From the first day to the fifth day of the first lunar month, it is called "Spring Festival", commonly known as "Chinese New Year". The day before the first day of the first month is "New Year's Eve", commonly known as "Thirty Years".
The Spring Festival is the biggest traditional festival in a year. Starting from the 15th day of the twelfth lunar month, every household will have a general cleaning, both indoors and outdoors, to prepare for the Chinese New Year.
On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, we began to prepare food and supplies for the New Year. Then for several days in a row, every household was busy making rice cakes (sweet buns), fried fruits (pressed oil), fried crispy skin, fried meatballs, smoked fish, braised chickens and ducks, etc. On the 28th and 29th of the year, every family put up Spring Festival couplets and put them on their doors. From this day to the third or fifth day of the year, every household should light a lamp until dawn, which is also commonly known as the "year of lighting".
The 30th of each year is the unified time for ancestor worship. Every household uses bamboo to carry three animals, vegetarian fruits, wine and vegetables to worship their ancestors. On this day, all ages put on new clothes, and the village was full of gongs and drums and firecrackers.
The first day is the beginning of the new year. Before dawn, firecrackers were set off everywhere, and everyone agreed to congratulate each other. Early in the morning, the golden lion beat gongs and drums, transferred ownership from village to village, and went door to door to "pay New Year greetings". The golden lion first went to the main hall to worship (commonly known as the gods), and then went to the backyard to worship. During the worship, the householder set off firecrackers and the lion's head danced towards the happy cannon. The householder thanked the red envelope. From the beginning of the year to the tenth day, there is a golden lion performance. During the performance, two people dressed as monkeys, 1 one dressed as sand monk, 1 one held the lion's head, 1 one held the lion's tail, accompanied by the lion, and the monkey was lively, jumping, somersaulting, flying over the table and piercing the corner of the table. Monkeys perform various lion tricks with Friar Sand. Subsequently, the Golden Lion Wushu Team performed martial arts such as fist, stick, knife, hook and rake, and the performance came to an end. Dancing the golden lion is a traditional program loved by the masses.
During the Spring Festival, people are very active during the day, and men, women and children are always busy. Some go shopping, visit parks and take photos as a souvenir; Some dance lions, beat gongs and drums, play the piano and sing; Some play poker, mahjong and so on. In the evening, gongs and drums are loud, firecrackers are ringing, fireworks are flying all over the sky, colorful, singing and laughing, and relaxed and happy. Everyone is lively and happy.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, it is a day to turn around and visit relatives and friends. Every family is hospitable to guests, and there are jokes and unspeakable New Year greetings everywhere. Some women who have transferred to their parents' home are unwilling to leave their parents' home, so they have "the poor people's day on the first day, the second day and the third day, the fourth day and the fifth day,' singing is fair', the sixth day is not easy to return, seven days don't go, eight times don't return, the ninth day is over the Dragon Lantern Festival, and they simply go home in half a month."
The fifth day of the fifth lunar month, commonly known as "coming out of the year" or "singing is fair". Because this day was originally a polder day, people came and went in the street, and when they saw acquaintances, they helped each other to celebrate the New Year. The seventh day is called "People's Day", and every household should eat "seven kinds of dishes": celery, onion, garlic, spring vegetables, coriander, beet, leek and so on. It means diligence, intelligence, cost-effectiveness, spring, reunion, sweetness and long-term meaning.
On the fifteenth night of the first lunar month; Lantern Festival; night of the 15th of the first lunar month；Lantern Festival；yuanxiao
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival, commonly known as "the fifth day of the first month". Let go of the first half of the first month, usually on the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth days, with the fourteenth day as the most, and no one on the fifteenth, which is completely different from the fifteenth and a half.
In the first half of the first month, like the Chinese New Year, there are three sacrifices to ancestors, and people come and go, eating a rich vegetable rice.
Songkou people have the custom of Lantern Festival. From the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, a lantern shed was set up in Miweiping and a lantern festival was held. The people watching the lights jostled shoulder to shoulder, which was very lively. When a man is added to every household, it is necessary to worship ancestors and hang lanterns in the ancestral hall to celebrate the joy of adding a man, commonly known as "putting lanterns". On the night of Lantern Festival, many people will put on Kongming lanterns (it is said that Zhuge Liang invented them during the Three Kingdoms period). Lanterns made of 160 pieces of gauze were once released in Lijiamiao. They were hung on lanterns with special oil lamps, ignited and inflated to make them take off. There are still electric cannons, small firecrackers, rockets and fireworks hanging under the oil lamp of Kongming Lantern. When it rose to the sky, firecrackers and electro-optic cannons sounded at intervals, rockets radiated, and fireworks flashed out, which was very beautiful and lively. Large lanterns will be hung on both sides of the ancestral home gate, and fireworks, rockets and firecrackers will be set off.
After the founding of New China, there is still the traditional custom of celebrating the Lantern Festival and the celebration of Ding in the first month. However, in order to prevent fireworks from causing fire, it is forbidden to put lanterns. As for fireworks and rockets, they are designated to be set off in safe places. 1955 In the first ten days of the first month, smoke racks, rockets and fireworks were set off at Luoyang Bridge in Niujiaotang, north of Zhongshan Park. The audience stood around Niujiaotang, full of joy and excitement.
