New Year's Day is one of the most important holidays for Chinese people. While people everywhere celebrate the Spring Festival, they also create colorful New Year's Day customs. Some of them have disappeared, while some still survive and continue to this day. Taishun around the New Year's Day customs are generally similar. According to the investigation of the information available, according to the author's "frog at the bottom of the well," the county's New Year's Day customs are different, is it mainly affected by the beginning of the migrant, nationalities and habits of life and produce?
In fact, we all have the experience of the New Year, but for the New Year customs have been investigated and studied, but there will not be too much. As a son of the mountain city Taishun Dashan, should we understand or investigate, research and our survival of the home blood, inseparable from the local culture. I privately think, as long as we all act, to do some investigation, without a few years, we can collect a large number of valuable information on native culture.
The author's text of these investigations is really a vulgar work. As the saying goes, "throw a brick to attract jade", then, I'm afraid that my words are not even a "brick" can not be called. However, I have the idea of "too much" in mind, that is, I hope to attract everyone to come together to investigate and study our vernacular culture.
If I can make you read this survey material patiently, in thanks, I have a wish to get your guidance!
One year before sweeping the dust
"Rich or poor, wash for the New Year." Regardless of poverty and wealth, before the year, every family should be the whole family, the kitchen, halls and other places to clean clean, box cage cupboards, corners and beds should be removed from the dust of the years, which is called "dust sweeping". Sweeping dust especially to dust the chimney clean, because the God of the stove in the twenty-fourth return to heaven, is transformed into a green smoke from the chimney to go, of course, he must be his "walk" this way to clean up.
It is reported that the dust sweeping this Spring Festival custom, in our country has more than four thousand years of history. To the Tang and Song dynasties, the end of the year dust has become a household must do. Wu Zimu of the Southern Song Dynasty "dream sorghum record" ruled: Lin'an Spring Festival, "regardless of the size of the family, are sweeping the doorway, to dust, net household". The Ming Dynasty, "Da Dai Li", but also the end of the year dust-proofing provisions for a ritual. In the old days, even busy people have to do cleaning, will be the room and household garbage a sweep, allegory sweep away bad luck and bad luck, welcome the new year's good weather.
According to some local legends in the county, after the god of the stove is gone, the earth's gateway is not no god of the sky in charge, the Jade Emperor will send the god down on behalf of the god of the stove for a few days to take care of the "government", and the god of the sky is very concerned about the cleanliness of the god of the sky, if he is slowed down, he will go back to the king of the stove like the same to the Jade Emperor to report to the Jade Emperor, and the people have to be punished by the Jade Emperor. and people will be punished by the Jade Emperor. So before Zao Shen goes to heaven and the God of Heaven arrives, the portal must be cleaned.
The day of dust sweeping depends on the date of sacrificing Zaoshen, such as Sankui, Yayang, Guihu, Lingbei is sacrificing Zaoshen on the 29th of Lunar New Year, and generally sweeping the dust around the 24th of Lunar New Year. In places such as Ha Hong, where Zaoshen is sacrificed on the twenty-fourth day of the Lunar New Year, dust sweeping should be carried out from the sixteenth day of the Lunar New Year. In general, a dust sweeping must be done before Zao Shen returns to heaven for the New Year.
On the day of dust-sweeping, some places in Taishun also have some customs about getting rid of the old and welcoming the new. Under the Hong Beigu in the dust on this day, if it is the year of the family children are not safe, that is, the proverbial "disobedience", we must turn out in the closet, a child has worn a hat thrown to the mountains. Yangxi, Siqian area is to find a set of clothes worn by the child thrown to the stream to float away. Hopefully, the old year will take away the unlucky things, and let good luck come in the new spring.
Sweeping the dust custom, although much of the content is filled with people's willingness to pray for the good, but there is no lack of practical significance, after cleaning, dust and dirt four cloth of the mansion suddenly became a clean window, spotless, seemingly new weather, very conducive to human health.
