How do people in Northeast China celebrate the second day of the second lunar month? Are there any customs?
Introduction: Our country is a traditional country with many folk cultural festivals and different customs and habits. The Dragon Raising its Head on February 2 is an important festival in our folk culture, and people in different places have different customs and habits in celebrating the festival. How do people in Northeast China celebrate the second day of the second lunar month? Are there any customs? Now, let’s follow the editor to learn more about it. During the first month of the lunar calendar, you will have a good year. The first month is the most important month of spring. Mr. Shui Mo will share with you some knowledge about January.How do people in Northeast China celebrate the second day of the second lunar month? Are there any customs?Generally on this day, people cut "dragon heads", fry rice cakes, eat pig heads and spring pancakes, knock on the beams of the house with wooden sticks or sorghum stalks, and use wood ash to "circle the stove". In some areas in the south, activities such as dragon dancing are held on this day. The custom of "February 2" has a very early origin. It was first popular in the Yellow River Basin and later gradually became popular in China. After the Tang Dynasty, with the deepening of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, the custom of "February 2" spread to countries and regions such as Korea, Japan, and South Asia. From a scientific point of view, "On the second day of the second month, the dragon raises its head" is related to astronomical phenomena. In ancient China, the Twenty-Eight Mansions were used to indicate the positions of the sun, moon and stars in the sky, and to determine the seasons. Among the twenty-eight constellations, seven of them, namely Jiao, Kang, Di, Fang, Xin, Wei and Ji, form a complete dragon-shaped constellation, and Jiao is like a dragon's horn. Every February, after the spring breeze, the dragon's horn star will appear on the eastern horizon after dusk, so it is called "the dragon raising its head".The Chinese nation takes the dragon as its totem. The Chinese are called "descendants of the dragon" and "February 2" have an inseparable relationship with the dragon. There are many legends about dragons in ancient China. The most widely recognized statement is that "the dragon is the spiritual creature in charge of water." The second day of the second month coincides with the "Qingzhe" period in the 24 solar terms of the lunar calendar. Spring thunder suddenly sounds, and all hibernating animals are awakened by it. Therefore, there is a folk proverb that goes "On the first day of February, the dragon opens his eyes; on the second day of February, the dragon raises his head; on the third day of February, the dragon sweats." From a large number of ancient documents we can see that February 2 is actually a festival to worship dragons. It is recorded in the Records of the Customs of Shouchun in China: "On the second day of February, people burn fragrant incense to offer sacrifices to the Dragon God." China is an agricultural country, and natural disasters that lead to reduced or even total crop failures are common. Offering sacrifices to the dragon expresses people’s good wishes for good weather and a good harvest. Due to regional differences and cultural diversity, the folk activities on February 2nd in different places are also different. The customs of "February 2" in Northeast China originated in Shandong, but with the passage of time and the mutual influence of the Han nationality and the northern ethnic minority cultures, the customs of "February 2" in Northeast China are slightly different from those in other regions. 1. Cut the "dragon head". In the Northeast, there is a saying that if you cut your hair in the first month of the lunar year, your uncle will die, so people usually choose to get a haircut after the first month of the lunar year. Getting a haircut on the second day of the second lunar month is called cutting the "dragon head". On the one hand, cutting the "dragon head" means getting rid of the old and welcoming the new, and on the other hand, it also implies being energetic and vigorous in the new year. When cutting a "dragon head" haircut for a little boy, a strand of hair should be left at the neck, which is called "the dog won't bite" or "the dragon wagging its tail". It is said that children with this hairstyle will not make trouble, can ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters, and are "easy to raise." 