Why Duck is Eaten on the Mid-Yuan Festival

Reasons for Eating Duck on the Mid-Yuan Festival

The Mid-Yuan Festival on the 15th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar is also a festival of ancestor worship. Chickens can't be used as sacrificial offerings because their claws will gouge out the money and things sent to ancestors, and the minds of the later generations can't reach the ancestors, so ducks are sent as sacrificial messengers. Why send ducks as sacrificial messengers? Because there was only one bridge over the river to get to the "underworld". The bridge is crowded with too many "messengers" and the ducks can swim to the other side of the river with the offerings of the ancestors, so the ducks are the main offerings on the day of the Mid-Yuan Festival. After the rituals were over, the ducks were left over for people to "spread their blessings", so the custom of eating ducks on the Mid-Yuan Festival has been passed down.

It is also said that ducks are eaten on the Mid-Yuan Festival because it is said that dead ancestors would go home to visit their relatives on the Mid-Yuan Festival, and they had to cross the Naihe Bridge, but they couldn't cross it without a boat. As a result, the living had to send some ducks down to swim and take them back. Over time, it became a tradition to eat ducks on the Ghost Festival.

Legend has it that in ancient times the Northerners attacked the South, but could not cross the river for a long time. Until mid-July, there was no capture, so the northerners wanted to kill and eat the ducks, praying that they would adapt to the water, and also an early Spring Festival. Over time, it has become a tradition for people to eat ducks on the Mid-Yuan Festival and Ghost Festival.

Then people from all over the world gave them various legends, basically meaning to drive away evil spirits. The word "duck" means "pressure" and is taken as a harmonic sound. Eating duck is to suppress ghosts. People in Dongguan usually eat lotus root and roast duck.

The Ghost Festival is actually a kind of soul worship. On this day, people burn incense to their ancestors, pray for the health and safety of their families, and take this opportunity to reunite with them. Another reliable theory for eating ducks on this day is that before planting rice in rural Guangxi, each family bought 10 ducks to raise. After cutting the rice, the ducks can eat the millet and small animals that fall in the field to reduce costs. In the second season of rice planting, farmers started to kill the ducks for the festival in order to reward themselves. Over time, people got used to eating ducks on this day.

Early April is a good time of the year to raise ducks, and by the end of July and the beginning of August is when the ducks grow up to maturity and their meat is delicious. This is the best time to use duck to sacrifice to ancestors and drive away ghosts. It is also believed that eating duck at this time can dispel the liver fire, to prevent the seasonal causes of autumn dryness.

In addition, duck is suitable for people with internal heat and fire, especially for people with low fever, weakness, loss of appetite, dry stools and edema. It is also suitable for those who are malnourished, weak, night sweating, spermatorrhea, excessive menstruation, dry throat, and postpartum thirst.

The choice of duck species is also delicate. Peking duck is very tasty, but the fat content of up to 40%, summer eating too greasy. It is best to choose thinner lake ducks and green ducks (the feathers on the head are lime green). For one thing, there is less oil; secondly, it has a strong diuretic and expectorant effect.

"Chicken soup, duck flavor", the best summer duck stew, not only delicious, but also the most nourishing. Duck stewed with ham and sea cucumber is good for nourishing the yin of the five organs; duck cooked with glutinous rice can nourish the stomach, replenish the blood, and produce fluids. Stewed with duck meat and seaweed can soften blood vessels, lower blood pressure, and prevent arteriosclerosis, hypertension and heart disease.

While duck meat is nutritious, but eat it with attention:Duck meat is a fatty food, can not eat too much. Especially with obesity and atherosclerosis people should eat less. Cold patients should not eat. People with colds should eat pungent scattered published food, and duck nourishes love evil, can make colds lingering difficult to heal. Chronic enteritis patients should be used with caution, because duck meat flavor sweet and salty, slippery and down, and rich in oil. Eat will aggravate enteritis diarrhea.

Traditional food eaten on the Mid-Yuan Festival

1.

On the Mid-Yuan Festival, it is customary to eat glutinous rice noodles in Dongguan, and they are widely used in almost all of Dongguan. Of course, different regions have different ways of eating rice noodles. Seto Vermicelli, a traditional food for Dongguan birthday banquets, symbolizes longevity, many blessings and long life.

Dongguan is most famous for roast goose wrasse. Roasted goose wrasse, the most exquisite is a pot of delicious soup, which is made with a whole chicken, large pieces of meat and bones, and a lot of special herbs and spices. To eat, you blanch the Seto powder in hot water in a bowl, then add a large spoonful of broth and lay a layer of crispy roast goose on top of the flour.

2. Steamed Sheep with Noodles

In old Beijing and the rural areas of northern China, it was popular for grandfathers and uncles to give live sheep to their young nephews on July 15th. The custom is related to the legend of Chen Xiang splitting the mountain to save his mother. After Chen Xiang split the mountain to save his mother, he had to hunt down his abusive uncle Er Lang Shen. Erlang Shen sent Chen a pair of live sheep on July 15 every year to rebuild the friendship between brother and sister and between uncle and nephew. It is said that this is a homonym of Chen Xiang and Chen Xiang's mother's surname "Yang", in order to reunite the two families. Since then, the folk custom of sending a live sheep to an uncle has remained, and has gradually evolved into sending a pair of sheep.

