Beginning of Summer · FFET10323
Tasting the three new foods at Lixia
On Lixia, people offer cherries, green plums and new wheat to gods and ancestors before eating them, and the 3 foods differ by place.
Summer begins; crops grow fast and the summer harvest takes shape
At Lixia, Jiangnan households offer seasonal new fruit and grain to gods and ancestors, then eat it, a custom called tasting or seeing the 3 new foods (sanxin). The Qing book Qingjialu records Suzhou's cherries, green plums and wheat, called jian sanxin; Jiaxing substitutes bamboo shoots. The record is known here through a 2026 retelling; the 1830 first printing comes from a separate 2025 article that omits sanxin, and the original was not checked, so 1830 is not given as the custom's date.
What
At Lixia, households offer the season's newly ripe fruit and grain to gods and ancestors, then eat it. This is called tasting the 3 new foods (sanxin); in the Suzhou area, the saying is that Lixia sees the 3 new foods.1,2
When
Lixia falls around May 5. The Qing book Qingjialu records the practice and was first printed in 1830 (Daoguang year 10); the custom is known here only through a 2026 retelling, and the printing date comes from a 2025 article on weighing that does not mention sanxin. The original was not checked, so this remains a secondhand account of a Qing record.1,4
Where
Across Jiangnan. Suzhou sets out cherries, green plums and new wheat; Jiaxing replaces wheat with bamboo shoots; Changshu has a larger feast. Nanjing has 3 sets: snails, river shrimp and shad from water; amaranth, broad beans and pea cake from land; cherries, green plums and toon shoots from trees. These local customs appear in accounts from 2013, 2024 and 2026.1,2,3
How
The foods are set out for gods and ancestors, and the family eats them afterward. The foods differ from town to town.1,2
Why
The custom honors ancestors with summer's newly ripe fruit and grain before the family tastes the new produce.1,2
Impact and influence
Regional coverage around Lixia in 2024 and 2026 continues to describe the custom, whose 3 foods differ by place.1,3
No tale about this food has been found.