2. Fry the rice cake. The custom of frying rice cakes has a long history. According to the "History of the Ming Palace", "On the second day of the first lunar month... each family uses millet flour and date cakes, fries them with oil, or mixes the flour with thin liquid and spreads them into pancakes, which are called smoked insects." Fried rice cakes are made by pressing the fermented millet flour into sheets, wrapping them with red bean paste or date paste, and then frying them in a pan with oil. Later, in order to save trouble, people used fried bean buns instead. Bean curd is a traditional winter food for people in Northeast China. It is usually steamed and eaten. On the second day of the second lunar month, after the tofu is steamed, it should be flattened and fried again in oil until both sides are golden brown. It can then be made into sauerkraut stewed with meat noodles, which is indeed a delicious meal. The dietary custom of frying rice cakes is meant to pray that pests will not infest the crops throughout the year. Regarding frying rice cakes, there is a folk song that goes like this: "On the second day of the second month, fry rice cakes. Use a thinner fire and cook slowly so as not to burn the old man's beard." Through this folk song, we can imagine the festive atmosphere at that time. 3. Eat pig heads. Pigs were one of the "three animals" for sacrifice in ancient times. In ancient times, whole pigs were used as offerings to the gods. Later, because it was inconvenient to carry a whole pig, pig heads were used instead. But in the end, these pig heads became human food. Before eating pig heads, people first offer them as sacrifices to the gods. A story recorded in the "Qiuchi Notes" of the Song Dynasty explains the origin of this custom: After Wang Zhongling pacified Bashu, he felt very hungry, so he broke into a small rural temple, but met a drunk monk. Wang Zhongling was furious and wanted to execute him. But the monk showed no fear. Wang Zhongling was very surprised and turned to him to beg for food. Soon the monk presented him a plate of "steamed pig's head" and composed a poem about it: "The pig has a long mouth, short hair and fat, and has been eating medicinal seedlings in the mountains for a long time. It is wrapped in banana leaves when steamed and poured with apricot juice when cooked. The red and fresh one is called golden plate, and the ripe and soft one is worthy of being picked with jade chopsticks. If it had no hair roots to compare with, the felt roots would be eaten with rattan sticks." Wang Zhongling was very happy eating the delicious steamed pig's head and listening to the witty and unique "pig head poem". Not only was he no longer angry, he also specially named him "Purple-robed Master". Later, people believed that the pig head was an auspicious object that could turn danger into safety. Therefore, on the second day of the second lunar month every year, the whole family would eat pig's head together and pray for peace and harmony. 4. Knock on the beam. In the early morning of the second day of the second lunar month, when people woke up, the first thing they did was to knock on the beams of the house with small wooden sticks or sorghum stalks. While knocking, they chanted something: "On the second day of the second month, knock on the beams of the house, and no insects, big or small, will come down from the house." From these words, we can know that this is a kind of insect repellent activity, just like "frying rice cakes". 5. Build a stove. "Circling the stove" is a very ancient rural custom. In the Ming Dynasty, Shen Bang, a man from the Ming Dynasty, said in "Wan Shu Miscellaneous Notes": "The villagers use ash to spread a line from outside the door into the kitchen, and then circle the water tank, which is called attracting the dragon back." That is to say, when you wake up in the morning, use the wood ash in the stove to spread a line of ash outside the door, circle the house and the kitchen, and then lead the ash line back into the room, bypass the water tank and finally return to the stove door. It is said that this circle drawn with wood ash has two functions: one is to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters, and it can keep all natural and man-made disasters outside the circle. If someone in the family is away from home, leave a gap at the door to avoid blocking family members outside. Second, surround the granary to prevent money and grain from flowing out. In order to circle the stove, you need to pour another circle of water within the gray line. The water must be scooped out of the tank without interruption and finally poured back into the tank. This is called "luring the dragon back." Some families will even set off firecrackers at this time in order to wake up the "trapped dragon". "If the dragon doesn't raise its head, it won't rain." Once the dragon wakes up, it will rain in time. It can ensure a year of good weather and a good harvest. Summary: Through the above article, we know some customs and habits about celebrating the second day of the second lunar month in the Northeast region. I hope you will like the above article. I wish everyone can make further progress in the new year! After reading this article, there are more exciting contents in the special topic of the first month of the lunar calendar. Let’s take a look! |
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