Taboo refers to people's behavior orientation and self-restriction in behavior mode based on some experience, ideas and emotions out of fear of some mysterious power.
Hakka people have many taboos. For example:
1, Spring Festival taboo. Spring Festival taboo, also known as "Chinese New Year taboo", refers to a month-long taboo from December 16th to the 15th of the first month.
Spring Festival was originally out of the taboo of "Year". Deng Yunxiang's "On the Customs of the Red Chamber" (Zhonghua Book Company, 1987 edition) refers to the word "nian". According to the ancient Chinese writing, it is a pictographic character with a head and a tail, and its feet spread out in all directions, like a big gecko. It is said that it is a terrible reptile. When people are one year old, they don't meet it. At best, they spend it safely. Therefore, they make a fire and get some good things for everyone to have a good meal to celebrate. This is called "Chinese New Year". Later, celebrating the beginning of the year to get rid of the old and welcome the new became the current "New Year" and "New Year".
In the process of inheritance, the color of fear and superstition contained in the taboo of Spring Festival is gradually adopted by the mood of mutual happiness and love between people.
As the Hakka saying goes, "There are many taboos in entering the year boundary (year customs)". The Spring Festival taboos pursued by Hakka people include: no beating and scolding children; It is forbidden to break utensils; No swearing. Zhang Zuji's "Hakka Old Manners and Customs" states: "On the first day of the first year, I am very cautious, I dare not swear, and few people go out. If something good happens and I hear something good in the morning of the first day of the first year, it will be a good sign for the year and will benefit the market this year. So when you meet people, you congratulate each other and say all kinds of good things. " Avoid using unlucky words, such as illness, death, suffering, poverty, disaster, chaos, famine, killing, etc. Don't go out to visit friends and relatives on the third day. On the third day, all families are used to sweeping out the garbage and sending it out to the open space outside the house or by the river, shouting to send the poor. So few people go out this day; Avoid sewing, especially in the hall.
2. Number taboo. The old taboos of Hakka people are four, six, seven, eight and the fifth, fourteenth and twenty-third day of the fifth month (formerly known as the month's death day). Children are four years old and are called two pairs of years old. "Four" and "death" are homophonic, so they are taboo. Hakka people are also taboo about the number "seven". Eating "seven dishes" on the seventh day of the first month is a typical example. Apart from the homophonic symbol of seven dishes, it also implies people's taboo on the number "seven". Because in Hakka, "7788" means trouble. There are taboos in the funeral customs of Hakka people, such as "walking seven", "July seven", "April seven" and "doing seven", which also reflects the taboos of Hakka people about "seven". "Walking seven" is commonly known as "bumping into seven". On the 28th day after mourning (commonly known as "four seven"), people should avoid the seventh, seventeenth and twenty-seventh days of the lunar calendar, while "bumping into seven" means "bumping into three instead of hitting four, which makes strangers angry". "July 7" (that is, 49 days after mourning) prohibits filial sons and grandchildren from having their hair cut; Avoid stacking bowls and chopsticks to avoid endless funerals. "April 7th", commonly known as "Sister Seventh", has the custom of filial piety to prepare things for memorial. "Doing Seven" means that every seven days from the day of the death of the deceased, the filial son and grandson must wear mourning clothes to prepare sacrifices to worship the spirit, also known as "Sieve Seven". Taking "Sanqi", "May 7th" and "Yuanqi" (that is, July 7th) as the seventh grade, the average upper-middle-class family always keeps sacrifices, fruits, etc., and the ceremony is like "making a fast" at the funeral. In addition, the fifth, fourteenth and twenty-third day of each month used to be called "the day of the month" (that is, the day of the month). As the saying goes, "The fifth, fourteenth and twenty-third day of the month, and the woman has money, she can't bear it", "The fifth, fourteenth and twenty-third day < P >, and the old gentleman doesn't make alchemy in his kitchen." On the seventh and eighth days of the lunar calendar, there is a rule of "don't go out for seven days and don't go home for eight days". For example, as the Hakka ballad goes, "The first day is the first day, and the second day is the new year's day. The third day is poor man's day, and the fourth day is sister's day (going back to her family). On the fifth day of the fifth year, the words came out again, and on the sixth day, they called for a day. Seven don' t go, eight don' t return, and 91-91 watch the lion fight. Eleven or twelve dragon lanterns arrive, so just come back at exactly half a month. "
3. Birth taboo. There is a popular saying among Hakka people that "on June 6th, Shrike said goodbye to his aunt". They think that children born on June 6th will harm their parents, so they are taboo.