II New Year's shopping - New Year's food customs
The biggest festival of the year is the Spring Festival, and the diet is also the most sumptuous. After the New Year's Eve, people in the mountain towns start to buy New Year's goods. Taishun different days to catch the market, some places are every three to catch the market, some places every seven days to catch the market. However, on the 28th day of the Lunar New Year, the fair is specially set up for people to buy New Year's goods. The goods from the north and south of the mountain, the mountain specialties, etc., can be said to be piled up, the crowd like a tidal wave, the atmosphere of the New Year with the New Year's Eve shopping has become increasingly dense lively scene.
Businesses and stores are usually closed early in the afternoon of Lunar New Year on the 29th to play feints, go home for the New Year, until the first six or seven before resuming business, so families have to be ready before the New Year with the necessary items, such as fish, meat, fruits and vegetables, tobacco, alcohol, sugar and tea, paper and candles. Children also want to pull the adult's corner, and they go to the market to pester to buy their favorite sweets, and then hold back a big bag, enough to eat for a period of time. For children, the reason why they like New Year's Eve, perhaps in addition to the first month can not be scolded by adults, the most happy is to have their favorite "New Year's goods" to eat.
Food is the most important thing in people's lives. The importance of food in people's lives is self-evident, the New Year's diet is the formation of a rich dietary folklore. The south of China to grow rice-based, rice grain is people's staple food. Taishun townspeople are in the "rice" on the make a big fuss, creating a local flavor of the food. Such as Luoyang's mother-in-law cake, Sisi, three Kui area with free smoked bacon, Guohu area with pork smoked bacon, Shiyang, Yayang and other places such as maltose, and so on.
Anyone who has been to Shancheng and on the Shancheng restaurant restaurant, all praise the unique flavor of the Shancheng also rice is also a dish of the "mother-in-law cake". It is said that the production of the mother-in-law cake is very laborious, must first soak the best rice, ground into a moderate thickness of rice paste, spread in a hot pan fried into a thick and thin complete crust, and then take out a crust flat, draped with a layer of minced pork, mushrooms, fungus, shrimp, dried scallops, peanuts, sesame seeds, shredded eggs, green onions, etc. made of stuffing; and then reloaded on a layer of crust, and a layer of stuffing; and then reloaded on a layer of crust, and a layer of filling, so on and so forth. Put a layer of filling, so repeated several times, and then rolled into long strips, flattened, placed in a pan on the fire frying, so there is a pleasant "" squeaking sound issued by the appetizing greatly increased. When baked to the body golden, fragrant and crispy, it can be taken out and cut, placed in a shallow plate, served on the table, it is a fragrant, mouth-watering and famous Borneo cake.
There are rules for eating the cakes. It should be scooped up with a spoon and picked up in a shallow bowl or thin plate, taking care not to let it fall apart. Otherwise, the filling will come out of the crust, and the crust will be separated from the filling, losing the unique flavor of the cake. In this way, it will be like the gongs and cymbals in percussion music playing separately, out of tune. When you use the more avoid hasty, must shrink lips and teeth, carefully nibble down a small piece of chewing and swallowing. Otherwise, it will burn your mouth and hurt your throat, holding back tears, making you embarrassed in public, but also hurt the style.
Brazilian cakes are also called pancakes, pancakes, pancakes. Legend has it that a long, long time ago, in the mountainous areas of some single-family homes, during the day, the men went down to plow, young women also went to help, leaving only the old woman to watch over the house. When they were bored, they wanted to make something to eat. At that time, the poor families could not afford to buy food, and in the remote mountainous areas, even if they had the money, there was no place to buy. Grannies "greedy in the wisdom", local materials: the only bit of rice at home to measure out a liter and a half liter to grind into a pulp, so the rice cake wrapped in dishes will become the prototype of the mother-in-law cake. Later on, it was improved, refined and enhanced by people. Since the "invention patent" of this dish belonged to the old ladies, it was called "mother-in-law cake". （
SiXi, SanKui, GuHu, XinShan area of bacon, in the practice of similar, just different raw materials. If the raw material is a free child, the fat intestines and internal organs should be removed, and the whole smoked. If pork is used as the raw material, the lean part is taken. Pork as raw material bacon production method is, first in the stove pot pot into the rice a catty (smoked by ten pounds of pork count), and then in the rice on top of the vertical and horizontal set up wooden branches, on top of the pork. Stove burning firewood, rice charred smoke, play a role in smoking pork. It takes about ten minutes to finish smoking, and then it is cooled in a ventilated place and can be eaten in a day or two.
