How did the ancients celebrate Qingming Festival? Was the Qingming Festival in ancient times actually a food festival?

Going out in spring is a must during the Qingming Festival, which is also when many seasonal delicacies are on the market. Nanjing folklore scholar Cai Bowen said that the history of outings and picnics during the Qingming Festival has existed since ancient times. In ancient times, Qingming Festival was a "food festival". Not only were many seasonal delicacies on the market during this spring season, but the customs of Qingming Festival and the ancient "Cold Food Festival" gradually overlapped today, and some special delicacies of the Cold Food Festival were also handed down. .

Women in ancient times "eat Qingming"

Qingming delicacies have existed since ancient times. The ancients created some foods to meet the needs of cold food and the prohibition of fire and cold food. For example, use mashed wheat straw juice and glutinous rice to make green dough balls, dye black tallow juice with black rice to make cakes, or use toon sprouts to mix with gluten and young willow leaves to mix with tofu for cold food. Tomb-sweeping Festival was a sacrificial festival in ancient times. Generally, people would use four plates and six bowls of local delicacies and sake to honor their ancestors. After the sacrifice, family members and invited relatives enjoy wine and food, which is called "eating Qingming." In ancient times in the south of the Yangtze River, people would pick shepherd's purse to make wontons for the festival, and when sweeping tombs during the Qingming Festival, they would make yellow flower and green fruit cake as an offering. It is made from the young leaves of a Asteraceae weed, mashed to remove the juice and powder. It is very delicious. Moreover, the tradition of Qingming food also comes from the picnic after the ancient Qingming outing.

Especially in ancient times, women were not allowed to go out, and ancestor worship and outing on Qingming Festival were a good time for ancient women to go out. On this day, they would dress up carefully, go out early to pay homage to their ancestors, and then go out. Therefore, in ancient times, Qingming Festival was also a festival for women. They could go to the countryside to enjoy the spring scenery, fly kites, and have picnics.

The custom of eating qingtuan has been around for more than 2,000 years

Cai Bowen said that the "wheat straw" in Jiangnan is born during the Qingming Festival, but is difficult to find after the Qingming Festival. In this way, the green dumplings made from wheat pulp are particularly important in the folk Qingming food customs in the Jiangnan area. Every Qingming Festival, people in the south of the Yangtze River will go to the fields to grab a handful of "wheat pulp", go home, pound it and squeeze the juice, mix it with the dried pure glutinous rice flour, wrap it with bean paste filling, and add in folk tips A small piece of lard is put into a basket and steamed. When it comes out of the basket, brush a thin layer of cooked vegetable oil on the surface. In addition, mugwort is also a common Qingming ingredient. After steaming the glutinous rice, mix it with mugwort leaves and pound it into a rice paste. Wrap some peanut or sesame filling in the middle, form into small green cakes and steam them in a pot. This becomes mugwort glutinous rice cake.

“The custom of eating Qingtuan can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago.” He said that the traditional foods of the ancient Cold Food Festival include glutinous rice cheese, wheat cheese, and almond cheese. Nowadays, some qingtuan are made of mugwort, and some are pounded with brome grass juice and glutinous rice flour and filled with bean paste. Nowadays, the function of qingtuan as a sacrifice has gradually faded, but it is still very popular as a delicacy.

The temptation of clams and snails

During the Qingming Festival in Nanjing, another delicious delicacy is clam and tofu soup. Nanjing people call river clams "Wai Wai". Choose one that is neither big nor small, with red shells. About six are enough for a family of three. First, wash it repeatedly with hot water, sprinkle it with a little salt, mix it, and wash it again after a while. Knock the hard edge loose with the back of a knife so that the cooked meat will not be old. Finally, cut the "Wai Wai" into one-centimeter-wide strips, add ginger, green onions, bacon or ham, tofu, and "Wai Wai" to the pot over high heat to make a thick soup. The taste is extremely delicious, and some even You can put broad bean wedges, or fresh bamboo shoots and rice shoots in it, and the soup will be delicious and the meat will be delicious. You will not forget to eat it for three months. However, it is cold in nature and should not be eaten in large quantities. People with weak stomachs should be especially careful. Another river delicacy in Nanjing at this time is fried snails. Fried snails are a Nanjing-style river food. Made from snails, chili peppers and various seasonings, it has a spicy and delicious taste. Stir-fry a large plate of fried snails and eat them with your mouth. There are also stir-fried snails with snail meat, such as stir-fried snails with leeks, which are the most fashionable dishes during the Qingming Festival.

The whole city digs wild vegetables together

During the Qingming Festival, all kinds of fresh and tender wild vegetables become delicacies on the tables of Nanjing people. Stir-fried Artemisia or stir-fried Artemisia until fragrant and stir-fried with a bit of hot chili pepper, it is simply a favorite dish among Nanjing people. This season is still the best time to eat Malantou. "Western Wu Food Ballad" says: "The spring breeze in February will bring swallows flying, and the bamboo shoots will be tender and the mussel meat will be fat.

Wolfberry and malan taste good, and eggs are spread with tofu skin.” The fun of eating wild vegetables during the Qingming Festival is that you can pick them yourself. During the Qingming Festival every year, many people in Nanjing spontaneously form a “folk wild vegetable group” to search for wild vegetables throughout the city. Digging wild vegetables with a small shovel and a small basket is the pursuit of golden childhood memories. In Mochou Lake, Xuanwu Lake, Meihua Mountain, Beiji Pavilion, Jiangning, Baguazhou and other places, there are citizens digging wild vegetables while outing. Malantou , hen heads, pea heads, wolfberry heads, pinch off the small sprouts with your hands, stir-fry them in a pot at home, the aroma is fragrant, green and healthy, and there is a saying in Nanjing called "Eight Wilds", which refers to the "eight fresh fruits in the dry season". " and "Shuibaxian" two categories, including shepherd's purse, artemisia, malan head, wolfberry head, alfalfa head, purslane, goose sausage and toon head, etc. Eating wild vegetables during the Qingming Festival has become a specialty of Nanjing.