Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional culture - Why eat pumpkin on the winter solstice

Why eat pumpkin on the winter solstice

Question 1: Can I eat pumpkins that ripened in the fall after the winter solstice? Well preserved can.

Question two: there is a night can not eat pumpkin say no Impossible No reason is superstition!

Question three: what do people have to do on the winter solstice to eat what are the customs Each year's winter solstice is actually not fixed. Depending on the year, generally fixed on December 21st or 22nd. Because of its uncertainty, also known as the "live festival". The winter solstice is also celebrated in different ways in different parts of the world.

Family reunions.

As the winter solstice is one of the major festivals of the Chinese people in the middle of winter, it is the most basic custom for families to get together and have a meal. Loved ones in a city get together, often gathering at the homes of the elderly to celebrate. The first thing you need to do is to get your hands on some of the most popular products and services in the world.

Eating dumplings.

This is the most common and widespread custom, and eating dumplings on the winter solstice is almost a family tradition. Flour and dumpling powder are also the best sellers in the supermarkets a few days before the winter solstice.

If there are many people in your family, you may want to make several kinds of dumplings. Children will also want to eat dumplings with candy or other interesting fillings.

Rituals.

Some old people will go to their graves on the winter solstice, and those who can't go back to their homes will make a small offering table with some dumplings, wine, and fruits to pay tribute to the old people in their homes.

Drink mutton soup.

It is said to be passed down from Fan Kuai, a great general in the Han Dynasty. Eat more mutton in winter is conducive to the body's internal fire, anti-cold effective, is the preferred winter diet. In some places in Shandong, drinking mutton soup on the winter solstice is a local custom.

Soup dumplings, spuds ......

The south is not as cold as the north. Some local specialties are also eaten to welcome the winter solstice. For example, soup dumplings, sweet potatoes and wine dumplings.

Food tonic into the tonic.

From the winter solstice, the cold winter really begins. To begin to pay attention to diet, especially some cold women, in addition to pay attention to wear warm, but also pay attention to the diet, eat more food rich in protein, carbohydrates and fat, to improve their own energy to withstand the wind and cold, happy winter.

Question 4: Winter Solstice Customs Winter Solstice Introduction

Winter Solstice (Winter Solstice), also known as the 'a Yangsheng', is an important festival in the Chinese lunar calendar, but also a traditional festival of the Chinese people, the winter solstice is commonly known as the "Winter Festival", "long", "long", "long". The Winter Solstice is commonly known as "Winter Festival", "Long Solstice Festival", "Yayu", etc. As early as two and a half thousand years ago, it was the first time that the winter solstice was celebrated. As early as two thousand five hundred years ago in the Spring and Autumn Period, China has been using the earth gui observation of the sun, determined the winter solstice, it is the twenty-four seasons in the earliest formulation of a time in the annual calendar between December 21st ~ 23rd.

History

According to records, the Zhou-Qin era to winter November as the first month, the winter solstice for the first year of the New Year. The Book of Han has a cloud: "the winter solstice Yang Qi, Jun Dao long, so He ......", that is to say, people began to winter solstice festival is to celebrate the arrival of the new year. The ancients believed that since the winter solstice began, the yang qi of heaven and earth began to rise gradually stronger, representing the beginning of the next cycle, the day of great good fortune. Therefore, later on, customs such as ancestor worship and family dinners during the Chinese New Year were often chosen at the winter solstice. The winter solstice is also known as the "small year", which means that the year is approaching and there are not many days left; and the importance of the winter solstice.

The winter solstice as a festival to pass from the Han Dynasty, flourishing in the Tang and Song dynasties, and continue to this day. The first month of the Zhou calendar is the eleventh month of the summer calendar, so the first month of the Zhou dynasty is equal to the eleventh month of today's calendar, so there is no difference between the worship of the New Year and the celebration of winter. It was not until Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted the summer calendar that the first month and the winter solstice were separated. It can also be said that the simple "winter solstice festival" is since the Han Dynasty later, flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, and continues to this day.

