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"Life" and "death" connect the whole life. Born at the beginning of life and died at the end of life. This is the law of objective existence, no matter who has to face this fact. As a social phenomenon, "mourning" has gradually formed a set of very complicated etiquette and customs in the feudal society of China for thousands of years. Due to different identities, the same society has different norms and procedures, and funeral customs vary from region to region, from nationality to age.
Guyue Jiyang, like most areas inhabited by Han people, believes in the creed of "being born safe, being buried when you die" and "being buried safely". Burial has been popular for generations. Since 1998, Zhuji Municipal Government has called for changing customs, changing old traditional habits and promoting scientific, civilized and hygienic cremation customs. However, as a popular burial culture phenomenon for thousands of years, it is necessary to record it for future generations to study and prepare.
I. Death and morgues
In the past, there were always some signs before the old people in rural areas died. At this time, all the younger generations in the family must be present and gather in front of the old man's bed. This is called "filial piety". As the saying goes, "people die like lights go out." As soon as the old man died, his family shouted out loudly, calling him "evocation". Then he raised his voice and shouted "Death". The more people die, the more generations, the better, and the villagers regard it as a blessing.
When an old man dies, he won't say "death" in the countryside. And say "old" or "dead". When an old man dies, his family must first remove the mosquito net from the bed of the deceased, then change clothes for the deceased, put on a clean coat and red shoes, so as to live longer. Then put a silver diamond in the mouth of the deceased, commonly known as "mouth drill", and give it to the deceased. These are all silver handicrafts, which are rare now. ) these funeral supplies are generally prepared by the elderly. If the family is poor, change the "diamond with mouth" into copper coins, also called "diamond with mouth".
However, all this is handled by a "King Kong Tou" (in some places, it's called "Caifu Tou" or "Chengtou"). There are one or two such people in every village. He is familiar with a whole set of etiquette procedures. At this time, most of the families of the deceased were worried and at a loss, so "King Kong Head" was really the commander-in-chief of the funeral ceremony.
King Kong ordered the body to be moved to the door panel, and his face was covered with silk cotton. This ancient name is "Genus". According to the Book of Rites, the new is easy to shake and put on the nose. Light an oil pot wick lamp behind your feet. This lamp goes out day and night, with a chin beside it. Most farmers use copper fire to extinguish the lid, and people ring the bell regularly. This? Quot is dead. "
After the body was moved to the door panel, King Kong pulled the pillow, mat and bed-making grass on which the deceased had been lying out of bed and abandoned them in the open air. Most of the old people hide their money and valuables in bed and pillows, and the King Kong heads count, register and put them away in public to avoid the estrangement between brothers and sisters in the future.
Second, burning impermanence and mourning
After the mortuary, it will be "burning impermanence". Family members prepare "three products", such as wine, rice, tofu, meat, rice cakes, two pairs of straw sandals, a tile, incense sticks, paper money, silver pendants and so on. And only put a chopstick on the mat and straw where the deceased slept. Straw sandals are not commonly used, try to use short-buckled ropes. It is said that this makes the "black and white impermanence" attend to one thing and lose sight of another, and makes the souls of relatives suffer less and less.
After The Impermanence of Burning, the family stopped crying on the circuit to avoid bringing back bad luck. Although the ceremony of burning impermanence is superstitious, it objectively contains health factors? Quot after "burning impermanence", the next step is to arrange personnel to send condolences to relatives near and far. Mourning is commonly known as "reporting death" in rural areas of Zhuji City. Undertaker usually takes an umbrella in sunny days or carries a lantern in broad daylight, so they leave in a hurry. Meet on the road, you will know when you see it, and you will make way. As soon as undertaker arrived at his relative's house, he put his umbrella by the door, and the other party knew what the visitor meant. Hurry up and make tea and snacks for the mourners. Mourners must eat before they can tell the bad news. And then return. After undertaker left, the host family poured the tea they had drunk out of the house, so as not to be unlucky enough to stay at home. But according to the relatives' intimacy, they prepared a funeral to mourn and "eat a big meal".
