The origin of setting off firecrackers in Beijing
The government and people attach great importance to the purchase of firecrackers. In the Spring Festival and every festive day, firecrackers have a long history. It is said that there was a monster called Nian in ancient times, which came out every 365 days to harm people and animals. At that time, people were afraid to go out. Occasionally, one year, an urchin burned bamboo to keep warm and play, and the fire of burning bamboo soared and crackled, scaring away the monster "Nian", and people enjoyed peace and celebrated the Spring Festival. Since then, setting off firecrackers has become a necessary thing for people to exorcise evil spirits and welcome God.
In order to show the importance of welcoming the Spring Festival and the generous gift to the officials and people, the feudal dynasty in charge of astronomical calendar chose "auspicious day" from the twelfth lunar month (19-22), announced all offices and places in Beijing and the whole country, uniformly stamped with official seals, and all officials began to have a holiday for the New Year. Subsequently, the Liyuan Theater also stopped performing and had a holiday until the beginning of the new year.
At this time, the unprecedented prosperity of China's urban and rural "twelfth lunar month city" entered a climax, and the people cleaned up and cleaned up their living environment. The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is the day of offering sacrifices to the kitchen god, also called "off-year", and then the New Year's Eve is coming.
Hang New Year pictures, paste Spring Festival couplets, hang lanterns and paste the word "Fu" upside down.
Temple Fair Culture-Beijing is the hometown of China Temple Fair.
Beijing has been an important town in northern China since Qin and Han dynasties, especially the capital of Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, with profound cultural heritage. As far as the Ming and Qing dynasties are concerned, there are more than 1000 temples in Beijing, ranking first in the country. There are naturally many temple fairs in the temple. There are temple fairs almost every day 365 days a year, which are colorful and beautiful. For example, the "ghost hunting" at the Lama Temple, the "outing" at the Chenghuang Temple, the boat burning on July 15, and the burning of the white tower on October 25/kloc are all temple fair events. The most famous ancient and modern traditional folk temple fairs and fairs in Beijing are Baiyun Temple, Changdian, Bailongtan, Ditan and longtan lake.
In addition, the past flower fairs in Beijing were also unique, spreading all over urban and rural areas. The flower show is famous for its skills, mainly including Shaolin Wushu, walking on stilts, playing games, Tai Chi, Shao Shi and other activities. Miao Feng is the best flower show in Beijing. Empress Dowager Cixi specially built a "Diaoyuanzhai" on the northeast side of the Summer Palace to watch the parade and its wonderful performances.
The Idea of Hutong Culture
Beijing Hutong culture has a long history and profound connotation. According to research, the word "Hutong" comes from Mongolian, which means that the place with "water well" is the place where people live together, so it was called "square well" and "market well" in ancient times.
Hutongs in Beijing originated in the Yuan Dynasty, and the word "Hutong" appeared in the Yuan Dynasty zaju "Salmon Island Zhang Sheng Zhu Hai" and other works. /kloc-At the beginning of the 3rd century, Genghis Khan, the leader of Mongolia, led his troops south and burned the Jinzhong City outside Guang 'anmen. His grandson Kublai Khan lives in the beautiful "Daning Palace" in the northeast suburb of Jinzhongdu, which is now Qionghua Island in Beihai. According to Yuan Shi, Kublai Khan reused Liu, a great talent among the Han people in Xingtai, Hebei Province, who was proficient in astronomy, geography, classics, law and calendar, and had three forms and six sons, and ordered him to design and build the Yuan Capital. Liu is based on the knowledge of geomantic omen such as Yin and Yang, Five Elements, Eight Diagrams, Four Elephants and Special Doors, and at the same time, he abides by The Rites of Zhou to embody the idea of "imperial power is supreme" and the unification of the world? The imperial city of Gong Ji should be a big square city with three doors on all sides, and the name of the city should be named according to gossip. Moreover, the central part of a big city is the palace, and outside the palace is the imperial city system of "the former dynasty followed the market outlook and the left ancestor followed the right society". Therefore, Liu built the Great Inner Palace and the Inner and Outer Cities, which were planned and built with the south-facing central axis layout and the left-right symmetrical system as a whole, thus forming a north-south street, and the streets and lanes ran through the east and west. At the same time, there are 50 residential areas in units of "houses", separated by hutongs with different widths. This kind of hutong is not only a traffic passage, but also a fire isolation zone between "squares", so it is also called "fire group, fire lane, fire lane" and so on. Because the Yuan Dynasty, which was built in Liu, was just like the Eight Diagrams of Yin and Yang, which was very rigorous and majestic. In addition, Liu's student Guo Shoujing's scientific management of Beijing's water system filled the Yuan Dynasty with the infinite charm of oriental civilization and was deeply loved by Italian traveler Kyle? Poirot praised.
