How many taboos are there during pregnancy?

People are most concerned about having children as soon as possible after marriage to carry on the family line. In China, where children are valued, pregnancy is a happy event, commonly known as "happiness". Once a woman is pregnant, her husband's family will increase the nutrition of the pregnant woman as much as possible, reduce her labor, and start raising chickens and making wine for postpartum use. In order to safely and smoothly spend the long days of pregnancy in October, a series of taboo customs have been formed by the people to restrain pregnant women and remind their families, which are diverse and involve almost all aspects of daily life.

People generally believe in the existence of fetal gods and that the soul of the fetus is possessed by gods. Fetal God may lurk in a pregnant woman's bedroom, house or somewhere. With the change of pregnancy, the position of fetal God will also change. Therefore, during pregnancy, it is strictly forbidden to move or repair things casually, otherwise it will touch the fetal god and be harmful to the fetus. Once the fetal god is violated, it will immediately affect the fetus. The most direct manifestation is abdominal pain, which can lead to miscarriage or dystocia in severe cases. At this time, Taoist priests will be invited to hold an abortion ceremony at home, that is, playing flute on pregnant women's pillows and chanting incantations to appease the fetal god.

In Chinese mainland and Taiwan Province Province, it is forbidden for pregnant women to contact weddings, funerals and weddings. Pregnant women can't attend other people's weddings, watch weddings, go to the bride's side, touch the bride's sedan chair and dowry, go to the bridal chamber, touch the things in the bridal chamber, and attend the wedding reception. It is generally believed that pregnant women are unclean, and "happiness" not only damages the happiness and harmony of newlyweds, but also involves pregnant women themselves and the fetus. Pregnant women are not allowed to watch and attend funerals, touch corpses or coffins, eat funeral food, accept funeral gifts or touch funeral utensils. It is generally believed that funeral is a terrible thing, pregnancy is a happy thing, and "grabbing happiness" will kill pregnant women and fetuses.

It is forbidden for pregnant women to contact other pregnant women and parturients. It is forbidden for pregnant women and pregnant women to sit on a bench, or sit face to face, or sleep in the same bed. They are afraid that happiness will hurt one or both parties, and they are also worried that they will "change their tires" with each other.

Pregnant women are forbidden to go out at night. Because there are many ghosts outside at night, I am afraid that they will hurt the fetus; Others said that Hei Hu and the God of White Tiger blocked the way and snatched the fetus at night.

It is forbidden for pregnant women to use scissors and take a needle and thread, and no one else is allowed to do so in the pregnant women's room. All appliances in pregnant women's rooms, especially beds, should not be moved at will, nor should walls, doors, windows and floors be repaired at will. It is forbidden to bind, pierce, nail or clamp in pregnant women's rooms. If it is violated, the custom will offend the fetal god and involve pregnant women and fetuses. In light cases, the fetal facial features are disfigured, limbs are damaged, or deformed or disabled; What's more, pregnant women have abdominal pain and dystocia, or their babies are injured.

Pregnant women are forbidden to watch puppet shows, otherwise the baby will be like a puppet, or suffer from rickets or lack of internal organs. Pregnant women are forbidden to cross the tow rope or the weight with their feet. If you accidentally cross the rope or scale, you may be pregnant 12 months or 16 months. Avoid pregnant women cooking fish, meat, eggs and other foods, so as to avoid leaving scars or moles on the baby in the future.

Pregnant women are forbidden to enter temples, drill wells to observe sacrifices, build furnaces, drill wells and beam. The folk beliefs in such places have the existence of gods, which must be pure and solemn. When pregnant women come, it will make the temple fragrant, the well water smelly, the family business depressed and the house beams crooked. At the same time, it will also bring disaster to pregnant women and fetuses.

In addition, there are various taboos and fasting customs during pregnancy. You can't eat rabbit meat. If you eat it, the baby will grow rabbit lips. Don't eat dog meat, otherwise children will love to bite, and they will also love to bite their nipples when they are nursing. Avoid eating cocks, so that the children born will not cry at night. Avoid eating crabs, so that the children born will not lick the foam and drool, saying that eating crabs will make the fetus dystocia. People in Taiwan Province Province think that children born after eating crabs will scratch other people's hands and feet like crabs. Don't eat mussels, so the baby won't lick his tongue. Avoid eating ginger in case the baby has six fingers. Don't eat ducks, thinking that eating ducks will make children sick. Too many, too numerous to mention.

