The Shangsi Festival on the third day of the third lunar month is a folk ghost festival. In Jiangzhun and Jiangnan areas of China, the Shangsi Festival in the third month of the lunar calendar is also called Ghost Festival here every year. It is said that the deceased appeared on this day, and at night, every household in folk customs set off firecrackers in their rooms to scare away ghosts and catch them.
The origin of Shangsi Festival
In ancient times, Shangsi Festival was a "sick" day, and it was customary to hold ominous sacrificial ceremonies at the water's edge. Shangsi Festival has a long history and lacks records. The word "Shangsi" first appeared in the literary works of the Han Dynasty. After Wei and Jin Dynasties, Shangsi Festival was changed to March 3rd, and gradually became a festival for drinking at the water's edge and having a spring outing in the suburbs.
It is said that Shangsi Festival originated from the witchcraft activities in Lantiang to ward off evil spirits. When the blue soup bath becomes an exorcism ceremony, this bathing activity must be organized and led by a full-time witch.
Shangsi Festival originated from the witchcraft activities of orchid soup to ward off evil spirits. Bluegrass is used as a spiritual object in this activity. Bluegrass has the characteristic of fragrant smell. The ancients fasted in advance before holding a major ceremony of offering sacrifices to the gods, including adopting the best bathing method at that time-blue soup bathing. The only difference between bathing in blue soup and bathing in blue soup is that bathing in blue soup is an individual behavior, mostly indoors, which can be implemented at any time, while bathing is a group activity and must be held regularly by the river.
Another view is that Shangsi Festival originated from the reproductive worship activities of ancestors. For example, Tao Siyan pointed out that the activity of swaddling is originally a belief behavior of men and women enjoying spring scenery and praying for pregnancy, while bathing with bluegrass or aromatic herbs is a function of arousing desire. Water is a mysterious allelopathic substance. Linjiang women not only want to wash away the dirt on their bodies in winter, but also hope to get pregnant when they get wet. This belief in near-water breeding related to primitive religion is the real reason for the custom of swaddling in March. Others believe that Shangsi Festival originated in memory of Xuanyuan Huangdi. According to legend, March 3rd is the birthday of the Yellow Emperor. In the Central Plains, "On February 2nd, the dragon looked up; I was born in Xuanyuan on March 3rd.
The custom of Shangsi Festival
1, sword wedge
On the last day, there will be wedge cutting, wedge trimming or bathing activities. Bathing is for disaster relief. Prehistoric humans believed that fertility was the result of totem entering women. After entering the era of male chauvinism, people realized that copulation between husband and wife was the cause of childbirth. However, both the concept of totem worship and the understanding that copulation between husband and wife leads to fertility admit that women are the embodiment of fertility and children are conceived by their mothers. However, not every woman can give birth normally, and some women are often unable to get pregnant because of illness. At that time, people thought that women's infertility was caused by ghosts and gods, so they used the bath of Shangsi Festival to treat infertility. In this way, over time, bathing has become an important part of Shangsi Festival. The foot-washing conference, which spread in Yunnan in early spring, is a legacy of ancient wedge-building.
2. winding water flow
There are three kinds of activities in the last festival: laying eggs near Shui Piao, floating dates on the water and qu shui. Among the above three kinds of water activities, the floating egg near the water surface is the oldest, and it will be cooked.
Eggs were put in the river and left to Eve, and whoever found them would eat them. Jujube floating on water and winding water evolved from floating eggs near water. However, this is a relatively civilized witchcraft. It is this evolution of witchcraft that qu shui and drinking in the water become the entertainment activities of literati.
