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What is the custom of raising the head of the second dragon in February? What's the date of 2018?

Another few days is February 2. Do you know what important festival February 2 is? February 2 is also known as spring Dragon Festival, Qinglong Festival, and Zhonghe festival as a traditional Chinese folk festival. The date is also the second day of February in the lunar calendar. Because the two festivals are on the same day, the Chinese people often mix Zhonghe Festival and Longshou into a festival. What's the date of February 2 this year?

What day is the rising dragon in 2018

2018 dragon head date:

Sunday, March 18, 2018 (February 2, 1898)

After the spring breeze in February, at dusk, the Dragon horn star appears on the eastern horizon. At this time, the whole body of the dragon is still hidden below the horizon, but the horn star is just emerging, so it is called "dragon head up".

Dragon head up Festival, also known as spring Dragon Festival, spring flower festival, is one of the traditional folk festivals in Zhengzhou. According to folklore, during the reign of Empress Wu in the Tang Dynasty, he was punished for three years without rain for offending the Jade Emperor. The rivers and ditches in the world were exhausted, and the trees and seedlings died, making it difficult for people to live. The Dragon King, who was in charge of the Tianhe River, couldn't bear it. On the second day of February in the lunar calendar, he was punished for the rain on his own. People offer fried corn and beans to the Dragon King in return for his help, so they moved the Jade Emperor and allowed him to continue to rain for the world. In the second month after that, the Dragon King will be sacrificed and become a festival.

In fact, the meaning of the rising of the dragon is that the earth wakes up after hibernation and insects start to bloom. After the solar terms of spring, rain, and hibernation, many parts of our country begin to enter the rainy season, which is also the law of nature. However, in ancient times, 'Dragon' has a very high position in people's hearts, is the embodiment of auspiciousness, and is also the master of wind and rain, so people generally think that it is the contribution of 'Dragon'.

Dragon Head Raising Day

There are a lot of folk activities in dragon head up festival in various places, with rich contents, including:

Sacrifice Dragon

In the past, dragon head up festival was a day to sacrifice to the Dragon God. On this day of every year, people would burn incense at the dragon temple or at the water side to sacrifice to the Dragon God, praying for the Dragon God to make clouds and rain, and blessing the harvest of the year. However, in many areas, especially in the south, people also regard the second day of February as the "land public birthday" to hold social sacrifices and sacrifice to the God of land.

Ash sprinkled

This custom has a long history. To this day, it is still popular in many rural areas. The ash used for spreading ash is generally wood ash, but also lime or bran. The specific methods vary from place to place. They are: scattering ash in front of the door, which is called "blocking the door and eliminating disasters"; scattering ash in the corner, which is intended to "eliminate all insects"; scattering ash in the courtyard, making circles of different sizes, and symbolically placing some grains, which are called "encircling the warehouse" or "fighting the ash store", to wish a good harvest; scattering ash by the well, which is called "leading the Dragon back", in order to make the weather smooth. Sabah is different from place to place. Generally, it starts from the well side and winds all the way to the kitchen. It is very interesting to walk around the water tank and the ash line is winding.

Fumigating insects

In February of the lunar calendar, the weather is getting warmer, and various insects begin to move. Some insects are harmful to people's health. So on February 2, people spread pancakes and burn incense, hoping to drive away the poisonous insects with smoke.

Striking beam

It is to knock on the beam of a house with a stick or bamboo pole to scare away poisonous insects such as snakes and scorpions without causing harm. In some places, it is popular to knock on the edge of Kang for the same purpose as knocking on the beam.

Haircut

There is a saying in the folk saying that "shaving the dragon head on February 2, one year has spiritual head". This day's haircut is called "shaver's head" or "shaver's head". The elders hope to take advantage of the auspicious time when the Dragon raises its head to protect the healthy growth of the children and to be outstanding when they grow up; the adults cut their hair, quit the old and welcome the new, hoping to bring good luck. In addition, the reason why he shaved his head on February 2 is that it is believed that he would die if he did not shave his head in the first month. It's hard not to have a haircut for a month, so we all have haircuts at the beginning of February after the first month. And without a haircut, the head is too heavy to lift, and the dragon can't look up. It was not until February 2 that the ban was lifted. However, this theory is actually a myth. In fact, the "dead uncle" is a homophony of "thinking about the past", indicating people's yearning for the past year.