Winter Solstice Customs

China's winter solstice is the most common two major customs are:

1, the family get together to eat a reunion meal, usually including the most local characteristics of the winter solstice ingredients, to eat dumplings has become the custom of the winter solstice of the majority of Chinese people.

2. Rituals. Many families will go to the graves on this day or the day before, and those who are not convenient to go back to their hometowns will also be at home, making a small offering table with some dumplings, wine, fruits, and so on, to pay their respects.

Of course, the winter solstice has developed over thousands of years, forming a unique festival food culture. Different regions also have some special customs. Here is a brief list of some of them:

North

Every year on the winter solstice of the lunar calendar, rich or poor, dumplings are an essential holiday meal. With the development of transportation in China, work migration, north-south exchanges, etc., eating dumplings is now carried over to many areas in the south.

Around Tengzhou, Shandong

The custom of eating mutton on the winter solstice is said to have started in the Han Dynasty. This day is called Fu Jiu, before the festival will give the elders such as mutton and other gifts, Fu Jiu family should drink mutton soup, on the individual on the elders of the family are to figure a good omen.

Jiangnan water town

There is the winter solstice night the whole family get together *** eat red beans and glutinous rice custom.

Ningbo

Ningbo's traditional custom, sweet potato soup fruit is one of the winter solstice must eat food. In Ningbo people's understanding, eating sweet potatoes on the winter solstice is to "turn over" all the bad luck of the past year.

Taiwan

In China, Taiwan still preserves the tradition of using nine-layer cake to offer sacrifices to ancestors on the winter solstice.

Taizhou and Linhai

In Taizhou and Linhai, the winter solstice rounds are eaten on this day (rounds, also known as hard rounds and brown rounds).

Suzhou

The Gusu region attaches great importance to the winter solstice, and there is a saying in the Gusu region that "the winter solstice is like a big year". Traditionally, people in Gusu would drink winter wine on the night of the winter solstice, which is a kind of rice wine brewed with osmanthus flowers and has a pleasant aroma.

Jiangxi

Mochi, a specialty of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, is also a traditional snack of the Fujian people, the offerings of the Fujian people during the festival. It is also a traditional snack for Fujianese and an offering for Fujianese rituals. It is suitable for steaming, pan-frying, fire-roasting and stir-frying after drying in the shade.

Hefei

Hefei, Anhui, Hefei people to the winter solstice to eat pumpkin cake and a bowl of hot egg noodles, is considered a winter solstice.

Chaoshan

People in Chaoshan ate the winter festival round, but also in the house door, windows, tables, cabinets, ladders, beds and other conspicuous place to adhere to the two winter festival round, and even the fishermen's boat bow, the farmer's ox horn, fruit growers planted fruit trees are no exception. In order to bless the family peace.

Jiaxing

The winter solstice in ancient times for the big festival, Jiaxing heavy winter solstice, folk worship winter solstice tonic, red beans and glutinous rice, ginseng soup; white fungus, walnut stew, cinnamon boiled eggs and so on.

Question 5: After the spring of the old pumpkin in the ground can still eat it Best not to consume, there is no nutritional value.

Pumpkin is the cucurbit family pumpkin plants. Because of the different places of origin, called different. It is also known as wheat gourd, pumpkin, bonobo, golden winter melon, Taiwan dialect called golden melon, native to North America. Pumpkins are planted throughout China, with Hokkaido being the most popular in Japan. The young fruits are sweet and tasty, and are one of the melons of the summer and fall seasons. Older squash can be used as fodder or as a miscellaneous grain, so it is also known as rice squash in many places. In the West pumpkin is often used to make pumpkin pie, that is, pumpkin sweet cake.

Question 6: What are the customs of the Japanese on the winter solstice Chinese people eat dumplings on the winter solstice, while in Japan, the mention of the winter solstice will first think of eating pumpkin and soak in a yuzu bath. Not only because these things have a good meaning of harmony, the Japanese people think that they can improve the luck of the year with the help of them. In this article, we will introduce the Japanese people in the winter solstice what customs.

