First of all, from the name point of view, jujube has many different names in various places (taking Liulin dialect as an example). According to the variety and size, jujube has the following names: Yazao Zaozao, Tuanzao Tuanzao, Dongzao Xuezao, Lizao Leizao, Dongzao and so on. According to the different growth stages of jujube, there are two names of jujube: hard jujube Ningzao (also known as crisp jujube Quzao) and noodle jujube Mianzao; Visually, jujube has the following four names: Zaobie cei (pre-red period), Hongnieque (jujube with less than one third red), Piyao kiln (jujube with half red) and Tonghong (jujube with complete red); Judging from its development characteristics, just as a fertilized egg can give birth to two people, two dates can also grow on one nucleus, with only a small part overlapping, which is vividly called "Mother Ma and Ma Song"; ; Jujube processed by different processing methods has new names, such as dried jujube, candied jujube, jujube wine and smoked jujube.
Jujube not only has a huge family, but also has a great influence on the lives of local people.
First of all, red dates are widely used in diet, especially in some major festivals. For example, people traditionally eat jujube beans on February 2, that is, put jujube, red beans and cowpeas into a boiling pot and simmer until they are cooked like dry rice; There are also dates in the traditional food zongzi of the Dragon Boat Festival, that is, soft rice and jujube are the main materials, wrapped in reed leaves into triangular fists and simmered with slow fire; The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is Laba Festival. On that day, every household will eat Laba porridge, and their raw materials are also inseparable from jujube. Jujube is needed for the New Year's Eve rice cake, whether it is a case cake or an oil cake. In addition, in ordinary days, people often steam Chinese dates into steamed bread or cook them into millet porridge.
Jujube not only provides people with basic dietary functions, but also is infused with rich cultural connotations. When you marry a woman, cover the steamed buns with red dates to celebrate. The newlyweds should wrap a few big red dates in the four corners of the bedding, and sprinkle red dates on the four corners of the bridal chamber, which is homophonic with the morning. I hope your son will be born early and wish the newlyweds a prosperous life in the future. Children should also eat jujube cakes on their full moon and birthdays, hoping that their children will grow taller and become useful as soon as possible; Mother should also bring a handful of red dates when she brings clothes to the children who go out, hoping that the children will return as soon as possible.
As a mascot, jujube not only sends blessings to the living, but also sends infinite worship and respect to the gods and old friends outside life. During the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival, the residents here will worship jujube hill on the altar, and these offerings are made by inserting red dates into the processed dough to worship the ancestors of the gods; There is also the custom of steaming swallows in Liulin folk Tomb-Sweeping Day, which is to ferment white flour with alkali and knead it into various shapes, such as birds, swallows and zodiac signs. After coming out of the cage, wear them in strings, and hang red dates in the house to commemorate mesons.
Jujube has high nutritional value. Li Shizhen, a great medical scientist in Ming Dynasty, wrote in Compendium of Materia Medica: Jujube is sweet in taste, flat in nature, neutral in nature, nourishing qi, calming the stomach, clearing nine orifices, helping the twelve meridians, and replenishing less qi ... Long-term use will strengthen the body and prolong life. So people often give big red dates as gifts to relatives and friends. In the revolutionary era, a big red jujube was sweet and fragrant, and it was given to our relatives to taste. Yizao sang the songs of the producer of * * * wholeheartedly, which was full of people's infinite love for the producer of * * *. In addition, in people's color concept, bordeaux is an indispensable color.
It can be seen that red dates have penetrated into all aspects of people's lives.
As the saying goes, "one side of the soil and water support one side of the people", there are many customs related to dates in Zaoxiang. As a symbol of piety, women can't stand hazelnuts and jujube, which shows that jujube was a precious gift for relatives and friends a long time ago, and this custom has been passed down to this day.
1, pig's head sacrifices to jujube trees
Folk custom. On New Year's Eve, in Shuidong Jujube Township, Xuancheng, no sacrifices were made to heaven and earth, no sacrifices were made to people and gods, only jujube trees were sacrificed. Put the pig's head on the altar during the sacrifice, with the boy holding the knife and the girl holding the bowl; The boy cut a knife on the trunk, and the girl poured a spoonful of pig's head soup on the side. Answer while watering: "How are jujube trees this year?" "good!" "Won't you tie it?" "knot!" "How many knots?" "There are countless knots." If children laugh, parents will be scared to change color. Both of them knelt on the tree and knocked on their heads three times, apologizing to the jujube tree seriously, so as not to miss the jujube tree harvest.
2, various ways to eat dates: get up in the morning to pick fresh dates to eat, called "dew dates", cool and crisp. Picking fresh dates and mixing them with soju, putting them into a shrinking jar, sealing them with lotus leaves, and opening an altar to take dates for guests to eat during the Spring Festival, which is called "drunken dates". Fold off jujube branches with fruits and hang them under the eaves to dry. That is, the "kang stove" is crushed and baked under the kang mat. Peel off ribose and soak "candied dates". Different tastes.
Jujube is used to make pasta, rice cakes, silk cakes, flowers, raccoons and bean bags in the New Year, which are collectively called "four-year eating". In the Dragon Boat Festival in May, glutinous rice is made of jade valley, glutinous rice and jujube, and cakes and zongzi are cut with a knife. In addition, there are jujube buns and jujube cakes.
The old shochu brewed with jujube, commonly known as "jujube thick stick", has great stamina and strong wine flavor, which is most of the spirit of jujube villagers.
In recent years, the "Golden Jujube Festival" is held every year in the ripe season of jujube, and Chinese and foreign tourists come not far from Wan Li to enjoy the local jujube customs.
