Just a tradition. It doesn’t have to be painted. Generally, when making many, many red eggs, you go to the grocery store in the market to buy them (just say the coloring used to make red eggs, or go to the food store to buy coloring dye), which is essentially the food coloring carmine.
There is such a folk song among Chinese people: "Red eggs, face full of strings, I will eat your happy buns this year, and eat your red eggs next year." Xi buns are an auspicious food for weddings. Custom food, popular legend: if you take the steamed buns back home, your relatives will be lucky if you eat them. Therefore, this song is an auspicious word for blessing. If we understand it literally, the two red eggs at the beginning and end of this sentence have different meanings. The first "red egg" appears as a sacred object, and there are prayers for children. The effect of blessing; then a "red egg" became a sign of good news of the birth of a child, and it was also an object that played a role in announcing. Distributing eggs dyed red with paint to relatives and friends is a popular way to express joy throughout the country. It is often used on various festive occasions such as weddings, childbirth, and "full moon" ceremonies to show celebration and good luck. So why do people distribute "red eggs" to express joy and happiness? What are the folk meanings of "red eggs" are explained in detail below.
The tradition of giving red eggs exists in many ethnic groups in various places. The main viewpoints are: the egg-laying myth theory, the auspicious object theory, the totem worship theory, the fertility worship theory and the theory of warding off evil spirits and warding off disasters.
1. The myth of egg-laying:
Our ancestors traced the formation of the heaven and earth and the origin of human beings in their imaginations. The influence of the "egg-laying" myth can be summarized based on ancient books. The earliest account of the creation of the world by Pangu, the ancestor of the Three Kingdoms, was written by Xu Zheng of the Three Kingdoms: "The heaven and earth were as chaotic as chicken eggs, and Pangu gave birth to his orders. Eighteen thousand years old, the heaven and earth were opened up, and the clear yang became the sky, and the yin became the sky. Turbidity is the earth..." Another "Historical Records" describes the origin of merchants: Jian Di, the daughter of the Nu family, "saw a black bird dropping its eggs, Jian Di took them and swallowed them, and she gave birth to Qi". Qi was the ancestor of merchants; it also stated that Qin was the ancestor of merchants. Origin of human beings: When the female cultivator, the granddaughter of Zhuanxu, was weaving silk, "the black bird fell and swallowed the egg, and the female cultivator swallowed it, which led to a great cause of giving birth to a child." The great cause was the ancestor of the Qin people. It is this vague primitive admiration for "eggs" that has formed the traditional culture among the people that associates eggs with birth and the inheritance of the family line. And red is regarded as a festive and auspicious color among the people, so it is mostly red eggs.
2. The auspicious thing said:
The power of red eggs is not just for eating. Folk crafts such as "carved eggs and painted eggs" have been in existence since ancient times. Moreover, this is reflected in the custom materials Many historical records can also be found in . Liang Zongmao of the Southern Dynasty records the custom of "carved chicken eggs" in "The Chronicles of Jingchu Years", and notes: "In ancient times, the food of wealthy families was called painted eggs. In today's era, it is still dyed with blue and green variegated colors, and carvings are still added, and they are handed over to each other for payment. Or put them on a plate." It can be seen from this that "carving chicken eggs" or painting eggs means dyeing and painting eggs as gifts and edible delicacies between friends. In the "Ye Zhong Ji" cited in Volume 15 of Chen Yuanliang's "Sui Shi Guang Ji" of the Song Dynasty, there is also a record of "on cold food days, it is customary to draw chickens to pay for it", which shows that this custom has been spread among the people and gradually developed into a folk custom. Traditional craftsmanship has become a good gift for various festive occasions, and the color has gradually evolved to a single red that can best convey the festive meaning. Until now, carved and painted eggs are still a kind of folk handicraft. People have developed from worshiping "eggs" to loving red eggs and considering them as auspicious things.
3. Totem worship theory:
From an archaeological perspective, it can be seen that a considerable proportion of Chinese primitive culture is the totem worship of "birds". Hemudu and Liangzhu There are a large number of bird patterns in the Majiayao culture, and the so-called "black birds" of the ancients, including the phoenix, which later became one of the representative totems of the Chinese nation, are all based on undomesticated jungle fowls. Therefore, "chicken" has become the basis of people's primitive totem worship in reality. "Historical Records? Qin Benji" tells of a female nun who swallowed eggs, and her descendant Da Lian was "Shi Niao Su Shi". "The body is like a bird but it can speak. Also, the mouth and hands and feet are like birds." From this we know that the people of Qin also Taking the pheasant as a totem. From the love and admiration for chickens, it gradually developed into the folk custom of red eggs, which is infiltrated with rich historical information.
4. Reproductive worship theory:
The custom of red eggs is a legacy of human reproductive worship culture in primitive society. Eggs can hatch chickens, so people can give birth to children by eating eggs. Therefore, the ancients always "Chicken" means egg. This idea based on the understanding of the function of eggs can be derived from a series of specific behaviors. Young Bai women in Heqing, Yunnan, often go to the river pond to beg for food before spring plowing. The beggar holds two hard-boiled red eggs, bathes in the pond, and rubs his body with the red eggs. After returning home, he shares the food with his husband. Red eggs. This behavior of rolling red eggs on the body is very similar to the "red eggs, all over the face" sung in the folk song at the beginning of this article. So, why should eggs, which have the function of incubating offspring, be dyed red? In this regard, the "reproductive worship theory" has also made an explanation that is different from the "egg laying myth theory" that red is a festive color, and believes that this It is the inheritance of the concept of menstrual blood worship of the early people. This view is evidenced by the "Manuscripts of Chinese History": "It is understood that some clans and tribes that are still in the primitive social stage in modern times believe that red represents blood, the source of life and the parasite of the soul" ("China" edited by Guo Moruo "Historical Manuscript" Volume 1, Shanghai People's Publishing House, 1976 edition, page 31).
5.? Theory of warding off evil spirits and warding off disasters:
The custom of red eggs also originated from the use of witch doctors’ techniques to ward off evil spirits and ward off disasters.
The ancients regarded the chicken as the leader of hundreds of birds and believed that it had the function of suppressing evil spirits. For example, the "Spring and Autumn Movement Dou Shu" said: "The powder of Yuheng Xingjing is the chicken"; the "Spring and Autumn Commentary" said: "The chicken is the accumulation of yang" , the symbol of the south, the fire-yang essence is in flames, so the yang comes out and the cock crows." etc., all reflect the ancients' understanding of the divinity of the chicken. Chickens come from eggs and eggs are laid by chickens, so it is natural that eggs also have divinity. In the old days, the custom of using eggs for divination was still popular among the people; the ancients also believed that every festive event would be disturbed by monsters, or that diseases would invade people during certain solar terms and times, so they ate eggs as a precaution. For example, today's custom of "eating eggs on March 3rd" in some areas of the Central Plains and Southwest, as well as the popular folk tradition of letting newlyweds eat red eggs on wedding eve, can be inferred that the custom of red eggs is actually derived from the witchcraft of eggs to ward off evil spirits. .
To sum up, red eggs are an auspicious thing in Chinese folk, and they have the meaning of blessing and giving birth to children, joy and happiness. The folk song at the beginning of this article is what relatives and friends say to the newlyweds before the wedding or during the ceremony. The best wishes for a safe and happy life and a full family of descendants.