As time flies, we are about to celebrate the Lantern Festival. As the first full moon night in the New Year, it occupies an important position in the Chinese tradition. What is the origin of the Lantern Festival? What are the customs of the busy Lantern Festival? What should we eat on the Lantern Festival? Don't worry, let's go to the article to have a look!
The custom and origin of the Lantern Festival
The Lantern Festival, also known as the Shangyuan Festival, the Lantern Festival and the Lantern Festival, falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month. It is a traditional festival in China, and the festival activities during the Spring Festival will reach a climax on this day. According to the traditional customs of Chinese people, on the night of the Lantern Festival, the bright moon is in the sky, the moon is full, and the moon is bright. People light up 10000 lanterns to celebrate.
Going out to enjoy the moon, lighting lanterns, guessing riddles, and eating Lantern Festival together symbolize the family reunion, celebration and happiness.
"On the 15th day of the first lunar month, we eat dumplings". The main food of the Lantern Festival is Yuanxiao. In the south, Yuanxiao is also called "Tangyuan" or "Yuanzi". Yuanxiao symbolizes family reunion with its mellow appearance. Eating Yuanxiao means family happiness and good luck in the new year.
Because of the accelerated pace of work and life, more and more families choose frozen dumplings from supermarkets as a necessary food for the Lantern Festival. Indeed, frozen dumplings are convenient and diverse, saving a lot of effort.
On the 15th day of the first lunar month, it may be early that supermarkets will have a bowl of glutinous rice balls that are hard to find. But if you get it easily, you don't know how to cherish it. So maybe younger children only know that they are going to eat sweet, smooth, soft and glutinous dumplings on this day, but they don't know how to make this bowl of dumplings. What's the meaning.
As for the custom of eating Yuanxiao on the Lantern Festival, there is a folk legend about Dongfang Shuo and the girl of Yuanxiao for everyone to enjoy after dinner.
It is said that Emperor Wu of Han had a favorite minister named Dongfang Shuo, who was kind and funny. One winter, after several days of heavy snow, Dongfang Shuo went to the imperial garden to buy plum flowers for Emperor Wu. Just entering the garden gate, I found a palace maid ready to throw into the well with tears streaming down her face.
Dongfang Shuo hurries to rescue her and asks why she wants to commit suicide. It turned out that the palace maid was named Yuanxiao, and there were parents and a sister at home. Since she entered the palace, she has never met her family again.
Every year, at the end of wax and spring, I miss my family more than usual. I think it's better to die than to be filial to my parents. Dongfang Shuo was deeply sympathetic after hearing about her experience, and assured her that she would try to reunite with her family.
One day, Dongfang Shuo left the palace and set up a divination stall on Chang'an Street. Many people scrambled to divine from him. Unexpectedly, everyone's demands were all signed with the words "fire burns on the 16th day of the first month".
For a moment, there was a great panic in Chang'anli. People are asking for solutions to disasters.
Dongfang Shuo said, "On the evening of the 13th day of the first month, the Lord of Fire will send a goddess in red to visit the world. She is the messenger who ordered to burn Chang'an. I will give you the verse I copied, so that the Son of Heaven can find a way." After saying that, he threw down a red post and went away. The common people took the red post and sent it to the imperial palace to report to the emperor.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took a look at it and saw that it read: "Chang'an is plundering, the fire is burning the imperial palace, the fire lasts for 15 days, and the night is red". In his heart, he was shocked and hurriedly invited the resourceful Dongfang Shuo.
Dongfang Shuo pretended to think about it for a while, and then said: "I heard that the god of fire likes to eat tangyuan most. Don't you often make tangyuan for you with yuanxiao in the palace? You can make tangyuan with yuanxiao on the 15th night. Long live incense burning, and tell everyone in Kyoto to make tangyuan and worship the god of fire together. Then he told his subjects to hang lanterns together on the 15th night, light firecrackers and set off fireworks all over the city, like a fire all over the city, so that the Jade Emperor could be concealed. In addition, the people outside the city were informed to go to the city to watch the lights on the 15th night, and to be mixed in the crowd for disaster relief.