When the old man dies, everyone in the family should wear filial piety rope and linen clothes. The son should wear a linen shirt and the daughter-in-law should open it? Quot fushou box ",take out white shirts, linen shirts, blue shirts and other things, but most residents are not prepared to" fushou box ",they rent it from shops that specialize in buying ghost products. In the past, I was very particular about wearing mourning clothes. Parents die, children wear linen shirts, grandparents die, and wear white shirts; My uncle died, wearing a blue shirt. Everyone should wear white cloth. In the past, "wearing a headscarf" was used in some places, and it was also linen fabric. The child wears two horns, and the son-in-law is one horn; Grandchildren's headscarves are decorated with red flowers. From generation to generation, it is clear at a glance. The wives of the pro-curtilage clan should answer "boring shoes" for Dai Xiaoren. The so-called stuffy shoes, that is, sewing a layer of white cloth on the original shoes and embedding a piece of red cloth in the heel, are commonly known as "opening the door"; Son-in-law's shoes have only the first half of a pair of white cloth, do you want them? Quot After liberation, many customs have been simplified, but the customs of wearing white cloth, mourning clothes and stuffy shoes still exist.
All the daughters-in-law and daughters put white hair ropes and flowers on their temples and sat at the wake beside the body. As soon as the relatives arrived, they burst into tears as a courtesy. The person in charge of the funeral will accept the mourning gift and write the names of relatives in the notebook to mourn the gift.
At night, children and grandchildren, daughters and daughters-in-law will be buried with vigils, incense sticks will be longer all night, and the lights behind their feet will not go out and the sound will not stop.
Third, convergence and peer spirit.
A ceremony will be held the day after the old man dies. First of all, the descendants of a family should put on mourning clothes, tearfully carry the coffin that is usually put on hold to the front of the incense table with Cai Fu, and then escort the remains of their ancestors to the incense room. When carrying the remains, you should not open the air, but cover the upper part of the remains with an umbrella.
Shoucai is placed in the incense room, and the gathering ceremony is about to begin. The whole family, old and young, relatives and friends, gathered around the coffin for the final farewell ceremony.
King Kong first laid 49 lime bags (also known as lime balls) on the bottom of the coffin. It is said that the soul passes through the evil dog village in the underworld, and these lime browns are used to deal with those evil dogs in the underworld. However, in the upper bunk, I put a cushion.
After these preparations were made, the ceremony began, starting with "buying water". The eldest son wore the "shroud" of the deceased, carrying a bag of evocation on his back and a yellow ribbon around his waist. He wore a pleated skirt when his mother died. Bring a graduated hip flask with your brother. The eldest son wore his parents' coats and clothes, and someone held an umbrella high above his head. The drummer who knocked gong opened the way, followed by his family. He went to the pond at the foot of the mountain, set up a memorial arch, burned paper money, lit incense, then threw three coppers into the spring, scooped up half a pot of water and returned to the incense room.
When "buying water" returns, it is necessary to bathe the dead. The custom of "bathing" has a long history. As early as in the Book of Rites, it was recorded that "the person in charge of fetching water gave the person who bathed, and the royal family sent someone to bathe in the class". In ancient times, the identity of the deceased was different and the bathing regulations were different.
Vajrapani took a towel and poured some water from the pot to take a bath. He said something: Mr. XXX, I'll wash your hair and feet and give you a bath. After taking a shower, he was pruning with scissors in his hand. Manicure, manicure the dead.
After bathing, the deceased was dressed in an old shroud, hung with an evocation bag and tied with a gold belt around his waist, and pulled out the "mouth spirit" from the mouth of the deceased. It is said that if you don't unplug the "mouth spirit", you will be dumb in your next life.
The next ceremony is to comb the dead man's hair. King Kong has a wooden comb and sings loudly every time he combs it? Quot 15 ".The family answered" Yes "in unison. He sang "Ten" and answered "Yes". So fifteen, twenty, twenty-five ... Count the integers according to the age of the deceased, and then count the scores. If the deceased is an 83-year-old man, count to 80 and then to 8 1, 82, 83. At the end of the counting, everyone was in tears.
