Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional culture - Where is the custom of eating dog meat on the summer solstice?

Where is the custom of eating dog meat on the summer solstice?

I'm one of the "two" people, I'm still familiar with the custom of eating dog meat on the summer solstice. Eating dog meat on the summer solstice is mainly a custom in our "Lingnan" region, specifically in Guangdong and Guangxi.

Customs of eating dog meat on summer solstice in Lingnan region

Customs of eating dog meat on summer solstice in Lingnan region

Summer solstice is a time when it is customary to eat dog meat in some parts of China, especially in the Lingnan region, which is the most important part of China's economy. strong>Lingnan region and many other Cantonese-speaking areas.

The folk belief is that eating dog meat on the summer solstice can get rid of evil spirits, tonify the body, ward off the plague, strengthen the body, strengthen the body's resistance to the invasion of wind and rain, and reduce the risk of illness. "Winter solstice fish, raw summer solstice dog" "summer solstice dog, no way to go" "dog meat roll three rolls, the gods enterprise I (not) hidden" and so on are Lingnan region summer solstice eating dog meat customary saying, meaning that the summer solstice On this day, many dogs were slaughtered and there was no way to escape; the aroma of dog meat was so strong and tempting that even the gods were attracted to it.

According to related information, the custom of eating dog meat on the summer solstice to replenish the body has been around since ancient times.

That is to say, as early as in the Warring States period, the second year of the reign of the Duke of Qin De, in the summer of June, the weather was very hot, the plague flooded across the country. In such a difficult time, how to ensure the safety of the people, to ensure the social peace has become the primary headache to solve the problem of the people in power. In such a state of affairs, Qin Degong thought of "the dog for the Yang animal, can avoid bad luck" said, according to such a statement, ordered to ask the people to kill the dog to avoid the evil, because of this good intentions, After the gradual transformation into the summer solstice to kill the dog to eat meat, this custom has been passed down to the present day.

Nowadays, many villages, to the summer solstice will kill the dog to eat, there are also some villages to engage in a "summer solstice dog meat festival", which is the Guangxi Yulin City, "Lychee Dog Meat Festival" is the most famous. Yulin people proverb: the old cow afraid of the winter solstice, the old dog afraid of the summer solstice, summer solstice dog lychee wine, dog meat in a big pot, entertaining friends and relatives. In Guangdong to eat dog meat, have to talk about two cities in western Guangdong, they are Zhanjiang, Maoming City, although they do not have the "Summer Solstice Dog Meat Festival", but in Zhanjiang, Leizhou, Suixi, Potou, Wuchuan, Maoming, Maonan, Huazhou, Gaozhou, a lot of towns and villages in the city of pike all year round, there is a dog meat museum open stalls to do business, business is booming.

In addition to the Lingnan region, there are other individual places also have the custom of eating dog meat on the summer solstice. Dog meat each place has its own taste, also has its own characteristics, more have each person's hobby, some people like to eat dog meat, some people do not like to eat dog meat, that are each person's freedom, other people do not have the right to interfere, there is no need to interfere. Because this really is not a holiday, just a custom, we respect cultural practices, that's all. Special special note, the custom of eating dog meat on the summer solstice, eat the dog are not going to be a pet dog or some famous dog with a special purpose.

Introduction of Summer Solstice

Summer Solstice is one of the twenty-four solar terms, which occurs on June 21st or 22nd in the Gregorian calendar every year. On the summer solstice, the position of the sun directly above the ground reaches the northernmost point of the year, almost directly to the Tropic of Cancer, at this time, the northern hemisphere day up to the longest, and the further north the longer. China's folk after the summer solstice 15 days divided into 3 "time", generally the first 3 days, 5 days in the middle of the time, the end of the time 7 days. During this period in most parts of China, higher temperatures, sunshine, crop growth is fast, physiological and ecological water needs are more. Precipitation at this time has a great impact on agricultural production, there is a "summer solstice rains worth a thousand dollars," said.

Summer solstice climate? 

Most cases, "summer solstice" period, is the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Jianghuai Basin Meiyu, frequent torrential rains, prone to the formation of floods, and even the threat to people's lives and property, attention should be paid to strengthening flood control. The summer solstice is the Jianghuai area of the "rain" season, this is the Jiangnan plum yellow ripe period, the air is very humid, cold, warm air masses converge here, and the formation of a low-pressure trough, resulting in rainy weather.

The above is about the summer solstice to eat dog meat customs and cultural introduction, summer solstice festival introduction, as well as the knowledge of the climate of the festival is introduced, I hope to help you oh ~ ~