Spring Festival:
1. Sacrifice the stove. The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month in Fenggang Township is the "Little Year", also known as the "Kitchen God Festival" or the "Kitchen Sacrifice Festival". The main customs include sweeping dust and worshiping the stove.
Sacrificing stoves is a custom that has great influence among Chinese people and is widely spread. Almost every kitchen in the township has a "Kitchen God" tablet. Legend has it that he is the "Jiutian East Chef Si Ming Zao Wang Mansion Lord" conferred by the Jade Emperor and is responsible for managing the kitchen fires of each family. People call this god "Si Ming Bodhisattva" or "Zao Lord Siming" and is regarded as the protector of the family. worship. The Kitchen King's niche is mostly located on the north or east side of the kitchen, with a statue of the Kitchen King in the middle. Some people who don't have a niche for the Kitchen King stick the statue of the god directly on the wall. Some statues only depict the Stove Lord, while others depict two men and women. In Fenggang Township, they are generally called "The Stove Lord and the Stove Grandma". The couplets "God speaks good things, the lower world keeps peace, horizontal comment: head of the family" are posted on both sides to indicate the status of the Kitchen God. To protect the safety of the whole family, young and old, and also to show the status of the Kitchen God in the old days.
The Kitchen God has been staying at home since his return on New Year's Eve last year to protect and supervise the family. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God will ascend to heaven to report the family's affairs to the Jade Emperor in heaven. Good deeds or bad deeds, that is, "return to heaven and report one's duty". The ceremony of sending off the Kitchen God is called "Sending the Stove" or "Citing the Stove". Based on the report of the Kitchen God, the Jade Emperor handed over the good and bad fortunes that the family should receive in the new year to the hands of the Kitchen God. Therefore, for the family, the Stove Lord's report is indeed of great interest.
The ceremony of sending off the stove is usually held in the evening. The person offering sacrifices to the stove kneels in front of the statue of the Stove God and holds the rooster in his arms. Some people also let children hold a chicken and kneel behind adults. It is said that the chicken is the horse on which Lord Zao ascended to heaven, so the chicken is not called a chicken, but a "Zao horse". If it is a red rooster, it is commonly known as "red horse", and if it is a white rooster, it is commonly known as "white horse". After burning the incense table, the house is filled with smoke and mystery. The male host poured wine, kowtowed, and muttered something. After finishing the recitation, the person offering sacrifices to the stove shouted "Lead"! Then pour hot wine over the chicken head. If the chicken's head flutters, it means that the Kitchen God has appreciated it. If the chicken head doesn't move at all, you need to water it again. There is a saying that "men do not worship the moon, women do not worship the stove". Women do not participate in the activities of offering sacrifices to the stove. It is said that the Stove Lord is a pretty boy who is afraid of women offering sacrifices to the stove, as he is suspected of "giving and receiving". After that, they wash their hands and change into new clothes, set off firecrackers, share the offerings to the stove, and drink (eat). In this way, the entire stove sacrifice ceremony is successfully completed. After the stove sacrifice is held, preparations for the New Year officially begin.
Folk proverb says: "On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, grind to make tofu." The stone grinder is used. Soak the soybeans for about 24 hours (the length of time depends on the temperature, of course), and then break them. Open the douban and see that the concave part is all full, and you can grind it. The water for soaking the soybeans and the water for grinding are both from clean ponds, because they do not contain alkali. The next step is to grind them into raw materials. The slurry is filtered, boiled, stewed, and pressed, so that fresh water tofu (ie tofu) and dried tofu (ie Qianzhang, tofu skin) are made.
Grub glutinous rice balls are a must-do in the local area. One of the tasks is to select high-quality glutinous rice, then soak it in clear pond water, drain it and let it dry until it is full, and then grind it with a stone roller. The tools required include a stone roller, a dustpan, and a basket ( Wicker weaving), etc. Of course, the motivation behind the stone grinder is the temptation of glutinous rice balls, so tiredness is not a problem. The dough looks very white and soft, and the glutinous rice balls are very tempting. The way to eat it is very simple, it can be stuffed or not, and the stuffing is also very simple. It is Hongtang, which is different from the current glutinous rice balls with new fillings. Tangyuan is also called glutinous rice balls and pink fruits, because it is cooked. Floating on the water, it was also called Fuyuanzi in ancient times. In fact, Tangyuan is a food eaten during the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month. It means missing relatives and longing for reunion.
On New Year's Eve, it is called Chinese New Year locally. The night is very grand, and basically everything can be prepared, but basically there must be mung bean dumplings (a local delicacy made from mung beans ground into powder and fried), which means reunion, and there must be green vegetables and tofu. It means eating vegetables and tofu to keep you safe.
The first meal on the first day of the new year is usually to eat dumplings. On this day, you cannot sweep the floor, splash water, or do needlework. The customs and taboos on the second day of the new year: the daughter returns to her parents’ home. The taboos for gifts are odd numbers. If you want good things to come in pairs, you should not say "don't want it" but say "have it". The customs and taboos on the third day of the lunar new year are: the first to the third day of the lunar new year are basically the same as those on the first day of the lunar month. , refer to the taboos on the first day of the Lunar New Year. It is forbidden to go out on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, because people say that the Kitchen God is here to check the household registration, and you are not allowed to go out. When visiting relatives and friends, you can clean up and take away the garbage, which is called "sending the poor out". It is taboo to eat lotus root and comb your hair. Customs and taboos on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year: it is called "Human Day" and it is taboo to use needlework. There is no criminal law. Do not punish children, etc. Customs and taboos on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year: It is called "Grain Day", the harvest day, everyone comes to work after the annual holiday, businessmen open the market, and send each other good luck and good luck.