According to relevant historical statistics, there were more than 400 hutongs in the Yuan Dynasty. After the Ming Dynasty destroyed the Yuan Dynasty, the capital was rebuilt on the basis of the Yuan Dynasty and divided into 36 squares, hutong 1 170. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the old city was used and renamed the capital. There are 2077 hutongs in the inner city and the outer city. With the rapid development of urban construction after liberation, there are more than 6,000 old and new hutongs.
Hutong is not only the general name of street, lane, road and lane, but also has strong cultural characteristics of "Beijing flavor" like Beijing opera and Beijing dialect, and has extremely rich humanistic connotation. It is the birthplace and cornucopia of Beijing's history, folklore and anecdotes.
Instant-boiled mutton-a famous traditional flavor
According to historical research, there were hot pots in the Southern and Northern Dynasties in China. Rinsing chicken, fish and tapir with hot pot was very popular in Tang and Song Dynasties. Hot pot was quite popular in Qing Dynasty. According to historical records, in the first year of Jiaqing (1796), Emperor Qianlong hosted a "Thousand Banquets" in the palace, and there were more than 550 hot pots/kloc-0, mainly eating instant-boiled mutton, which showed that it was welcomed by honest officials. The instant-boiled mutton in Beijing originated from the ethnic minority areas in Northeast China during the Warring States Period. In the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, mutton hotpot was the most popular winter food for the royal family in Qing Dynasty. Beijing's instant-boiled mutton is generally listed after autumn and cooked before the end of May. Zhengyanglou is the first restaurant to open. 19 14 after the opening of Donglaishun Mutton Restaurant, it replaced Zhengyang Building through competition and became famous in Beijing.
Beijing barbecue-Mongolian flavor
Barbecue, said to have originated in northern Mongolia, has a strong style beyond the Great Wall. Later, the custom was gradually introduced, and barbecue appeared in Beijing in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. "Nanwan Beiji", two restaurants with barbecue as their business, were both opened in the middle of Qing Dynasty. Barbecue Bay, located in Yinei Street, was developed by Huimin Wanmin, a big factory in Kangxi period, because of selling meat with trolleys. The barbecue season on the bank of Yinding Bridge in Shichahai began in Xianfeng period of Qing Dynasty.
The ancient and traditional barbecue is a special stove, and the baking tray is made of steel bars, leaving a small gap in the middle, which is called "baking".
When barbecuing, wood or charcoal is burned in the oven, the meat slices are cooked on the "grill" and then dipped in seasoning. Now, the meat slices are mixed with soy sauce, cooking wine, sugar, spices, onions, ginger, garlic and other condiments, and then the meat is cooked with long chopsticks, and it keeps turning like cooking. The fat makes a sizzling sound, and the sliced meat can be eaten as soon as it is cooked. This way of eating and drinking while roasting is full of natural game.
Barbecue begins in early autumn and ends in summer. Pay great attention to raw materials, choose "Beikou" beef, and farmed beef must not be used. Cattle are 4-5 years old and weigh 200-300 Jin. And only the upper brain, tenderloin and ribs of cattle are selected. In addition, knife cutting is also very important. Beef and mutton that must be cut very thin are suitable for barbecue.
The special local dialect has a strong Beijing flavor.
Beijing has beautiful and easy-to-understand pronunciation and rich and vivid language. It is one of the best phonetics and languages in China. China's Mandarin (Mandarin) and Chinese Pinyin are based on the Beijing accent.
However, the authentic Beijing dialect is not easy for people to understand quickly without some explanation. It has a unique charm and dialect characteristics. Now, I will give some examples of simple explanations of local languages as follows: by myself: by myself. We: We. Lao Jia: Ask for help or thank you. Nonsense: nonsense. Tired of cats: keeping secrets from others. Poor mouth: talkative, so nonsense. Play dumb: Be in a daze and play dumb. Surrounding magnetism: pulling relationship. Joke: Just kidding. Spoiled: finished, blown, messed up. Slaughter: rip off and cheat others. Camel head: embarrassed, timid, afraid. Porcelain solid: solid, firm and reliable. Nothing: nothing. Yellow: useless. Don't charge: don't do this. Eat your heart: be oversensitive. Belle Howe: Good, good. Noisy: Noisy, noisy. Trick: to break a promise and tease others. Goodbye: the meaning of the relationship is broken.