There is a superstitious practice in Fujian and Taiwan to change the sex of the fetus, which is called "flower-changing struggle" If pregnant women want to have a boy, they can ask a blind fortune teller to come to the pregnant women's dormitory, bring a pot of lotus flowers into the house, pray in front of the bed, put up symbols, burn gold and silver paper, and finally plant lotus flowers behind the house, and the fetus will become a man. You can also bring a pot of hibiscus flowers to the temple to pray, prepare incense candles for sacrifice, pray for chanting in front of the gods, and pregnant women burn incense paper and pray for tire change in parallel. After returning home, I prayed for three days in a row, and then planted hibiscus flowers in front of the court, which is said to be to achieve transformation.

"Changing barrels" means that pregnant women cover the cooked pork belly with a bowl within ten days after giving birth to a girl and ask the witch or "Red Head Company" to let pregnant women take it. It is generally believed that pregnant women can change their stomachs (that is, change barrels) after eating them, and then they can have boys. This practice is nonsense. But many folk women often enjoy it in order to have boys.

Postpartum rest "confinement"

After giving birth, the parturient must lie still and take care of it carefully for a period of time, usually one month, commonly known as "confinement", "confinement" and "confinement". During this period, the lying-in woman's bedroom is called "Moon Ovary" or "Moon Ovary". The moon house is often marked, and a red cloth strip or a string of onions wrapped in red paper is usually hung at the door of the moon house to remind outsiders. The moon ovary is forbidden for pregnant women, people with filial piety and people belonging to tigers to break in. It is considered that pregnant women are suspected of "rushing to be happy" when they enter the room, while those who are filial and belong to tigers will "rush to be happy", which is not conducive to maternity and babies. Generally, outsiders are not allowed to enter the maternal bedroom at will, fearing that the cold and "anger" from the outside will follow and invade the mother and son indoors.

For "confinement" women, there are more taboos and constraints. The windows of the moon room should be closed, and the doors should be closed except for people entering and leaving; Maternal women cannot fan the wind indoors; Maternal women are not allowed to leave home most of the time and rest in bed: headscarves should be tied on their heads, and family members should be responsible for eating and washing; Maternal contact with cold water is prohibited, and hot water should be used for washing face and hands. They shouldn't wash their hair and take a bath, and they can only wipe their bodies with hot water at most.

There is a folk saying that "giving birth to a child is like climbing a mountain of blood, and the full moon is a gate of hell." After a long period of suffering, the parturient needs to supplement the loss of blood loss during childbirth. If the maintenance is not good, it will leave the root of the disease and lead a miserable life. The common people attach great importance to the aftercare of pregnant women, and stipulate that the baby can only be lifted after the full moon. In Taiwan Province Province, women should rest in the dormitory 1 month after giving birth, which is commonly known as "doing it within one month". You can't go out to help with housework until after the full moon. In this month, pregnant women mainly eat chicken wine, fried rice, sesame-oil chicken and vegetarian noodles, especially chicken, and eat a lot, about a dozen a month. Some people nourish their bodies with ginseng, and cook them with orange cakes, dried tangerine peel, cuttlefish nails, cuttlebone with sesame oil and wine. Maternal women generally don't eat salt. If the mother has collapsed after giving birth, the family will mix the mother with the child's urine to drink.

In Chinese mainland, "confinement" women are very particular about their diet. They should not only pay attention to nutrition and nourish their bodies, but also prefer hot food to drive away the cold, which is also conducive to the secretion of milk to feed their babies. Usually have three meals and three snacks or four snacks, eat while it is hot, and eat rice, noodles, chicken, eggs, wine, longan and so on. Rice is mostly steamed rice; Wine is home-brewed rice wine; Most chickens only eat chicken body meat, not chicken head, chicken feet, chicken wings and chicken offal. Wash rice, cook rice, and boil other foods with boiling water. When you heat wine, you often add brown sugar or ginger slices. Boiled chicken and eggs must be accompanied by sesame oil, wine and ginger, and some soy sauce, pepper and red yeast can also be added. Maternal avoid eating lard and salt, thinking that lard is greasy and salt will give birth to wind; Avoid raw and cold foods such as fruits and vegetables, and be afraid of "returning milk", resulting in insufficient milk; Don't eat fish, pork, ducks, etc. It is believed that these things lack calories, especially the duck's cold and toxic, which is not conducive to maternity. Pregnant women should not eat standing up, they can only eat sitting down.