Fried scorpion beans

The popular custom on this day is to stir fry scorpion beans. Weixian County, Laizhou and other places are called "Baojie". It's said that people who eat fried scorpion beans will not be stung by scorpion for a year. Yuncheng and other places are called 'fried scorpion claws'. The children eat and sing:' when they eat scorpion claws, they don't have to fight. 'generally, scorpion beans are fried with soybeans. Some of them are also pasted with sugar noodles. Some of them have been soaked in salted water. They are crispy and delicious. Some of them are fried with noodles, chess pieces and scorpion beans. There are many patterns. Eating scorpion beans can not only protect scorpion, but also say that if you eat seven scorpion claws, you will live a long life. In addition to some parts of Jiaodong, this custom is popular in February 2 in other places. However, in addition to the scorpion beans, melon seeds, popcorn, etc., this is a new development of the custom of fried scorpion beans.

Pick up 'girl'

Another important custom on February 2 is to pick up the "girl", that is, the mother's family takes back the married daughter, so there is the saying of "February 2, take the girl". There are many manners in Northern Jiangsu, among which 'girl' can't live in her mother's house in the first month, and she has to go back to her mother's house on the same day after coming to her mother's house for new year's worship. But on the second day of February, my mother's family will come to pick up my daughter and stay for a few days. First, I have been busy for a long time in the first month, and I am tired, so I will take her home and have a good rest. Second, I will be busy at the beginning of the new year, so I will reward her.

On the day of being picked up, the girl, apart from eating and drinking, was just chatting with each other, relaxed and happy. But the city people "take the girl" is the girl, the son-in-law bring back together to eat a rich lunch. This custom is also very popular in Beijing and most of the north of China, many areas have continued to this day.

The custom of February 2

On February 2, it was said that the dragon was rising. The area where Nanfu belonged was called Qinglong Festival, Chunlong Festival and Longtou Festival. The rest of Shandong is called February 2, and Liangshan is called the dragon's head Festival. Before the Tang Dynasty, February 2 was not a holiday. In the middle Tang Dynasty, activities such as picking vegetables, welcoming the rich, and outing were popular in Sichuan and Shaanxi. They were called "picking vegetables Festival" and "welcoming the rich day". At the end of Song Dynasty and the beginning of Yuan Dynasty, on February 2 in the north, the content of the dragon's head was added, and gradually evolved into a festival dominated by the customs of insect repellent and harvest praying. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there have been customs and activities in Shandong such as guiding the dragon, fighting against the hoard, fumigating the insects with pancakes, fighting against the Liang and pitying the rat, and promoting the victory with fried beans. There are few such customs and activities as picking vegetables and welcoming the rich.

Many of the festival customs of February 2 are related to the rise of dragons. Every family in Yuncheng and other places should support the upper fan of the stone mill on this day, which is called dragon head up. It is said that only in this way can 'the drizzle flow all over the ground, eating and wearing all year without worrying'. Weihai and other places get up early to make rice cakes, in order to worship the spring dragon. In Tengzhou and other places, steamed bun is called "steamed longan"; noodles are called "longxumian". Some places eat pancakes, called "dragon scale pancakes"; they eat vegetable balls, called "dragon eggs". But there are also places that don't eat noodles or drink rice on this day, because noodles are called Dragon whiskers and millet is called Dragon seeds, which may affect the health of dragons. In the old days, people used to cut hair on the day when the Dragon raised its head, and children were admitted to school on that day to take the lead in order to achieve good luck. Haiyang and other places use white noodles or bean noodles to make dragons, which are called divine insects, and put them in grain storage and flour tanks, hoping that they can never be used up. In Weihai, Longkou and other places, a string of round colored cloth is hung on a child's hat, which is called the little dragon tail. In some places, there are entertainment activities such as playing Dragon lights, in order to meet the order of the festival.

1. 'Gu Ai' (hand rubbing noodles): commonly known as' top stick '. Why do you eat "Guai"? Some people say that when you eat the "top stick", you can hold the door. If you don't enter, it's peaceful for a year. Some people say that after the Spring Festival, everyone is bored and sleepy. After a meal of 'drum pouting' to make people feel spiritually, they start to work and live.

2. Stir the ball: it is said that it is to lay scales and make the Dragon energetic and rain.

3. Grill pig's face: after 12 steps of material selection, cleaning, spray baking, bubble washing and sauce making, it takes more than ten hours of cooking to serve the table. There are three kinds of 'grilled pig's face'. One is to eat it in its original way; the other is to dip it in sauce; and the third is to roll pancakes. Every way of eating has a different taste.

For Naji, the food on February 2 is also related to "dragon". Noodles are not called "noodles", which are called "longxumian"; dumplings are called "longer" and "Longjiao"; rice is called "Longzi"; pancakes are baked into dragon scales, which are called "dragon scales cake"; noodles and wontons are boiled together, which are called "dragon beads"; eating pig heads, which are called "eating dragon heads"; eating onion cakes, which are called "tearing dragon skins". All take the symbols and moral meanings related to the dragon.