Preparation many years ago
Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people have entered the "twelfth lunar month" of 65438+ February in the lunar calendar. From the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month-"Laba" to New Year's Eve, it is the busiest day for Beijingers to prepare for the Spring Festival.
Lunar calendar 65438+February 8 is the "Laba Festival" of the Han nationality. It originated from the ancient "Lari", that is, "animals and animals sacrifice their ancestors at the end of the year". "Laba" is a signal to enter the New Year, and it is called "Jubilee". It was a time when the rich and powerful "collected debts" and the poor "dodged debts".
The main food of Laba Festival is "Laba porridge", which is rich in customs. First, Shennong started agricultural production and life because of the discovery of Cooper, so people cooked porridge with a variety of grains and fruits on Laba Festival. Second, Zhu Yuanzhang had been a beggar before he ascended the throne, and had eaten miscellaneous grains porridge in the mouse hole to satisfy his hunger. After Zhu Yuanzhang became the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he did not forget it.
It is convenient to cook "Laba" miscellaneous cereal porridge in the twelfth lunar month and reward it to officials to inspire the spirit of hard struggle. Thirdly, it is said that Sakyamuni attained enlightenment on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, which is called a Taoist festival. Buddhists cook porridge to worship Buddha, which has become a major event in Buddhism.
According to Yanjing Chronicle, people are very particular about cooking Laba porridge. They use yellow rice, white rice, glutinous rice, millet, chestnuts, water chestnut rice, red clown, peeled jujube and other ingredients to cook with water. With almonds, melon seeds, peanuts, pine nuts, grapes, brown sugar and other ingredients, it is fragrant and very sweet and delicious until modern Beijingers are willing to keep it.
Beijing opera industry
Beijing opera, also known as role, is divided into five major trades: life, Dan, purity, end and ugliness.
1. The abbreviation of Shenghang is "Sheng". Life is divided into Xu Sheng (an old student), Hong Sheng, Xiao Sheng, Wu Sheng and Wa Sheng. It is one of the important industries of Peking Opera.
Xu Sheng (old man): All playwrights above middle age have beards. Because of their different personalities and identities, they can be divided into old people who are engaged in security or singing (such as playing emperors, bureaucrats, literati, etc. ), relying on old men (such as fighting military commanders) and declining old men (such as fighting the poor, etc.). ).
Hongsheng: He has a red beard, such as Guan Yu and Zhao Kuangyin.
Xiao Sheng: Ling Zisheng (including general pheasant and prince). ), Sha (official student), Fan Shengsheng (scholar), poor student (poor scholar) and so on.
Wu Sheng: For the role of Wu Sheng in the play, those who wear thick-soled boots are called long-sleeved (chopping board) Wu Sheng, and those who wear thin-soled boots are called short-sleeved (skimming) Wu Sheng.
2. Danxing is called "Dan" for short. Tsing Yi, Hua Dan, wudan, Beijing Opera Blues, Lao Dan, Tie Dan, Gui Dan and other roles. All the stars are women.
Tsing Yi: Mainly singing and playing the role of a good wife and mother.
Hua Dan: Also known as Flower Shirt, it is characterized by gorgeous costumes and mainly plays the roles of queen, princess, lady, female general, vendor, village girl and so on.
Wu Dan and Beijing Opera Blues: A Woman Good at Martial Arts.
Lao Dan: Singing with this voice is mostly for middle-aged and elderly women.
3. Network cable is called "net" for short, also called picture. Corner cleaning refers to the face-painting role with colorful paintings on the face, which looks unclean, so it means that the clean line is divided into the following roles: bronze hammer face painting and blackhead face painting; The faces painted on the bookshelves, such as the faces of generals, monks, outlaws, Wu Hualian, and slamming paintings, etc. The bronze hammer painted face is called Zheng Jing, the shelf painted face is called Vice Jing, the martial arts painted face is called Wu Jing, and the martial arts painted face is red and clean, which has different characteristics in performance style.
The last line is called the "end". This business is mainly for men over middle age. In fact, the end of the line is devoted to the function of attracting drama, such as the first appearance, which is called "the end" because it has the opposite meaning.
5. The ugly line is called "ugly" for short. In the play, the ugly line hooks the face, but it outlines the "three-faced face", and the face spectrum is very different from the painted face.
Ugliness can be divided into Wen Chou and Wu Ugliness. Wen Chou is divided into square towel ugliness (literati, Confucian scholars); Wu Chou is good at wrestling, hitting, turning and jumping. According to the zodiac, ugliness belongs to cattle, which is stupid, and ugliness is synonymous with stupidity. The ugliness of martial arts on the stage is also called jumping, but it can say and jump, playing a lively and clever role, which is completely different from the ugliness of cattle people.
