"The Dojo is full of ghosts, the original Langu." The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is the Mid-Autumn Festival, also called "July and a half" and "Orchid Festival". Mid-Autumn Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day Festival and Xiayuan Festival are the three traditional festivals for ancestor worship in China, and they are also called "Three Ghost Festivals" among the people.
The Mid-Autumn Festival was established only in the Northern Wei Dynasty, mainly due to the "ternary theory", and the place under the jurisdiction of local authorities is the underworld according to local conditions. Therefore, it is said that in the middle of January, the gates of the underworld will be opened, and ghosts will leave the underworld and return to their homes in the underworld to reunite with their loved ones. If they have no home, they will wander around the world, looking for food, and then go back before the gate of the underworld closes, so there is the "seven"
This sounds daunting. In fact, the cultural core of Mid-Autumn Festival is to respect ancestors and be filial. After all, people often say "ghosts" are also ancestors and relatives who died because of others' longing for the night. Therefore, for the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone should treat it with awe and respect, and respect the ancient tradition. There are many traditional customs of Mid-Autumn Festival, among which we should remember to "do three things, avoid three things and eat two things", pray for happiness and avoid bad luck, and life will be smoother.
Mid-Autumn Festival does three things:
First, ancestor worship
When July 30th was born, it was not the "Ghost Festival" as it is called today. It was originally a festival to worship ancestors, which mainly originated from the worship of ancestors' gods in ancient times.
In the early autumn of July in the lunar calendar, many crops are ripe and can be harvested. In order to celebrate the harvest and repay the earth and ancestors, people will sacrifice to their ancestors on this day, put new rice in front of the memorial tablet and report the autumn harvest to their ancestors, that is, share the joy of harvest with their ancestors.
Later, the Mid-Autumn Festival became popular, and people began to think that on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, the deceased ancestors and relatives would return to the deceased, visit their descendants and reunite with their families.
Therefore, on the night before July 15, everyone will start preparations, set up the altar in advance, invite out the ancestral tablets in the morning of July 15, and then put offerings such as tea, rice and fruit on the altar and light incense. On this day, three meals a day should be served with good food and tea, so that the ancestors can eat and drink enough and send them away.
Second, burn paper.
In the Mid-Autumn Festival, there is a traditional custom of burning paper after ancestor worship. Of course, environmental protection does not encourage this now. According to folklore, dead paper can be used as money in the underworld. Therefore, in order to make the dead ancestors have money to spend in the underworld, people will prepare some gold, silver and tin foil paper and fold it into ingots several days in advance, wait until July 15 to worship in front of their ancestors' graves, press down some yellow paper, and then burn the gold, silver and silver ingots and paper money specially prepared before to their ancestors until all the paper money is completely burned.
If it is inconvenient to go to the cemetery, they will draw a circle at the crossroads at night and burn the prepared paper money in the circle, so that the dead relatives will not be short of money in the other world, and they will be able to eat and wear warm clothes and not suffer. Although there are some superstitious opinions in the traditional custom of burning paper, it also expresses the memory and filial piety of the younger generation to the deceased ancestors and relatives.
Third, the river lamp.
"In the fire, the lotus blooms on the water, and the red, dark and green wander around." The most beautiful folk scene of Mid-Autumn Festival is that people put lotus lanterns, which are also called river lanterns because they are placed in flowing rivers. Lotus lamp takes lotus as the bottom of the lamp. In our traditional culture, lotus not only represents noble qualities such as clean life, but also has the beautiful meaning of reunion and happiness, while lamps and candles have the meaning of driving away darkness and illuminating life with wisdom.
Floating lotus lanterns are placed in the river to express the memory and condolences to their deceased relatives and help their souls light up the road to the afterlife. At the same time, it is also a blessing to the living, praying that everyone can be happy and healthy, and their careers and studies can be smooth sailing. Like lotus flowers, they have noble character and wisdom.
Three things to avoid in Mid-Autumn Festival
First, avoid traveling at night.
On Mid-Autumn Festival, if there is nothing particularly important to deal with, try to go home as early as possible and don't go out at night. According to the older generation, this day is a day when ghosts are wide open, especially at night, when the yang is weakened and the yin is enhanced, there will be many ghosts wandering in the street. If they go out for a run, they are likely to bump into "dirty things" and run into mold.
Although these are just folklore, we should still have awe and go home early to rest. In addition, don't visit other people's homes, don't quarrel at home, go to bed as soon as possible and don't stay up late. If you want to go out, don't run around, don't step on it, especially don't step on paper money. When you see a circle, avoid it.
