From the aspect of humanistic qualities, the customs of Guangzhou have profound historical causes. Guangzhou ancestors came all the way from the Central Plains to the shores of the South China Sea in ancient times when transportation was extremely inconvenient. The bumpy road made them go through a lot of hardships; the disappointment of the officialdom made them have no attachment to their native land in the Central Plains. Without the burden of history, coupled with the location of the southern border, the rulers could not reach; psychological divide and geographic deviation, making the orthodox concept of the people of Guangzhou is relatively indifferent. Historically, Guangzhou was a famous foreign trade port, with frequent foreign economic exchanges and greater influence of foreign ideas, thus showing strong political openness and flexibility, economic accommodation and effectiveness, and active and creative thinking. Guangzhou people are shrewd and practical, adventurous, courageous, compatible with the spirit of change, not blindly xenophobic, not foreign admiration, good at absorbing the beneficial elements of Western culture, so that the whole society has been revitalized with strong vitality, so in the modern era of the successive social changes, are at the forefront of the position. These humanistic genes shine everywhere in Guangfu folklore.
History has recorded four times in the Central Plains people moved south: "Since the end of the Han Dynasty Jian'an to the Eastern Jin Dynasty Yongjia * (＊Yongjia is the Western Jin Dynasty, Huang, "Zhi" is incorrect.). At the time, the Chinese people, who avoided the land more into the Ling table, children and grandchildren often home, its flow of wind and rhyme, clothing and gas habits, the gradual infection, so the gradual change of the habits and customs of a few Zhongzhou." (Ming Jiajing Huang Zuoxiu "Guangdong Tongzhi") Lingnan around the content of many traditional festivals and customs, most of the feudal dynasty's sacrificial activities related to, such as the spring to meet the earth cow, the first day of the year ritual God to celebrate the year, February for the community, the March line of the green to the winter ancestor, etc., are from the royal family, the clan rituals to develop; a number of important festivals, such as the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival, the Ching Ming Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Chung Yeung Festival, the winter solstice and so on, are inherited from the Central States routine customs. Some important festivals, such as the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Winter Solstice, etc., are also inherited from the custom of Zhongzhou, but they have their own characteristics due to the variations of the regions, environments, and people. For example, in the Spring Festival, we welcome the gods and worship our ancestors, observe the New Year's Eve, have the New Year's dinner, put up Spring Festival couplets, perform dragon and lion dances, "sell laziness" (i.e., the so-called "sell dementia" in the Central China), and eat seven kinds of dishes on the day of the people (i.e., the ancient style of "eating spring plates" in the Central China), etc., which are all inherited from the routine customs of the Central China. "), etc., are similar to the Central Plains. Due to the Lingnan spring color is always in the year-round blooming flowers, so Guangzhou New Year's Eve ten miles of flowers on the street that lively scene, is rare in the north of the ridge other places. Lingnan lion, also different from the northern lion. Northern lions pay attention to similarity, played by two people, four feet on the ground, like a real lion in general; Guangzhou's lion pay attention to similarity, focusing on the lion's head, style and shape are very different. There are some special festivals, such as the "Lettuce Festival" on the 24th day of the first month, the "Polo Festival" on the 13th day of the 2nd month, the Golden Flower Festival on the 17th day of the 4th month, and the Zhengxian Festival on the 24th day of the 7th month, which are all unique to Guangzhou, and which contain a lot of beautiful stories and legends. Lettuce will be originally related to the birth of the Goddess of Mercy, people take the meaning of its "birth and wealth", coincidentally, "lettuce" and "wealth" sound close to the meeting, it will be used for the meeting, in recent years, more coated with a heavy business In recent years, the festival has been heavily coated with commercial colors to attract foreign investment. Polo Festival is related to the Maritime Silk Road. Guangzhou is the starting point of the ancient Chinese Maritime Silk Road, Polo Temple enshrined in the Polo country envoys, explaining the people of Guangzhou on the spread of Western civilization, respect for the spreader of the four sides of the great and wise reverence. In the trend of reform and opening up in recent years, Guangzhou's mass cultural life has flourished. In addition to the usual song and dance halls and karaoke, high-class literary salons, music salons, and academic salons are springing up or being revived. Symphony and ballet can also find their soulmates in Guangzhou. Guangzhou people who strive hard in shopping malls are good at grasping every opportunity to cultivate their temperament, open up their horizons, increase their knowledge and move up the ladder. These are the results of customs and culture inculcated through the ages.
The most representative of the Canton folk style is the custom of drinking morning tea in Guangzhou. Its tendency to vary in tone, can be said to be a microcosm of Guangzhou society. In a variety of teahouses, you can not only appreciate the taste of Guangzhou food culture, but also see the life of Guangzhou society. People there to make friends, negotiate business, ushered in the pastime; there are also jianghu gathering, face singing, literati, and so on, all kinds of strange. The "raw seafood" flavor of Cantonese cuisine,? Dogs, birds, and braised snake soup are the flavors of Cantonese cuisine. Sparrow, braised snake soup masterpiece, and "week beauty spot", elephant sang platter, open hearth suckling pig, no dukes stone snail; in short, flying in the sky, crawling under the ground, swimming in the water, almost all can be tasted at the table in Guangzhou teahouse. To savor the true flavor of "Food in Guangzhou", it is best to go to Guangzhou Teahouse. Its birth, is the product of the commercial world; its development, and Lingnan culture is closely related; its style, fusion of Chinese and Western in a furnace, set food art in a hall. This is a window into the customs of Guangzhou.
