The first month is the beginning of a year. Agricultural festivals are also the most in the first month. Like all parts of the country, the first day is also called the Spring Festival. But the Spring Festival is a bit chic. One is that on the first day, each family only eats two meals, breakfast, almost all of which is jiaozi. Yan 'an is rich in radishes, white radishes and carrots are the main stuffing of jiaozi, and mutton is the main stuffing of meat. On New Year's Eve, jiaozi is wrapped with a pot cover (most people in northern Shaanxi use sorghum pot covers, and both raw and cooked can be put on the pot cover), and one of them is wrapped with a copper coin (copper coins have decreased in recent years, so most people will change it into nickel coins), which is called Fu jiaozi. This Fu jiaozi is exactly the same as other jiaozi bags. When it was fished out, the family sat around the kang or the dining table to see who would be blessed and lucky if he ate this copper coin this year. After the Spring Festival, the lunch is the New Year's Eve. How rich the tea and rice are in this meal. The so-called "food, clothing, housing and transportation", who has a good life this year, the villagers probably have a spectrum in their hearts. But fortunately, there is an old custom of "not going out on New Year's Day". No one will casually visit other people's homes during the Spring Festival, so only the family knows what they ate. Secondly, it is forbidden to use brooms and brooms on the morning of the Spring Festival before the sun rises. The old custom thought that sweeping the kang in the morning would sweep away all the blessings, so the paper was scattered all over the floor to show the prosperity of the family during the New Year. After the sun came out, everyone began to clean up and enter the new year. Third, you should set off firecrackers when you open the door in the morning. This is called "opening firecrackers". The old custom holds that setting off firecrackers is to welcome the kitchen god to come home, that is, the ancient couplet in front of the kitchen god says, "Heaven says yes, and it will be auspicious to return." If you don't do it right away, you will offend Master Zao Ma, and this year will be very unlucky. The fourth is to light a bonfire in the yard at night. Or light it with firewood, or build a fire tower with coal blocks. In short, a high flame and a long burning time are auspicious.
The third day and the fourth day passed quickly, and on the fifth day of the first month, another perhaps the most eye-catching festival came. This festival is called "seeing off the poor daughter-in-law" or "meeting the god of wealth". It is also called "seeing off the five poor" or "meeting the god of wealth". The "Five-Year Plan" undoubtedly refers to the five grains, which determines that this festival is a festival for specific farmers. The method of this festival is also very strange. First of all, when you worship the family god in the morning, you should start from your memorial tablet and then burn incense for Marshal Zhao. Believers often kneel before the statue of Marshal Zhao, secretly begging for his blessing, or praying for his blessing devoutly. There are no specific rules about what the poor eat on holidays. Burn a fire in the yard at night, just like Spring Festival Eve. The most unique thing is that on this day, every household will go to the small river ditch to cut some ice. Ice cubes must be crystal clear and white, washed clean, and placed in front of the stone monument of wealth when they are taken home. When I was a child, I liked the god of ice, but I never understood why I gave him ice. Once I couldn't help asking my grandmother, who told me that ice represents silver only after avoiding my parents. Don't you think it is the same color and shape as silver! Knowing this secret, I hit so much ice every time that after melting, I left a warm and wet stall on the ground in front of the tablet of the god of wealth, which I couldn't do for a long time. But I don't know why, my family never became a rich man in the village. I think maybe my heart is dishonest and dubious after all.
