Why eat eggs after giving birth?

First, introduction. There is a folk song circulating in China: "Red eggs, full strings, eat your happy buns this year and eat your red eggs next year." Steamed buns are an auspicious wedding custom food. It is said that it is lucky for relatives to take it home to eat. Therefore, this ballad belongs to the auspicious language of blessing. Literally, the two red eggs at the beginning and end of this sentence have different meanings. The former "red egg" appears as a sacred object and has the function of praying for the blessing of the son. Then a "red egg" becomes a sign of the good news of a child's birth, and it is also an object that plays a role in announcing. Distributing eggs dyed red with pigments to relatives and friends is a popular way to express happiness all over the country. It is often used in wedding, childbirth, "full moon" and other festive occasions to show celebration and auspiciousness. Then why do people send "red preserved eggs" to express happiness? This paper will discuss the folk meaning of "Red Egg" according to this folk song. Second, the tradition of eating red eggs everywhere. People in China have always had the tradition of sharing red eggs, mainly to celebrate birthdays or pray for children. The following is the custom of leaving red eggs in several small plots. 1. In Weishan County, Shandong Province, after the bride was sent to the bridal chamber, the woman who helped her get off the sedan chair lifted the sedan chair face, rolled a few red eggs on her face, and read auspicious words while rolling: "Red eggs, a string of faces, eat your favorite steamed bread this year, and eat your favorite eggs next year." In other rural areas, one or two days before the wedding, the woman has to undergo plastic surgery: wringing her face. They twisted some fluff from her forehead and back neck with two twisted red lines. Specifically, please ask the two eldest sisters to take turns, one tight, one loose and one tight, and screw off the fluff. Twist her face and roll two red eggs on her face. . Then, sprinkle some powder on the bride's face, which can not only cover the "distorted" blood spots, but also beautify her face. The red egg also played a role in this program. Although the specific lyrics are different, the expression content remains the same. In the old society, boys born in Jiaoxian reported good news to their parents on the third day, and girls reported good news on the sixth day. When my husband's family went, they brought 20 steamed buns, weighing 1 kg. Otherwise, the children will be difficult to raise, and parents will have to go back 19 red eggs and 4 bowls of millet. The first person they meet on the road will give them red eggs. This is called "everyone loves everyone"; 4. In Penglai County, boys bring roosters to report good news and girls use hens to report good news, which shows the important position of chickens and eggs in traditional folk customs. 5. In Zouxian County, boys report good news with a book and girls with a flower. In addition, they send "good news eggs" to neighbors and relatives, that is, when the eggs are dyed red, parents, relatives and neighbors come to congratulate their new happiness, which is called "sending porridge rice" or "sending Tommy"; In Kaifeng area, babies often bring red eggs when they report good news after birth. If it is a boy, if you want six or eight, it must be an even number. After dyeing red, you should also use ink to put a black spot on one end of the egg to show "great joy". The reason why boys give even numbers is because when children grow up, it is easy to find a daughter-in-law, and when they are paired with a daughter-in-law, they can have a good full moon. If it is a girl, the egg is only dyed red, and there are no black spots. The number is 5 or 7, and it must be singular, meaning "little Xi". Sending an odd number of eggs means that there is one more girl at home and she can get married in the future.

Third, the origin of red egg folklore. The tradition of sharing red eggs exists in many ethnic groups in China. The main viewpoints are: spawning myth, auspicious things, totem worship, reproductive worship and evil spirits. 1. The myth of spawning says:

Our ancestors traced the formation of heaven and earth and the origin of human beings in imagination, and the influence of the myth of "egg-laying" can be summarized by synthesizing ancient books. The story of the ancestor Pangu's creation was first seen in the May 3rd Calendar written by Xú Zhēng in the Three Kingdoms period: "Heaven and earth are chaotic like chickens, Pangu was born in its order, and it was 18,000 years old, and the sky was sunny, and the ground was cloudy ..." In Historical Records, there was also the origin of a merchant: Judy, the daughter of the Wajia family, "When a bird falls its egg, Judy takes it and swallows it. The origin of Qin people is also described: when Zhuan Xu's granddaughter weaves silks, "the mysterious bird lays its eggs, and the female show swallows them, giving birth to a great cause", which is the ancestor of Qin people. It is this hazy primitive worship of "egg" that has formed a traditional culture that links eggs with birth and family inheritance among the people. Red is regarded as a festive and auspicious color among the people, so it is mostly red preserved eggs. 2. Auspicious things say:

