What is the origin of Qingming fruit? The custom of eating Qingming fruit during Qingming Festival!

What is the origin of Qingming fruit? The custom of eating Qingming fruit during Qingming Festival!
Introduction: Qingming fruit, also known as "Qingming cake" (Jiangxi), "Qingming steamed bun", "Qingming mugwort cake", "Qingming dumpling", etc., is one of the special foods of the Han nationality in southern and central-eastern China. So what is the origin of Qingming fruit? Is it a custom to eat Qingming fruit during Qingming Festival? Let’s follow the editor to find out below! Various good days have appeared in the third month of the lunar calendar, and there are options for getting married or having children. People who work hard in March will reap the wonderful fruits of autumn. In China, Qingming Festival has a special significance. Qingming fruit, as an important food custom of Qingming Festival, is inextricably linked to the festival itself. Qingming fruit was originally a cold food and is a specialty snack of the Han ethnic group in southern, central and eastern China. People also call it "Qingming Baba" (Jiangxi), "Qingming Steamed Bun", "Qingming Artemisia Baba", etc. Especially in the areas of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, Qingming fruit is called Qingming dumplings and Amy fruit. There is a custom of making and eating Qingming fruit in Fujian Province and a small part of Guangdong Province, and in parts of Jiangxi, Hunan and Anhui.

Qingming Fruit

Legend has it that one year during the Qingming Festival, Chen Taiping, a capable general of Li Xiucheng, the "Loyal King" of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, was being hunted by Qing soldiers. A farmer who was farming nearby came forward to help, disguised Chen Taiping as a farmer, and had him farm with him. The Qing soldiers did not give up after failing to capture Chen Taiping, so they added more soldiers and set up guard posts in the village. Everyone leaving the village had to be checked to prevent them from bringing food to Chen Taiping.
After returning home, the farmer was thinking about what to bring for Chen Taiping to eat. When he walked out the door, he stepped on a clump of mugwort and slipped. When he got up, he saw that his hands and knees were stained with green. He immediately came up with a plan, and hurriedly picked some mugwort, went home to wash it, boil it, squeeze out the juice, and rub it into the glutinous rice flour to make rice balls. Then he put the green dumplings in the grass and sneaked past the sentry at the village entrance. Chen Taiping ate the green rice dumpling and found it fragrant, glutinous and not sticky to teeth. After dark, he bypassed the Qing army checkpoints and returned safely to the base camp. Later, Li Xiucheng ordered the Taiping Army to learn how to make Qingtuan in order to defend themselves against the enemy. The custom of eating Qingtuan then spread.
Qingming fruit is mostly made with mugwort, Artemisia selengensis and rice flour as raw materials. The purpose is to "suppress the qi of the time". Mugwort is bitter, pungent and warm in nature, and enters the spleen, liver and kidneys. The special smell of mugwort also has certain effects. Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: Mugwort leaves are used as medicine, which are warm in nature, bitter in taste, non-toxic, purely yang in nature, pass through the twelve meridians, and have the effects of restoring yang, regulating qi and blood, expelling dampness and cold, stopping bleeding and stabilizing the fetus. It is also commonly used in acupuncture. Artemisia selengensis has a mild nature and has the effects of resolving phlegm, relieving cough, lowering blood pressure and removing wind. Later, due to the development of Qingming Festival and Cold Food Festival, it was given the name Qingming Festival.
According to historical records, the original Cold Food Festival diet custom was just the most common wheat porridge, which gradually became more diverse. The historical record of Qingtuan can be traced back to the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties based on existing materials. It became popular in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is also a traditional snack in Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong and other parts of the country. It is usually made and eaten around the Qingming Festival. Nowadays, people prefer to eat fresh fruits in season, and the function of Qingming fruit in ancestor worship is gradually fading. People use it more as a seasonal snack in spring, and it can also be given as a gift or to entertain relatives and friends.
Summary: The above is about the origin and customs of Qingming fruit. You can refer to it. Friends who do not have the custom of eating Qingming fruit can try it! I hope the above content is helpful to everyone!

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