There is an old folk saying in China that "May is forbidden". The Biography of Historical Records of Meng Changjun says: "It will be bad for parents to have a long May"; "Biography of Wang Zhene in Song Dynasty" also recorded: "The town evil was born on May 5, and the family members were jealous of vulgarity. Therefore, it was made to be a successor to the clan, fierce (town evil grandfather) and strange, saying:' This is very unusual. In the past, Meng Changjun was born on a bad month, so it will also make our door prosperous!' Therefore, it is called the town of evil. " Hakka folk's "no mention of June children" may be derived from "no mention of May children".
In the old days, there was a saying of "fetal god" among Hakka people. In the "General Book" fabricated by Luo surname in Xingning, Guangdong Province, "it is stated that the fetal god occupies somewhere every day". Some taboos of pregnant women in Hakka folk are related to the theory of "fetal god", while others are beneficial experiences. The taboos of pregnant women in Hakka folk include: fasting sheep liver, carp, dog meat, rabbit meat, sparrow meat, goat meat, frog, yellow owl, etc. It is said that such foods will cause disasters, and the causes include disfigurement such as "rabbit lips". Avoid crossing the reins of cows and horses. It is said that cows and horses are pregnant and give birth in February, and pregnant women crossing the reins of cows and horses will cause dystocia. Avoid sitting on the "wooden horse", which is the wooden frame commonly used by carpenters when they work. It is said that pregnant women sit on the wooden frame, and the house built by carpenters is unlucky. There is a concept of "impurity" that belittles women. Avoid pregnant women sitting side by side, it is said that this will affect fetal qi.
4. Taboos in daily life
Don't wear clothes backwards. Wearing clothes in reverse, such as mourning clothes, means mourning at home.
Don't use chopsticks to knock on plates and bowls when carrying food. Knocking on plates and bowls with chopsticks is a way for beggars to beg for food, and it is also a signal to tease dogs, cats and other animals to eat. At the same time, avoid inserting chopsticks vertically in the food bowl, which is the way to sacrifice the dead.
The sleeping bed in the house should not face the roof beam. It is believed that the top of the beam is pre-emptive and prone to nightmares. The bed should not go straight to the door, nor should you sleep with your feet facing the door. This is a symbol of the funeral.
when you go out to do business, you should avoid "three evil days" and "empty days".
If you have a baby, you don't call it a baby, but it's called "offering" or "light" and "giving birth".
Old people should not call themselves "old" when they are old. "Old" is synonymous with death, and it is appropriate to call you older or older.
visiting time is forbidden in the afternoon, evening and the first and fifteenth days of the lunar calendar. In the afternoon, it's past day, and in the evening, it's sunset to the west. The first and fifteenth days of the first lunar month are the days to worship gods and offer sacrifices to ghosts. When inquiring about patients, avoid calling the sick word directly, and ask, "Were you uncomfortable then?" "It's unnatural there?" Calling a child ill is called "misbehaving".
the dead are forbidden to meet the first, eleventh and twenty-first days of the lunar calendar. Seven days after death, every seven days is called "bump into death", thinking that there will be "wind evil" at home. On every seventh day, the whole family and the neighbors in the house have to leave home early in the morning to "avoid evil spirits" and come back in the afternoon.
Avoid pigs and cats and give them to relatives and friends for free. As the Hakka proverb goes, "Pigs come to be poor, dogs come to be rich, and cats come to bring linen", it is unlucky to wear mourning clothes. Even if the other person receives a dog or cat, it is lucky to return a gift.
When asking questions, young and middle-aged women who don't know Lu Yu should avoid being called "eldest sister", "aunt", "aunt" and "uncle", but should be called "elder sister" or "younger sister". Otherwise, it is easy to be wrongly called a sinner.
the "afterbirth" is confidential. In Hakka area of Meizhou, people cherish their own "traces of the afterbirth" (the place where the afterbirth is buried), and there has always been a custom of keeping the afterbirth of the baby confidential. Whenever the baby is born, only the grandmother has the right to dispose of the afterbirth (if the grandmother is absent, the father will handle it). Generally, the afterbirth is buried in the area of his ancestral home, and the place where the afterbirth is buried is kept confidential forever.
