Eating Yuanxiao on the fifteenth day of the first month, as a kind of food, has a long history in China. In the Song Dynasty, a novel Lantern Festival food was popular among the people. This kind of food was originally called "Floating Zi Yuan", later called "Yuanxiao", and merchants also called it "Yuanbao". Yuanxiao, or "Tangyuan", contains sugar, roses, sesame seeds, red bean paste, cinnamon bark, walnut kernel, nuts, jujube paste and so on. And wrapped in glutinous rice flour into a circle, you can be vegetarian and have different flavors. It can be boiled, fried and steamed, which means happy reunion. Jiaozi, Shaanxi is not wrapped, but "rolled" in glutinous rice flour, or boiled or fried, warm and round.
The second is to look at the lights.
During the Yong Ping period of Han Dynasty (AD 58-75), when Ming Chengzu advocated Buddhism, it happened that Cai Cheng returned from India to seek Buddhism, saying that it was the fifteenth day of the first month of Mohato, India, and the monks gathered to pay tribute to the relics, which was an auspicious day to participate in Buddhism. In order to promote Buddhism, Emperor Hanming ordered "burning lamps to show Buddha" in palaces and temples on the fifteenth night of the first month. Since then, the custom of putting lights on the Lantern Festival has spread from being held only in the court to the people. That is, on the fifteenth day of the first month, both the gentry and the people hang up lights, and the urban and rural areas are brightly lit all night.
The custom of setting off lanterns during the Lantern Festival developed into an unprecedented lantern market in the Tang Dynasty. Chang 'an, the capital at that time, was already the largest city with a population of one million in the world, and its society was rich. Under the personal initiative of the emperor, the Lantern Festival became more and more luxurious. After the middle Tang Dynasty, it has developed into a national carnival. In the prosperous period of the Tang Xuanzong Kaiyuan (685-762 AD), the lantern market in Chang 'an was very large, with 50,000 lanterns and all kinds of lanterns. The emperor ordered 20 giant lantern buildings with a height of 150 feet, resplendent and magnificent.
The Lantern Festival in Song Dynasty is superior to that in Tang Dynasty in scale and dreamy lighting, with more folk activities and stronger national characteristics. Since then, the Lantern Festival has continued to develop and the time of the Lantern Festival has become longer and longer. The Lantern Festival in Tang Dynasty is "the day before and after Shangyuan". In the Song Dynasty, two days were added after the 16th, and in the Ming Dynasty, it was extended from the 8th to 18th to ten days.
In the Qing Dynasty, Manchu entered the Central Plains, and the court no longer held lantern festivals, but the folk lantern festivals were still spectacular. The date was shortened to five days and continues to this day.
The lights in Jiaoling County, Meizhou City, Guangdong Province, have the meaning of bright and bright, lighting the lights means illuminating the future, and the homonym of Guangzhou lights and Ding means giving birth to boys, so in the past, women would deliberately wander under the lights, hoping to "drill the feet of the lights and lay eggs" (that is, swimming under the lights to give birth to boys).
The third is Valentine's Day in China.
Lantern Festival is also a romantic festival. In the feudal traditional society, Lantern Festival also provides unmarried men and women with opportunities to get to know each other. In traditional society, young girls are not allowed to go out freely, but they can go out to play together on holidays. Lantern Festival lanterns are just an opportunity to make friends, and unmarried men and women can also find their own partners by the way. During the Lantern Festival, it is also the time for young men and women to meet their lovers.
In Jiaoling County, Meizhou City, Guangdong Province, there is also a traditional custom that unmarried women who steal onions or vegetables at midnight will marry a good husband, commonly known as "stealing onions and marrying a good husband" and "stealing vegetables and marrying a good husband". Girls who want a happy marriage will steal onions or vegetables in the garden on the night of the Lantern Festival, expecting a happy family in the future. There are thousands of performances in the Lantern Festival in the Tang Dynasty.
