The Chinese nation has a long history and splendid culture. Spring Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Chinese Valentine's Day and Mid-Autumn Festival Chongyang have been declared by the Ministry of Culture as the first batch of intangible cultural heritage in China. As the saying goes: a hundred miles is different from the wind, and a thousand miles is different from the customs. As the largest folk festival in China, the Spring Festival is deeply valued and loved by people. There are countless traditional customs to celebrate the Spring Festival in various places. The author wants to talk about the Spring Festival custom in Datong.
First, holiday customs.
The Spring Festival in Datong usually begins on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month and ends on the fifteenth day of the first month and the Lantern Festival, even on February 2nd. There is a folk saying that "the twelfth lunar month is busy, the first month is noisy, and it is delayed until February", which is a true portrayal of many Spring Festival customs.
The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is Laba Festival. According to legend, Buddha Sakyamuni became a Buddha on this day. Buddhists regard this day as the Buddha's "Enlightenment Day". People also eat "Laba porridge", which symbolizes good luck, longevity and harvest. In Datong area, "On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, I cut ice cubes and melted water into Yu He to make jujube porridge. There is no feed, but Shuiya and I have a bowl of jujube porridge. " [1] "Eat porridge, make vinegar, cure meat and store ice." [2] The busy Spring Festival activities began.
The 23rd (or 24th) of the twelfth lunar month, commonly known as off-year, is the day to worship the kitchen god. Sacrificing stoves is a folk custom with great influence and wide spread. Zhu Rong, the Vulcan, is the earliest kitchen god recorded in literature. He is responsible for managing the stoves of every family and is worshipped as the patron saint of the family. In the vast rural areas of Datong area, almost every kitchen has a "kitchen god" deity, and on both sides are couplets of "Heaven speaks well and the lower bound is safe" (or "Going back to the palace for good luck"), which are horizontally approved as "the head of the family". On the Lunar New Year's Eve, the kitchen god "reports to heaven", and Datong people "offer cakes, wine and fruits, worship the soap god (the same as" kitchen ") and pray for shelter." [3] It is also a local custom to eat sesame candy to worship the stove and paste the mouth of the kitchen god. Datong folk song "Twenty-three, Eat Dish" (note: Dish refers to the primary product of sesame candy, which is particularly sticky and is now collectively referred to as sesame candy). It means that people want him to say more good things and say less bad things in heaven to protect the whole family.
From the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month to New Year's Eve, it is called "Spring Festival", which is the preparation stage before the Spring Festival. Buying new year's goods, cleaning the courtyard and improving personal hygiene are the main tasks at this stage.
Thirty, commonly known as Chinese New Year. Changing doors, posting couplets, setting off firecrackers, steaming rice cakes, wrapping jiaozi, eating New Year's Eve, inviting ancestors, holding the New Year and building a prosperous fire are the customs in Datong area. "Yunzhong County Records" records: "New Year's Eve, changing door gods, Fu Tao, repairing old things, Chen Yi; Shounian. " This is basically the same as the customs in other parts of northern China, so I won't go into details.
Datong area is rich in coal resources, and it is a local custom to make a fire in the New Year. Every new year's eve, the yard of every household should be built into a tower with large pieces of coal and dry wood in it. The red note on it reads auspicious words such as "Good luck", "Good luck" and "Fire Tree and Silver Flower". "Datong County Records" records: "On the first day of the New Year's Day, every family cut firewood and reduced wages, and Lei Lei rose high, like a small floating picture. Sent in time, named' Wanghuo'. " At the turn of the New Year's Day, firecrackers exploded, saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, and the activities reached a climax. The prosperous fire is lit by parents themselves, which is called prosperous fire, making a fortune, exuberance and prosperity. Soaring flames spewed from countless small holes, red-hot coal lit up the courtyard, children put on new clothes, set off firecrackers around Wanghuo, and men, women and children warmed around Wanghuo in an attempt to "soar to the sky". In the morning, the host will shovel the charcoal fire back into the stove to cook, and outsiders are not allowed to shovel it away, which indicates a prosperous year. Nowadays, with the development of urban modernization, buildings have replaced quadrangles and row houses, but the custom of lighting fires in the New Year remains the same. Different from the past, the flourishing fire is increasing year by year, with beautiful shape and huge scale. The people around you are dazzling with red light, spitting long flames, forming a long line, turning three times and turning three times. People who are praying in circles are laughing and playing, wishing a beautiful and happy life in the coming year. If Wang Huo is grand in scale and exquisite in shape, then Huairen Wang Huo should be the most important. The largest one is made of 80 tons of coal, three feet high and magnificent.
"Happy New Year" is the main activity to greet the New Year and receive blessings after the New Year. It is a traditional folk custom in China, and it is a way for people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and express their good wishes to each other. Its content is rich and colorful. On the first day of New Year's Day, with the ringing of New Year's bells and deafening firecrackers, families began to burn incense to pay homage to the world and ancestors, and then paid tribute to their elders in turn. The usual order is: "worship heaven and earth first, then worship ancestors, then worship Gaotang, and then go out to visit relatives and friends;" There are also various ceremonies, such as worshipping one's family on the first day, worshipping the Yue family on the second day, and worshipping relatives on the third day until the fifteenth day of the first month. Today's Datong area is usually the latter custom, and "Happy New Year" has become the most commonly used New Year saying.
The fifth day of the first month, commonly known as breaking the fifth. Because many taboos since the first day of junior high school can be broken on this day, it is called "breaking five". The custom activity of breaking the five-year plan is mainly to "send the poor". At dawn, everyone cleaned up the dirty things and sent them out of the door. And cut the ribbon for people and change it in the street, which is called "sending the poor" [4]. There is also a legend among the people that the fifth day is the birthday of the five-way god of wealth (note: the so-called five-way god of wealth refers to the southeast and northwest, which means you can make a fortune by going out five ways), so merchants and shops all over the country open their doors to welcome guests in order to make a profit.