Eating wonton at the Lantern Festival in Xiangcheng County is called "reunion tea". The bride's family took her married daughter home for the holidays. During the Lantern Festival in the county, the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled all use fire to moxibustion stone turtles. If there is a river bridge in the area, cross it at the same speed. If there is no bridge, build an "overpass" with wooden boards several feet high, which is called "walking all diseases"
The most unique custom of Changxing Henan people is that on the night of the Lantern Festival, every family should tie lanterns with bamboo and red paper in front of their ancestral graves and light the candles in the middle to burn out. The general customs of the Lantern Festival are watching lanterns, solve riddles on the lanterns, eating glutinous rice balls and dancing lions. Even people in Henan seldom light lanterns in front of ancestral graves.
In some areas of Xinyang Shopping Mall, Guangshan and Xinxian County in Henan Province, there is a custom of sending lanterns: every year on the evening of the first month 15, every family will send lanterns to the graves of the old and new ancestors who died at home to express their memory of their ancestors, so that their ancestors will not be dark and lonely in another world. Sending a lamp is to light a candle at the grave. The candle is covered with a simple lampshade, which can keep out the wind. When sending lights, there will be shooting, fireworks and incense lamps. Lampshades are generally made by themselves, made of colored paper of various colors.
Sending lanterns is very grand. There is a saying in our hometown that "fifteen is like a year" and "thirty fires, fifteen lights", which shows the grandeur of sending lanterns. On the fifteenth day of the first month, no matter how far away from home, wanderers who are far away from home will return to their hometown, have a reunion dinner at noon and send lights at night. If no one sends lanterns to any ancestral graves, it means that this family has no descendants, which is a taboo for every family.
We have a reunion dinner on the fifteenth day of the first month every year, and we also burn paper to worship our ancestors before we start eating. After dinner, children or young people at home peel bamboo sticks and stick lampshades. Of course, candles are bought in advance. If the ancestral graves are far away, you have to make preparations in advance. When bamboo sticks and lampshades are ready, adults will lead their children to the ancestral graves in droves to deliver lanterns. When you arrive at the ancestral grave, you should first press the tomb paper on the grave, usually three times, once in the middle and once on both sides. It means that children and grandchildren have come to worship their ancestors, and it also means that there are descendants in this grave, that is, successors. People who come and go will know that there are descendants in this tomb when they see the tomb paper. (Of course, there is a reason for this tomb-robbing thesis. Let's talk about it below. Then, pull out or cut off the weeds in front of the grave, insert a row of bamboo sticks, three to four bamboo sticks in a group to form a lampshade, insert candles in the middle and cover the lampshade. When it is dark, light a candle. This process is called "luminescence" in our hometown. Then burn paper, set off firecrackers and set off fireworks. Then adults and children kowtow and say that our ancestors have come to see you, or pray for blessing.
On the afternoon of the fifteenth day of the first month, in the graveyard or on the road, you will see people everywhere, busy, bustling and endless. After dark, the mountains are full of colorful lights, one by one, a string, like stars in the sky. You will hear guns everywhere, fireworks everywhere, and you will really feel what is a festival, what is heartfelt joy, and what is a willing rush. Only on this day, children will not be afraid to walk alone in the graveyard, and only on this day, the old man, children, girl and daughter-in-law will go into battle together, and the family with the same surname will be happy.