Shi Yang, Yayang and other places of maltose is also a local villagers on New Year's Eve must. The production method is as follows: first steamed glutinous rice slightly cooled, the temperature dropped to about 20 degrees, and then mixed with barley malt soaked in warm water, after a night, the yeast in the barley malt has been converted into starch in the glutinous rice into sugar in the form of porridge. Early the next morning, it will be put into the sugar castor (big straw bale), using the winch to winch out the sugar water, separated from the sugar residue. Then put the sugar water in the pot to heat, after the continuous evaporation of water, sugar water gradually thick, until there is a silky sugar oil, that is, take out the pull to become soft sugar. If the frying time is longer, the sugar oil will be more thick, can be pulled into crisp sugar. In addition, can also be used to mix sugar dilution with fried rice, peanut rice, sesame, made of fragrant and sweet and crisp "fried rice candy", "fried fruit", twist (around the vine sugar).
The New Year's food of farmers in different parts of the county is slightly different, but rice cakes and dumplings are the food that the townspeople have to make and prepare before the New Year, and they have become the most important local food in the New Year for the townspeople of Shancheng. To make rice cakes, rice is first steamed in a drinking pot, then poured into a stone mortar and pounded with a stone pestle. The rice flour dough needs to be constantly turned and sprinkled with water to avoid sticking to the stone mortar and pestle. After the rice flour dough beaten through, it is put on the door, cut and rolled into strips, usually for home consumption. Or printed with wooden printing plate into blocks, printing plate carved with flowers and birds, rice cakes are also printed with these auspicious designs. This kind of printing cake labeled with red paper, as the first month of the New Year with. There is also a meditative Zaijiao, was "gold" shape, as a sacrificial use.
Soup dumplings, is made of glutinous rice flour food, the county also has a "pill" "dumplings" and other names. Because the "dumplings" and "reunion" harmonization, the Spring Festival to eat dumplings and "family get together, reunion" meaning. This is a harmonic derivation of the meaning of eating dumplings to pray for reunion, there is a legend. Legend has it that after Chang'e ran to the moon, Hou Yi was bedridden due to day and night pining for the disease, and on the night of the 14th day of the first month, a child asked to see, said to Yi: "I'm the lady (Chang'e) sent, the lady knows that you pined for her day and night. Tomorrow is the fifteenth night of the full moon, the lady asked you to use rice flour to make pills, dough like the moon, and then put the pills in the northwest corner of the room, the lady will be able to come down." In order to pray for the smooth and well-being of their families and yearly reunion, the people also eat balls in the Spring Festival. To make dumplings, first soak glutinous rice in water and grind it into pulp, put it in a cloth bag and press it under a stone mill to filter down the water, and then roll and defend the powder into dumplings. The area around San Kui is not stuffed, commonly known as "pills"; Luoyang generally put oil and hemp, sugar and other fillings in the dumplings, known as "soup dumplings". Eat up, there is a clear flavor, sticky but not thick, sweet but not greasy.