After the poor festival, it will be the sixth day of the sixth lunar month. The Year of Man is different from the Ghost Year on New Year's Eve, and it is exactly the same as New Year's Eve. On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, Yan 'an is called "Renqi", which is the same as the Spring Festival on the first lunar month, so I won't go into details. After that, it is the "Rats Marry Women" Festival on the 10th day of the first month. New Year pictures and folk paper-cuts sold in the past all described the wedding as too ostentatious. In fact, this festival is very shabby. In the morning, except shooting as usual, it is disrespectful to God. At night, there are no lanterns, no bonfires, and everything is quiet. On the contrary, there are two taboos all day: first, you must not eat rice all day, and you must eat pasta at every meal. As the saying goes, if cloud mice eat millet and take away mouse food, they will have mouse sores (tuberculosis of lymph nodes) on their necks; It is also said that the mouse ate rice on the wedding day, and this year the mouse was unscrupulously deprived of food. Second, if you don't sew all day, whoever sews on this day will lose her intelligence and become a clumsy and stupid woman. Grandma also told me that after sleeping that night, people can hear the suona of the wedding banquet in the cave, but don't make any noise after hearing it, and don't spoil the good things of mice. If you ruin the mouse's marriage, you will find no daughter-in-law and be single all your life. It's a pity that although I stay up late every year, I often want to listen to the suona sound, and even put my ear into the kang stove (Yan 'an called throwing stove) to listen according to the method taught by the elderly, but I didn't hear it once. I think mice are as afraid of being eavesdropped on private houses as people!
The fifteenth day of the first month is the Lantern Festival, or Lantern Festival. Shooting, burning bonfires, hanging lanterns, brightly lit all night. The most common lanterns in rural areas of northern Shaanxi are square and cylindrical, and the surface is bonded with white paper. On the grid, it says "auspicious photos shine high", "full courtyard is bright", "spring returns to the earth" or couplets. Wonderful workmanship is nothing more than turning a lantern, which turns when the wind blows. It is called "turning a lantern" or "running a lantern". Of course, a handy daughter-in-law girl will never give up this opportunity for self-expression. They will stick various paper-cut patterns on white paper with lanterns to show off their exquisite craftsmanship. Lantern Festival, the old society in northern Shaanxi did not eat Yuanxiao. Because rice was not produced, it was changed to "tea". "Tea" is Milai, and the rice strips soaked in the Lantern Festival are called "Taocha". The raw materials are hard millet flour (yellow wheat), sesame, walnut kernel, almond, melon seed kernel and so on. When heating tea leaves, special attention should be paid to adding various famous beans such as cowpea, soybean, red bean (kidney bean) and kidney bean, and adding corn kernels with skins to make them very thick food. There are many kinds of rice tea in northern Shaanxi, but the rice tea in Lantern Festival is the most distinctive. In the rural areas of northern Shaanxi, perhaps "turning to nine songs" on the night of Lantern Festival is the most prosperous pleasure in a year. Jiuqu, also called "Jiuqu Yellow River Array", set up rows of fences with sorghum stalks on the empty flat land. The road between the fences twists and turns, with a total of nine bends, but every time I come back, I will move towards a new song. A white radish is supported on the top of the sorghum stalk, and the middle of the white radish is hollowed out, and sesame oil (both sesame oil and castor oil) is injected. Putting a wick in the middle of sesame oil naturally becomes a small oil lamp. The "Jiuqu Yellow River Array" has 360 lights, symbolizing 360 days a year. Turning to Jiuqu, it is inevitable that all the men, women and children in the village will go out together, and even the patients will be helped by relatives or turned on their backs. The so-called turn is to follow the tortuous route surrounded by sorghum straw, go to the center of Jiuqu and then retreat. In rural areas where conditions permit, there are suona gongs and drums in front of the Jiuqu Guai team or Yangko team, which are often twisted while walking. Turn nine times, which means that this year will be smooth and smooth, and there will be no entanglement. 360 small oil lamps in Jiuqu Yellow River Array are regarded as special mascots. The young couple who get this lamp will raise a boy. Because of this bad custom, people always steal oil lamps at the end of the nine songs, and the empty ground is like a catastrophe. But the more so, the more farmers feel that the nine songs of that year have become beautiful and happy. I often turn nine songs to late at night.
