年·飯

年·飯

THE SPRING FESTIVAL FEAST

Text by Wei Lei Translation by Tao Wenjia

Chinese always say that people consider food as their lives.In the whole year, the meal that is even more significant than life is called the Spring Festival Feast.

At this specific time, the agricultural civilisation overlaps with the long tradition of appreciating food.The feelings Chinese have with their ancestors and descendants, the pursuit they have for food and taste, the love for their hometown, the appeal for the Dao of nature and human ethics, all are mixed into this sumptuous feast.

Families reunite at Tulou, the typical local architecture in Fujian Province.（Photographed by Hu Jianwen)除夕，福建客家土樓，天圓地方團圓夜。（攝/胡劍文）

中國人常說，民以食為天。一年中，中國人認為比天還大的『食』，叫作年飯。農耕文化與飲食傳統在這個特殊的時點重合，中國人對先祖與后世的情感，對食與味的追求，對家鄉與故土的眷念，對天道與人倫的訴求，都寄托在這豐盛的歡宴之中。

Meals that are connected to the Spring Festival probably start from December of the Lunar calendar.From this time to New Year's eve, and then to Jan 15th, Spring Festival, the Festival for great food is about one mouth long.Typical dishes are Laba porridge, dumplings, and glutinous rice balls.Other than these, there are unique local foods and traditional snacks all varied in different places.All kinds of foods were put together to become different types of Spring Festival Feasts.

The most important meal of the feast is the New Year's Eve meal.No matter how far you are from home, you must try your best to go back and make it to this meal, only so that you can have an actual Spring Festival.This is the most fundamental wish for the Chinese.The biggest annual human migration in the world - the Spring Festival travel rush - is born because everyone just needs to be back home for this meal.

The New Year's Eve meal represents both the achievements in the past year for the whole family, and luck for the following year.The type of food, prices, and cooking skills are so much more complicated than usual.Most people eat rice for the rest of the year, so on this day they will have rice cake.They may have chicken often, but on this day they have to cook a whole chicken for presentation.

“This is the most special meal of the year, so everyone has to make the most complicated dishes, such as fried lychee.”Xiao Chunlei wrote in the aritical People tried to make the best dishes with their most skilled cooking.Many families start their food preparation a dozen days before the New Year.Some even have to dry fi sh, prepare for different sauces, and make sweet rice wine.The agricultural civilisation has great impact on our nation, so lots of foods that are pronounced similar to the pronunciations of “auspicious”, “richness”,“abundance” will be presented on the New Year's eve dining table.

This meal represents the face and fortune of the whole family, so the duties of preparing this meal are very similar to that of running a family.The most important person in the family will be in charge of preparing dishes, cooking them and hosting the meal.When they present some unusually complicated or expensive dishes, the whole family cheers, and at that time, you can feel the atmosphere of Spring Festival and family most evidently.

China is now no longer in its Agricultural Age, however, the Chinese who kept their thousandyear traditions, are still very emotional and hopeful for both the spring that signals the beginning of agriculture, and the feast to welcome the spring.

1.In Jiaxing city in Zhejiang, people make cured meat.(Photographed by Shen Zhicheng)浙江嘉興，曬臘味。（攝/沈志成）

2.In Beijing, a family have their dinner for New Year's Eve.(Photographed by Dantou)北京，普通人家的年夜飯。（攝/擔頭）

3.At the Temple of Marquis in Chengdu city, people drink tea and watch operas to celebrate the coming of new year.(Photographed by Chen Jin)成都武侯祠，人們喝茶、看戲，迎接新年。（攝/陳錦）

4.In Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province,children were setting off fireworks in the courtyard,and delicious dinner that awaits every household.(Photographed by Liu Xiao)山西運城,大人忙著年夜飯，孩子們在院子里玩花炮。(攝/劉瀟)

跟過年有關的“飯”，大概從臘月就開始了。從臘八到除夕到十五，跨數十天的春節，也是美食的狂歡節。除了代表性的食物臘八粥、餃子和湯圓，不同地方還有各自的祭祀美食、傳統小吃、零食甜品穿插其間，形成一套完整而豐富的“年”食體系。

其中最重要的一餐，是除夕晚上的年夜飯。不管多遠，都要盡全力趕回家，吃上這頓團圓飯，才算是真正過上“年”了。這是中國人最基本的愿望，世界每年最大的“遷徙人潮”——春運，也是為趕上這餐飯誕生。

年夜飯，是全家一年成績的檢閱，也是來年全家運勢的象征。無論在食材的種類、價格，烹飪的手藝、難度，菜單的制定、順序，都比平時講究很多。“天天吃米飯，這時主食就要換成年糕和白粿；你也許經常吃雞，但這時就要講求氣派，燉只全雞；一年就這么一餐，什么復雜上什么，比如炸荔枝肉。”作家蕭春雷寫到。人們爭相把公認最好的食物，最復雜的工藝秀出來，很多家庭年前就得儲備好夠全家人吃十幾天的豐富物資，有些地方甚至要提前一兩個月開始曬魚干、腌醬料、做酒釀。農業文明對華夏民族有深遠的影響，許多象征物產豐收的，與 “吉祥”“發財”“富余”同音的食材，都是籌備年夜飯的必備。

這餐飯，代表一個家族的臉面和運勢。籌備一桌年飯，跟操持一個家，似乎有差不多的責任。負責備菜、掌勺、開席的，通常都是家里最有分量的人。當籌備者端上幾道平時不常做費時費工的“傳家拿手菜”，或者一些平時吃不到的“豪氣大菜”，在全家老小快樂的驚呼和滿足笑容中，年與家的感覺，都開始更加強烈起來。

如今，中國已不再是農耕時代，然而，守著千年習俗的人們，對一年農耕開端的“春”與“迎春”之盛宴，依舊滿懷情感和希望。