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What are the customs of Mid-Autumn Festival?
Mid-autumn festival customs
A complete book about Mid-Autumn Festival's dietary customs.
What is the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival and what sacrifices are there?
What are the customs of Chaozhou Mid-Autumn Festival?
Legend has it that since the opening of the gate of hell in early July, ghosts in the underworld have wandered around the world. Therefore, in the Mid-Autumn Festival, people should not only worship their ancestors, but also provide relief to ghosts and gods on a large scale. According to "Chronicle of Gan Chun", "July 15th" is called Mid-Autumn Festival by Taoism, and there is a fasting meeting. This day is regarded as the orchid basin in the monastery, and people also worship it first. "
In Buddhism, Buddha Sakyamuni was reincarnated on this day and was born on the eighth day of April. Therefore, July 15 is called parasitic festival, and it is necessary to repay mother's kindness on this day, so this festival is also called Thanksgiving. Later, Mulian, a Buddhist disciple, saved his mother on this day. (According to the Records of Yulan Bijing, Mulian venerable learned that his mother was suffering in the "hell" after her death, and if she hung upside down, she ran to ask the Buddha for help. The Buddha asked him to prepare 100 kinds of food on July 15th, the day when monks settled in summer, so as to avoid eating ten monks, so it was also called Yupu. This festival was quite popular in the early Tang Dynasty. According to historical records, after Emperor Taizong of Li Shimin unified the world, on the day of the Central Plains, more than 20,000 monks and nuns were recruited and turned over for 7,749 days. On this day, both Buddhism and Taoism offer sacrifices and make contributions to the world of Yin and Yang, so they are merged by the people.
This festival is also related to Confucianism. On this day, both Buddhism and Taoism will set up merit fairs. Confucianism emphasizes filial piety, and when parents are alive, children should be personally served; When your parents die, you should also "pay homage to them", just like when your parents were alive. Therefore, Confucianism advocates that in addition to ancestor worship in spring and autumn, ancestor worship can also be held on the Mid-Yuan Festival. In this way, the Mid-Autumn Festival is the confluence of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.
In chaozhou people's mind, the grand Mid-Autumn Festival is second only to the Spring Festival and Tomb-Sweeping Day. The reverence for history and the memory of ancestors are surging in chaozhou people's simple feelings. People freely release this emotion through various special worship methods.
The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is called the Mid-Autumn Festival. Mid-Autumn Festival is commonly known as "Ghost Festival", "July and a half" and "Sacrificing orphans". Hipsters have folk activities such as stone drums, ancestor worship, robbing orphans, setting fires, acting and traveling with lanterns.
First of all, Purdue University at Shigu Campus
There are many overseas Chinese in Chaozhou, and those who die in their place of residence without children and grandchildren are regarded as ghosts by the villagers. The "Mid-Autumn Festival" in Chaozhou dialect has the custom of making a fortune with a stone drum, which continues to this day as a sign of doing good.
This festival is generally believed to have evolved from the story of "Mulian Saving Mother" in Buddhist scriptures, and its canon comes from the Tripitaka: After Mulian, one of the top ten disciples of Sakyamuni, became a monk by the Tibetan king, her mother was vicious and wanton, slandering monks and Buddha. In a rage, the king sent her to hell to suffer, put her in a group of hungry ghosts and gave her no food. Mu Lian learned that her mother was hanged upside down in the sixth hall and immediately offered her a meal. But as soon as the rice arrived in the mouth, it immediately turned into hot ash charcoal, and a big bubble appeared in the mouth. Confused, I ran to ask the Buddha. Buddha said that her mother was guilty and deserved it. If you want to save her, you must do good deeds and help the poor. Mothers can only eat with respect and teaching. So this custom has been handed down.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, a popular folk activity is the Stone Drum Pudu, offering sacrifices to some lonely souls who have no relatives to worship among the dead, so that they can be reborn as soon as possible to do good. On this day, people often set up master seats and memorial halls in the streets and alleys, and set up Purdue shrines. In the center of Pudu altar, there is a flag of "Orchid Club" or a statue of three officials and the Great. There are several gods standing on the platform to pay homage to orphans, including "the position of a lonely man" and "the position of a lonely woman", which are calling "hungry ghosts" who have no owners to sacrifice. For fear that the "imp" can't beat the "GREAT GHOST" when giving food, a spirit tablet was specially set up "where adults and children are lonely souls and wild ghosts". After War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's victory, people added an item "Anti-Japanese fallen soldiers" to recruit soldiers who died to defend their country and resist foreign invasion.