Wedding: The wedding ceremony is also called the red ceremony. Before a girl gets married, the man will give her a wedding invitation. On the eve of the wedding, the girl has to take a bath, change her clothes, tie her hair, and pull her face. Pull off the down). Sit on the bucket and say goodbye to the family god. When the sedan comes, you must cry when you get on the sedan, which is called tears of missing your relatives.
You can't walk from the house to the sedan, so you have to carry it on your brother's back, or put it on the sedan (car) with a red felt, which means you don't carry your natal family soil with you. Parents should throw water outside the door, which means that "the water cannot be collected" and they will not be "divorced" by the man. Small red stickers such as "Good luck all the way" or "Lucky star all the way" are affixed to the sedan curtain. The girl should cry quietly all the way to express her love for home and repay her parents for their kindness in raising her. Wealthy families usually use three sedan chairs. The first sedan chair is for the bride and groom, the second sedan chair is for the bride, and the third sedan chair is for the bridesmaids. After arriving at the groom's house, the bride-to-be usually returns right after eating. The bridesmaids should wait three days before following the bride when she returns home.
On the wedding day, the groom's family will decorate with lanterns and streamers, burn incense and candles, and all the windows will be covered with red paper. And sealed a bucket full of grain with red paper. Money, dates, peanuts, red eggs, etc. were hidden under the mattress. After the bride's sedan chair arrives, it stops in front of the door for a while, and the groom opens the middle door to greet her. Then a worship ceremony is held and a big banquet is held to entertain relatives and friends. After entering the bridal chamber, the bride should drink jujube water to ensure that she will have a son early. On this day, the quarrel often lasts until dawn (the quarrel usually lasts for three days. During these three days, everyone, regardless of age, can participate, but the parents and eldest brother of the family are not allowed to participate). Sing carols when entering the bridal chamber. (There are middle-aged and elderly women who specialize in this profession who sing).
The next day, we used stools and ladders from the new house to the kitchen. The bridegroom and bride walked from above to the kitchen to worship the stove. In more sophisticated homes, stools and ladders must be covered with red felt.
On the third day, the woman and the groom return to her parents' home together, which is called "returning to the home in three days." The girl's parents will entertain the girl's guests. The order of walking back home is also particular: when returning to her parents' home, the woman walks in front and the man follows; when returning to her husband's house in the afternoon (must leave her parents' house before sunset), the man walks in front and the woman follows behind.
Mourning: Most people in Fenggang Township are buried in the ground, and the burial customs are relatively complicated. A person can only leave the coffin on the third day after his death. If a grave is dug the day before the coffin is released, the grave should not be left empty overnight. An item (such as shoes, etc.) should be placed in the pit. If you dig on the same day, there is no need to put items in the pit. In addition to normal burials, there are two customs that are different from other places. One is the "Qiu Coffin". During the period of burial, if you can't choose a good day, or you can't find an "auspicious" tomb location, or your parents are new. If the death lasts less than a hundred days, the coffin of the deceased must be "mounded" first, that is, a temporary hut is built to store the coffin. The formal burial will not be carried out until a suitable day is chosen.
There is also a custom that after a person reaches the age of 50, his children and relatives should present fruit, food, tobacco and wine as birthday gifts on their birthdays. Among the birthday gifts, there is a special gift, which is green tea. Several bricks (or green tiles). In this way, they accumulate every year, and when they pass away at the age of seventy or eighty, people use the bricks and tiles accumulated every year to build a tomb for the old man. Place the coffin of the deceased before sealing it. This custom is called "living sacrifice" or "living burial".
Baby: The baby's "three bathing" rituals are quite grand and generally include the following contents: red roosters and hens are placed in front of the bed, and the mother burns incense and prays, which is called worshiping the male and female of the bed. Then the midwife places the statue of Guanyin on the table. After the midwife paid her respects, she placed the moxa water in front of the bed and placed two plates side by side. One plate contained rouge, talcum powder, tea leaves, green cloth strips, scissors, thread and other items; the other plate contained chestnuts, peanuts, dates and so on. , eggs (all dyed red). Relatives gather in front of the bed and throw several dates, peanuts, etc. into the basin. Relatives, friends, and elders also throw copper coins into the basin. It's called "Tianpen". After the relatives add a pot, the midwife will wash the baby, apply powder and rouge, and apply burnt alum on the umbilical cord. When washing the baby, the midwife muttered: "First wash your hair, and you will become a prince; then wash your shoulders, and you will become a high official; don't worry about food, don't worry about clothing, Guanyin Bodhisattva will keep you safe." After washing, the baby should be given a little drink The water boiled with rhubarb is said to be "you will taste the bitterness of coptis for three days, and you will be rich and rich for a lifetime." Because rhubarb has the effect of clearing away fire and detoxifying, drinking rhubarb water can cleanse the stomach of children. After the "Three Washings" ceremony is over, all the money and belongings in the basin belong to the midwife. Relatives and friends enjoy the party.