It's really hard for a pregnant woman to be taken care of when she is "confinement", but at the same time, she is careful everywhere and leads a monotonous life. However, if it is not strictly followed, the weak body may be attacked by the cold, which may leave a long-term disease, such as the so-called "moon wind", which will endanger life and affect the baby's feeding.

Courtesy and words wash children in three dynasties.

Three days after a baby is born, it is called "Three Dynasties", also called "Three Dens" and "Three Longevities". There will be some ceremonies on that day, also known as the "Three Dynasties". One of the main ceremonies in the three dynasties was washing children, commonly known as "washing three", because babies usually took a bath on the third day of birth. It is said that this can wash away the dirt brought by the "previous life" baby and make this life safe and auspicious. Generally, experienced women or midwives are invited to handle the three-way washing. When washing, you can boil the roots of peach trees, plum trees and plum trees in water and take a bath without slag. Popular beliefs can eliminate the ominous signs, and scabies will never grow for life. Ai Hu soup is also useful, that is, during the Dragon Boat Festival, a catty of wormwood and a tiger skull are used to make soup for bathing, which is said to ward off evil spirits. There are also onion ginger soup and onion spirit; Ginger is close to "strong", which means that children are strong. Wedding eggs and gold and silver ornaments must be put in the basin for washing children. After washing, wipe the baby's forehead or body with happy eggs, indicating that scabies will be avoided in the future. Gold and silver ornaments are used to soothe the nerves. In Taiwan Province Province, on the third day after the baby was born, the midwife was asked to put "osmanthus heart", "orange leaf" and "longan leaf" together with a small stone into the water and decoct them. After the water cools, give the baby a bath and wipe it, commonly known as the "three dynasties ceremony." Citrus leaves and longan leaves indicate that future generations will be rich and prosperous, and children will have courage and promise in the future. On this day, pregnant women should prepare fried rice and chicken wine to worship gods, buddhas and ancestors, burn incense and worship with gold paper. After saying goodbye, I will give fried rice and chicken wine to my parents, as well as the matchmaker and neighbors to report good news. The bride's family must send gifts such as chickens 12 days after delivery. Maternal women should also eat "pressed chicken" to restore the postpartum abdomen to its original state. When a boy is born, he must eat "chicken sister" (little female chicken), and when a girl is born, he must eat "chicken horn" (rooster). In many places in Fujian, during the Three Dynasties, relatives and friends, especially the mother's parents, often sent items needed by the mother and baby, such as chicken, eggs, noodles, baby's clothes and utensils, to show their congratulations, commonly known as "sending to the Three Dynasties". When the people who "sent the Three Dynasties" to the door of the parturient's house, they had to cross a fire to drive away foreign evil spirits and dirty air. The man can't accept all the gifts from the woman's family, and he has to ask the giver for a red envelope. In southern Fujian, on the day of the Three Dynasties, producers also worship the gods who protect babies, such as "wife and mother", "bed mother" and "goddess of childbirth", and pray for them to bless the safe, healthy and smooth growth of babies. Whenever there is a birthday celebration in the future, we will worship it again. In Lishui, Zhejiang, if it is a baby girl, you should massage her buttocks with a scale. People believe that when you grow up, you will sit at home. And put the needle and thread in the baby girl's hand, thinking that she will be good at needle and thread when she grows up. If it is a baby boy, put pens, abacus and other stationery in the baby's hand and rub it, saying that when you grow up, you can master arithmetic and be good at calligraphy. When washed three times in Henan province, the eggs will roll over the baby's head, pass through the hands and feet, and sing while rolling: "roll your head, don't worry about it