There are two tables in front of the altar: a bucket lamp on the upper table, an idol and incense burner on the lower table. Put white rice, Gu Jian, bronze mirror, scissors, small scale and other things in the bucket lamp to ward off evil spirits. In addition, there is a long table in front of the altar for people to place sacrifices. After noon, every household provoked three sacrifices, such as shrines, fruits, paper money, clothes and hats, and bamboo hats. The person in charge inserted a yellow, green and red triangular paper flag on each sacrifice, and wrote the glyph of "Magnolia Victory" and "Manna Gate Open" as a souvenir. Afterwards, monks and Taoists were invited to read their scriptures and worship. The ceremony began with solemn temple music. After worshipping ghosts and ghosts, the owner threw the offerings or property signs under the shed for the poor to rob. This is called "robbing orphans". According to records, in Chaoyang County in the Qing Dynasty, when offering sacrifices to orphans, plows, waterwheels and furniture were also purchased, and even girls from poor families were bought, and they were written on pieces of paper, which were taken away when they were given meals, so that people who could not afford furniture or wives could collect them with coupons. Orphans and robbers woven a funnel-shaped net bag, opened the mouth with a bamboo ring, put on a handle and named it "Solitary Bearing" to take over the rest of the shed. In front of the solitary shed, there is a paper-covered ghost king with green face and fangs (also known as the solitary king). It is said that in the stone drum in the past, hungry ghosts gathered from all directions and robbed each other of food, which was chaotic. Master Guanyin tried to stop him, but no one paid attention to him. As a result, he had to become a ghost king, show off his strength, and deal with some evil spirits who bullied the weak and feared the hard before restoring order. Therefore, every time I go to Shigu, I have to paste the altar in Guwang Town.
Mid-Autumn Festival, the custom of tide should also worship ancestors. Chaozhou Shigu Pudu is not limited to today; However, this day is a solemn day, even more grand. Generally, organizations such as the charity church or the parents' meeting will kindly prepare three sacrifices to repair the bare solitary bones and worship in No.1 middle school. The big party will hold a Yulan celebration, set up a solitary shed (altar), display a large number of three sacrifices, wine rice, paper money, and paper clothes, and invite monks and Taoist priests to come to recite scriptures and worship. In addition to the food on it, there are clothes, hats, bamboo hats and so on. There are even live pigs, live sheep and live cattle. After the worship, distribute the physical objects, or distribute the bamboo stick brand according to the number for the audience to grab. It's called grasping loneliness. This custom was the most grand in Chaoyang County before liberation, and it was a wasteful superstitious activity. There are many overseas Chinese in Chaozhou dialect, and those who died in their place of residence without children and grandchildren are regarded as ghosts by the villagers, and many of them have the custom of crossing the river with stone drums, which continues to this day.
In Chaoyang district, it is said that once upon a time there was a landlord named Xu who bullied the city and did all kinds of evil, which made the people uncomfortable. So he secretly raised a case and used the action of the Lanpen Society to kill all the local tyrants and evil gentry. Later, the uprising was suppressed. In order to commemorate these rebels, on July 15, people also set up solitary sheds to ferry the dead.
In the afternoon, people moved stools and tables, put them in front of their homes, and then put sacrifices on them. When offering sacrifices, they were filled with incense, and after offering sacrifices, they were filled with incense in ditches and roadsides, meaning to help all parties. These incense sticks are dedicated to "orphans" (the reputation of ghosts), and children are not allowed to take them indiscriminately. Therefore, adults often scare children and say, "secretly pull out incense and wet the bed in the middle of the night." However, there are often some naughty children who, regardless of adults' words, pull out a lot of incense as playthings.