Second, avoid eating sacrifices.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, every family will offer many sacrifices to their ancestors to show their respect, such as all kinds of pork, chicken, snacks, fruits, meals and so on. According to folk sayings, these sacrifices are usually not allowed to be eaten and tampered with. The deceased ancestors will go home for reunion on this day, and the offering is their food. If eaten, it will anger the ancestors, no longer bless the family's peace and happiness, which will bring bad luck.
If there are children at home, they are too young to understand, so we must remind them and take care of them. Don't tamper with or steal sacrifices to avoid offending their ancestors.
Third, avoid patting people on the shoulder.
It is forbidden to pat others on the shoulder during the Mid-Autumn Festival, because there is a folk proverb that "everyone has three fires, one on his head and two on his shoulders". If you pat someone on the shoulder or head casually on the special day of "Ghost Festival", it means that you have to put out the fire. Once the fire is weakened or extinguished, it is easy to attract ghosts. Moreover, taking pictures behind others' backs on this day, just this move can easily scare each other and have a bad influence on others' psychology.
Eat two kinds in Mid-Autumn Festival.
First, eat duck.
As the saying goes, "eat a duck in July and a half, and nothing in the world needs to be afraid." On the Mid-Autumn Festival, there is a dietary custom of eating duck meat, because "duck" and "pressure" are homophonic. As long as you eat duck meat on this day, you can exorcise evil spirits and suppress the "soul", so you won't be contaminated with bad things and bring bad luck to yourself.
There is also a saying that ducks can swim and cross the river to the "underworld", which can be used as "messengers of Naihe Bridge" to bring clothes, money and other sacrifices to their dead ancestors. After the sacrifice, eating ducks also means "dispersing happiness". In short, many places have the custom of eating ducks on this day, and cool duck meat is also suitable for autumn, which is nutritious and nourishing without getting angry. I will share with you a recipe of lotus root and old duck soup, which can be eaten in Mid-Autumn Festival.
Recommended recipe: lotus root old duck soup
1. Wash half a fresh old duck, put it in a basin, add water, add a spoonful of cooking wine and a spoonful of salt, rub it and soak it for 20 minutes, then rinse it off. Wash and peel the lotus root, cut it into pieces and soak it in water to avoid oxidation and blackening.
2. Put the washed half old duck directly into the cold water pot, add two spoonfuls of cooking wine and some ginger slices, boil over high heat, continue to cook for 5 minutes, then take out the water and wash the pot. Wash Lycium barbarum and soak in water for later use.
3. Put the old duck back into the casserole, pour enough boiling water, add ginger slices and simmer for half an hour, then remove the lotus root slices from the clear water and put them into the casserole, then pour the soaked medlar and continue to cook for 20 minutes.
4. After the lotus root is stewed, add half a spoonful of pepper and appropriate amount of salt and chicken essence to the pot, cover the pot and cook for 3 minutes after stirring, and turn off the heat after the seasoning melts into the taste.
Second, eat light food.
It is said that eating a flat food can eliminate negative energy, suck away "dirty things" and keep people away from bad luck. The shape of flat food is similar to that of jiaozi, but the skin of flat food is thinner, looks crystal clear and has richer stuffing. Then clear soup is cooked, which is actually more like wonton, except that the stuffing will be wrapped more and the taste will be salty and sweet.
However, although flat food is slightly different from jiaozi and wonton, many people will use jiaozi and wonton instead of flat food on this day. Share with you the practice of chicken soup, Yuanbao wonton. Eating it in the Mid-Autumn Festival will bless the harmony and happiness at home and drive away bad luck.
Recommended recipes: chicken soup and Yuanbao wonton.
1. Wash and chop the chicken legs, put them in a pot, add cooking wine, pepper, star anise, dried pepper, red dates and soaked dried mushrooms, add water and simmer for half an hour, then add salt to taste, stir well and turn off the heat for later use.
2. Wash the fresh shrimp, shell and remove the shrimp line, wash the carrot, peel and cut into pieces, wash and cut the pork belly, and add a little onion ginger, shrimp meat and shredded carrot to continue to chop the meat together.
3. After minced meat is chopped, add two spoonfuls of soy sauce and one spoonful of oyster sauce, add appropriate amount of salt and mix well. Beat in an egg, stir and melt, put the mixed minced meat at the bottom of the wonton skin, roll it around, and press it with water on both sides of the wonton skin.
4. Heat the chicken soup until it boils, put the wrapped wonton in the chicken soup, cook for five minutes, and then turn off the heat. Put laver and chopped green onion in a bowl, and wonton and broth in a bowl.