In the old days, people in Zijin were taboo: crows barked, crows were ghost horses, and if crows barked, people would die. Avoid crowing at dusk. There is a saying that there is a fire (fire) and a thief (theft). Avoid hens crowing. It is said that the hen crow is the inversion of yin and yang, yin flourishes and yang declines, which is the main disaster and the family is unlucky. Avoid ear fever. There is a saying that "the left ear burns money (wasting money)", "the right ear burns things (disaster)" and "the two ears burn nothing". When someone burns their ears, they tear a piece of paper, hollow it out in the middle and put it on the ear with a fever, which is called "wearing a paper cangue" and can "ward off evil spirits". Avoid eyelid jumping, saying that it is "eyelid jumping, there is a way to run" (referring to something to run). Avoid the corpse entering the house, thinking that "the cold corpse entering the house is defeated to the bottom", so those who die in a different place can only die under the eaves. Pregnant women should avoid looking at strange faces and listening to strange sounds. Seeing and listening to strange faces and strange sounds will give birth to strange babies. There is a saying that "watching a monkey give birth to a monkey, watching an uncle give birth to an uncle" (referring to a clay idol). Avoid saying the word "blood", which is homonym in Hakka dialect, so pig blood is called pig red. Don't say "upper beam" when making a house. In Hakka dialect, "upper beam and mourning" are harmonious, so upper beam is called "lifting beam". Avoid being a guest on the third day of New Year's Day, which is called "Poor Man's Day". If a guest comes to the door on this day, the guest will be a "poor man", and the owner will have a bad year.
Although the Hakkas in Fogang have lived together with the vernacular people for a long time, they still keep many traditional taboos: don't call names "X your mother"! I often scold "X your mother" when quarreling, which causes fights, because this sentence insults people's mothers, which is too unbearable. Don't sit on the horizontal head as a guest (that is, the row of seats near the table at the end of the house), because that row of seats should be given to the parents. Avoid the name of the newborn with the same name as the elders, especially not with the immediate elders.
In the Hakka area of Jiexi, pregnant women will be buried with no hemp around their waists if their loved ones die. Don't meet pregnant women when doing all kinds of happy events or other work, and think it will be unlucky to be met or seen by pregnant women. Children can't be held by pregnant women, thinking that they will be ill after holding. Brew and sprinkle all kinds of cakes, steam dried rice, and make dry rice food (dried rice is steamed with glutinous rice, dried in the sun, fried, added with white sugar, malt, etc., and made into glutinous rice candy: it is called dried rice. Hepo, Wuyun, Shangsha, Xiasha and other towns have the custom of making dried rice sugar every year during the Spring Festival, and pregnant women can't be allowed to be present, thinking that if she sees it, the dried rice sugar will be loose. Sows and cows can't be seen by pregnant women when they give birth or cry for less than a month, otherwise, pigs and cows will get sick. On the edge of the bride's bed or the edge of the baby's bed, pregnant women should not sit around, which will cause discord between their husband and wife or children's disasters. Pregnant women sleep on the bedding, pillowcases, mosquito nets, etc., without boiling water when washing, for fear of scalding the "fetal god."
Some surnames in Jiexi are homophonic with the name of an animal, so people with this surname will give this animal another name to avoid taboo. Although the surnames in Jiexi Hepo area are not full of people, they are no less than seventy or eighty surnames. There are also some surnames that are taboo with certain animals or words. For example, people surnamed Yang called "sheep" as "young hair", slaughtered sheep as "young hair" and goats as "Huang Jing". Huang people call yellow cattle red cattle or sand cattle; People surnamed Ma describe horses as "four-legged"; Zhu people call pigs "fat goods" ... Besides, Wen people don't say "swine fever" or "chicken plague"; People surnamed Xie don't like people to say "thank you" to them, but should say "thank you", because Hakka "feeling" is homophonic with "reduction"; People surnamed Liu don't say "cutting tumors"; People surnamed Gu don't say "playing drums"; People surnamed Zhuang don't like to hear the word "playing dead"; People surnamed Luo don't like to listen to names such as "rotten basket" or "bad basket" ...
Therefore, if you don't understand these taboos when interacting with Jiexi people, it will lead to misunderstanding and unhappiness.