all your life, roll your hand, and have money every year;" If you pack your bags and leave, you will be admitted later. " Then dress the children in old clothes, burn incense for the empress and entertain relatives and friends. In the old society, washing children in Beijing had the significance of witchcraft and divination. Beijingers regard "washing three" and "receiving three" three days after death as two major events in life, and they should be treated with caution regardless of wealth. The "washing three" ceremony is usually presided over by the "midwife" (midwife). First of all, 13 statues, such as Bi Xia Yuan Jun, the delivery queen, the son queen, the acne queen and the eye queen provide the delivery room. The incense burner is filled with millet for incense; There are a pair of small red candles under the candlestick. Yellow money, thousands of pieces and ingots are all money and food for God. On the kang of the lying-in woman's bedroom, there is a statue of "man in bed and woman in bed" with three bowls of osmanthus altar stoves or oil cakes as offerings. After burning incense and kowtowing, put the copper basin full of soup boiled by Sophora branches and Artemisia argyi leaves on the kang, and the grandmother began to "wash three" with her baby in her arms. Our family adds a spoonful of water to the basin according to the generation, and then puts some money, which is called "adding a basin." "If you add gold and silver coins, put them in a copper basin. If you add silver notes, put them in a tea tray. In addition, you can also add some happy fruits, such as longan, litchi, red dates, chestnuts and so on. Friends and relatives should also be happy. Midwives have a set of fixed greetings when adding pots. When you add fresh water, she said, "Long running water makes you smart". When I saw your joy, I said, "Let's have a son earlier, even a son", or "Return to Yuan, even three yuan". After adding the basin, the midwife took a wooden stick and stirred it, saying, "One stir, two stir, three stir, my brother led my brother to run." "Seventy or eighty, crooked hair, naughty children, and snorers." Then began to give the baby a bath, the baby cried as soon as it caught cold, commonly known as "ringing the bell basin." While washing, I read a toast: "Wash your hair first and be a prince; After washing the waist, each generation is taller than the next; Wash eggs and be a magistrate; Wash the ditch and do it well. " Then, I ordered a ball of mugwort leaves, held it with ginger slices, put it on the baby's forehead, symbolically baked it, and then combed the baby's hair and dressed it. At the same time, I said: "three combs, two cages, wear a red top when you grow up;" Stroke your eyebrows left, hit your temples right, and find a daughter-in-law (son-in-law) to return to the village; Brush your teeth, rinse your mouth, and talk to people without losing face. " Then, roll the egg on the baby's face and say, "If the egg rolls on the face, there will be no danger to life." After washing, gently hit the baby with onion three times and say, "One dozen is clever, two dozen are clever." Then throw the onions on the roof. Picked up the weight and gestured, saying, "Although the weight is light, it is as heavy as a thousand pounds." Then he picked up the lock and gestured three times, saying, "You have grown up. Your head is tight, your feet are tight and your hands are tight. " Then put the baby in the tea tray, put the gold and silver shovel or jewelry prepared by our family on the baby, and said, "If you put gold on the left and silver on the right, you can't spend it all. Appreciate the servant. " I also want to sieve some paper pomegranate flowers into the baking cage and say, "Gardenia, jasmine, peach, apricot, rose, tuberose, no bean rash." Later, the midwife sent the empress code, money and food for worship to the hospital for incineration together with the fragrant roots. Mother-in-law burned the statue of "mother-in-law" with copper chopsticks and said, "The mother-in-law of the bed is Li. Adults and children can have it. Give more to men and less to women." Then wrap the ashes in red paper and press them under the kang mat, which means that the mother and father who are in bed will always bless the safety of adults and children. Finally, I received my grandmother and asked my family for a reward.