In recent years, many superstitious activities of Mid-Autumn Festival have become a thing of the past in Chaozhou Prefecture, and the Pudu activities of Shigu have been simplified, while the Yulan Victory Club is still very popular in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Macao. This has a lot to do with foreign hipsters attaching importance to commemorating the folks who died in other places and crossing over ghosts and gods. Many villages in Chaozhou, such as Chenghai and Pudu in Shigu, were greatly simplified during the Mid-Yuan Festival.
Second, the flame outlet
Cai Zemin's "Chaozhou Customs" also mentioned a custom of setting off "water lanterns", that is, when expanding the flame mouth, a boat should be sent back to the Hanjiang Sanheba, which is more than 100 miles away from the city, and before the ceremony, a soybean oil lamp made of only a large pottery bowl should be lit on the way back, and they should be put down in the river to attract ghosts from all directions to come to worship.
The mage sat on the high altar, rang the bell, and led a group of monks in the seat to recite the scriptures. He sprinkled a plate of peaches and rice in all directions on the edge of the seat and repeated it three times. This ceremony is called "the opening of the flame". The legend of "Flame Mouth" is the name of a hungry ghost in India. The ghost's throat is as thin as a pinhole and often emits flames. The mage chants spells to make his throat open and expand, so that he can swallow food.
When the flame mouth is lit in Chaozhou City, a boat will be sent back to Hanjiang River and sent to Sanheba, which is more than 0/00 km away from the city. Before the ceremony, when returning to China, soybean oil lamps made of large pottery bowls will be lit and put into the river to attract ghosts from all over the world to sacrifice. This is called "putting a water lamp". Therefore, in Chenghai County Records during Jiaqing period of Qing Dynasty, it was said: "(Mid-Autumn Festival) at night, the flame should be fed in Yingkou, and lights should be put on water to offer sacrifices to ghosts."
Third, drag the dead ghost?
"Dragging the dead" means inviting the dead to talk through a wizard. This witch is usually a woman. People covered her eyes with cloth, lit incense, and people around her chanted incantations to fascinate her. Curse the cloud: "Guanyin is in the sea, and the dharma body goes to Putuo Mountain. Step on a thousand-petal lotus and hold hands with a willow to marry a child. Copper (rice) is difficult to cast into gong, and iron (rice) is difficult to beat into a knife. Sister Tong insisted that Aunt get married, and Aunt married her children to play. Go to the hexagonal pavilion, where the fragrant flowers are brilliant, and the hexagonal pavilion holds hands and worships God deeply. When you get to the east, your feet will be loose. Go to Naihe Bridge to shake your feet. At the top of the bridge, tell the empress not to listen, and at the bottom of the bridge, tell her to hurry. Go to the garden in the garden and go to the soul tree to attract the soul. " When you find the wizard sleepy, you should think of it. "Push you one step, push you two steps, push you to walk with your feet and let go of your hand. One step, two steps, yelling at the child's sister, walking with your feet and opening your mouth. " So the witch became a medium for people to talk with ghosts, and people could talk with the dead through her. When the "damn fool" is finished, I will say: "The sunset in the western hills is dim, everyone is closed, and chickens, geese, birds and ducks are on the fence. Please go home, Sister Ruan. " This kind of thing can wake the wizard from a coma and sober him up. This folk custom is obviously superstitious, but there are many folk believers. In addition to July, witches are invited to "drag the dead ghosts" in other months, and many folk witches make a living by this.
Fourth, perform for entertainment.
In the past, villagers in Chao 'an, Chaoyang and other places took the opportunity of Yulan Victory Festival to slaughter livestock, and at the same time invited troupes to perform, which was quite lively. The Records of Chaoyang County in Guangxu of Qing Dynasty said: "(The Central Plains) staged a play of the Jin Dynasty, especially the rural customs." It can be seen that the Mid-Autumn Festival in Chaoyang Village in Qing Dynasty is very prosperous. However, most Mid-Autumn Festival dramas are for the rich. People who have no money can't even get enough food and clothing. Why bother to enjoy the performance? Therefore, there is a folk song called "Come to the theatre with money, but get lonely without food". Compared with the usual wandering season, the acting skills of Mid-Autumn Festival are relatively cold and clear. This is because the fairy is superior after all, and ghosts can make people afraid, so Yulan Sheng Hui's play is not as lively as the fairy's play.
