The fifth solar term of Spring: Qing Ming (Clear and Bright). Besides being just one of
the terms, it’s also considered as one of the four Traditional Chinese Culture Festivals
(the other three are: Lunar New Year, Dragon Boat Festival, and Moon Festival).
On the day of Qing Ming, families visit the tombs of their ancestors and loved ones to
show their respect and remembrance. This is also why Qing Ming is also commonly
known as tomb sweeping day.
Actually, the Cold Food Festival (Hanshi Festival) was originally the main event being
celebrated, but because it’s so close to Qing Ming, many have merged the two together.
*For those interested in the Cold Food Festival, it’s on 4/14 (Wednesday) this year.
The key for this time period is to take care of the liver -- soothe Liver Qi, balance
Liver Yang energy, and nourish Liver Yin energy.
How to Maintain - Soothe Liver Qi, Clear Liver Toxin, Lower Liver Fire
By doing slow/soft exercises such as yoga and qigong, massaging along the Liver
meridian (as shown in the picture below), and having hot baths (soak in the hot tub
15~30 min) can all improve circulation, eliminate waste from the body, and reduce
liver fire (liver fire can cause high blood pressure, dizziness, blurry vision, dry eyes...etc).
Essential Oil Blend - Foot Jueyin Liver Meridian Blend
Thyme 15 drops
Lemon 10 drops
Rhododendron 1 drop
Angelica 1 drop
Cold-pressed sesame oil 30 ml
Sea Buckthorn oil 1 drop
Diet
During this time period, it’s best to eat warm property foods (ie. can add some green onions, ginger,
leeks into your cooking), and those that are light in taste. Foods such as Chinese yam, daikon, spinach,
and celery are good for getting rid of dampness in the body and strengthening the Spleen.
Herbal teas such as perilla leaf tea, bai shao (paeonia sterniana) licorice tea, and chrysanthemum mulberry tea.
Although during Qingming, there’s the custom of eating cold food, it is recommended that people with
weaker stomach and intestines should consume warm foods and not as much cold foods. Also, it’s best to
avoid seafood, lamb, and foods that are overly heavy or spicy or cold.
The recipe introduced for this solar term may look complicated, but it is a must-eat dish on Qing Ming
Festival! Hope you all can enjoy making it and eating it during this solar term.
**Simple Cooking -- Popiah/Taiwanese wrap or burrito**
Ingredients:
- Popiah/Chinese wrap skin
- Barbecued pork 200g
- Peanut powder 500g
- 2~3 eggs
- 3~4 dried tofu
- Carrots 1~2 sticks
- Cabbage 1/3~1/2 pieces
- Mung bean sprouts 150 g
- pepper
- salt
- Black pepper
You can buy ready-made popiah/wrap, bbq pork and peanut powder
Wash carrots and cabbage, cut into shreds, remove the head and tail of mung bean sprouts, and slice
dried tofu for use
The following materials need to be processed separately, one item is fried and then taken out for later use, and then the next item is processed:
- Beat the eggs evenly, fry them in a frying pan into slices of omelette, let cool and cut into shredded eggs about the width of noodles
- Cut the bbq pork into slices, add a little soy sauce and black pepper to the pan, stir fry
- The dried tofu slices are stir-fried with appropriate amount of pepper and salt
- Carrots, cabbage, and mung bean sprouts are added into the pan. Add desired amount of pepper and salt. Stir-fried until they are mature. At this time, pay attention to drain the water from the stir-fried vegetables so as not to affect the texture of the wrap.
- Spread the peanut powder evenly, add the bbq pork, egg slices, carrot shreds, cabbage, bean sprouts, and then fold the lower half of the wrap upwards. Tuck in left and right, and then roll it up. Run cakes to eat! *think of wrapping a burrito.
- Repeat the above steps until all ingredients are used up
Lifestyle
Weather changes constantly during this solar term and the temperature difference between night and day is great. It’s important to prevent catching a cold by wearing layers. Also, with the exchange of the seasons and the dampness in the atmosphere, there’s an increase in allergen concentration.