Three small New Year's festival Zaoshen
Taishun there is a saying: "Mr. do not eat winter solstice pills, do not eat twenty-four meals for a long time". In ancient times, teachers would go home before the winter solstice, and those who worked for others would go home before the 24th day of the Lunar New Year to prepare for the New Year. Xiao Nian, also known as "small year", "small New Year's Eve", is relative to New Year's Eve. The date of the New Year's Eve varies slightly between the north and the south, and generally falls on the 23rd and 24th day of the Lunar New Year. In some places, it is even earlier, and there is a saying that "after Lunar New Year, it is the New Year", that is, after the Lunar New Year's Day, people start to prepare for the New Year. Cui Shi (崔寔) of the Eastern Han Dynasty wrote in his book "The Monthly Orders of the Four Peoples": "The day of the Lunar New Year is called a small year, and people would drink wine to honor their elders, and repair and congratulate their teachers." This shows that in the Han Dynasty, more than 2,000 years ago, the custom of honoring teachers and elders was already formed.
The main thing in the New Year is to worship the god of the stove. Zaoshen, also known as Zaojun, after the Tang Dynasty, also known as Zao Wang. It is the Chinese folk by the universal belief in the revered deity, from the son of heaven down to the common people, every family has to worship. Before the Han Dynasty, people had the view that Zao Shen was the god of fire, because the function of Zao was mainly to cook food with fire. The view of Yandi and Zhu Rong as the god of fire and the god of the stove came later, because these two mythological figures were only established as humanized gods after the Warring States period. The beliefs of Zao Shen as the god of fire are derived from the natural attributes of the stove and its actual role in people's lives. At that time, it was believed that Zao Shen was the revered Yan Di and Huang Di, who were transformed from Zhu Rong, the god of fire, and so Zao Shen was regarded as the god in charge of food and drink.
The god of the stove became the "head of the family" after the Han Dynasty, and was in charge of food and drink, and then mastered people's life and fortune. People worshiped Zaos because they wanted to be happy through this ritual on one hand, and they were afraid that Zaos would bring them disaster on the other. Jingzao Quanshu-Zhenjun advise good text" said: "Zaojun is the East Kitchen Secretary, by a family incense, to protect a family of well-being, check a family of good and bad, play a family of merits and demerits. Every geng shen day, reported to the jade emperor. If you have done too much, after three years, the sky will give you a blessing. For those who have done too much, after three years, Heaven will send down calamities." In this way, Zaowang became the Jade Emperor's envoy to each family, specializing in monitoring the words and deeds of each family, the size of the fault, once found to make it dissatisfied with the behavior, will secretly write down an account. On the twenty-third day of the Lunar New Year, he returned to heaven to make a general report to the Jade Emperor.
Taishun about the God of the stove legend is not too much, the more widely circulated one is said to have a poor man called Erding to beg for a living, and then the family gradually better, married his wife. But although his wife was virtuous, she was very ugly. As time went by, Er Ding disliked her. When his family became rich, Erding repudiated his wife and married a woman in the village with whom he had committed adultery. When the Jade Emperor found out about this, he set fire to all of Erding's property and his wife died in the fire. Since then, Er Ding has been living as a beggar again. One day when he came to a house, Erding was so hungry that he couldn't walk, and after knocking on the door of the house, he finally fainted due to excessive hunger. Coincidentally, his ex-wife had remarried into this family. When Er Ding woke up and saw his ex-wife, he felt sorry for her and set fire to her death. When the Jade Emperor in heaven found out about this, he thought Erding had a sense of shame and had not yet lost his humanity, so he was appointed as the God of Zao, in charge of incense and fire affairs in the mortal world.
Taishun folk worship Zaoshen mostly on the 24th day of the Lunar New Year, as in Shihong, Shiaocun and other places. In some places, it is held on the 29th day of the Lunar New Year (the 30th day of the Lunar New Year, the same below), such as Sankui, Yayang, Guohu, Lingbei and other places. The festival is usually held during the day, and in some places in Guohu, the festival is held after the New Year's Eve dinner. The shrine to the God of the Stove is placed on the wall of the kitchen, generally after the main body of the residence has been constructed and the base of the stove has been installed, and the Inibs are asked to preside over the ceremony. The Inibs report to the God of the Stove on the condition of the head of the household's family and ask for his blessing and peace. On the wall outside the Zaos shrine, the following is written on red paper: "The God of the Zaos plays good things in the sky, and cigarettes produce wealth on the ground," or "Good things are said in the sky, and peace is guaranteed in the lower realms". Inside the shrine, the left and right sides of the book "carry firewood children, water boy". In the middle of writing "play good Hall" three words.