V. Swimming lights
In the afternoon of Mid-Autumn Festival in Jiuguan and Chaoan, children are busy making carp lanterns, trying to imitate the Lantern Festival and do some amusement. Some people erect a carp bowl with bamboo sticks at home, then insert colorful flags, incense sticks and candles on the bowl and light the fire, which is a simple carp fish lamp. Young people should be replaced by adults, and older people can transport craftsmen themselves; Some people are ingenious, and the carp lamps made by exquisite craftsmanship are beautiful; Some people first carve sweet potatoes into the shape of fish, or birds and animals, and then dye them in various colors, which is lifelike; Some people use dough blocks to shape and color first, and then they look good. They are decorated with colorful flags and candles, and the fire is beautiful and considerable, which can be regarded as an art; More interestingly, some people use hemp bones as lamp holders, paste them with transparent wax paper, and light candles inside, which is also considered as lanterns. In addition, there is also a kind of light ball, which is usually made of baryons born of thorns (similar to drifters), with paper flags and incense inserted, and a few feet of tough rope is put on from the children's center, which can be lifted at will and swayed from side to side. It's called a light ball. When swinging, the sparks are connected in series and grow into strips, which plays a changing role in the eyes. Whenever people go outdoors in the evening, they can see children's carp lights, carved fish lights, paper lights and light balls, and they feel red everywhere and candlelight is shining. In particular, the paper flags of the lamp balls are strung together and clanging, which embellishes the excitement of the quiet night and is more interesting. However, the early morning of July 15 is considered as Ghost Festival, so on this night, children are not allowed to play around until late at night, so they should go to bed early. In this way, the lantern music inevitably casts a gray shadow, but it also leaves a deep impression on people (On the Festival Customs of Chaozhou Dialect by Shen Min in the Republic of China).
Sixth, pray for a bumper harvest.
Sacrificing lonely souls in the Mid-Autumn Festival is usually associated with praying for a bumper harvest. On the night of the stone drum, every household should burn incense and pray at home and put incense on the ground. This is called "planting rice" (transplanting rice). The more you plant, the better, which symbolizes the bumper harvest of rice in autumn. As a result, children often like to sneak to other people's homes to steal "rice", which often causes parents to quarrel and use force. Qing Qianlong's "Puning County Chronicle" contains the contents of the Mid-Autumn Festival in this county, such as "putting incense and placing candles at night" and "farmers putting bamboo and hanging paper money in the fields to pray for the valley". July and a half coincide with the rice flowering season. This custom may be that farmers worship the rice god or pray for ghosts to help with farming.
Seven, fruit make a wish
In the old society, the fruits of private trees were often stolen. As a result, some people are unique. They put up signs such as "Shigu Shengguo" on the fruit trees, and made a vow to dedicate the fruit from the trees to Shigu, so that no one would dare to steal it again. It is said that ghosts and gods will come out to negotiate with people who steal fruit to eat, and people who steal fruit are inevitably in danger of getting sick. In this way, fruit trees are protected by superstition. However, there are exceptions. If you meet someone who is more fierce than a ghost-"ghosts are not afraid", he will not recognize the notice. Some old thieves specialize in patronizing these sacred objects and ghosts, turning them into superstitious people.
Nowadays, many superstitious activities of Mid-Autumn Festival have become a thing of the past in Chaozhou Prefecture, and the Pudu activities of Shigu have also been simplified. However, the Yulan Victory Festival is still very popular in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Macao and other places where hipsters live in concentrated communities, which has a lot to do with foreign hipsters' emphasis on commemorating villagers who died in other places and turning over ghosts and gods.
In fact, not only the Central Plains, but also many traditional festivals are changing, some of which have faded, some have become more intense, and some have been given new meanings and connotations. Every custom is a beating cultural birthmark, recording the fresh feelings of this era, changing in inheritance and passing on in change, day after day, year after year, until it becomes history. ...
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