Guangzhou folklore is colorful, ancient and young, which is one of its distinctive features. The fusion of northern and southern cultures and the exchange of Chinese and western cultures are the main reasons for the formation of this characteristic. There are historical reasons as well as unique geographical factors, including mild climate, rich produce and geographical advantage of occupying all eight sides. Guangzhou customs still retain many ancient customs, but also traces of foreign folk customs. In Guangzhou, you can see people celebrating the Spring Festival and walking on the Flower Street, and you can also see many people celebrating Christmas and Valentine's Day. They ate snakes, cooked dogs, and ate the Wo Hua Sparrow. Wo hua bird, and the other side to eat hamburgers, Japanese sushi, drink cocktails; one side of the dragon and lion dance out of the "floating color", and the other side of the disco, tango, singing karaoke; one side of the revival of the cheongsam, Xiang Yun veil, and the other side of the jeans, short skirts; one side of the incense and worship for the God of Wealth, and the other side of the manipulation of the computer predictions of stock market wind and clouds! ...... These strong contrasts are the result of the fusion of ancient and modern folklore and the impact of Chinese and Western cultures.
Guangzhou folklore is lively and bright, full of the romantic mood of the southern water town, which is another characteristic, also decided by the special humanistic structure and geographic conditions of Guangzhou. The natural environment of beautiful mountains and water, cultivated people's lively character; peach and willow green colorful garden, itself is a colorful picture; near the sea of the vast landscape, inspire people's imagination, inspire people to explore, entrepreneurial spirit. You see the dragon race to win the scene of the courage to fight for the gold, lion dance exhilarating drums, out of the "water color" when the romantic feelings, dance drunken dragon, dance the arowana when that into the look, will make you immersed in a kind of light and warm atmosphere. In terms of dietary customs, the fresh and elegant Cantonese cuisine, the recipes that pay attention to the meaning, the raw and fat seafood, and the peculiar and diverse foods give people a kind of enjoyment of food and art complementing each other. The melting spring light on Flower Street, the sweet and light Cantonese music, and the delicate handicrafts exhibited at the Tanabata Beggar's Tree Festival not only give people a sense of relaxation and comfort, but also urge them to forge ahead to meet a brighter tomorrow. This is the main theme of Guangzhou folklore.
The third characteristic of Guangzhou customs is its compatibility and warmth, which is closely related to the humanistic temperament of Guangzhou. Guangzhou people are generally not very good at showing their feelings, not compared to the kind of passionate and bold character of the northern people; but they are more gentle, and extremely sentimental, advocating the great and virtuous, once they know each other, they can be draped in the liver and gall bladder. In the gallery of characters in the story of Guangzhou, there are many honorable and lovely images, many of which are not from Guangzhou, such as Shenxian governor Bao Liang, who was a native of Shangdang, Shanxi. He was a man of clean government, appointed the wise and talented, and was loved by the people of Guangzhou; his daughter, Bao Gu, was a kind-hearted doctor, and is still enshrined in the Palace of the Three Elements; his son-in-law, Ge Hong, a native of Jurong in Jiangsu Province, was originally one of the wise men under his command, and was well versed in alchemy, and was known as Ge Xian Weng by the people of Guangzhou, and to this day there is still a temple to his food in Luofu Mountain. Fangshi An Qisheng, Shandong Langya people, in the Baiyun Mountain under the practice of medicine to help the world, Guangzhou's Zheng Xianxian is in his honor, so far the Baiyun Mountain Pujian still have Zheng Xian Shrine. There is also a Qing official Wu Yinzhi, Lin Zexu, a famous general, a great writer Han Yu, Su Dongpo, etc., are not people in Guangzhou, but they are for the cultural exchanges between the north and south, for the expansion of the foundation of Lingnan contributed to the people of Guangzhou have done a good thing, the people of Guangzhou to remember them, specially set up some of the birthday party, the temple, in order to send the feelings of remembrance. Until the reform and opening up in recent years, the patriotism and love for the homeland of overseas Chinese in Guangzhou can be seen everywhere. Guangzhou people live in the atmosphere of human feelings is also quite strong, "humane" expenditure proportion is not small; weddings, funerals, birthdays, needless to say, the usual visit to friends and relatives, but also have to bring a little "hand-me-downs". Guangzhou's teahouse restaurant, but also human interaction of the "Grand View Garden".
But we can't ignore the negative impact of feudal culture, especially Western culture, on Guangzhou's folklore. Many Cantonese people believe in ghosts and gods, and "their customs are especially strict". "Witch, where there is a disease or make a woman holding clothes to start a fire, and recruited in the door; or extend the Taoist expulsion of ghosts, the Yong sound whimpering, since the night up to the day. Proverb: 'Wo yellow ghosts out.'" ("China National Customs" on the editors, Guangdong chapter, Guangzhou,) folk belief in miscellaneous gods, can list the name of more than 600, and the ensuing exorcism to drive away the ghosts, to avoid evil spirits, Zhen Fu, taboos and other customs are also quite complex, the language of the taboos are also quite a lot, such as "cheers," called the "Drinking Success! ", "pig liver" called "pig run", "pig tongue" called "pig profit". Even some of the disappeared for a long time the bad customs, in recent years and dregs, such as the July Shi Kukui rice, playing the villain, asking for rice, divination, crime, feng shui, etc., some people can not withstand the floundering sea of business and blind worship, the store invited into the God of Wealth Guan Gong; there are also some people are desperate to go gambling. Ancient philosophers still know that the view of customs in order to correct indoctrination, Sima Qian said: "Rites from the appropriate, things from the custom." The scholar Ying Shao of the Eastern Han Dynasty proposed, "The key to governance is to recognize the winds and correct the customs." (Preface to the School Translation of the General Meaning of Customs). Such a statement, the compilation of the "Customs" for a few of the main points. (hao180.com)