Food and traditional activities of Lantern Festival

Yuanxiao, also known as Tangyuan, is similar in pronunciation, meaning reunion, which symbolizes family reunion, harmony and happiness. People also miss their dead relatives and place good wishes on their future life. The following are the delicious food and traditional activities I arranged for you, hoping to help you.

What food do you eat on Lantern Festival?

1, Yuanxiao

"Lantern Festival is played on the fifteenth day of the first month". Of course, Lantern Festival is an essential food. However, Yuanxiao is a northern food. It is made by cutting the stuffing into pieces, dipping it in water and rolling it out in a container filled with glutinous rice flour, which is different from jiaozi in the south.

2. Tangyuan

South glutinous rice balls, North Yuanxiao. Unlike the north, southerners eat glutinous rice balls on the Lantern Festival, which means reunion. The making method of glutinous rice balls is simpler than Yuanxiao, which is similar to Bao jiaozi. That is, add water to glutinous rice flour to make balls, let it stand for 1 hour, grab a small ball of noodles, knead it into pieces, wrap it with stuffing and make it into a circle.

3. Lettuce; lettuce

Cantonese people like to "steal" lettuce and cook it with cakes during the Lantern Festival. It is said that this kind of food represents good luck. Guangdong people are calm and down-to-earth, and have good intentions for festivals. Lettuce, which is most commonly used in festive occasions such as the opening of new stores, is also an essential holiday product for the Lantern Festival. Lettuce, often a common vegetable on the dining table in the south, is homophonic with "getting rich", so it is also regarded as a festive thing symbolizing wealth and good fortune.

4. Lantern Festival tea

In Shaanxi and other places, there is a custom of eating Yuanxiao tea, that is, putting all kinds of vegetables and fruits in hot soup noodles, much like the ancient "Yuanxiao porridge". This kind of tea increases the intake of cellulose, minerals and vitamins, and is not as greasy as ordinary Yuanxiao. It has a neutralizing effect on the acidic constitution caused by eating more animal food in festivals, and also makes Yuanxiao more comprehensive in nutrition.

5. Camellia oleifera

Eating at the Lantern Festival night, the ground said "fifteen flat, sixteen yuan", one day to eat jiaozi, one day to eat Yuanxiao; In mountainous areas, it is "15 dozen camellia oleifera, 16 pinch flat grain". As the saying goes, "ten miles are different." Making tea is to stir tea noodles with chopsticks to make camellia oleifera, also called noodle tea.

6. Oil hammer

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, rice porridge or bean porridge was used as the festival food for the Lantern Festival. However, this kind of food is mainly used for sacrifice, not holiday food. Until the Tang Dynasty, Zheng's Record of Chefs recorded: "Go on a diet in the middle of the year and get rid of the oil hammer." According to the records in Tai Ping Guang Ji, Lu Shi Miscellaneous Notes and Guru Order, the method of making oil hammer is similar to that of frying Yuanxiao in later generations. Some people call it "the pearl in oil painting".

7. jiaozi

On the fifteenth day of the first month, northerners have the habit of eating jiaozi, while people in Henan have the custom and tradition of "fifteen flats and sixteen circles" for Lantern Festival, so they should eat jiaozi on the fifteenth day of the first month. Jiaozi is a folk food with a long history and is deeply loved by people. There is a folk saying "delicious but not as good as jiaozi".

8, jujube cake

People in western Henan like to eat jujube cakes on the Lantern Festival, which means good luck. Jujube cake was originally the imperial cake of Qing Dynasty. It is sweet and fragrant, and contains vitamin C, protein, calcium, iron, vitamins and other nutrients, which can not only replenish the spleen and stomach, but also benefit qi and promote fluid production. It also has the functions of protecting the liver, increasing muscle strength, beautifying and preventing aging.

9.sticky cake

Sticky cakes are also called rice cakes. Besides Yuanxiao and noodles, some people eat sticky cakes on the Lantern Festival. Sun Simiao, a famous doctor in the Tang Dynasty, wrote in "Prescription for Emergency Use Dietotherapy" that "autotrophic rice is sweet, slightly cold, non-toxic, clearing heat and benefiting qi." After the Tang Dynasty, there were also records of eating cakes during the Lantern Festival in the Yuan Dynasty.

