She Day (Earth God Festival) · FFET10342
She Day festival rice and offerings
On She Day neighbors honor the earth god and share sacrificial meat; the Northern Song had she cake, wine and rice, and in 2024 Dong families in Tianzhu, Guizhou, steamed she rice.
In spring the village prays to the earth god for grain, and in autumn gives thanks for the harvest
She Day is a spring and an autumn day for honoring the earth god. Neighbors banded together, killed animals, made an offering under a tree and shared the meat (Jingchu Suishiji; this passage does not name she rice). At autumn She Day in the Northern Song, people sent she cake and she wine to relatives, and the palace prepared meat for she rice (Dongjing Menghua Lu, vol. 8). In 2024, Dong families in 1 township of Tianzhu County, Guizhou, steamed she rice of mugwort greens, cured pork, dried tofu, scallion, garlic and rice at the She festival to offer to the earth god and their ancestors.
What
She Day is a day for honoring the earth god. Neighbors make an offering together, share it, and eat the foods of the day. In the Northern Song, people sent she cake and she wine to relatives and the palace prepared meat for she rice; in 2024, Dong families in Tianzhu, Guizhou, steamed she rice at the She festival.1,2,3,5
When
Once in spring and once in autumn. Before the Han there was only spring She Day; from the Song, the day fell on the 5th wu day after the start of spring and the start of autumn.2
Where
In 2024, Dong families in 1 township of Tianzhu County, Guizhou, steamed she rice at the She festival.5
How
Neighbors banded together, killed animals, made an offering under a tree and shared the meat, with a saying that 100 families share 1 she (Jingchu Suishiji). At autumn She Day, people sent she cake and she wine to relatives, and the palace prepared meat for she rice (Dongjing Menghua Lu, vol. 8). In the Southern Song, families with married daughters exchanged new gourds and jujubes on autumn She Day (Mengliang Lu, vol. 4). In 2024, Dong families in Tianzhu steamed mugwort greens, cured pork, dried tofu, scallion, garlic and rice into she rice to offer to the earth god and their ancestors.1,3,4,5
Why
She Day honors the earth god and has a tradition of communal feasts.2
Impact and influence
She Day has traditions of communal feasts and performances. The Tianzhu She festival is a Guizhou provincial intangible cultural heritage item and drew over 20,000 people in 2024.2,5
No tale about this food has been found.