Turtle Lake, some places to sacrifice the God of the stove and the custom of not allowing women to participate, which may be related to a legend. It is said that the god of the stove is the third son of the Jade Emperor, because of too much lust for women, the Jade Emperor relegated to the mortal world as the god of the stove. Therefore, women do not sacrifice to the God of Zao. It is common for Taishun folk to worship Zaoshen with three sacrificial blessings (eggs, pork and fish) and tea, wine and rice cakes. During the sacrifice, the host refills the wine while also praying that the god of the stove should say more good things when he returns to heaven and not report the ugly things in the house to the Jade Emperor. In order to make the god of the stove say good things, some people also use sugar to offer sacrifices, meaning that if they eat sweet, their mouths will be sweet, and of course, what they say will be nice words. Some people also say that the purpose of sacrificing sugar to Zaoshen is to stick to his mouth and prevent him from talking nonsense. It is also said that offering rice cakes to Zaos also has the meaning of "making a living". All of this comes from the fact that the god of the stove is the "head of the family", and the reason why people want to sacrifice to him, of course, there is a fear of him.
Lore has it that the emperor's life of Luo Yin was also played by the God of the stove to the court of heaven before becoming a "golden mouth beggar body". The folk story goes like this: Luo Yin had an emperor's destiny, and before he ascended to the throne, his mother and son begged for a living. Luo Yin's mother is very hot-tempered, once for Luo Yin to the village to borrow items and the village people do not borrow and angry, bad language abuse, said that if Luo Yin can become a great man, the neighbor's chickens and dogs have to see blood. This was overheard by the God of Vesta, who denounced him to the Jade Emperor when he returned to Heaven at the end of the year. The Jade Emperor was furious and immediately ordered to abolish Luo Yin's imperial order. The heavenly soldiers and generals stood in the clouds to take back Luo Yin's imperial destiny, but at this time, Luo Yin did not know he had imperial destiny, he saw the sky thunderstorms, hurriedly hid under the bed, panicked by the urine pot blocked his mouth, only to leave the "Golden Mouth".
There is also another story circulating in the area of Xiahong, saying that the hundred single eight generals of Liangshan Mountain were the subordinates of Luo Yin, who had an imperial destiny, and that the hundred single eight generals ended up in a bad situation because Luo Yin did not become an emperor.
The god of the stove returns to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor on the affairs of the mortal world, and then returns to the mortal world to take care of "political affairs". In Taishun, the date for welcoming Zaoshen back to the mortal world is not consistent. In some places, the god is sent back to heaven on the 24th day of the lunar month, and then welcomed back to the mortal world on the 29th day of the lunar month. However, the vast majority of places welcome the Zaoshen on the fourth day of the first month. Although the days for welcoming the Zaoshen are different, the places for welcoming the Zaoshen are the same, all of them are in the shrine on the second floor of the mansion where three animals and other things are set up to re-sacrifice the Zaoshen in the hope that he will bless the family with peace in the new year.
The Spring Festival Couplets - Door Gods - Pouring Fortunes
The Spring Festival Couplets, originated from the Peach Symbols. The term "Peach Symbol" refers to the rectangular peach wood boards that were hung on both sides of the main door from the Zhou Dynasty onwards. According to "Hou Han Shu - Ritual Zhi", the peach symbol is six inches long and three inches wide, with "Shentian" and "Yubi" gods written on the board. "On the first day of the first month, the peach amulet was made and put on the household, the name of the immortal wood, which was feared by all the ghosts." In the Song Dynasty, peach charms were changed from peach boards to paper, called "spring stickers". In the Ming Dynasty, the peach sticker was renamed "Spring Festival couplets".