After hearing this, Emperor Wu was very happy, so he gave a decree to follow Dongfang Shuo's method.
On the 15th day of the first month, the city of Chang'an was decorated with lanterns and streamers, and tourists were bustling with excitement. The parents of the palace maid Yuanxiao also took her sister to the city to watch the lanterns.
When they saw the big palace lantern with the words "Lantern Festival" written on it, they shouted in surprise: "Lantern Festival! Lantern Festival!" When Yuanxiao heard the cry, they finally reunited with their family members.
After such a busy night, Chang'an City is really safe. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was overjoyed, so he ordered that every 15th day of the first month, he would make dumplings for the Lord Huoshen, and on the 15th day of the first month, the whole city would hang lanterns and set off fireworks.
Because the dumplings are the best, people call them Yuanxiao, which is called the Lantern Festival.
Folk customs are not only the food, but also the method and significance behind the food. This intangible cultural heritage is more precious and worth inheriting from generation to generation. When the whole family put down their work and gathered in the kitchen, they scooped up a handful of white glutinous rice flour, mixed pure water to knead them into soft dough, rubbed a piece of real black sesame stuffing, wrapped it in a small piece of glutinous rice skin, and then closed the glutinous rice skin. The palm applied force evenly to make the glutinous rice ball with a wrapped heart look perfect, Compare whose works are better.
When it is fished out from the boiling hot water, the surface is soft and smooth. After a bite, it is a sweet black sesame paste that can't wait to flow. The surprise and satisfaction, the sweetness and happiness, are indescribable. Therefore, every year, in the bowl of sweet, smooth, glutinous and sweet dumplings in the hands of a family, with the warm water vapor, it transpires the beautiful meaning of reunion, happiness and health.
We all know that Yuanxiao and Tangyuan are to be eaten on the Lantern Festival, but now the times are different. We not only need to eat, but also eat healthily. So how can we eat Yuanxiao to be healthy?
Healthy diet on the Lantern Festival: the practice of red bean and sesame stuffed Lantern Festival
raw material
250g of milled glutinous rice flour, 250g of homemade red bean paste, 50g of watered raisins (not used by diabetics), 50g of dry fried sesame seeds, and appropriate amount of water.
practice
1. After soaking red beans for one day, steam them into red bean paste, and do not add sugar and alkali to avoid increasing heat and damaging vitamins;
2. Use a household mixer to beat the sesame into powder, then put the red bean mud into it and break it into red bean sand, take it out and put it in a plate to press the porcelain solid, and put it in the refrigerator to freeze for half an hour;
3. Take out the slightly frozen red bean paste from the plate, cut it into 1.5cm cubes with a knife, sprinkle a layer of glutinous rice flour, and form a uniform ball with your hands for standby;
4. Prepare a clean stainless steel small basin and spread a layer of glutinous rice flour;
5. Take out about 10 bean paste balls each time, stick a little water, put them into a stainless steel basin, rotate at a constant speed until they are evenly coated with glutinous rice flour, take them out, and then stick a layer of water to continue to put them into the basin, roll glutinous rice flour, and so on until the Lantern Festival is made into your favorite size;
6. Don't rush to cook the prepared Yuanxiao immediately. It needs to be placed for a while to fully moisturize the water in it, otherwise the cooked Yuanxiao will have a bad taste;
7. When cooking, bring it to a boil on medium heat. Cook it on low heat until the Lantern Festival swells and floats, and then take it out immediately.
Conclusion: The Lantern Festival is a traditional festival in China. We can not only taste delicious Lantern Festival and Tangyuan, but also have legendary fairy tales. Today, I specially introduced the practice, origin and custom of Healthy Lantern Festival, hoping to help you.
