Long Summer Egg Culture and the Origin of Long Summer Egg Custom

1. The custom of eating eggs in the long summer has a long history. As the saying goes, "if you eat eggs in the long summer, it will not be summer when it is hot." According to legend, since the day of long summer, the weather has been sunny and warm, and it has gradually become hot. Many people, especially children, will feel tired, lose their appetite and gradually lose weight. This is the so-called "squat". Nu Wa Niangniang told the people that every year during the Long Summer Festival, children hang cooked chicken, duck and goose eggs on their chests to escape the heat. Therefore, the custom of eating eggs in the long summer festival has continued to this day.

The ancients thought that eggs were round and symbolized the perfection of life. Eating eggs in summer can pray for peace in summer and stand the test of "summer". Summer begins in April of the lunar calendar. "Eggs in April are as cheap as vegetables." People put eggs in leftover "Qijia tea" and cook them, which becomes "tea eggs". Later, people improved their cooking methods by adding fennel, gravy, cinnamon and Jiang Mo to Qijia tea. Since then, tea eggs have become one of the traditional snacks in China, replacing the seasonal and climatic foods in the long summer.