Taishun mountain city, the content of the spring couplets is very rich, can be posted in many places, can be divided into the heart of the door, the frame, horizontal phi, doufang and so on. In many places, it is also popular to stick "flower word" spring couplets, the so-called "flower word" is based on the shape of animals and plants to write. "Not only does the name of the character have a festive connotation, but the shape of the character also has a symbol of good luck.
During the Spring Festival, there is also the custom of posting door gods. In some cases, it is a painting of a door god, while in simpler cases, the name of the door god is written on a red piece of paper. The beliefs of door gods in mountain towns are usually Shentian and Yubi, or Qin Shubao and Yuchi Jingde. Shentian and Yubi are legendary deities capable of catching ghosts. The Book of the Yellow Emperor, quoted in Ying Shao's The Book of Customs in the Eastern Han Dynasty, says: "In ancient times, there were two brothers, Shen Tea and Yubi, who lived on Dushuo Mountain. There was a peach tree on the mountain, which gave them shade. Every morning, they examined all the ghosts under this tree. If there were any evil spirits that harmed the earth, they would tie them up and feed them to the tigers. Later, people used two peach wood boards to paint the portraits of Shencha and Yubi, and hung them on both sides of the door to drive away ghosts and evil spirits." In the Tang Dynasty, Qin Shubao and Yuchi Jingde began to be worshipped as door gods again. There is a story that Emperor Li Shimin of Tang Dynasty was once in a bad mood and often heard bricks and tiles being dragged and ghosts calling outside his bedroom. The 36 palaces and 72 courtyards were so disturbed that he was very afraid and told his ministers about it. Qin Shubao came out of the class to play: "I have killed the enemy like cutting melon, collect the body like gathering ants, still afraid of ghosts and phantoms? I would like and Yuchi Jingde fully armed to stand guard outside the palace gate." Li Shimin agreed, that night really nothing happened. In order to eliminate the two of them every day to watch the night without sleeping hard, so the painting of the two full-body statue, holding a jade axe, waist tie whip, chain, bow, arrow, majestic, as usual, pasted on the left and right door of each layer, evil spirits have been extinct since then. Later generations followed this approach, the two portraits also as a door god.
The custom of sticking the word "Fu" in the Spring Festival is more common in the mountain town of Taishun. The word "Fu" is usually written on red paper and pasted upside down, taking the auspicious symbolism of "Fukushima (to)". The "God of Fortune" is also a deity widely worshipped by folk villagers. Yangxi, Chau Ling and other places there is a legend, a good man even bad luck, they are in the cold winter months for several days in a row at the root of the tree under the worship of the God of Fortune, to the twenty-ninth night, on the way home, he picked up a pot of silver. There is a bully in the village, tricked the good people of the silver, but also ran to worship the God of Fortune, because of laziness do not want to walk, they let people carry the sedan chair, they lie in the sedan chair, sticking out his head along the road to look for silver, the result of a stone on the road touched and died. The next day, the good man passed by this place, did not expect the God of Fortune and this stone into silver gifted to him. It is said that "no good deed goes unpunished and no evil deed goes unpunished".