Another version of this folklore is that mothers give their daughters a pair of sheep shaped with white flour, steamed of course, and their heads wrapped in red cloth. The bride's family will form a small team to send the sheep to the new uncle's home, the new uncle will cut the noodles sheep, cut the first piece of red rope hanging in the living room. The "noodle lamb" could not be taken down until July 15 of the following year, when the new noodle lamb was delivered. It is emphasized that "When you see the new lamb in the morning, you will have a good year." After the new son-in-law shearing sheep, eat the head of the sheep, married off the daughter to eat the feet of the sheep, the rest is distributed to the male elders and neighbors, to show the harmony and beauty of the **** to enjoy the happiness and good luck.

3. Eat flower buns.

July 15 before, folk women popular in face painting activities, especially in northern Shaanxi. A bun at home, neighbors help. First, according to the actual number of people in the family, a big bun is given to each person first.

Flower buns for young students should be made into flat shapes called noodle sheep, and the lamb will kneel on the ground when it is fed. I hope the young students will not forget the kindness of their parents. The flower buns for the older generation should be made in the shape of an adult, called a noodle man, which means children and grandchildren, long life. Flower buns for peers should be made in the shape of a fish, called a noodle fish, meaning more than one consecutive year.

4. Eat duck.

On the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, which is the Chinese New Year, many parts of the country choose to eat duck. Why? The original "duck" is "pressure" means, take its harmony, eat duck is pressure ghost. In addition, the phoenix claw is rake-shaped, easy to grab off the clothes of the ghost (probably for fear of accumulating bad grudges and refusing to return to the original place), so the choice of flat-footed duck is also reasonable. Dongguaners usually eat lotus root and roast duck.

The duck is eaten on the Mid-Yuan Festival because it is said that dead ancestors would go home to visit their relatives on the Mid-Yuan Festival, and they had to cross the Naihe Bridge, but they couldn't do so without a boat. As a result, the living had to send some ducks down to swim and take them back. Over time, it became a tradition to eat ducks on the Ghost Festival.

5. Eat light food

In Dongxian Town, Jiangsu Province, many villagers eat flat food (a kind of dustpan-shaped food made of flour and sugar) on the Mid-Yuan Festival. Nowadays, some people call flat food dumplings, but it is very different from dumplings. The difference between flatbread and dumplings lies first in the skin and second in the filling.

As far as the skin is concerned, dumplings have a thick skin, while flatbread has a thin, crystalline skin. The dumplings are very small, only the size of a thumb, so the gyoza are also smaller. Although there are a dozen or so dumpling bowls, they only take up one-third of the bowl, and the rest is soup. And the fillings for the dumplings are simpler, mostly adding veggies and seasonings to the pork. And flat food is very different. Not only can you stuff meat dishes, even chicken, duck, fish and crab prickly heat tender soybean and so on can be stuffed, and pay special attention to collocation, such as chicken breast with celery, pork with capers, eggs with chives and so on.

6. Eat "dumpling cake"

In Tiantai, Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, they will eat "dumpling cake", a food similar to spring rolls. Legend has it that the dumplings were left behind by Jigong: when he was a monk at the Guoshou Temple, he saw that there was a lot of food left over from each meal, and thought it was a waste, so he wrapped it up in a battered skin and prepared it for the next meal. This practice was loved by all the monks and spread to the people.

To make the dumpling skins, fry the filling and set it aside. Common fillings include pork, pork liver, shredded egg, tofu skin, asparagus, bean noodles, celery, bean sprouts, seaweed and dried fish. Then, the prepared flour is pasted on top of the "sugar" to form a thin round skin (pulao). Finally, the ingredients are wrapped in order, not too "fat" and not too "thin", otherwise it will not look good. After the dumplings are wrapped, they are fried on the "smoke" until the skin is golden brown and shiny.

Additionally, in Lingdu County, Shandong Province, the Mid-Yuan Festival is locally known as the "Choking Festival," where families have the custom of eating a light meal.

Roasted duck sells well at Mid-Autumn Festival

Guangxi people celebrate the "Ghost Festival". They rarely go out, swim or do other commercial activities. Stores close early in the afternoon. The "Ghost Festival" gives people a good excuse to be lazy and the living a reason to overeat. Prepare incense and candles for ancestors early, buy cakes and fruits, and most importantly, eat duck! Early in the morning on this day, the stalls selling poultry at the farmer's market are already full of people who want to buy duck! (Ducks on this day can be sold at the highest price of the year). In Guangxi, near the river, river lanterns are put up to console the ancestors and the newly dead souls. There are a lot of places with water in the south, so they would assume that the river runs through the dead and dying.

According to the old people, the paper money and clothes used for ancestor worship have to be carried by ducks across the Naiho Bridge. That's why you must eat duck on the Ghost Festival. For a long time, eating duck has become an essential program of the Ghost Festival, just like eating dumplings on New Year's Eve. Some locals also say: "Eating duck on July 14th is mainly because there is no duck in Guangxi. July 14 is such a big day to worship heaven and earth, ghosts and gods, how can there be no decent ancestor worship?" Historical experts believe that before planting rice in rural Guangxi, each family would buy about ten ducks to raise; after cutting the rice, the ducks could eat millet and earthworms from the fields, reducing costs. In the second season of rice planting, farmers started to kill ducks for the festival in order to reward themselves. Over time, people got used to eating ducks on this day.

As early as the Ming Dynasty, roast duck had become a prized commodity in the homes of dignitaries. After Zhu Yuanzhang built the capital of Nanjing, the chef of the Ming Imperial Palace used the succulent lake duck from Nanjing to make dishes. To add flavor to the duck, the chef roasted it over charcoal. The cooked duck tasted crispy and fragrant, fat but not greasy, and was praised by the people.