Foods for Qingming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day) 清明节的节令食品

在清明节的饮食方面，各地有不同的节令食品。
    Different places have different foods for Qingming Festival.
    由于寒食节与清明节合二为一的关系，一些地方还保留着清明节吃冷食的习惯。在山东，即墨吃鸡蛋和冷饽饽，莱阳、招远、长岛吃鸡蛋和冷高粱米饭，据说不这样的话就会遭冰雹。泰安吃冷煎饼卷生苦菜，据说吃了眼睛明亮。晋中一带还保留着清明前一日禁火的习惯。
    As Qingming (“tomb sweeping”) Festival and Cold Food Festival are on the same day, people in some places still have the custom of eating cold food on Qingming Festival. In Jimo of Shandong, people eat eggs and cold cake; in Laiyang, Zhaoyuan and Changdao of Shandong, people eat eggs and cold broomcorn. In Tai’an, people eat cold pancake with chicory.
    很多地方在完成祭祀仪式后，将祭祀食品分吃。晋南人过清明时，习惯用白面蒸大馍，中间夹有核桃、枣儿、豆子，外面盘成龙形，龙身中间扎一个鸡蛋，名为“子福”。要蒸一个很大的总“子福”，象征全家团圆幸福。上坟时，将总“子福”献给祖灵，扫墓完毕后全家分食之。上海旧俗，用柳条将祭祀用过的蒸糕饼团贯穿起来，晾干后存放着，到立夏那天，将之油煎，给小孩吃，据说吃了以后不得疰夏病。
    It is said that eating Qingming Festival food can make people’s eyes brighter. In central Shanxi, people do not even use fire for one day before Qingming Festival. In south Shanxi Province, people usually eat steamed bread for Qingming Festival. The bread is made into the shape of a dragon with walnuts, dates and beans inside. An egg is stuck in the central part of the dragon, which is called zifu (“good luck for the son”). A very large zifu should be cooked to represent family reunification and happiness, as well as to offer sacrifice to deceased ancestors. After sweeping the tomb, the whole family divides and eats the zifu. According to an old custom in Shanghai, people collected the steamed confections in wicker baskets and dried them for a sacrifice offering ceremony. On the day of Lixia (beginning of summer), the candies would be fried in oil for children. It is said that eating the food on Lixia can help children prevent summer fever.
    上海清明节时有吃青团的风俗。将雀麦草汁和糯米一起舂合，使青汁和米粉相互融合，然后包上豆沙、枣泥等馅料，用芦叶垫底，放到蒸笼内。蒸熟出笼的青团色泽鲜绿，香气扑鼻，是本地清明节最有特色的节令食品。上海也有的人家清明节爱吃桃花粥，在扫墓和家宴上爱用刀鱼。
    In Shanghai, people eat green rice balls during Qingming Festival. People mix the brome-grass juice with glutinous rice flour and make them into balls with sweetened bean paste and jujube paste as stuffing. Then, the balls are placed on reed leaves and steamed in steamers. The cooked balls are green and fragrant. It is the most seasonable food for Qingming Festival in Shanghai. In Shanghai, some people like eating peach-blossom porridge on Qingming Festival and use anchovy for sweep tombs and for dinners.
    在浙江湖州，清明节家家裹粽子，可作上坟的祭品，也可做踏青带的干粮。俗话说：“清明粽子稳牢牢。”清明前后，螺蛳肥壮。俗话说：“清明螺，赛只鹅。”农家有清明吃螺蛳的习惯，这天用针挑出螺蛳肉烹食，叫“挑青”。吃后将螺蛳壳扔到房顶上，据说屋瓦上发出的滚动声能吓跑老鼠，有利于清明后的养蚕。清明节这天，还要办社酒。同一宗祠的人家在一起聚餐。没有宗祠的人家，一般同一高祖下各房子孙们在一起聚餐。社酒的菜肴，荤以鱼肉为主，素以豆腐青菜为主，酒以家酿甜白酒为主。
    In Huzhou of Zhejiang, people make zongzi (a kind of pyramid-shaped dumpling made of glutinous rice wrapped in reed leaves) at home for tomb sweeping. They can also bring zongzi for hiking. As the saying goes, “In Qingming, zongzi is the major food.”
    Around the time of Qingming, snails are very fat. There is a proverb, “A snail in Qingming is as big as a goose.” In rural families, people have the custom of eating snails on Qingming Festival. On the day, people pick out the snail flesh with needles for cooking, which is called tiaoqing. Then, they threw the snail shells on the roofs and the sound of shells rolling on the roof can drive mice away. Without mice, people can raise silkworms at home after Qingming Festival. On the Qingming Festival, community feasts are usually held and families of the same ancestral halls gather together for the feast. For people with no ancestral hall, families with the same great grandfather gather together for the feasts. The dishes for the feasts are mainly fish, meat, tofu and vegetables. They also drink homemade liquor.
    浙江桐乡河山镇有“清明大似年”的说法，清明夜重视全家团圆吃晚餐，饭桌上少不了这样几个传统菜：炒螺蛳、糯米嵌藕、发芽豆、马兰头等。这几样菜都跟养蚕有关。把吃剩的螺蛳壳往屋里抛，据说声音能吓跑老鼠，毛毛虫会钻进壳里做巢，不再出来骚扰蚕。吃藕是祝愿蚕宝宝吐的丝又常又好。吃发芽豆是博得“发家”的口彩。吃马兰头等时鲜蔬菜，是取其“青”字，以合“清明”之“青”。
    In Heshan Town of Tongxiang in Zhejiang Province, there is a saying, “Qingming Festival is as important as the Spring Festival.” At night, a family usually have a reunio dinner with traditional dishes including fried snails, glutinous rice in lotus roots, faya dou (beans with buds), and malantou (a kind of wild green vegetable). Actually, these dishes are related to silkworm cultivation. People threw the snail shells on the roofs and the sound of shells rolling on the roof could drive mice away. Other worms would inhabit the shells and would not go out to harm silkworms. Eating lotus roots implies the hope that the silkworms can produce plenty of high-quality silk. Faya dou implies the meaning of becoming rich as faya is similar with fajia (becoming a rich family) in Chinese.