Winter solstice: "a sun to come back"

"A sun to come back" from the "I Ching", meaning the arrival of spring, the beginning of the new year, is the ancient winter solstice nickname.

On the winter solstice, the sun is almost directly above the Tropic of Capricorn, ushering in the shortest day and longest night in the north. When this day is over, the yin energy is exhausted and the yang energy begins to recover, so it is called a yang come back. In addition, the Japanese consider the winter solstice to be an important turning point - after the winter solstice, bad luck goes with it and good fortune begins to come.

What to eat on the winter solstice: "Winter Solstice Seven Treasure Dishes"

"The Japanese believe that the winter solstice consumption of pumpkin, lotus root, carrots, ginkgo biloba fruit, kumquats, cold days, udon, the seven kinds of food, and therefore known as the winter solstice seven treasure dishes. The seven treasures of the dish not only means good, but also contains nutrition through the winter folk wisdom.

Why eat pumpkin?

There is another important reason why the Japanese eat pumpkin on the winter solstice - pumpkin is a vegetable harvested in the summer. In yin and yang, winter is yin and summer is yang, so on the day of the most yin you should eat something that is most yang to nourish your body.

Why take a yuzu bath?

The Japanese believe that taking a yuzu bath on the winter solstice will drive away bad luck and make everything go smoothly.

Winter is the time of year when yuzu is in season, and the aroma is so strong that it can relieve stress. And the ancients believed that the strong fragrance would have had the effect of not inviting evil, which is the same reason as the Dragon Boat Festival calabash bath.

In addition, pomelo has the effect of promoting blood circulation and whitening.

How to soak pomelo bath?

Foam method 1: choose more than one grapefruit washed and put directly into the bathtub, open bubble.

Soak method 2: Cut the grapefruit into slices or cut in half into the bathtub. It is said that this is the most can emit grapefruit flavor, the highest efficacy of the bubble method.

Soak method three: the pomelo cut into slices or cut in half, put into a non-woven bag, and then put into the bathtub. Although you can not see the grapefruit, but this can smell the flavor of the grapefruit, but also can avoid the core of the grapefruit like bubble method two floating around not easy to clean.

Question 7: Why can't I put pumpkin in the house on New Year's Eve? This is a kind of folklore, New Year's Figure auspicious, "pumpkin" and "sad" pronunciation is similar, so our old man in order to no longer live a difficult life, New Year's Day, the "sad" to throw the The first thing you need to do is to get rid of the pumpkin.

So our old people throw away the "sadness" in order not to live a difficult life in the New Year.

If it is not too much, then eat it for good luck, which is also a part of folklore and traditional culture.

Effects and functions of pumpkin

Chinese medicine believes that pumpkin is warm and sweet, into the spleen and stomach. It has the function of tonifying the middle and benefiting the qi, reducing inflammation and pain, detoxifying and killing insects. It can be used for qi weakness, intercostal neuralgia, malaria, dysentery, detoxification of opium, roundworms, bronchial asthma, diabetes and other conditions.

1, cancer prevention and treatment

Prevention of esophageal cancer and stomach cancer, to prevent colon cancer also has a certain effect, at the same time can help the recovery of liver and kidney function, enhance the regenerative capacity of liver and kidney cells.

2, protect the gastric mucosa

Promote the secretion of bile, free from rough food ***, strengthen the gastrointestinal peristalsis, help food digestion.

3, lower blood sugar and blood pressure

Regulate the balance of insulin, maintain normal blood pressure and blood sugar, but also the ideal diet food for obese people.

4, the prevention of prostate pumpkin seeds in the lipid substances on the urinary system diseases and prostate hyperplasia has a good treatment and prevention effect.

5, often eat pumpkin, can make the bowels smooth, skin beautiful, especially for women, have a cosmetic effect, the Qing Dynasty minister Zhang Zhidong has suggested that the Empress Dowager Cixi eat more pumpkin.

6, pumpkin can also prevent stroke, because pumpkin contains a large number of linseed oleic acid, stearic acid, stearic acid and other glyceric acid, are good fats.