One day after the Lantern Festival, on the 16th day of the first month, there is a very strange festival in the rural areas of northern Shaanxi, called "Liaobai Disease" Festival, which is a festival for treating diseases. This festival is mainly celebrated in the evening. After nightfall, every household lights a pile of firewood in the yard. When the firewood was burning in full swing, adults and children jumped out of the fire one by one, and their diseases were all burned out. After people jump, they should take their bedding and clothes and pile around the firewood, which means that the germs on the bedding are also burnt. Some active little boys, still holding the lambs, puppies, piglets and calves raised at home, jumped out of the firewood pile again and again, killing all the livestock. There is no doubt that the festival "Liao Bai Bing" is not a purely feudal superstitious activity. Muscles, skin, clothes and bedding are all baked with fire. Although it is impossible to eliminate all diseases, it will always be beneficial to health. This festival is worth keeping for a long time.
There are also festivals on the 17th and 18th of the first month, which are called "sending scorpions to dragonflies". Also at night, there was a bonfire in the yard. But people no longer jump over bonfires or dance around them. Staring at the firewood and watching it burn to ashes, I took the shovel out of the house. Dump the ashes that haven't been extinguished under the slope or on the side of the road with a shovel, which means to send scorpions, scorpions and other poisonous insects away. This year, the whole family is flat and no longer bitten by poisonous insects. The festival of sending scorpions is accompanied by the custom of cleaning. Hard-working farmers shovel the garbage in the yard together when shoveling ash. People who pour ashes sometimes mutter to themselves, indicating where scorpions will be sent and to whom. Generally, everyone's unified caliber is "it won't hurt people on the road", but if there is an enemy, you can also make a wish to give scorpions to the enemy directly. When I was young, it was the period to resist US aggression and aid Korea. Every time I send scorpions, I always say that I want to send them to America and give them to Truman, the big bad guy.
The 23rd day of the first month is the last festival of the whole first month. They hung lanterns, lit bonfires and ate New Year's tea and rice. This festival has always been unclear among the people. Most people say it's the old gentleman's day, which is the festival of the old gentleman. According to a respected elder in our family, the birthday of the old gentleman in Taishang is the 23rd day of the first month. He raised cattle and sent them to the world to plow the fields for people, thus reducing the mental and physical burden on farmers. Therefore, this festival is also called Laojun Festival and Niujie Festival. As far as I can remember, when I was young, people (men) in Hecun went to neighboring laojunmiao to burn incense. After Jingxiang goes home, she should add more concentrated feed to her cattle, that is, feed black beans. The most fastidious farmers also wear red clothes to plow cattle this night. It stands to reason that the old man is not an ox, and it is difficult to unify the old man's day and the ox day. But I don't know when these two festivals have been unified into one, perhaps because the old man once rode a green cow. On Huashan Mountain in Xiyue, there is a scene called "Laojun Plow", which is a very dangerous stone mountain road. It is said that the old gentleman is driving the green cattle to plow the fields. This myth is closely related to the old gentleman's day. The author speculates that Laojun Festival and Huashan Laojun Plough probably come from the same legend.
Counting the first, fifth, sixth, seventh, tenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth or eighteenth and third days, there are nine major festivals in the rural areas of northern Shaanxi on the first day of the first month. Perhaps it coincides with the philosophy of "nine for one", and nine has become the largest number, so it can't be added. It is these nine festivals that ate up the tea and rice prepared by the peasant woman for the twelfth lunar month. "After the 23rd day of the first month, roll up your sleeves and hurry up the hill", and then enjoy it and the new year's work begins again. From the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month to the 23rd of the first lunar month, a whole month. Within one year, 1 1 month suffers and 1 month enjoys happiness. This custom has lasted for many years in the rural areas of northern Shaanxi, and I don't know how many more years it will last.