10, surface lamp

Speaking of the custom of Lantern Festival, people usually think of eating glutinous rice balls, enjoying lanterns and solve riddles on the lanterns. However, there is another custom handed down from the Han Dynasty, that is, bean flour lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first month. Lantern is an auspicious lamp, which can drive away evil spirits and diseases. Therefore, squeezing bean flour lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first month is the common people's prayer for happiness and prosperity in the new year.

1 1, bean noodles

People in Kunming like to eat bean noodles, similar to Yuanxiao. They fry beans, grind them, then make them into balls and boil them in water. It tastes good.

12, rotten soup

Taizhou area eats rotten soup after watching lanterns on the fourteenth day of the first month every year. Stir-fry the soup with shredded pork, shredded winter bamboo shoots, mushrooms, fungus, fresh duck, dried bean curd, oil bubble, Sichuan bean board, spinach, etc. Add a little rice flour and cook it into a salty paste. The rotten soup drunk on the fifteenth day of the first month is sweet, made of sweet potato powder or lotus root powder with lotus seeds, candied dates and longan.

13, steamed bread, wheat cake

There is a custom of eating steamed bread and wheat cakes in Pujiang, Zhejiang Province during the Lantern Festival. It is said that the reason is that steamed bread is made of dough, and wheat cakes are round, which means "happy reunion of children and grandchildren". In Shangyuan County, Changde City, Hunan Province, it is called "time soup" to make soup with Chili peppers and add leeks and fruits to entertain guests.

14, noodles

There is a folk proverb in Jiangbei, which is called "Shangyuan Festival, save noodles, and look forward to next year after eating." Local people eat noodles on the fifteenth night of the first month, which sounds unrelated to the Lantern Festival, but it also means praying for good luck. "Annals of the Emblem" states: "On the 18th day of the first month, the lights go out and people spit on their faces. As the saying goes,' when the light is on, it goes out', and everyone celebrates. " Eating noodles with lights out symbolizes continuous celebration.

What are the traditional activities of Lantern Festival?

1, lantern entry

People should set up a "heaven and earth hall" when offering sacrifices to God on New Year's Eve. People set up a small shed in the yard, and on the small table in the shed stood the throne of God "Heaven, Earth, Three Realms and All Spirits"; There are incense burners and offerings in front of the shrine, and a lantern is hung to represent Jiang Taigong's seat. It is said that when Jiang Taigong was a god, everyone else was sealed, but he forgot to seal himself, so he had no seat and could only sit with God. Lanterns are related to gods, so they are also endowed with many symbolic meanings.

Step 2 eat yuanxiao

Eating Yuanxiao on the fifteenth day of the first month, as a kind of food, has a long history in China. In the Song Dynasty, a novel Lantern Festival food was popular among the people. This kind of food was originally called "Floating Zi Yuan", later called "Yuanxiao", and merchants also called it "Yuanbao". Yuanxiao, or "Tangyuan", contains sugar, roses, sesame seeds, red bean paste, cinnamon bark, walnut kernel, nuts, jujube paste and so on. And wrapped in glutinous rice flour into a circle, you can be vegetarian and have different flavors. It can be boiled, fried and steamed, which means happy reunion. Jiaozi, Shaanxi is not wrapped, but "rolled" in glutinous rice flour, or boiled or fried, warm and round.

3. lanterns

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival, because there are folk customs of hanging lanterns, lighting lanterns and watching lanterns.

Lantern Festival is a traditional festival custom, which began in the Western Han Dynasty and flourished in Sui and Tang Dynasties. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, lantern style prevailed in all previous dynasties and spread to future generations. The fifteenth day of the first month is the climax of the annual lantern fireworks. Therefore, the Lantern Festival is also called "Lantern Festival". In Shanxi's county-level city walls and even towns and villages, these residents are concentrated in busy and lively areas. Before the fifteenth day of the first month, the streets were covered with lanterns, flowers were everywhere and lights were swaying, which reached its climax on the fifteenth night of the first month. On the fifteenth day of the first month, "watching lanterns" has become a spontaneous activity among Shanxi people. On the fifteenth night of the first month, the streets are decorated with lanterns, palace lanterns, animal lanterns, lanterns, lanterns and bird lanterns, which attract people to watch lanterns. In Taiyuan area, the lights in Taigu County are very famous. Taikoo lamp is famous for its variety, exquisite production and beautiful appearance.