Followed by the coffin ceremony. At this time, the eldest son held his head, the younger son held his feet, and King Kong's head held his waist with a piece of white cloth (commonly known as a thousand catties cloth). With the help of all the relatives, he gently put the body into the coffin. Later, the clothes of the four seasons were put into the coffin one by one, and every time one was put, King Kong's head would sing a promise loudly, which is commonly known as the "clothes declaration form". After the clothes are packed, put them in the quilt. A daughter should have a bed. The quilt is only two feet long and has no seam at one end. There are also all kinds of daily necessities, such as pipe bags. Finally, add some special items made of glutinous rice stalks. One is a ladder, vulgar? Quot ladder ",the second is crutches; The third is to grind the cage hanger.
Everything that should be in the museum has been put in. After seeing the last remains, later generations brushed cotton on the coffin surface, commonly known as "thousand fragrant noodles". A few red and green lines are hung on both sides of the head and tail of the coffin, which is called "leading the way". Then, push on the coffin, but don't drop the nail for the time being. All relatives will cry with the coffin at this time. It can be said that "it is better to be thousands of miles away than to be in a partition"!
Later, the family turned around the coffin three times and walked three times in the opposite direction. The instrument was finished, the gong rang and the gun rang.
Generally speaking, children and grandchildren are heartbroken after the death of their loved ones. The health and longevity of the elderly in rural areas is also called "mourning", and mourning is only a form.
The coffin is placed in a fixed place and set as a mourning hall. Surrounded by wreaths and funerals sent by relatives and friends. There is a white curtain hanging in front of the coffin, and the book is one? Quot "Li" is used to present a table in front, light incense sticks, stand on a coffin and offer sacrifices. There must be a whole chicken in the offering, commonly known as "cooked chicken".
On this day's dinner, friends and relatives from all over the world get together and host a banquet, commonly known as "Cheng Fan". But the daughter-in-law put the food on the coffin and ate around it. The rural custom is called "Gaiwa".
That night, relatives and friends of the whole family stayed up all night and asked the Taoist priest to be a "Dojo", commonly known as "companion spirit". Companions vary in size. Taoist priests are usually in groups of seven. That night, the Taoist priests put on their robes, held swords, brushed the dust off the fairy broom, read and sang, accompanied by music, gongs and drums roared. Taoist priests take turns to play several roles. One person sings in front of them, and the drawl of singing is assisted by several people. The tone is sometimes frustrated, sometimes passionate, sometimes sad, and there is more implication. The accompaniment of gongs, drums and tricks will definitely attract villagers to watch. As for the tone and content of Taoist singing, it is hard to hear clearly. As the saying goes, the discerning Taoist priest is a blind actor. It is said that Taoist priests have some records of accompanying spirits, in which only Taoist priests know the rules, manners and singing contents. There is a folk proverb? Quot "Three altars don't get to the heart, four altars want porridge. It is said that every time Mr. Taoist writes a paragraph, it is called "an altar" That is to say, when we get to the fourth altar, we will have snacks. After eating a midnight snack all night, everyone in the company was a little sleepy, and at this time, Mr. Taoist's most wonderful performance began. This is "breaking the prison". A Taoist priest pretended to be a clown and called him a "life official", while a Taoist priest was dignified and unsmiling and called him a "real person". The real person is serious, the famous official's expression is funny, and the words are ridiculous. The question and answer is very funny. Real people perform according to the rules and procedures, but the life officer can now make up and sing. The audience who accompanied the spirit were all told by joking language and exaggerated movements, and their sleepiness was driven away without a trace.
After the "prison break", it was early in the morning, and the Taoist priests were going to sing in the master's kitchen, commonly known as "comforting the chef".
Fourth, mourning and doing seven.
Funerals in rural areas are usually held on the third day. Also known as "funeral", most villages arrange funerals in the morning, and some places arrange funerals in the afternoon. Before the funeral, Taoist priests will also "serve rice plates" and "walk the fairy bridge" in front of the coffin, and even have a thrilling performance of "turning over the ninth floor", but this program is not available to every Taoist priest. Only a few highly skilled Taoist priests can do it, of course, Taoist priests are more expensive.