Step 3 meet men and women
There is a strange custom on the last day of the festival, that is, sexual intercourse in the festival of "men and women meet" has a long history. It originated from the seasonal marriage in the clan period-sexual intercourse and group marriage, and later it was handed down. For example, there are pictures of sexual intercourse between men and women on the rock paintings in Zuojiang, Guangxi, and there are also brick paintings of Han tombs in Chengdu. Later records also saw this custom. There are many customs of meeting men and women in ethnic minority areas in China, such as the third day of March of the Li nationality, the climbing of the Miao nationality, the throwing of hydrangeas by the Buyi nationality and so on. Walking is also such a legacy. On the third day of visiting Nanshan in Wujin, Jiangsu Province, a folk song said: "On March 3, wear a single shirt;" Stir-fried Malan with garlic and eat Nanshan. "
4. Flat Peach Club
After the rise of Taoism, it is believed that the third day of the third lunar month is the day of the flat peach festival for the western queen mother. Sacrificing Empress Xi is very popular all over the country, but there are also customs of offering sacrifices to other gods to pray for their children in other places, such as offering sacrifices to Sanmao Zhenjun in Yangzhou, also known as blind people. Wenzhou worships ghosts and gods on the third day of the third lunar month, praying for good health and having more children. There is a lion club in Xiamen and a boy throwing club in Chengdu. At the boy throwing party, whoever robs the boy can have a baby, so the man who robs the boy is regarded as a hero. Infertile women in Qihe, Shandong Province will go to Niangniang Temple to burn incense and worship God on the third day of the third lunar month, and the host will draw a red line for them. The seeker will tie a clay doll with a red line, symbolizing the son given by the queen, and put the clay doll in a hole in the wall after giving birth. Every year on the third day of the third lunar month, they burn incense for the queen. There is a picture of "Big Sister tying dolls" in Yangliuqing New Year Pictures, which shows that the custom of tying dolls is also very popular in Beijing and Tianjin.
Which festivals are Ghost Festival?
First, March 3rd.
In Jianghuai and Jiangnan areas, the third day of the third lunar month is called Ghost Festival every year. It is said that ghosts haunt this day. At night, every household sets off firecrackers in every household to scare away ghosts and drive them away.
On the third night of March in the underworld, the streets of the underworld are covered with lanterns and colorful decorations, and the streets are crowded with colorful ghosts. Therefore, on this night, people's souls can't stand the temptation of the underworld and go to Shi Gui to play. If you don't come back by then, people will get sick until they die, leaving only carrion.
Second, Tomb-Sweeping Day.
Tomb-Sweeping Day is usually around April 5th in the Gregorian calendar. Sweeping graves on Qingming Festival is called "respecting thinking about time" for ancestors. Its customs have a long history. In the Ming Dynasty's "A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of the Imperial Capital", it was written: "On the Qingming Festival in March, men and women went to the grave to pay their respects, and the gold ingot was hung on the back of the sedan chair, and the road was full of embarrassment. Worshipers, mourners, weeping, weeding, adding soil to graves, burning ingots several times, and buying graves with paper money. If you can't see the paper money, it will be a lonely grave. After crying, don't go back, go to the fragrant tree, choose the garden, and sit down and get drunk. " In fact, grave-sweeping existed before the Qin Dynasty, but not necessarily during the Qingming period, but after the Qin Dynasty. It was not until the Tang Dynasty that it became popular. Qing thomas lee said, "On New Year's Eve, the Cold Food Festival and the First Frost Festival, you should offer sacrifices to sweep the graves. During the period, I will serve my bed with vegetarian food, use wine and tools for cutting vegetation, seal trees in the middle of the week, and break Cao Jing, so it is called sweeping the grave. " And spread to this day.
Third, Mid-Autumn Festival.
The 15th day of the seventh lunar month is the annual Ghost Festival in China, which Buddhism calls "Magnolia Festival". According to legend, on this day, Yan Luowang will open the gate of hell "the gate of hell" and let the imprisoned ghosts come out to move freely until the end of July. Therefore, during this period, it was popular among the people to worship their dead relatives, burn gold ingots, paper candles and set off river lanterns, so as to pray for ancestors' blessing, eliminate disasters and increase happiness, or turn over the dead and resolve grievances.
Fourth, the first day of October
The first day of October is called "October Dynasty", also known as "ancestor worship festival" and "cold clothing festival". Since ancient times, China has had the custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors in the new harvest season to show filial piety and not forget one's roots. On the first day of October, ancestor worship, including family sacrifice and tomb sacrifice, is held in both north and south. Today, in many areas south of the Yangtze River, there is also the custom of offering sacrifices to new graves on the first day of October. The first day of October is also the first day of winter, and then the climate is getting colder. People are afraid that their ancestors' souls in the underworld are short of clothes and clothes. Therefore, in addition to food, incense sticks, paper money and other general offerings, there is also an indispensable offering-ghost clothing. When offering sacrifices, people incinerate ghost clothes to their ancestors, which is called "sending cold clothes". Therefore, the first day of October is also called "Clothing Burning Festival". Later, the custom of "burning cold clothes" changed in some places. Instead of burning cold clothes, people burned a lot of ghost paper in a paper bag with the names of the recipients and senders and their corresponding names written on it. This is called "baggage". There is a name of cold clothes, but there is no reality of cold clothes. People think that the underworld, like the dead, can buy many things with money.