Why Eat Pears During the Start of Spring?
On the Start of Spring day, there's a folk custom of eating pears. Pears are rich in B vitamins, which protect the heart, reduce fatigue, enhance cardiac muscle vitality, lower blood pressure, combat exhaustion, and protect the liver. Do you know why pears are eaten during the Start of Spring?The primary reasons are as follows:
1. Because the Spring Awakening season marks the revival of all things! During this time, when warmth begins but cold lingers, it's crucial to stay warm. Additionally, the dry climate can easily cause dry mouth, throat irritation, and external coughs. Thus, the folk custom of eating pears during Spring Awakening emerged. Pears can be eaten raw, steamed, juiced, baked, or boiled in water.During this period, daily routines should align with the liver's nature. Eating pears supports spleen function, harmonizes the five organs, and strengthens the body's resistance to pathogens. Raw pears are cool in nature and sweet in taste, offering benefits like moistening the lungs, relieving coughs, nourishing yin, and clearing heat. This makes them particularly suitable for consumption in this season.
2.In ancient times, with greater biological diversity and no 100% effective cures for some infectious diseases, the Jīngzhé day marked the awakening of all insects. Eating pears served as a reminder to be cautious and take preventive measures. The word for pear (梨) sounds similar to "depart" (离), symbolizing the wish for illness to depart from the body. In northern Jiangsu and Shanxi regions, families traditionally eat pears on Jīngzhé, with a folk saying: "Eat pears on Jīngzhé, and stay energetic all year!"Others suggest the "li" in pear also signifies "departure," believing that eating pears on this day wards off pests from crops, ensuring a bountiful harvest throughout the year. 3. Eating pears on Jingzhe may also stem from the homophonic connection between "li" (pear) and "li" (plow). 4. Consuming pears on Jingzhe carries the connotation of leaving home to pursue one's career.The renowned Jin merchant family, the Qus, traces its ancestry to Quji from Changzi County in Shangdang. In the early Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, Quji traveled with his sons Xin and Yi, trading Shangdang's hemp and pears for coarse cloth and red dates from Qixian. Over time, they accumulated wealth and settled in Qixian.During the Yongzheng era, Qu Baichuan set out for the Western Pass on the very day of the Awakening of Insects. His father gave him a pear to eat and said, "Our ancestors started their business by trading pears, enduring hardships before settling in Qixian."Today, on the day of the awakening of insects, you are heading west. Eat this pear so you will not forget our ancestors, strive to build your fortune, and bring honor to our family." Qu Baichuan traveled west, engaged in trade, and became wealthy. He named his business Changyuanhou. Later, those who also traveled west imitated the custom of eating pears, often with the intention of leaving home to start a business. Later still, eating pears on the day of the awakening of insects also came to carry the meaning of striving to bring honor to one's ancestors.
Methods for Eating Pears on the Day of Awakening the Insects
Pears can be consumed raw after coring and peeling, then juiced; steamed after coring; or sliced and simmered with rock sugar and white fungus. Stewed pears with fritillary bulb offer some relief for coughs. However, as pears possess a cold nature, excessive consumption at once may harm the spleen and stomach.Those with spleen-stomach deficiency-cold or elevated blood sugar should avoid raw pears.
1. Juice Preparation: Take a raw pear, remove core and peel, then juice to yield 1 cup (approx. 400ml). Add 10g rock sugar,one Sterculia lychnophora seed. Boil and consume for moisturizing the lungs, generating fluids, soothing the throat, and improving voice clarity. Alternatively, blend raw pear and lotus root into juice, mix with honey, and drink for strengthening the spleen, clearing the heart, and moisturizing the lungs.First, soak almonds in boiling water, remove skins, and rinse clean. Peel snow pear, wash, and dice flesh. Place almonds and pear dice in a blender and puree. Mix almond puree, pear puree, yam, Chinese yam starch, and white sugar with sufficient water to form a paste. Pour into a pot of boiling water (approx. 100ml), stirring constantly until cooked. Consume as desired.
3. Steamed Preparation: 1 fresh pear, 3g Fritillaria thunbergii powder, 10g rock sugar. Core the pear. Mix the Fritillaria powder and rock sugar into a fine powder and stuff into the pear cavity. Steam for 45 minutes. This method enhances the pear's ability to moisten the lungs, relieve coughing, and dissolve phlegm.
4. Boiled water preparation: Take 120g of pork lung, wash and slice it. Boil in water for 5 minutes, then rinse with cold water. Wash and crush 9g of Fritillaria thunbergii. Wash the snow pear with skin intact, remove the stem and core, then cut the flesh with skin into small pieces. Place all ingredients into a pot of boiling water and simmer over low heat for 2 hours. Season to taste and drink as desired.
It is said that eating raw pears clears heat from the six腑 organs, while cooked pears nourish the yin of the five腑 organs. Whether eaten raw or cooked, consuming pears on the day of Jīngzhé (Awakening of Insects) is a folk tradition that embodies seasonal eating.