Every year during the Spring Festival, chicken is a must-have banquet on the table. Eating chicken indicates good luck and everything goes well in the coming year. In the past, every household raised a few chickens, but the chicken was mainly used to lay eggs. Hens lay eggs, can eat eggs, and can also alleviate their difficulties in life. Why? Because many farmers, if they have no food, or if they have firewood, rice, oil and salt, they will sell some frugal eggs to the market to exchange for pocket money and buy daily necessities. Chicken are poultry that must be raised in rural areas. Every spring, chicks are left the market. Rural families will catch some chicks to raise. In the past, the living conditions are poor, and it is not easy to raise chicks that can be raised to lay eggs. Generally, the survival rate is 50%. Most of the people who survive are hens, and a few are roosters. By the end of the year, except for one or two roosters that are rushing to the dawn, the rest will always be slaughtered one or two roosters for the New Year. On the 27th day of the 12th lunar month, this day is the day to slaughter chickens to the market. Those who have chickens at home must sharpen their knives and slaughter chickens. If anyone who does not raise chickens, they will go to the market to buy chickens. In short, they always have to eat chickens during the Chinese New Year.
slaughtering chickens is quite difficult, it is not a job that ordinary people can do. I remember one year when my mother was about to kill the chicken, the door of the chicken cage opened later. When the knife was sharpened and everything was ready, she reached into the chicken cage and touched the rooster waiting to be slaughtered. It was easy to find, and the only thing that the rooster was tilting his head and clattering was enough to catch him when he went up. If the chicken cage is opened early in the morning, then it will be difficult to catch the rooster in broad daylight! The native chickens in the countryside are running well. If you run around the yard, you may not be able to catch them, and you will be exhausted and panting. If you don’t use a net bag to grab it, it will probably be rare. Therefore, experienced peasant women usually put roosters in chicken cages and follow the clues to make it safer.
Let’s talk about it again, slaughter the chicken. A rooster is not easy to kill, and it is not easy to kill with one knife. It must be sealed with blood from the sword. The rooster is powerful and strong. To be honest, it is powerful on weekdays. It always bullies the hen and chases the hen to press the eggs (fertilization), but he is also the most diligent. Every morning, he always goes by alone to make people get up and work. In this regard, it should be thanked. Why are farmers so diligent in rural areas? It was because I heard the Gongming. Generally, if the rooster crows three times, he will get up and go to work. Although I feel sorry for it, in order to have a good New Year, I have to slaughter the rooster. At worst, I can catch some chicks to raise them tomorrow. When killing chickens, you usually pinch the chicken wings and the comb with one hand to make the chicken neck arched, and hold a sharp knife in the other hand to aim at the throat between the chicken neck, gently pull it, and use it to flow the chicken blood into the small bowl, throw the blood to the ground, and the rooster rolls on the ground in pain, and will not move in a short while. When your body becomes hard, then put it in boiling water to scald the hair, pick it clean, break the chamber, and then hang it on the wall, just wait for the New Year to enjoy it. The important thing is to kill the chicken, be steady, accurate, otherwise it will be difficult to kill the rooster, and it will have to be repaired, which is very troublesome.
folk song says: "On the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, kill the chicken." Generally, killing only one chicken is enough for the family to enjoy during the Chinese New Year. If there are guests, you can kill one more. Of course, if you don’t raise chickens at home, you can go to the market on the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month and buy a chicken at the market. You can also purchase firecrackers, Spring Festival couplets, incense and candles, burn paper, beef and mutton, various gifts for children, and various flower ornaments for girls. On this day, markets everywhere were very prosperous.
Why is it necessary for the rooster to be slaughtered on the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month? Can't hens do it? Few people think about this issue. If they look deeper, they will understand that in the past patriarchal society dominated by men, people subconsciously agreed with the view that men are the most important, believing that heroes are the best. On such a grand festival as the New Year, a rooster will naturally be killed. Moreover, the rooster itself is very beautiful, majestic, proud, and very grand.The stewed rooster that day was slaughtered and stewed at the New Year's Eve feast, and the whole chicken plate was placed in a plate in the middle of the table. The feast could not be disassembled into a bowl of chicken nuggets. People gave it a good name, called "Good luck".
This chicken cannot be eaten completely on New Year's Eve. After it is set on the table, everyone only eats a few bites symbolically, and then waits for the end of dinner to remove the dish along with the rest of the meal, but the rooster is still kept alone. From now on, whenever it is time to eat, the rooster will be brought up again. People should also follow the rules of eating only a little bit. Until the chicken becomes a little sour, everyone will quickly eat the chicken. This rooster with neat body represents good luck, so during the festival, it is placed on the dining table every day, expressing people's wishes for good luck.
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