Full moon shaving is interesting.

One month after the baby is born, it is called "full moon", also called "out of the moon" and "out of the moon". At this time, we should celebrate and call it "full moon". On this day, grandma's family, relatives and friends will give each other gifts and congratulations as usual, saying "send the full moon". The goods transported vary from place to place, mostly clothes, food, cradles or cars. Hats are the most elegant clothes, decorated with silver ornaments, such as longevity, animal heads, eternal happiness, longevity and wealth. The most generous gift from grandma's family, commonly known as "head and tail", refers to all the clothes worn by the baby from head to toe, including hats, clothes, silver medals, bracelets, anklets, shoes and socks. After receiving the gift, the host family responded to the guests in two ways to show their happiness. One is to hold a banquet to invite relatives and friends, commonly known as "full moon wine", which is called "please send Geng" or "eat Geng" in southern Fujian. The second is to give gifts to relatives, friends and neighbors, usually giving red eggs and red turtles to relatives and neighbors. After eating the full moon wine, the mother will take the baby back to her mother's house. When she leaves home, there will be a black spot and a white spot on her nose. Grandma will give her a red envelope and call it "hanging money" On the occasion of the full moon, shaving the baby's fetal hair is called "shaving the head of the full moon" It is believed that the baby's fetal hair comes from the mother's body and must be "bloody". If you carry it to the hall without shaving, its "fishy smell" will offend ancestors, kitchen gods and other gods, which is not good for your baby. Therefore, it is necessary to shave your head, one is to eliminate bad breath, and the other is to hope that your baby's hair will grow thick and thick soon. Before shaving the baby's full moon head, people in Taiwan Province Province should first pour the boiled water of eggs and duck eggs into the washbasin, then add 1 stone, 12 coin, 1 egg and a small amount of onion, crush the onion, wash the baby's hair with its juice, coat the yolk on the hair, and then shave off the fetal hair. There is a saying in Taiwan Province Province that a duck's egg is like egg noodles, which means that a child's body is as big as a duck's egg and his face is as beautiful as an egg. Stone indicates that the baby's head and shell are hard and healthy, money means that he will be rich in the future, onions can make his hair thick and black, and egg yolk can wash away dirt. After shaving, ask neighbors to take the baby outdoors, while chasing chickens with bamboo poles, commonly known as "chicken baskets", while singing nursery rhymes: ostriches fly up the mountain, and the baby is about to become an official; The owl flies high and the girl is the champion; The owl flies very low, and the baby is going to be a father. This nursery rhyme is used to bless a baby boy. If it's a baby girl, sing "Owl, Owl". In Longyan, Shanghang, Yongding and other places in Fujian, when a boy is born, there is also a ceremony of "the full moon goes out to call an eagle", that is, grandma or other elders take the baby for a walk outdoors and call an owl to bless the baby and say, "The owl flies high, my child is a senior official; The wife flies far, and the child is the magistrate. " In Chinese mainland, the full moon shaving ceremony is very special. The soup for shaving is usually cooked by ancestors. Eggs and duck eggs are put in the soup, which is specially used to reward the barber. When shaving, the table should be lit with "Zhuangyuanhong" candles, covered with red felt and covered with peaches, noodles and other items. The invited barber read aloud as soon as he entered the door: "As soon as he entered the gate, it became wider and wider, with purple and gold bricks on his feet and lotus seeds on it. The champion must be at your home. " When shaving, the baby is usually hugged by grandpa or lucky relatives and friends. In Jiangsu and Zhejiang, before shaving fetal hair, a bunch of onions, a bunch of clouds and an axe are often prepared in advance, commonly known as the "Millennium axe". The person holding the baby stepped on the onion, and Yun and the axe were wrapped in red. When the baby's hair was shaved, the baby's father immediately took onions and non-success to plant. Onion is homophonic with "Cong", "Yun" and "Yun" and "Fu". Stepping on onions, clouds and axes means that babies are smart and lucky when they grow up. In addition, onions and non-success are full of vigor. Planting in the soil can take root and blossom, and the seasons are evergreen, which indicates that the baby will grow sturdily. When shaving the full moon head, some places do not shave all the fetal hair, but leave an inch square of fetal hair at the top of the baby's fontanel, which is called "filial piety", "filial piety" and "centenary hair". The fetal hair left is tile-shaped, so it is also called "tile head". According to folk custom, fetal hair can't be discarded casually. Hangzhou custom, fetal hair should be hung high in the room, thinking that children will have courage in the future. Others are wrapped in red cloth and hung next to the shrine of Bao Sheng Niangniang to ensure longevity. After shaving, the baby was dressed neatly, and the mother took the dressed baby to thank relatives and friends and accept congratulations. Then someone will take the baby out for a walk and cross a small bridge. When walking, a man will follow him with an umbrella, which is called the "Western God Circle". I believe that such children will not be afraid of strangers in the future and will have courage.

One-year-old children mastered this ceremony.

