A grain of truth

There are traditions around mang zhong, which are followed even today. For example, an miao, or "seedling protection", is a traditional farming activity in eastern Anhui province that has been practiced since the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Every year when the period arrives, people hold the sacrificial ceremony to pray for good harvests in the fall. People make different types of bread from wheat flour and color them with vegetable juice. The bread is used as a sacrificial offering to pray for a good harvest and people's safety.

Every year, a festival is held in Jixi county, Anhui province, to celebrate the summer event.

"It is usually held after the rice-planting period is over. People make steamed buns in different shapes and color them with vegetable juice. They offer the colored buns to the god of harvest as a sacrifice for a good harvest and the safety of the villages," Ke Zuiyan, a villager in Shangzhuang, Jixi county, told Beijing News during the festival in 2020.