The Lantern Festival, the first important festival after the Spring Festival, is one of the traditional Chinese festivals. The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar, and the ancients called the night: night, so the first full-moon night of the year, the fifteenth day of the first month, is called the Lantern Festival. In many of China's traditional festivals, the north and south show very big differences, but also have their own characteristics. The fifteenth day of the first month is the Lantern Festival in China, there are many northern customs of the Lantern Festival, and we introduce the northern Lantern Festival food customs and local customs.
One, the northern Lantern Festival food customs:
1, eat Lantern Festival
Northern Lantern Festival to eat the round, called "Lantern", mostly sweet filling, bean paste, black sesame, hawthorn, Chocolate, etc., in the production of some cumbersome than the dumplings, first of all, you need to cut the filling into small pieces beforehand and good, solidified, over the water once again, and then thrown into a colander full of glutinous rice flour "roll" on a level, and then over the water, continue to put back into the colander "roll", so that Repeatedly "roll" on several times, until the filling is full of glutinous rice noodles, rolled into a small ball, before the completion of the work, so that made out of the Lantern, the surface is dry.
2, dumplings
The first month of the fifteenth is here, the north has the habit of eating dumplings, Henan people have "fifteen flat, sixteen round" Lantern Festival customs, traditions, so the first month of the fifteenth should eat dumplings. Dumplings is a long history of folk food, popular with the people, folk have "delicious but dumplings" proverb.
3, noodles
Jiangbei region, the folk "lantern Lantern Lantern Lantern noodles, eat after looking forward to the next year," the folk proverb, the local people in the night of the first month of the fifteenth night to eat noodles, sounds unrelated to the Lantern Lantern, but also has a prayer for good luck. Yi Hui chronicle of the year: "(first month) eighteen lights, people eat noodles, commonly known as 'on the lights of the round son of the lights of the noodles', each family from the feast Zhiqing." Eating noodles at the time of the fall of the lamp means that the celebration of the meaning of continuous.
4, jujube cake
Yuxi people around the Lantern Festival like to eat jujube cake, with the meaning of good luck. Jujube cake was originally the Qing Dynasty Palace Imperial pastry, the flavor of the far, sweet, containing vitamin C, protein, calcium, iron, vitamins and other nutrients, both to replenish the spleen and stomach, beneficial to the vitality of the body; and to protect the liver, increase muscle strength, the effectiveness of the skin and prevent aging.
Two, some of the northern local customs are introduced as follows:
1, Shanxi Hanging Lantern
Hanging lanterns, is a form of Shanxi people to celebrate the Lantern Festival must be. Whenever the Lantern Festival comes, every family hangs up all kinds of lights, from fourteen to sixteen, every night. Fireworks, for the people of Shanxi Lantern Festival is the most delightful activities, Lantern Festival night in the square are going to fireworks activities, when the whole family went to the street, to see the beautiful fireworks. Literary street, known as folk culture make-up parade. From fourteen to sixteen, three consecutive days in various counties and districts are organized in various cultural performances to the city.
2, Shandong juggling activities
The juggling activities is an important part of the Lantern Festival. Various forms of juggling, lion dance, dragon lantern dance, stilts, dry boat, flower stick, rice-planting songs, catching donkeys ...... everything, the content of the main opera. Qufu city around the village village to play dragon lanterns, each village's dragon lanterns have to perform in the Kongfu. Kongfu play dragon lantern place in the second door in front of the hall, usually not allowed to enter the Kongfu, this time also allows outsiders to enter the see play dragon lantern. When playing dragon lanterns, the Confucius House of the pawn and "flower gun households" in the side of the fireworks.
3, in Henan in front of the ancestral tomb lights
Changxing Henan people's most unique custom, is the night of the Lantern Festival, families have to be in front of the ancestors' graves, with bamboo scotch and red paper tied on the lanterns, lit candles in between to let it burn out. Lantern Festival general custom is to enjoy lanterns, riddles, eat dumplings, lion dance, even Henan people, it is rare to see the custom of lighting lanterns in front of the ancestors' graves.
4, Shaanxi lanterns
Every year during the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, in addition to the big lanterns, there is also a "sky lanterns" custom. This custom has a long history, according to the history of the Tang Dynasty has been this move. The "accompanying lantern bun" is popular in the Tongchuan area of Shaanxi Province. Every year on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar, during the Lantern Festival, each family in their own houses, set up incense burning candles, firecrackers. Lights everywhere in the house, lights placed next to a variety of flower buns, known as "with the lights buns.
In short, in the northern Lantern Festival customs are also different because of local differences in life and other issues, but in our hometown of rural Shanxi, the Lantern Festival will generally eat dumplings, reunion . Remembering when I was a child, people in my hometown used to eat dumplings because of the limitations of the conditions, the economy was poor, and it was hard to eat a meal a year, because the noodles were small and not enough to eat so I made dumplings with vegetables as a filling, and the whole family could eat a meal made of noodles with great joy. Dumplings on the Lantern Festival, a family is a family.