Qingming Festival
There have been activities in Tomb-Sweeping Day since history. Tomb-Sweeping Day, the Hakka name is Qingming. Goguryeo's poem in Song Dynasty: "There are many tombs in the north and south hills, and the Qingming is different; Paper gray flies white butterflies, and tears turn red azaleas. " On this day, many people take their children and grandchildren to visit the grave.
In Tomb-Sweeping Day, people will make Qingming Hairpins to eat. This custom has been circulating for a long time. Up to now, some people have made Qingming hairpin with leaves of bamboo leaves, mugwort leaves and Pulsatilla mixed with rice flour.
Sun Birthday
"Sun Birthday" is a special festival for Meixian people. 1644 (the 17th year of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty), the 19th day of the lunar calendar, was the day when Zhu Youjian, Emperor Chongzhen of Ming Dynasty, "hanged himself" in Jingshan Park in Beijing, and the Ming Dynasty died. It is said that Li Er, in order to deepen people's yearning for the Ming Dynasty, did not dare to say that he was afraid of being suppressed by the rulers and endangering the local people, so he called on the people to sacrifice to the sun, saying it was "the birthday of the sun". He also wrote a poem "The Sun Sutra", which worshipped Ming Chengzu as the sun.
Every year on the 19th day of the third lunar month, many families hang up red lights, set tables in front of the sun, put vegetarian fruits and noodles for sacrifice, and read the Sun Sutra in their mouths. The contents of the Sun Sutra are roughly as follows: "On March 19th, the sun was born, and every household turned on a red light. As soon as the sun rises, it is all over the sky, and lanterns are hung in front of every household. The sun illuminates the beads, and the four gods Guan Kun ... ". We also need paper sun clothes and sun hats. I want to eat fried noodles as a souvenir that day, so there are many people buying noodles at the street noodle restaurant.
Dragon Boat Festival
The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is called Dragon Boat Festival. This day is a day for people to commemorate Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet who threw himself into the river during the Warring States Period. On the fourth day, every family saves materials and makes zongzi. According to legend, during the Warring States period, people threw zongzi into the Guluo River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month to mourn Qu Yuan and follow the custom, so they had the custom of making zongzi. On the fourth day of the fourth day, in addition to making zongzi, every household has prepared better meat, vegetables and supplies than the Dragon Boat Festival.
On the fifth day of the Dragon Boat Festival, cattails should be hung on doors, closets and kitchen doors, and some realgar wine should be drunk at lunch to ward off evil spirits. This morning, every family took out three kinds of sacrifices and fruits to worship their ancestors. At noon, the family got together at home and had a rich reunion dinner. On the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, it is the day to visit relatives, and every household entertains visitors with wine and meat.
Dragon Boat Festival, there was a custom of dragon boat race in Songkou Town on both sides of the North and South in the old days. The dragon boats in Xibei (Wuxian Palace and Wangxian Palace) compete with those in the southwest (Handi Palace and Panyue Palace). The time is usually from May 1 day to May 10 every afternoon. Before the Dragon Boat Festival, each palace "Fushou" invited people to raise money and host the Dragon Boat Race. In April, the dragon boat was repaired separately and launched on the 30th.
On the mornings of the first, third and fifth days in May, colorful dragon boats were installed in every palace for the "Gong Chao" activities. No matter whether the dragon boat is rowed up or down, every time you go to the shrine (there are Moon Half Palace, Wangxian Palace, Guandi Temple, Tam Kung Temple, Guangfu Palace and Jifu Palace; The next itinerary is Wangzhen Palace, Tianhou Palace, Wuxian Palace, Handi Palace, Xianlong Palace, Jinpan Palace, Wang Ji Palace and Wang Ming Palace), and the dragon boat commander must enter the palace to burn incense and worship (hence the name "Gong Chao"). When the dragon boat goes up or down, colorful flags are flying along the way, drums and music are ringing, firecrackers are all over the sky, and paddlers are happy and active; People on both sides of the strait stood by and watched, waving.
There are dragon boat races in the afternoon from the first day to the tenth day. The fifth day is the preliminary competition, and the tenth day is the dragon boat final. The game was even more exciting, and the audience on both sides of the strait was crowded and very lively. There are 32 rowers on each dragon boat, 1 helmsman, 1 conductor, 1 gong player, 1 ladle player, a total of 36 people. Now the dragon boat is slightly smaller, with only 27 people. In the competition, the two sides rowed forward hand in hand and went back and forth with each other. When the commander observes the water potential and thinks it is favorable, he will put a baton (tied with a short-handled dragon flag) on the faucet to signal the order of decisive battle. The leaders of both sides rowed together, and the other rowers worked harder. By the end of the race, the winner had won, and the winner raised his paddle and cheered and fired his gun to show his victory. During the competition, the audience on both sides of the strait shouted enthusiastically and cheered for the rowers, especially when the two sides ordered the finals, the shouts were thunderous and the excitement was beyond words.