Ouyang Xiu (health inspector) said: Last year's Lantern Festival, the flower market was lit like a book; The moon rose to the willow tree, and he met me at dusk. Xin Qiji (jade case) wrote: Many people looked for it and suddenly looked back, and that person was in the dim light. It is a scene describing midnight snack, while the traditional opera Chen San and Wu Niang met at the Lantern Festival and fell in love at first sight. In the second episode of "Nightingale", Lechang official and Xu Deyan made love at the Lantern Festival, and in "Spring Lantern Enigma", they made love with ying niang at the Lantern Festival. So the Lantern Festival is also China's "Valentine's Day".
As time goes by, there are more and more activities for the Lantern Festival. In many places, activities such as playing dragon lanterns, playing lions, walking on stilts, rowing dry boats, dancing yangko and playing Taiping drums were also added during the festival.
The fourth is to walk on stilts.
Walking on stilts is a popular folk performance. Stilts originally belonged to one of the hundred ancient operas in China, which appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. In China, stilts first appeared in Liezi Fu Shuo: "Those who had orchids in the Song Dynasty used their skills to dry the Song and Yuan Dynasties. Summoned in the Song and Yuan Dynasties to see their skills. There are two branches twice as long as its body, belonging to its shin, which go hand in hand, making the seven swords overlap and jump. The five swords were always in the air, and Yuan Jun was frightened and gave them gold and silk. " As can be seen from the article, stilts have been popular as early as 500 BC. Performers can not only walk with long wood tied to their feet, but also jump and dance swords. Stilts are divided into three types: stilts, middle stilts and running stilts, with the highest being more than ten feet. According to ancient records, ancient stilts were all made of wood. Make a support point in the middle of the planed wooden stick to put your feet, and then tie it to your legs with a rope. Performers can dance swords, splits, stools, cross tables and yangko when walking on stilts. In the northern stilt yangko, there are fishermen, matchmakers, silly sons, second brothers, Taoist priests and monks. The performer's funny performance can arouse the audience's great interest. In the south, stilts play the role of traditional operas, including Guan Gong, Zhang Fei, Lv Dongbin, He Xiangu, Zhang Sheng, matchmaker, Jigong, immortal and clown. They sang while performing, making fun and entertaining themselves. It is said that this form of walking on stilts was originally developed by ancient people in order to collect wild fruits from trees for food and tie two long sticks to their legs.
The fifth is lion dance.
Lion dance is an excellent folk art in China. Every Lantern Festival or assembly celebration, people come to the lion dance for entertainment. This custom originated in the Three Kingdoms period and was popular in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It has a history of 1000 years. According to legend, it was first introduced from the western regions, and the lion was the mount of Manjusri Bodhisattva. As Buddhism was introduced into China, lion dance was also introduced into China. The lion is a tribute brought back with the peacock after Emperor Wu of Han sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions. However, the skill of lion dance originated from the "masked play" of Xiliang. Some people think that lion dance originated from the army in the fifth century and was later introduced to the people. Both statements have their own basis, and it is difficult to judge whether they are right or wrong today. However, in the Tang Dynasty, lion dance has become a popular activity in the court, the army and the people. Tang Duanan Festival "Yuefu Miscellaneous Search" said: "There are five lions in the play, more than ten feet high, each with five colors. Each lion has 12 people, wearing red stripes, wearing clothes and painting clothes, and holding red pens. They are called lion lang and dance Taiping music. " The poet Bai Juyi described it vividly in his poem "West Cool Geisha": "West Cool Geisha, West Cool Geisha, Masked Hu Ren, False Lion. Wood carvings at the head and tail, gold-plated eyes and silver teeth. Fenxun sweaters have ears, such as coming to Wan Li from quicksand. " This poem describes the scene of lion dance at that time.
