characteristics of folk culture: long history and colorful
China folk culture has a long history and is a colorful cultural memory of the Central Plains. In the Central Plains, which is known as the cradle of Chinese civilization and the hometown of etiquette, hardworking and brave Central Plains people have formed many fashions and customs in their long-term production and life, and they have followed each other from generation to generation, and have accumulated a colorful and distinctive folk culture in the Central Plains for a long time. The folk culture of the Central Plains includes not only the living customs of clothing, food, housing and transportation, the ritual customs of daily social communication, the life customs of childbirth, weddings and funerals, and the festivals of the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival, but also the customs of daily life, productive labor, industry and commerce, folk festivals, folk crafts, folk art and so on.
The Central Plains was the center of political, economic and cultural activities in Xia and Shang Dynasties and Western Zhou Dynasty. As early as this period, a relatively systematic etiquette system was initially formed, and later they gradually evolved into the traditional etiquette system in China.
The wedding customs in the Central Plains first appeared at the end of the ancient couple marriage and the beginning of the individual marriage, and became perfect in the Western Zhou Dynasty, gradually forming the "six rituals" of accepting gifts, asking names, accepting gifts, inviting guests and welcoming relatives. On this basis, it evolved into marriage customs such as proposing marriage, setting ceremony and marrying, which have continued to this day and become the main marriage customs in China. According to archaeological excavations, there were funerals in the Central Plains as early as 2, years ago, and a relatively complete set of funeral etiquette was formed in the Zhou Dynasty, which became an important custom in China.
The customs closely related to production and life, such as walking on stilts, rowing on dry boats, playing with lions, hanging lanterns and other "playing with social fires", such as offering sacrifices to stoves in off-year years, observing the New Year's Eve, eating jiaozi in New Year's Eve, lighting lanterns in Lantern Festival, paying homage to ancestors at Qingming Festival, inserting mugwort leaves in Dragon Boat Festival, watching the stars on Qixi Festival, enjoying the moon on Mid-Autumn Festival in August, climbing on Chongyang Mountain in September, etc., mostly originated in the Central Plains.
The Spring Festival is commonly called "New Year" or "New Year" in Central China. After the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, we began to prepare new year's goods. As early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the worship of the kitchen god was one of the "five sacrifices". On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, commonly known as "Lunar New Year's Eve", every household has to offer sacrifices to the kitchen god. On the last day of the twelfth lunar month, from the Eastern Han Dynasty, people in the Central Plains called it "New Year's Eve". On this day, every family should pack jiaozi, and the more bags, the better. Every household should post Spring Festival couplets, which originated from the peach symbol created by the Yellow Emperor. Everyone should eat jiaozi on the first day of school, mainly taking its meaning of "making friends at a younger age".
New Year greetings are an important activity during the Spring Festival. On the first and second days of New Year's Day, it is a family greeting. After the third day, it is a New Year greeting between neighbors, relatives and friends, which lasts until the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month.
folk lantern festival activities in the central plains are rich in content and grand in scale, and are known as "small New Year, big fifteen". Lighting lanterns at 15 o'clock in the first month is an important activity of offering sacrifices to the gods and praying for blessings during the Lantern Festival. During the Spring Festival, there are colorful "playing social fire" in the Central Plains, such as walking on stilts, rowing dry boats, playing with lions and hanging lanterns. It originated from the ancient worship of land and fire. Since Qin and Han Dynasties, it has evolved into a comprehensive cultural activity of folk traditions and has become an important part of the cultural activities of the National Spring Festival. The Central Plains region has long been a small-scale peasant economy mode of production, and has always worshipped the dragon god who can call the shots. Legend has it that the dragon rose to heaven on the second day of the second lunar month, and the ancient Central Plains people designated this day as the "Dragon Head-raising Festival". On this day, all kinds of activities will be carried out, one is to pray for rain from the Dragon King, and the other is to pray for disaster relief and detoxification.
ancestor worship and grave sweeping is the central content of Tomb-Sweeping Day custom in the Central Plains. As soon as the Qingming Festival arrives, people take sacrifices to the cemetery to burn paper and light candles to pay homage to their ancestors. On Qingming Day, willow branches should be inserted at each door, and both men and women wear willow rings.
In the pre-Qin period, there was a custom of Dragon Boat Festival in the Central Plains. The Dragon Boat Festival in the Central Plains has not only the customs of eating zongzi, pasting Ai Hu, hanging calamus and drinking realgar wine, but also some customs of eliminating disasters and diseases and preventing plague. On this day, people put the collected mugwort leaves on the door to ward off evil spirits. The "Chinese Valentine's Day" on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month originated from the myth of "Cowherd and Weaver Girl Meet in Tianhe" which first spread in the Central Plains. Because all the participants are young women, it is also called "Begging for Cleverness Festival".
The Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month originated from the activities of offering sacrifices to the moon to welcome the cold in the ancient Central Plains. As a festival, it took shape in the Western Han Dynasty, enjoyed the moon in the Jin Dynasty, and was officially named the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Northern Song Dynasty, which has been enduring ever since.
The Double Ninth Festival on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month has a long history, and there are different opinions on its origin. In ancient times, the people in the Central Plains mostly took refuge in the scenery in Wu Jun's "Harmony of the Continuation of Qi". On this day, there are customs of traveling, climbing, looking far, inserting dogwood and drinking chrysanthemum wine to avoid disasters and take refuge, so it is also called "Climbing Festival". In addition, in the traditional concept of Central Plains people, "Double Nine" means long life, health and longevity. On this day, there are many activities of respecting, loving and respecting the elderly centered on the elderly. The folk customs in the Central Plains are not only reflected in various manners and customs, but also in folk festivals, folk arts, folk crafts and other folk cultural activities.
The ancient folk temple fairs in the Central Plains are enduring, including the grand Taihaoling Temple Fair, the lively Zhongyue Temple Fair and the grand Xunxian Ancient Temple Fair. Among them, Taihaoling Temple Fair has the longest history. Built in the Spring and Autumn Period, Fuxi Mausoleum of Taihao, Huaiyang and other places are commonly known as "Renzu Temple". Every year from February 2 to March 3 of the lunar calendar, there are an endless stream of good men and women from Henan, Anhui, Shandong, Hebei, Hubei and other places. Some of them worship their ancestors and some touch the "descendants kiln". During the temple fair, the "selected team" who came to burn incense and worship Buddha sang and danced in front of Taihao Mausoleum, and acrobatics, lions, dragon lanterns, bamboo horses and dry boats were also busy. The toy "mud dogs" sold at the temple fair are quaint and unique, and people who visit the temple fair will never forget to buy a few. The ancient temple fair in Xunxian County, Hebi, lasted for more than a month from the first day of the first month to the second day of February, and spread to more than 8 cities and counties in five surrounding provinces. At the peak, the daily traffic was nearly 3,. The county has four gates and four streets, and the crowds are like a tide. The square garden of the county has gathered from all walks of life for dozens of miles, and the merchants from several provinces have rushed to the meeting as scheduled, which is called "the first ancient temple fair in North China".
The Central Plains Folk Book Club Majie Book Club is famous all over the country. Since the Yuan Dynasty, on the 13th day of the first month of each year, rappers from all over the country gather at the Liangshu Club in Majie Village, Baofeng County to exchange skills. In order to win the annual title of "the top book scholar", artists have come up with their own housekeeping skills, which is really a gathering of talents. There are many kinds of quyi, including Henan pendant, Hubei fishing drum, Sichuan qingyin, Shandong qinshu and Fengyang flower drum, which can be described as flowers in full bloom. Since the Northern Song Dynasty, the night market has become a beautiful scenery in Kaifeng, an ancient city, and continues to this day. Every night, when the lights are on, snack car, which is full of fragrance, fills all the main streets in Kaifeng. The melodious hawking is mixed with the clash of tableware, and the snacks of various flavors are appetizing and lingering. Luoyang water mat, which appeared more than 1 years ago, and Daokou roast chicken, which appeared more than 3 years ago, are a must for Central Plains cuisine, and are well-known both at home and abroad. The Central Plains has a mild climate and abundant sunshine. Peony in Luoyang, chrysanthemum in Kaifeng and lotus in Zhengzhou decorate the Central Plains in different seasons. Since the Tang Dynasty, Luoyang Peony has been known as "the best in the world". During the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a custom of "flowers bloom and fall for 2 days, and people in a city are crazy". Every spring season, peonies compete to open, and flowers are beautiful.
Xinyang tea has a long history. As early as 12 years ago, Xinyang became one of the eight major tea areas in China. Since 1992, Xinyang Tea Festival has become a folk festival with distinctive local characteristics.
In addition, there are Shaolin Kungfu in Songshan Mountain, Taiji Wushu in wen county, Puyang and Zhoukou Acrobatics, which are famous all over the world. There are folk arts such as social fire in western Henan, Lingbao shadow play and Kaifeng drum; Well-known folk handicrafts at home and abroad are dazzling, such as Kaifeng Bianxiu with changeable stitches, ancient and simple Zhuxian Town woodblock New Year pictures, colorful Luoyang Tang Sancai, beautifully sculpted Nanyang jade carvings, humorous and interesting folk clay play, and smooth lines of pyrography.
I don't know if it will help you. You can go to China Folk Custom Network to see www.chinaminju.com.