In addition, there is Su Chou, a white man from Suzhou, who plays the ugly official, the ugly robe in grass clothes and the ugly felt hat in the streets and farmers. Their roles are different and colorful.
Man-Han Banquet-The Highest State Banquet in Qing Dynasty
This is the highest standard "State Banquet" in Qing Dynasty, and it is also the most famous banquet in China history. Mainly Manchu snacks and Han cuisine, hence the name.
Because before the Qing Dynasty, pasta and dishes were monotonous, and catering was not particular. But after entering the Central Plains, Beijing will gather delicious food from all over the country. Moreover, the members of the royal chef are all composed of Manchu and Han chefs, thus combining all Chinese dishes into one. By the time of Kangxi, the Manchu-Chinese banquet had taken shape. It is said that when Michelle Ye (Kangxi), the holy father of the Qing Dynasty, tasted this colorful feast full of China dishes for the first time in the palace, he was extremely happy and full of praise, and wrote down the four characters "Man-Han Banquet", thus establishing its position in the palace banquet. During the Qianlong period, the Manchu-Han banquet reached its climax. And joined the Hui, Tibetan and Mongolian delicacies, forming the Manchu-Han "five-clan * * * celebration banquet". Its superb cooking skills, luxurious seats, exquisite tableware and complicated etiquette are unprecedented. This kind of feast can only be enjoyed by feudal emperors, queens, royal families and senior officials of the Qing court.
The Manchu-Han banquet began in the prosperous period of Kanggan, and has a history of more than 300 years. According to the regulations, there are 108 dishes, including 54 from the south and 54 from the north. There are 44 kinds of snacks, each of which needs dozens of kilograms of flour and many precious fruits. Man-Han banquet is a typical barbecue banquet. Because there are many famous dishes, it usually takes three days to taste them completely.
Beijing Roast Duck-The First Food in China
China roast duck has a long history. According to the records of Shibao in the Southern and Northern Dynasties (AD 420-589), there is a chapter about roast duck, which has a history of 1400 years. Roast duck was often eaten in the court of Ming and Qing dynasties, and later spread to the people. According to historical research, the first roast duck restaurant in Beijing, "Cheap Square", was founded in the fifth year of Xianfeng in Qing Dynasty (1855), and was listed for business in Romanesque Street in Xuanwu District, mainly engaged in braised roast duck. Most chefs who cook roast duck are Shandong Rong adults.
People, so Beijing roast duck is not only a palace flavor, but also a famous dish from Shandong.
Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant on the east side of Qianmen Street was founded by Yang Chuanren, a native of Jixian County, Hebei Province, in the third year of Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty (1864). It is famous for roast duck. Because of the more exquisite baking skills, the quality and reputation of baking soon surpassed that of cheap stores.
Roast duck is made of high-quality snow-white Beijing roast duck. According to research, the ancestral home of Beijing Duck was in the south, and it was transported to Beijing by water vessels in the early Ming Dynasty, and it was raised in Chaobai River area of JD.COM, hence the name "Baihe Duck". After that, they moved to Yuquan Mountain in the west of Beijing and raised them into fine varieties. Beijing stuffed ducks are bred by artificial breeding.
Beijing stuffed ducks grow fast and can grow to 5-7 kg in 60-65 days. The ducklings were fed freely 45 days ago, and finally 15-20 days, once every 6 hours, day and night. Duck stuffing must go through a series of processes, such as slaughtering, unhairing, eviscerating, washing, watering, advocating and painting, before it can be baked in the oven.
There are generally three baking methods:
1. The stewing furnace has a door, in which an iron grate is erected, straw is burned under the grate, the prepared stuffed duck is placed on the iron grate, and the oven door is closed for barbecue, so it is called stewing roast duck.
2. The hanging furnace method has an arched mouth and no door. The processed stuffed duck is hung on an iron hook in the oven, and the bottom is baked with pear wood or jujube wood.
3. Barbecued pork is similar to barbecued pork, and it must be operated by hand one by one, because the labor-consuming and time-consuming output is gradually eliminated.
Roast duck needs to be sliced and served on the table. Each duck needs to be cut into about 120 pieces. The meat must be fat and thin, and the technical requirements are high.
Duck slices with onion, cucumber strips, garlic paste (a little) and sweet noodle sauce, wrapped in lotus leaf cake or hollow sesame seed cake, fragrant, sweet, crisp and refreshing.