In the development of 1000 years, lion dance has formed two performance styles, north and south. The lion dance of the Northern School mainly performed the "Wushi", that is, the "Ruishi" appointed by Wei Wudi in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Little lions dance alone, while big lions dance in pairs. One stood and danced the lion's head, and the other bent down to dance the lion's body and tail. The lion dancer is covered with a lion quilt, wearing green lion pants and golden claw boots of the same color as the lion's body. People can't recognize the lion dancer's body, and its shape is very similar to that of a real lion. The lion guide dressed as an ancient warrior, holding a spinning hydrangea with Beijing gongs, drums and cymbals to tease the lion. Under the guidance of "Lion Lang", lions perform somersaults, jumps, climbs, bows down and other techniques, as well as some difficult movements such as walking plum blossom piles, jumping on tables and stepping on bowling balls. Shi Wen is the main performance of the Southern Lion Dance. When performing, it pays attention to expressions, such as scratching, shaking hair, licking hair and so on. Vivid and lovely, but also have difficult skills such as spitting the ball. South Lion is centered in Guangdong, and is popular in Hong Kong, Macao and the hometown of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. Although the Southern Lion is also a duet, the lion dancers are all dressed in knickerbockers, and only a colorful lion is danced. Different from the lions in the north, "Lion Lang" wears a big head Buddha mask, a cassock, a ribbon around his waist and a sunflower fan in his hand to tease the lions, thus dancing all kinds of beautiful movements, which is ridiculous. There are many schools of southern lions, such as the lion with the head of a dog in Qingyuan and Yingde, the lion with a big head in Guangzhou and Foshan, the duck-billed lion in Gaohe and Zhongshan, and the unicorn lion in Dongguan. In addition to their different shapes, heather also has different personalities. The white beard lion dance method is not wide, and there are not many varieties of colors, but it is calm and powerful, and it is called "Liu Beishi" by the people. Known as the "Guan Gong Lion", the black-bearded red-faced lion dances bravely and fearlessly. Gray bearded lion, rough and belligerent, commonly known as "Zhang". The lion is the statue of all animals, and its image is majestic and martial, giving people a sense of majesty and bravery. The ancients regarded it as a symbol of courage and strength, and thought it could ward off evil spirits and keep people and animals safe. Therefore, in Jiaoling County, Meizhou City, Guangdong Province, people have gradually formed the custom of dancing lions during the Lantern Festival and other major events, hoping that life will be auspicious and safe.
The seventh kind is walking sickness.
Besides celebrating the Lantern Festival, there are also religious activities. That is to say, most of the participants in "taking all kinds of diseases", also known as "baking all kinds of diseases" and "spreading all kinds of diseases" are women. They walk together or against the wall, or cross the bridge through the suburbs, with the aim of driving away diseases and eliminating disasters.
On the fifteenth day of the first month, there are some little-known and lost folk activities, and there are several special activities in Jiaoling County, Meizhou City, Guangdong Province.
For example, one mouse after another
This activity is mainly aimed at sericulture families. Because mice often eat silkworms in large areas at night, it is said that they can stop eating silkworms by feeding them rice porridge on the fifteenth day of the first month. As a result, these people cooked a large pot of sticky porridge on the fifteenth day of the first month, and some even covered it with a layer of meat. They put porridge in a bowl and put it on the ceiling, corner and mouth where mice haunt, cursing that mice will not die a natural death if they eat silkworm babies again.
Also: Eiko Valley.
Zi Gu is a kind and poor girl in folklore. On the fifteenth day of the first month, Zi Gu died of poverty. People sympathize with her and miss her. In some places, it is convenient to have the custom of "welcoming the daughter-in-law on the fifteenth day of the first month". Every night, people tie a life-size portrait of purple aunt with straw and cloth heads. Women have stood beside the toilet, pigsty and kitchen where Zigu often works to meet her, holding her hand like sisters, telling her sweet words and comforting her with tears. This scene is very vivid and truly reflects the thoughts and feelings of the working people who are kind, honest and sympathetic to the weak.