An agricultural proverb says, "The first month is fat, the second month is thin, and the third and fourth months last forever". The first month was rich, but February was dwarfed and poor. In the rural areas of northern Shaanxi, the most important and only festival in February is the "Dragon Rise" on February 2nd. The dragon looked up and said, "Thunder pricks the dragon snake". From then on, the snow stopped and it rained. In the rural areas of northern Shaanxi, the old custom is "having money but no money, new brains (heads) celebrate the New Year". Adults and children have their hair cut during the New Year. There is also a saying that "it costs uncle money to shave his head in the first month", so an adult and a child can't get a haircut in the first month. When should I get my hair cut? Today is February 2nd. When the dragon looks up, people should also look up. The earliest time to look up is February 2, so February 2 can even be considered as a haircut festival. As the dragon head will be raised immediately after the festival in the first month, every household plans to leave some tea and rice for the New Year, which is not much different from the New Year. The beauty of this festival is still at night. After nightfall, every family put up a pile of firewood in the moonless yard. When the flame rises, they bring half a bowl of clear water, soak some millet in the clear water, and then pour it on the fire, praying for good weather in the past. When the fire died down, people divided the unburned embers into twelve piles, which is slang for "igniting". Observe the process of putting out the fire first and then putting out the fire one by one (mostly in circulation). It is generally believed that the month when the fire burns out first means more rain. Instead, it symbolizes which month the fire is still burning red, and the lack of rain in that month is the red sun. Or someone will laugh and say, "This is totally ignorance and backwardness, and it is a feudal superstition." . But farmers in northern Shaanxi are very serious about this weather forecast by watching the fire. They think that since this is a way of observing the sky since ancient times, as a holiday etiquette, who will regard it as a guide to scientific farming? In addition, after February 2, lanterns were solemnly collected, and the gongs and drums for making yangko were also preserved from the people. From this perspective, February 2 can be said to be a festival from slack season to busy season.
Thin and poor in February. In March, in northern Shaanxi, where food and clothing are not solved, it is almost like a month of "talking about the tiger" for farmers. The climate in northern Shaanxi is cold, and spring comes late. Although farmers have started to work in February of the lunar calendar, they only send manure, turn over the land or plant some early autumn crops. March is the busiest season for spring planting, so people and farm animals are not allowed to be idle. Therefore, in the zodiac, the month of taboo "ox" is March. But no matter how hard the days are, people will never forget to relax and celebrate festivals. There is also a more important festival "March 3" in March. Some ethnic minorities in southern China celebrated March 3rd with great solemnity. But northern Shaanxi in the north is much poorer. In the nursery rhymes of northern Shaanxi, "March 3, bitter buds break the mountain" means nothing more than that in March, everything really recovered and a hundred herbs sprouted. Generally speaking, wild vegetables such as bitter buds can satisfy hunger, and people will not starve to death again. From this perspective, March 3 can also be called the Hope Festival for farmers in northern Shaanxi. There is no rule about what to eat on March 3. Generally, anything delicious can be eaten. However, this festival is usually accompanied by an ancient temple fair, or a "stick club" or a "plow club", where almost all farm tools, such as plows, rakes, hoes, old hoes and cow reins, are traded. Under normal circumstances, no matter how busy they are, farmers should put down their plows and go to the market to buy necessary farm tools. Women and young descendants also have the custom of gathering for an outing on this day. Proceeding from this interest, March 3 can be regarded as an "outing festival" for farmers in northern Shaanxi.