After the above ceremony. A long time ago, a porcelain bowl was placed on the top of the coffin. King Kong's head threw the bowl on the ground, commonly known as the "broken bowl", to show that people died like a broken bowl and could not be recovered! After knocking on the solid nail, all the material people broke the wine, carried the coffin into the tunnel and tied it with thick coffin poles and rope. Some village workshops use special shelves. As long as the coffin is placed in the middle, it can be used to raise the poles, which is called "material cover". After completing the task, the coffin was lifted and the gong sounded, and the family burst into tears. At the front of the funeral procession are offerings and gongs, followed by boys and girls pasted with paper, followed by "Asako" mourning poles and wreaths. "Asako" is a long and narrow banner with elegy proverbs written by Taoist priests. After liberation, "Asako" has been basically abandoned, but funeral axes and wreaths are still very popular. Before the coffin, it was a male descendant of the family, and the eldest son held a "guide". The rest were dressed in hemp Dai Xiao, sandals on their feet, a straw rope tied around their waist, and a funeral stick in their hands (cut with bamboo poles, commonly known as "test stick"). ) After the coffin, their wives followed closely, all dressed in mourning and crying. Along the way, a special person threw away the silver hanging from burning paper, and the countryside was called "buying road money". Those who travel long distances have to stop halfway, which is called "tuning". Suddenly, all the mourners knelt down and bowed. Funeral coffins usually go very fast, and daughters and daughters-in-law must follow quickly. This custom is called "chasing hot footsteps", and the old saying is "go quickly and send quickly".
When the coffin arrived at the cemetery, all mourners bowed and walked three times along the grave. Cai set fire to the pit, and the fuel for burning the pit was sesame and soybean straw. After the sale, the brass cymbals and nails were thrown into the pit. This custom implies that future generations are "rich and prosperous". When the pit burns for a certain time, people jump into the grave and step on the fire, commonly known as "stepping on the pit." Then Cai Fu lowered the coffin into the into the pit, or reclaimed land or sealed the tomb door.
After the funeral, the undertaker returns to the original road and invites relatives and friends to drink and eat at lunch, which is called "returning to the funeral wine". After dinner, the guests went home one by one, and the host family sent some rice to the guests to take away. This is commonly known as "rice" or "longevity rice".
After the funeral, for three consecutive mornings, family members went to the cemetery to burn a grass knot, which was called "sending fire". Every seven days, I go to the cemetery to offer sacrifices and hold a funeral, and the women cry for a while. So I have to do it seven times, commonly known as "making seven sons." Among the "seven sons", "May 7th" is the most important. On this day, the married daughter will bear a banquet, and at night, she will put wine in the incense hall and invite the souls of her ancestors to eat. Put a "chair" on the table in Xiangtang, formerly known as "home table". It is said that the deceased will go home to visit at this time. The whole family should stay up all night, sit quietly and observe filial piety, and even send the dead away in the early hours of the morning. The next morning, a banquet was held in front of the tomb, cardboard boxes and paper money were burned, firecrackers were set off, and worship was held. At noon, Cai Fu will be invited to eat at this banquet to show his gratitude.
Forty-nine days after July 7th is called "Duanqi". In the future, ancestral graves are usually celebrated every year in Tomb-Sweeping Day, July 30th, winter solstice and other festivals. In the old days, some wealthy families celebrated their anniversaries and ten years, and invited Taoist priests to carry out crossing ceremonies. Some even celebrated their birthdays, but now it is very rare.
In the old society, in addition to the above-mentioned funerals, there was a bad habit of "cold burial", also known as "protective burial". That is, after the death of the deceased, the coffin was not buried underground for the time being, and the coffin was covered with straw. After a year or two, I will choose a cemetery for burial. This custom pollutes the environment and has a spiritual fear for children. As early as the Ming Dynasty, the county magistrate Liu Guangfu ordered the abolition of this common custom. (See "Sanxiu County Records, Chaozhi, Volume 17". ) but it was still everywhere in the early days of liberation. It was not until the 1970s that this phenomenon gradually disappeared, and now it can't be seen.
1998, the municipal government promoted cremation in the whole city, advocating a new fashion of civilization, science and hygiene. The cremation rate is 100%, which means that the custom of burial has become history.