The custom of being a vegetarian in jiaozi on New Year's Day.
Many places in China have the custom of being vegetarian on the first day of the New Year. The ancients said that "fasting for one day makes no difference in killing everything in the world", and "being a vegetarian on New Year's Day" may also be related to this. Being vegetarian on the first day of the new year can add joy and peace to the first day of the new year and herald peace and happiness throughout the year.
1. Hainan: The custom of eating fast food to worship ancestors on the first day of the first lunar month means good luck.
The new year is coming, hang red lights and put up couplets. The streets and alleys of Haikou are really lively! Spring Festival is an important festival in China folk tradition. It is the first festival in the four seasons, so it is especially valued by people. In Haikou, there are two special customs on the first day of the new year: fasting and ancestor worship.
Haikou people say "fast", in a broad sense, is vegetarian. The method of making Haikou vegetarian pot is very particular. First, soak dried vegetables such as yuba, vermicelli, day lily, shiitake mushroom and auricularia auricula, rinse them, soak them in boiling water, filter and dry them, then stir-fry them with hot oil and simmer them with slow fire for later use. Wash and cut black bean sprouts, beets, cress, etc. Stir-fry separately and add half flavor; Cut the dried bean curd into long strips, fry it in hot oil until it is yellow, and then add seasoning until it is half-flavored. Then, heat the pot. After the oil is hot, put all the ingredients in, add water, add some soy sauce, monosodium glutamate and sesame oil, and cook thoroughly with low fire. Then put the cooked vegetarian dishes into a casserole at regular intervals according to the color of the raw materials, and cook them with medium heat to eat.
Eating vegetarian food on the first day of Haikou is a custom handed down by ancestors during the Spring Festival. On the first day, you don't eat meat, so you have to eat quickly, which means you won't kill anything in the next year. Eating "fast food" on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month will make this day safe and auspicious. On the morning of the first day, people, old and young, have to get up and eat "fast food" (that is, clean and white to commemorate their ancestors). "Vegetarianism" is not only similar to Muslim halal food, but also just like northerners must eat fish (for more than one year) during the New Year. What they eat must have auspicious meanings, including fried eggplant (which means eggplant is getting better every year in Hainan dialect), fried celery (which is homophonic with "Qin" and "hard work", I hope the whole family will work hard in the new year) and long fans (which means living).
Second, Guangdong: Pay attention to vegetarianism on the first day of the New Year and pray for a long life.
As for why you should be a vegetarian on the first day of New Year's Day, it is usually said that being a vegetarian on the first day of New Year's Day is equivalent to being a vegetarian all year round, which is intended to pray for a long life.
Judging from the development trend of modern diet, this custom left by our ancestors allows people with ample food and clothing to spend the Spring Festival and rest their tired stomachs, so this traditional custom has become more and more fashionable.
Vegetarian restaurants in Guangzhou are becoming more and more popular. As the Spring Festival approaches, the New Year's Eve banquets in vegetarian restaurants have already been booked for 7788, especially on New Year's Day. Boiling for two or three rounds in a row is nothing. Some restaurants even book ten rounds of super "running seats", which is still in short supply!