Springtime is when the Liver Qi rises and adjusts the inner circulation of Qi and Blood. If there’s stagnation in Liver Qi, it may be more likely for one to have symptoms such as high blood pressure, dizziness, headache, and insomnia. Therefore, during this time, those with cardiovascular and
cerebrovascular diseases need to be extra careful.
Having adequate exercise, proper rest and daily routines are important to maintain good health.
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Once again I would like to thank Yu Wei Huang L.Ac for designing the character for Clear&Bright (Qingming) and providing all of the great suggestions for this time period.
The essential oil blends are based off of the book "Four Seasons of Aromatherapy" by Elizabeth S.
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清明除了為二十四節氣之一外，清明節和春節、端午節、中秋節並稱中華文化的四大傳統節日。
清明節也被俗稱為掃墓節，是祭拜祖先的日子，代表著慎終追遠的意涵。不過在古時寒食節才
是主要節日，但由於寒食節的日期與清明節太過相近，越來越多人將兩節合二為一，才形成
如今的清明節。
清明的養生重點：疏肝氣、平肝陽、養肝陰
可以吃／喝什麼？
清明時節宜吃溫食及清淡的食物，如煮菜添加少量的蔥、薑、韭菜做為配料。平時可食用祛溼
健脾的山藥，還有蘿蔔、波菜、芹菜等。中藥茶可飲用紫蘇葉茶、白芍甘草茶以及菊花桑葚茶。
雖然清明有吃冷食的習俗，建議腸胃較為虛弱的人還是以溫養為主，少吃寒食。這次的食譜
介紹的潤餅，步驟看起來繁雜，卻是清明節必吃一道料理喔！
禁忌：海鮮、羊肉等發物及辛辣厚重、過於寒涼的食品
節氣食譜－潤餅
材料：
潤餅皮
叉燒肉 200克
花生粉 500克
雞蛋 2~3顆
豆干 3~4塊
胡蘿蔔 1~2支
高麗菜 1/3~1/2顆
綠豆芽 150克
胡椒粉
鹽
黑胡椒
潤餅皮、叉燒肉與花生粉都可以買現成的
胡蘿蔔、高麗菜洗淨後切絲、綠豆芽去掉頭尾、豆干切片備用
以下材料都需要分開處理，一項炒熟後取出備用，再處理下一項：
將雞蛋均勻打散，用平底鍋煎成一片一片的蛋餅，放涼後切成約麵條寬的雞蛋絲
將叉燒肉切成如豆干片大小，下油鍋，加些許醬油和黑胡椒稍微拌炒一番
豆干片則加入適量的胡椒粉和鹽煸炒出香味
胡蘿蔔、高麗菜、綠豆芽依樣分別加入適量的胡椒粉和鹽拌炒至熟成，此時注意要將炒 蔬菜時出的水瀝乾，才不會影響餅皮的口感
將潤餅皮鋪平，均勻撒上花生粉，加入叉燒肉、蛋皮、胡蘿蔔絲、高麗菜絲、豆芽菜後 先將餅皮下半部往上折，左右收進來，再捲起來就是一個好吃的潤餅囉！重複上述步驟 直到材料用完
生活習慣
清明天氣多變，日夜溫差大。須注意避風禦寒、預防感冒。因為季節交替、天氣潮濕，更增加 過敏原濃度。抗過敏也是重點之一。春天是肝氣升發並調節體內氣血循環的時間。若肝氣鬱滯， 會更容易出現高血壓，頭暈，頭痛，失眠等問題。因此這段期間有心腦血管疾病者需要特別要注意。
多運動，保持正常作息及充足睡眠。
芳療
足厥陰肝經精華油配方（6歲以下及孕婦不適用）
龍腦百里香 (15滴)
檸檬 (10滴)
髯花杜鵑 (1滴)
歐白芷根 (1滴)
冷壓芝麻油 (30ml)
沙棘油 (1滴)
使用方式：睡前取適量至於掌心搓揉溫熱後循肝經按摩。
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非常感謝中醫師黃昱瑋所提供有關【清明】時期的養生方法還有可愛的插畫。
精油配方是來自沈莉莎的24節氣經絡芳療自療全書
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