Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional stories - Is there any traditional saying about the eating customs around Mid-Autumn Festival? Why do you only eat ducks and not chickens?

Is there any traditional saying about the eating customs around Mid-Autumn Festival? Why do you only eat ducks and not chickens?

Why do you have to eat ducks on Halloween? Legend has it that ancestors went home to visit relatives today and wanted to cross the Nai River. I can't get across without a boat. What should I do? So we sent some ducks down to make them swim and bring them back. I heard that ducks should be eaten on Halloween, which can drive away evil spirits. ?

In the past, people began to raise ducks in early spring, that is, in March and April. About four or five months later, it was the "Ghost Festival", which was the season when ducks grew up. Because people in ancient times lived in poverty, they were only willing to kill ducks on festivals.

So every family will kill ducks to eat on Halloween. Over time, eating ducks on Halloween will become a tradition. Later, people from all over the world gave them all kinds of legends, which generally mean exorcism.

The grand Mid-Autumn Festival is second only to the Spring Festival. The whole family get together, light incense sticks, offer food such as duck, rice and fruit to their ancestors, and then sit around and enjoy family happiness. At the dinner table, a duck and a piece of meat are essential. It is said that the paper money and clothes used for ancestor worship were carried by ducks across Naihe Bridge, so ducks must be eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Superstition is certainly not credible. In fact, the reason why the Mid-Autumn Festival wants to eat ducks is because before planting rice in rural areas of Guangxi, every household will buy some ducks to raise; After cutting rice, they usually put ducks in rice fields and let them eat millet and earthworms in the fields. When planting late rice, farmers began to kill ducks for the festival in order to reward themselves. As time goes on, people are used to eating ducks on this day.

It is also said that the Mid-Autumn Festival coincides with the duck season, so it is just used as a sacrifice. Ningming is mostly a water town with many ducks. In the past, people began to raise ducks in spring, that is, in March and April, and ducks grew up four or five months later, that is, in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Because ancient people lived in poverty and only wanted to kill ducks on festivals, every household killed ducks on Mid-Autumn Festival. Over time, a tradition has been formed.