Why do you say "February 2 nd" is "the dragon looks up"
February 26th, 2009 is the second day of the second lunar month. Folks call this day "the dragon looks up", symbolizing the return of spring to the earth and the revival of everything. So, what does "the dragon looks up" mean? Astronomical experts explained this. Zhao Zhi Heng, director of Tianjin Astronomical Society, explained that "the dragon rises on February 2nd" is related to ancient astronomy. According to experts, in ancient China, 28 nights were used to indicate the positions of the sun, the moon and the stars in the sky and to judge the seasons. In the twenty-eight lodging houses, the horn, sound, rafter, room, heart, tail and dustpan constitute a complete dragon constellation, among which the horn is like the dragon's horn. After the spring breeze in February, the "Dragon Horn Star" appeared from the eastern horizon at dusk, so it was called "Dragon Head Up". According to astronomical experts in Tianjin and Jiangsu, while the sky is "Dragon", spring is slowly coming to the world, and there will be more rain. On this festival, the earth turns green and spring ploughing begins from south to north. Folk proverb "On February 2nd, the dragon looked up; Big warehouse is full of small warehouses, and people have a strong desire to pray for the dragon's blessing, good weather and good harvest.
On February 2 nd, farmers who "looked up" paid more attention to it.
The second day of the second lunar month is a traditional folk festival in China, also known as "Dragon Boat Festival". Hadak Gang, a member of the Working Committee of China Folk Cultural Heritage Rescue Project, said that farmers attach great importance to this day because of the legend of "February 2" and the dragon, and "the vernal equinox allows the earth to breathe freely". They pinned their simple wishes on secular things and hoped for a better year.
According to some old customs in northern China, after getting up in the morning of February 2, farmers will find long poles to knock on the beams to wake up the "dragon", then use plant ash to lead a "grey dragon" to the well platform, and then use chaff to lead a "golden dragon" from the well platform to the water tank; Eat rice cakes and pig's head meat for breakfast, spring cakes and fried beans for lunch; Near dusk, every household should spread a circle around the house with the ashes from the stove chamber, which is called a society around, in order to keep out all evil and disasters. Anyone who has relatives far away from home should leave a message in this circle, expressing his expectation that they will return to their hometown as soon as possible.
On this day, everyone has to have a haircut, which means "the dragon looks up" and is auspicious. It is called "scraping the faucet" to give children a haircut. Women are not allowed to move needle and thread, for fear of hurting the "dzi beads"; People can't draw water from wells either. They should fill their water tanks on the first day, or they will touch the tap.
Folklore "On February 2nd, the dragon looked up; On this day, farmers are full of hope for the new year. They are excited about the coming spring ploughing and sowing, and pray that the legendary "dragon" can raise its head and shake its body and soak it in the rain to moisten the soil.
On February 2 nd, the eating custom of lifting the dragon head
On the second day of the second lunar month, folklore is the day when dragons look up, also known as "Spring Dragon Festival". There is a folk Song Like: "On February 2, the dragon looked up, the big warehouse was full, and the small warehouse flowed." On this day, people worship the Dragon King with many delicious foods, hoping that it can spread clouds and rain.
Ordinary people eat noodles, spring cakes, popcorn, pork head and so on. On this day. Different regions have different foods, but most of them are related to dragons. Generally, the name of food is added with the title of "dragon". For example, eating jiaozi is called eating "dragon ears"; Eating spring cakes is called eating "Longlin"; Eating noodles is called eating "dragon beard meat"; Eating rice is called eating "dragon son"; Eating wonton is called eating "longan"
Eating spring cakes is called "eating Longlin". A spring pancake bigger than the palm of your hand is like a piece of Long Lin. Spring cakes are hard and contain many dishes. Such as sauce meat, elbow, smoked chicken, sauce duck, etc. Cut them into filaments with a knife and stir-fry them with some home-cooked dishes, such as fried shredded pork with leek, fried shredded pork with spinach, mung bean sprout vinegar, vegetarian fried vermicelli and scrambled eggs. , and rolled into spring cakes, dipped in shredded onion and sesame oil noodle sauce, really delicious and refreshing. When eating spring cakes, the family sits around, puts the baked spring cakes into the steamer and takes them while eating. Hot and happy.
There is a legend about eating popcorn on the second day of February.
According to legend, when Wu Zetian was emperor, the Jade Emperor ordered that it should not rain on the ground for three years. However, Yulong, who is in charge of Tianhe, couldn't bear the people to suffer from disasters and go hungry, and a heavy rain came secretly. When the Jade Emperor learned about it, he buried the Jade Dragon in charge of Tianhe under a mountain. There is a monument at the foot of the mountain, which reads: "The rain of the Dragon King violates heaven and should be punished by the world for generations. If you want to climb the peak tower again, unless the golden beans bloom. " In order to save the Dragon King, people searched everywhere for golden beans in full bloom. On the second day of February of the following year, when people were turning golden corn seeds, it suddenly occurred to them that this kind of corn was like golden beans, and it blossomed as soon as it was fried. Isn't it golden beans? So every household popped popcorn, put on record and burned incense in the yard, offering "flowering golden beans" to the Dragon King and the Jade Emperor. Knowing that the people were saving it, the Dragon King shouted to the Jade Emperor, "Golden beans are blooming, let me out!" As soon as the Jade Emperor saw the golden beans in the yard of every household in the world blooming, he would send a message to recall the Dragon King to heaven and continue to send clouds and rain to the world. Since then, people have formed a custom. On the second day of February, people pop popcorn and fry soybeans.
There is also a saying that pig's head meat is eaten on February 2.
Since ancient times, pigs, cows and sheep have been used to worship the gods, and later it was simplified to the head of the three animals, and the pig head is one of them. According to a story recorded in Qiu Chi's Notes in the Song Dynasty, Wang Zhongling was very hungry after pacifying Bashu, so he broke into a temple in a small village, but he met a drunken monk. Wang Zhongling was furious and wanted to cut it, but he didn't know that the monk was afraid. Wang Zhongling was very surprised and asked him for food. Soon the monk presented a plate of "steamed pig's head" and wrote a poem for it: "The monk said that when steaming, the banana leaves were wrapped and watered with apricot paddles when cooked. Red, fresh and elegant, called Jin panting, ripe and soft, really like jade. If there is no comparison between hairy roots, felt roots will eat vines. " Wang Zhongling ate steamed pig's head, and was very happy to hear the funny and unique "pig's head poem", so he named the monk "Master of Purple Clothes". It seems that the pig's head is really delicious and an auspicious symbol of turning the corner. Now there is a famous dish called "roast pork face", which can be served after twelve steps, such as selecting ingredients, cleaning, spraying, soaking, making sauce and cooking for more than ten hours. There are three kinds of "roast pig face", one is the original taste; The second is to dip in the sauce; The third is to roll pancakes to eat. Every way of eating has a different taste. "Roasted pig's face" is fat but not greasy, the meat and bones are separated, and it tastes delicious, which brings beauty and brain-strengthening effects to modern people. Eating modern "pork noodles" on February 2 nd and recalling the history of ancient catering is really a perfect experience of blending contemporary and history.