What are the folk customs in Nanjing?

Long summer, taste three new things, send summer, silkworm moon, eat black rice and so on.

1, Long Summer, Taste Three Novelties: In the early April of the lunar calendar, spring goes to summer, the weather is getting warmer and everything is thriving. Three wheat rape has matured, cherry, green plum, loquat and other fresh fruits have been listed one after another, and various vegetables have been born in time. People naturally need a change of taste. Nanjing has the custom of "tasting three new things in the long summer". "Sanxin" refers to cherry, green plum and shad.

2, send summer: In summer, not only the weather turns hot, but also various infectious diseases increase. Some people's digestion drops sharply, so they don't think about eating. This is the so-called "summer". Nanjing customs have "sending summer clothes" (parents send cool pillows, feather fans and summer clothes to their married daughters) and weighing them (it is said that Chang Xia will not be in summer after weighing himself). People in Nanjing also like to eat pea cakes. "Jinling Age" said: "Long summer tells children to ride the threshold and eat pea cakes, which means it is not summer."

3. Silkworm Moon: April of the lunar calendar is also called "Silkworm Moon" by Jiangnan people, so it coincides with the cocoon formation of silkworms. In order to avoid silkworm diseases, sericulture households in suburban counties of Nanjing are forbidden to communicate with each other during the long summer. There was a custom that "the silkworm house was forbidden to close".

4. Eat black rice: On the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, farmers in suburban counties of Nanjing generally cook black, shiny, fragrant and delicious rice unique to the south of the Yangtze River, commonly known as black rice, also known as "Ami rice". It is made by mashing the stems and leaves of Celastrus glabra (Celastrus glabra), soaking in glutinous rice, and then drying and cooking. When the ancients cooked it, they had to "soak nine times, steam nine times and dry nine times", and the rice grains were tight and blue as pearls. Cooking a bowl every day can strengthen the bones and muscles, benefit qi and nourish the face, and is known as "the fairy family brings food".