Although February and March is a tough year for farmers, there is a particularly grand festival, that is, "Tomb-Sweeping Day". Tomb-Sweeping Day's grave-sweeping is understood by almost all the people in the country. The rural areas in northern Shaanxi are very clear, but they have their own characteristics. First of all, no matter whether the family is rich or poor, this festival should be steamed with white bread, which is very big, commonly known as "old steamed buns" and collectively referred to as "Zi Tui" (people in northern Shaanxi call Zi Hamu, which means pushing the words out of tune). Children must be decorated. Ornaments are usually flowers or birds, usually decorated in red, green and green. In the past, the wheat yield in northern Shaanxi was low, and some poor families only ate three meals of white flour a year. One meal is fresh wheat, the second is jiaozi during the Spring Festival, and the third is Tomb-Sweeping Day's "old steamed bread". Of course, if it is really difficult, it can also be adulterated, that is, the appearance must be white flour, and corn flour or bran can also be wrapped inside, just like stuffing. In addition to pushing, almost all families have to pinch all kinds of noodles, commonly known as "pinching swallows and finches." The hands of women in northern Shaanxi are really clever. All kinds of noodles are lifelike, just like a handicraft, which makes people reluctant to eat it. This little noodle flower is not for a meal. Careful mother, always strung with fine hemp rope, with red dates in the middle. When it dries slowly, the children eat it slowly day by day. In a family with many children, the string of noodles should be distributed fairly, and whoever belongs to it can enjoy it. Parents usually only eat jiaozi, not this kind of noodles. According to the population at home, steaming is very particular about pushing. Generally speaking, men are round and big. Women are long pushers and small pushers. Pinch small flour flowers, but also very particular, the whole family of animals, especially children's animals, must have, and generally what to steam and eat. In addition, young men and women who are engaged to each other also have the etiquette of sending flowers to each other on this day. The future mother-in-law will "catch buns" for the future daughter-in-law, and the future mother-in-law will "shoot tigers" for the future son-in-law. For children who are not engaged, their sons have to steam tigers and their daughters have to steam buns, which requires their mothers to work hard. I don't need to go into details about tigers. They are tigers kneaded with flour. While grasping the bun, the author never understood what kind of animal it was. It also has a head and eyes, and it is divided into two symmetrical halves, as if two animals are one. However, it is by no means a bun on the little girl's head. I have also asked some rural elderly people who are quite familiar with Zhang Gu, and they all said that it is a lion to catch buns. Some people say that the bun is a monkey, while others say that the bun is a phoenix. The story is quite different. From the image point of view, catching buns is by no means a phoenix. Judging from the tiger, the symbol of the boy, catching bun is definitely a beast. The author speculated that it was probably a lion. If so, it's a bit like the Sphinx abroad. After dinner, I will go to the grave as usual. People in northern Shaanxi not only send paper money to sweep graves, but also cultivate new soil on graves or plant trees beside new graves. On this day, a monument is also built for the dead. In a word, Tomb-Sweeping Day is a big festival, but there is no fixed date, either February or March in the lunar calendar, so the author listed it after March 3 to introduce it.
The day before Tomb-Sweeping Day, there was a cold food festival, which was also held to commemorate the Duke of Jin. In the Tang poetry, there are "flowers in the spring city are flying all over the sky, and the cold food is easterly and willows are oblique." At dusk, officials of the Han Dynasty laid candles and smoke dispersed into the homes of five Marquis. We can taste it. At that time, people asked if there was a fire in the Cold Food Festival. But maybe it's been too long, and the Cold Food Festival in rural areas of northern Shaanxi can be a hit. But meals, especially vegetables, are mainly cold dishes, such as bean jelly, cold bean sprouts, cold shredded tofu and so on. The staple food, very special, is called "spreading yellow". It is to soak the yellow rice (ground from the skin of hard millet) until soft, put it on a mill and press it into flour, then turn the yellow wheat into mushy gluten, then shovel it on a special vessel called Fu and cook it with firewood like a pancake. When cooked, the two sides are skillfully combined to turn the original round cake into a two-layer semicircle. This kind of epidermis bakes out the "yellow" with black patterns, but it is pure yellow when combined in the middle layer, which is beautiful in shape and sweet to eat. It is a better food than yellow rice steamed stuffed bun in the Spring Festival. The Cold Food Festival is a small festival attached to Tomb-Sweeping Day. It doesn't target or sweep graves, but it has specific requirements for eating.