4. Solve the riddle on the lantern

Solve riddles on the lanterns, also known as playing riddles, is a unique form of traditional folk entertainment with rich national style in China. It is a characteristic activity of the Lantern Festival that has been circulated since ancient times. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, traditional folks hang lanterns and set off fireworks. Later, some busybodies wrote riddles on paper and posted them on colorful lanterns for people to guess. Because solve riddles on the lanterns can enlighten wisdom and cater to the festive atmosphere, many people responded. Later, solve riddles on the lanterns gradually became an indispensable program for the Lantern Festival. Lantern riddles add to the festive atmosphere, showing the intelligence and wisdom of ancient working people and their yearning for a better life.

Step 5 row a dry boat

Rowing a dry boat, folklore is to commemorate Dayu who has made great contributions to water control. Rowing a dry boat, also known as running a dry boat, is an imitation of a boat on land, and the performers are mostly girls. Dry boat is not a real boat. It is made of two thin wooden boards, sawed into a boat shape, tied with bamboo and wood, covered with colored cloth and tied around the girl's waist, just like sitting on a boat, rowing with paddles in hand, singing and jumping while running. This is a dry ship. Sometimes, another man dressed as a boatman performs with his partners, mostly dressed as a clown, and amuses the audience with all kinds of funny actions. Dry boats are very popular in many areas of China.

What is the significance of Lantern Festival?

Lantern Festival has been handed down because of the cultural significance of this festival: reunion, harmony and the pursuit of freedom, which is what we yearn for and our beautiful expectation. Every festival can be handed down because it contains people's wishes and yearning for a better life.

The 15th day of the first lunar month is the traditional Lantern Festival in China. Because the first month is also called January, the night of the fifteenth day of the first month is the night of the first full moon in a year, and "night" means "night", so this festival is called Lantern Festival. Lantern Festival is also called Shangyuan Festival, Yuanshi Festival and Lantern Festival.

Different from other traditional festivals, the Lantern Festival emphasizes "family reunion" and "universal celebration". Lantern Festival is regarded as the last climax of the Spring Festival, because after this day, people really enter the new year's production and life, so people all over the country celebrate the Lantern Festival and pray for God to bless the good weather and good harvests in the coming year, which also expresses people's good expectations for the new year. Because of this, China has the folk custom of "Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month".

This traditional festival, which has been passed down for more than two thousand years, is not only popular in the north and south of the river, but also celebrated every year in areas where overseas Chinese live in concentrated communities. During the Lantern Festival, people will go out of their homes and pour into the streets. In addition to lanterns and solve riddles on the lanterns, there are dragon dances, lion dances, walking on stilts, boating and beating Zhoushan gongs and drums ... Among them, many customs and activities are national intangible cultural heritage. Go out to enjoy the moon, light lamps and set fires, enjoy riddles, eat Yuanxiao, and celebrate festivals together, so that the masses can participate and enjoy the aesthetic memories left by these intangible cultural heritages.

Lantern Festival is a real "carnival" of the whole society, and ancient women who are usually confined at home are free to go out and play. Of course, there are also some polite people who oppose this custom, such as Sima Guang in the Song Dynasty. At midnight snack, his wife was dressed up and ready to go out and enjoy the lights. Sima Guang asked, "Why do you have to look out when you light a lamp at home?" The lady replied, "I want to see tourists, too." Sima Guang said: "Is anyone (me) a ghost? ! "This is unreasonable. You can't let your wife watch him all year round, can you? Fortunately, society doesn't buy these proprietress's accounts, and most women still play. Lantern Festival allows people to have free entertainment, which is an export designed by ancient society for the overly strict etiquette system. Some young people took this opportunity to meet the right person. Just as Xin Qiji said: "The crowd looked for him for thousands of Baidu, and suddenly looking back, the man was in the dim light."