During War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the dragon boat race was once stopped. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, there was a dragon boat race from 1950 to 1952 and ended at 1953. Until 2000, the dragon boat race resumed for one year after a 47-year interruption, and then stopped for some reason.
autumn
On that day in early autumn, farming ended, and it was a festival to celebrate the harvest. It's a day, and everyone makes mash. There are two ways for people who let go. One is to make it "red flavor" with garlic kernel and fried yellow sugar water, and mix it to eat; Another way to eat is to stir-fry meat, vegetables and mash.
July and a half
The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is called the Mid-Autumn Festival in ancient times, commonly known as "July and a half" and "Orchid Festival", commonly known as the Day of the Dead. On that day, ordinary families in Songkou Town will prepare three sacrifices to worship their ancestors and the dead. There are several grave sweepers. Most people only add vegetables on that day, and there is no obvious habit of offering sacrifices to the dead in July and a half.
Zuo Fu
For people in Songkou Hakka area, "blessing" is a grand festival next to the Spring Festival, and it is a custom of believing in women and praying for God's blessing.
The name and time of blessing are unique to a village or a surname, but the time is fixed, usually on the third day of the eighth lunar month, and it is held as scheduled every year.
On the day of blessing, relatives and friends of every household will come to congratulate, "watching the excitement", which can be said to be full of guests. Every household holds a sumptuous luncheon to entertain guests, and some even fry meatballs, stamp and make tofu.
In the old days, on the day of blessing, some villages would have a tour of "carrying the king" and invite puppet troupes to perform in the village at night. Every village and surname in Songkou area has Wang Gong Temple. Wang Ji Palace and Wuxian Palace near Songkou Town are the largest temples in Wang Gong. Gong Wang is an idol that people worship. The local people put a statue of their ancestors, who were respected in history as officials, loyal ministers and honest officials, in the temple to worship him and pray for his safety. For example, the Duke of Xiankou Village was Liang Kejia, the ancestor of Liang Jia (the sixty-fourth grandson of Liang Jia, the right prime minister of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty), and later generations set up a temple to commemorate it. Every year, according to the regulations, the public king is carried out from the temple and parades from house to house in the village.
When the public king is on patrol, he will hold a ceremony to go out of the palace and enter the palace. During the tour, the king was carried by four people in the king's sedan chair, and the lineup was the same as that of the big officials in the costume drama. People beat gongs and drums, held colorful flags, and dozens or hundreds of people lined up, which was very lively.
After 1950, there was no visit to Qi Huangong in Songkou, but the general activities of the custom of making blessings have continued to this day.
Mid-Autumn Festival
August 15th of the lunar calendar is the Mid-Autumn Festival, commonly known as "August and a half".
The Mid-Autumn Festival is particularly bright, so there is a traditional custom of enjoying the moon. That night, people from all families got together to eat moon cakes, talk about the moon and celebrate that "the full moon makes people more round". In the old society, there were customs such as "vegetable basket god", "blessing fairy" and "carrying pig excrement for a long time".
Double Ninth Festival
The ninth day of the ninth lunar month, also known as the Double Ninth Festival, is a traditional folk festival of the Han nationality.
According to legend, Meng Jia of Jin Dynasty lost his hat in Youlong Mountain on the Double Ninth Festival, and later generations used "autumn wind to lose his hat" instead of climbing the ninth mountain. Wang Wei, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote a seven-character quatrain in "Living in the Mountain and Thinking of Shandong Brothers": "Being in a foreign land, I miss my relatives twice every festive season. I know from a distance where my brother climbed, and there is one person missing from the dogwood. " It can be seen that the custom of climbing the mountain on Chongyang has long been formed, and Hakka people have also inherited this custom in the Central Plains.
In Hakka areas, climbing activities are often carried out on this day, which means avoiding disasters. In the old society, flying kites on the Double Ninth Festival was very common, and children also participated. Chongyang rock climbing along the ancient custom is still very popular, and climbers are in an endless stream. In Meizhou, people visit famous mountains and scenic spots during the Double Ninth Festival, such as Wu Zhifeng in Yin Na, Wangshou Mountain, Nantai Mountain in the plain, Wuzhishan Mountain and Jiaoling Changtan in Meixian County. People in Songkou area can't go out for a long trip and then climb the Yuan Kui Tower or Wanbao. Every year, the Double Ninth Festival is a tourist season, and tourists from famous mountains and scenic spots all over the country are like crucian carp, which is unprecedented. Now, the Hakka area in Meizhou calls the Double Ninth Festival "Respect for the Elderly" and "Festival for the Elderly".
Winter solstice
There is a saying in Songkou that "the winter solstice is round, and the summer solstice is to buy fields", so it is very common for every household to make "round hairpin" (glutinous rice balls) on the winter solstice. There are also many households who buy stewed mutton according to the nourishing experience of "winter solstice sheep, summer solstice dog".
The above customs are basically the same as those in the Central Plains, which is another evidence that most Hakka residents in Meizhou are Han people who moved south from the Central Plains.