A baby is one year old, which is called "one year old". One year old is the first birthday of life, which is unusual. The ceremony was quite grand and formed a special birthday present. At the age of one, the baby needs to shave his head, take a bath and wear new clothes. Family members provide wine, sacrifices and red turtle trees to worship their ancestors. Grandma's family, relatives and neighbors should give gifts to each other and congratulate each other. The proverb says: "Auntie's shoes, Auntie's socks; Grandma's belly, aunt's gown. "It can be seen that there are many gifts. One of the most important and popular ceremonies on the first birthday is "grasping the week". Family members prepare a number of small items symbolizing all walks of life, such as books, stationery, abacus, scales, coins, gold and silver, knives, rulers, fields, seeds, food, toys and so on. And put them on the table, straw mat or rice screen in the main hall, so that the babies can grab them at will, and the things they take first shall prevail, thus determining their future ambitions and specialties. The custom of arresting the Zhou Dynasty has a long history. Yan Zhitui described in detail the custom of "testing children" in Jiangnan area in the Northern and Southern Dynasties in Volume II of Yan Family Instructions: "Jiangnan custom, a child gives birth to a green flower, which is decorated for making new clothes and bathing. Men use bows, arrows, paper and pens, while women use knives and rulers to tie them into wisps, and play with food, drinks and babies. Observe what they want before leaving them. Later, there were many records. For example, Volume 5 of Tokyo Dream China Record, Childbirth, said: "If you have a child for a hundred days, there will be a meeting, which is called' Baitu'. On the next birthday, it is called "Zhou Cui", and all the things left on the ground are listed, such as fruit trees, food, official letters, pens and inkstones, scales and so on. If you look at them first, you will think that this is a signal and call it "trying". The gift of this son is also. " In addition, the second volume of China National Customs Records records the customs in Beijing: "When a child is one year old, the utensils used by soldiers, workers and businessmen are placed on the table, and after the child washes and changes clothes, they are placed on the table and allowed to grab them at will. If they take a pen, they will be literati in the future; If you take an abacus, it must be a businessman; And so on, called grasping the week. " Once, in Taiwan Province Province, only boys were one year old. At that time, in addition to the general courtesy and ancestor worship, children should also be allowed to choose items to predict their future. That is, at the one-year-old ceremony, 12 items are placed on the god table in the main hall for children to grab at will. The first article they got was a metaphor for their children's future career or living conditions. If you take a book or stationery, it symbolizes that you are smart and eager to learn. In the future, you are expected to study for an official and achieve something. Take an abacus or a scale, which symbolizes careful calculation and can do business; Those who take coins or gold and silver symbolize wealth and will become rich; Holding a knife or ruler, symbolizing ingenuity, will be the material of craftsmen and talents; Those who take soil or seeds symbolize that they will keep their duties and work hard in farming; People who take food or toys symbolize that they have food and play, are happy and carefree all their lives, or are lazy and hate work, and will achieve nothing and have no future. The custom of grasping the Zhou Dynasty is widely spread in the south of the Yangtze River. In Zhejiang, when children are one year old, they are invited to a banquet, and relatives and friends are invited to give gifts to congratulate them. The children put on the new clothes sent by their grandmother, wearing tiger hats, silver collars, century-old locks, bracelets, anklets and so on. There is a square table in the center of the hall. There is a plate on the table, which is full of books, pens, axes, hoes, food and so on. The mother held the child on the table to see what the child was catching. If she took the book, grandma won the lottery: "When I grow up, I want to be the first in the exam!" " For other things, there is also a kind of oral color, commonly known as "one-year-old test board." The custom of grasping Zhou is also popular in all parts of Jiangxi. When a child is one year old, in addition to entertaining relatives and friends, there are books, abacus, knives and scissors at home. , so that children can take one of them. After taking a book, the family was furious and thought that the children would be able to concentrate on their studies in the future. The rest of the abacus is business, and the knife and scissors are work. In the Qing Dynasty, "Zhu Chao" was also put into the sundries. If a child is caught, the family will be happier, and the guests will congratulate each other: "The child has grown up and can be an official." Parents are beaming. Nowadays, the main way for people to celebrate their baby's first birthday is to treat guests and give gifts. The original intention of "grasping the week" is no longer important, and most of them just use this form to increase the fun and joy of the first birthday.