The merits of red eggs are not only eating alone, but also the folk handicraft of "carving eggs and painting eggs" has existed since ancient times, and many historical records can be found in customs materials. Liang Zonggu of the Southern Dynasties recorded the custom of "carving chickens and laying eggs" in the Chronicle of Jingchu, and noted: "An ancient aristocratic family ate painted eggs. To this day, I am still dyed with the colorful blue words, still adding carvings, handing over the legacy, or setting up. " It can be seen that "carving eggs" or painting eggs is a good gift and food for friends after dyeing and painting eggs. There is also a record in Nakano, which is quoted from Volume 15 of Song Chen's "Guang Ji at the Age of Years", indicating that this custom has been circulating among the people, and gradually matured into a traditional folk craft, becoming a good gift for various festive occasions, and the color has gradually evolved into a single red that can best render the festive meaning. Today, carving and painting eggs is still a folk handicraft. People have developed from the worship of "eggs" to the love of red eggs, and regard them as auspicious things. 3. Totem worship theory:

From the perspective of archaeology, it can be found that a considerable proportion of the primitive culture in China is the totem worship of "birds", and there are a large number of bird patterns in Hemudu, Liangzhu and Majiayao cultures. The so-called "mysterious birds" of the ancients, including Phoenix, which later became one of the representative totems of the Chinese nation, are all based on the original chickens that have not been domesticated. So "chicken" has become the support of people's primitive totem worship in reality. Historical records? There is an egg-swallowing female disciple in Qin Benji, and her descendant Da Lian is a "true bird, a layman". "The body is a bird that can talk. There are also clouds with hands and feet like birds. " This shows that Qin people also take pheasants as totems. From the worship of chickens, it has gradually developed into the folk custom of red eggs, which is permeated with rich historical information. 4. Reproductive worship theory:

The custom of red eggs is the legacy of human reproductive worship culture in primitive society. Eggs can hatch chickens, so people can have children by eating eggs. So the ancients used "chicken" instead of eggs. This kind of thinking based on the understanding of egg function can be deduced from a series of specific behavior patterns. Young Bai women in Heqing, Yunnan often go to the pond for education before spring ploughing. The beggars took two boiled red eggs in their hands, bathed in the pond, wiped their bodies with them, and shared them with their husbands when they got home. This kind of behavior of the red egg rubbing against the body is very similar to the folk song "A string of faces of the red egg" sung at the beginning of this article. So, why do eggs with the function of incubating children have to be dyed red again? In this regard, the "reproductive worship theory" has also made a different explanation from the "spawning myth theory", thinking that red is a festive color and that it is an inheritance of the early people's concept of menstrual blood worship. This view is proved in China's historical manuscripts: "It is understood that some clans and tribes still in the primitive social stage in modern times think that red represents blood, and blood is the source of life and the parasitic place of the soul" (China Historical Manuscripts, edited by Guo Moruo, Volume I, Shanghai People's Publishing House, 1976, 3 1. 5. ward off evil spirits and eliminate disasters:

The custom of red eggs also originated from the application of witch doctors to ward off evil spirits. The ancients regarded chicken as the length of a hundred birds and thought it had the power to subdue demons. For example, in the Spring and Autumn Annals, the cloud "Yu Hengxing is a chicken"; The Spring and Autumn Notes said: "Chicken is the product of Yang, the image of the south, and fire yang is the essence, so Yang crows". These all reflect the ancient people's understanding of the divinity of chickens. Chickens come from eggs, and eggs are born from chickens, so eggs naturally have divinity. In the old society, the folk custom of divination with eggs was still popular; The ancients also believed that when celebrating, there must be evil spirits interfering with each other, or diseases attacking people in certain solar terms and hours, so we should be careful not to eat eggs. For example, the custom of "eating eggs on March 3" in some areas of the Central Plains and Southwest China today, as well as the popular folk tradition of sharing red eggs with newlyweds on their wedding night, can be inferred that the custom of red eggs actually comes from the witchcraft of eggs to ward off evil spirits. To sum up, the red egg is an auspicious thing in China, which means blessing and happiness. The folk songs at the beginning of this article are the best wishes of all relatives and friends for the couple's life and for their children and grandchildren before marriage or ceremony.