sky and donkey meat on the ground. When can I eat "dragon" meat? Now it seems that this may be a big wish in the heart of a little man a long time ago.

In short, on the "February 2", we will talk about the "dragon", pig, and stories on the "stop" and the old folk customs will slowly disappear in the near future......
Chapter completed!