3. In Liulin, there is a unique and interesting custom of finding children. When a woman is infertile after marriage, her family will "steal" dates or walnuts from other people's homes on August 15th, or "steal" lamps, face dogs and shoes from families with many children in January. The people who were stolen not only didn't blame them, but also pretended not to see them and prayed that they would get their wish and have a baby. Liulin is famous for producing red dates. Every autumn, the jujube trees all over the mountains are covered with bright red dates. The dates here are big and thick, small, black and sweet. It is said that they were named "Youzao" by Emperor Kangxi. Folk people put the folk psychology of praying for more children and more happiness and carrying on the family line on unique products, which endowed jujube with profound folk significance and prayed for early birth.
"Sacrifice Spirit" and "Stealing Jujube" in Shanxi Liulin
Li Rui, a young writer in Shanxi, used what he saw and heard in Beijing Baby to describe the unique style of Luliang Liulin in his novel "Talking". His eyes are full of dirty and round ass. The donkey carrying charcoal is going uphill, and the slope is steep and narrow. You can only see these round and fat things in your eyes. Two lyrics popped up from the throat of the companion holding the animal: "Say Xizhuang, Daoxizhuang, there is a good girl in Xizhuang". I can only sing these two sentences again. Arriving at a thirst-quenching place in front, a strong peasant woman greeted her. Lead animal companions to come and go with her and flirt with her. When I came back, I took my livestock partner to send the coal in the thatched pile to the peasant woman, and put the remaining piece of coal in two in the thatched pile for my aunt when I came back. On the way, the companion holding the animal sang a song with only two lyrics again.
This description is true and interesting. When we travel in Luliang Mountain, we will see crowds of believers from Fenyang in Jinzhong to the west through Xiangyanggou, Huangluling, Wucheng, Lishi to the junction of Liulin. The unique traffic folk custom of Gandongling is caused by the special regional environment of Luliang Liulin. Liulin County is located at the foot of Lvliang Mountain in the west of Shanxi Province, on the east bank of the middle reaches of the Yellow River, bordering Linxian and Nantong Shilou in the north, facing Wubao and Suide in Shaanxi Province across the river in the west, and Lishi and Zhongyang in the east. This is an ancient and civilized place. From the Warring States Period to the Yuan Dynasty to the first year of the Yuan Dynasty (A.D.1271-kloc-0/294), Mengmen Town in this county was once the political, economic and cultural center across Liulin, Zhongyang, Linxian and Wubao counties in Shaanxi Province. It is located in the main road of Qin Jin, so it has always been a battleground for military strategists. At the same time, due to the geographical danger, Shanxi-Shaanxi traffic arteries and high-quality coal and other products, there are many businessmen here. There are also many people who walk sideways and sell labor for a living. Before liberation, there was a folk proverb in Liulin: "A load of grain can't fill a martial city." Luankou, a two-way wharf at the mouth of the Yellow River, connects Suide, Yulin, Jingbian and other places in northern Shaanxi in the west, and a large amount of salt, alkali, fur and grain are transported here from two roads. Wucheng is now Wubao, with Fenyang, Pingyang, Jiexiu and Xiaoyi in the east and Houma and Yuncheng in the south. It is transported to the northwest from the "Yangguang grocery store" on the southeast road. Therefore, on the rugged mountain road from Luantou to Wucheng leading to Shanxi and Pingchuan, all day long, animals keep ringing, the mountain road is winding, and the road is long in Xiu Yuan, so people who drive ghosts can't stand loneliness. They often open their throats and sing a ditty with a strong local accent to express their inner joy and misfortune.
In Liulin, there is also a unique and interesting custom of finding children. When a woman is infertile after marriage, her family will "steal" dates or walnuts from other people's homes on August 15th, or "steal" lamps, face dogs and shoes from families with many children in January. The people who were stolen not only didn't blame them, but also pretended not to see them and prayed for what they wanted. Liulin is famous for producing red dates. Every autumn, the jujube trees all over the mountains are covered with bright red dates. The dates here are big and thick, small, black and sweet. It is said that they were named "Youzao" by Emperor Kangxi. Folk people put the folk psychology of praying for more children and more happiness and carrying on the family line on unique products, which endowed jujube with profound folk significance and prayed for early birth.
The traditional idea that many children are more blessed has a long history. The reunion of five men, two women and seven children is a symbol of the rich in novels and dramas of past dynasties. The most famous is Guo Ziyi, a general in the Tang Dynasty. He had seven sons and eight husbands in his life. He is the most famous wealth and longevity in history, and from this point, there is no bispectrum published. The theme of full bed water became the highlight from officialdom to folk in Ming and Qing Dynasties. In A Dream of Red Mansions, the Jia family sang a play to admire the gods, and the Jia family was overjoyed at the play, which is a typical example.
The long national cultural tradition has given birth to the cultural psychology of * * *. However, due to the different regional environment and local customs, the ways of seeking children are different. In Huainan, Anhui, in order to steal a doll, the family who wanted your son went to the shrine of Mount Taishan Niangniang Temple on Bagong Mountain to "steal" the clay doll bought by the temple owner. The stolen child was really born, and then he bought a clay doll, painted it red and sent it back to its original place. This is called returning the child. In Huai 'an, Jiangsu, relatives and friends give gifts. What they gave was a small red light or a brick stuck on a piece of paper, which hung on the bedside of Pan Zi and his wife. In Liulin area, jujube theft is the main phenomenon, which is a folk phenomenon interwoven with unique folk psychology and specific products.