Wu Worshipping a hundred gods - the first round of incense
We call December "Lunar New Year", which has its origin. During the Shang Dynasty, the New Year was called "Sacrifice", meaning that sacrifices were made to the ancestors and the gods of nature during the New Year, and the sacrifices were also called "La" and "Wax". In the Zhou Dynasty, "La" and "Wax" were separated, with "La" referring to sacrifices to ancestors, and "Wax" referring to Wax" refers to sacrifices to ancestors, while "wax" refers specifically to sacrifices to the gods of mountains and rivers. It was only after the unification of the world by Emperor Qin Shi Huang that sacrifices to ancestors and gods were collectively called "wax". Ancient people believed that "everything has a spirit" and that all the gods of nature have their own duties. In this way, if you don't worship them properly, it will definitely affect your own survival and labor. Therefore, if something goes wrong in their daily lives, they prepare offerings and make sacrifices in the hope of receiving blessings, and the date of the sacrifices is not specific to any particular day. However, around the 29th day of the Lunar New Year, all the gods in the village are worshipped with animal sacrifices in every household. Among the deities worshipped, there are some that have a certain reputation and are widely worshipped by villagers from all over the country, and there are also some that are popular among the local community as minor deities.
In Taishun, the townspeople use offerings to the gods with palaces and temples, while those without gods, such as the God of the Door and the God of Heaven and Earth, insert a few sticks of incense instead. For the deities with palaces and temples or with shrines in the households, they are usually sacrificed on the morning of the 29th day of the Lunar New Year, such as San Kui to sacrifice Wuxian Da Di and Yang Fu Xingjun, Sisi and other places to sacrifice Chen XIV Niangniang, Luoyang to sacrifice Chijiyan (Spirit Rock), and Shiaocun and other places to sacrifice Zhongxun Wang, and so on. Offerings to ancestors should be cooked in a pot, while the sacrifice of the hundred gods can be used in the pot of offerings, the reason, popular in the lower Hong and other places is that the gods have supernatural power, can be cooked raw food and then eat, while the ancestors of the netherworld does not have this "magic", naturally, should be cooked and then eat.
During the day, the rituals of the gods varied from place to place, and all the gods were in a hurry, busy with their feasts and making a mess. But on the night of the 29th, the situation is very different, people have turned to the object of worship to the road head god. About the origin of the road god, is also a different story, some believe that the road god is the god of wealth, and the god of wealth and five roads, in charge of a variety of financial, so the folk are in the night of the 29th, to the fork in the road to sacrifice the god of wealth, in order to pray for wealth and prosperity, fortune and prosperity. Sacrifice, to insert "incense" at the fork along each road, extending the incense to dozens of meters away. The villagers around the lower Hong that the road head God refers to "Master Xianggong", is a beggar head, under the thirty-six disciples, seventy-two grandchildren, and "the street holding monkeys first teacher" "street end pull the first dog teacher ""Lock throat general" of the name. Both the beggar God, so the most favorable in the ritual encounter beggars, often pouring all their offerings to beggars, some people are also prepared on the body of the red packet gift.
Sacrifice the head of the road god, and the most taboo by passers-by, only in the middle of the night the habit of sacrifice. If you see someone sacrificing to the God of the Road from afar, and you know the rules, you will try to make as little noise as possible, and even if you are friends or relatives of the person you are sacrificing to, you will be treated like strangers when you meet him, and you will mind your own business.
In addition to sacrificing to the gods on the twenty-ninth day, people think, in the day of sacrifice so many people, the gods may not be able to remember me and grant well-being, there is the first day of the first month of the first burned "first round of incense" custom, that can burn on the first column of incense, the blessing will be more. Those who burned the first incense were afraid of being late, so they often left in the middle of the night. The old man is limited by the strength of his feet, can not go to the temple in the mountains, "Xianweng Cave" to pray to God, the village to burn "the first round of incense" in small temples. Small Palace in the burning "first round of incense" will be less, rushed to the large temple in the burning incense is another scene, often "way for the plug", more people "a few no place to stand", plus the smoke filled with incense. Coupled with the smoke filled, choking people with tears. Each temple, "the first round of incense" only a column, can also be said to be "too many monks, too little porridge", but burning "the first round of incense" is a reflection of people's devotion to God and Buddha.
Lu New Year's Eve Ancestor Sacrifice
New Year's Eve Ancestor Sacrifice is a New Year's Day custom that is popular in a wide area of China. It is believed that the spirits of the ancestors will protect their children and grandchildren and make them prosperous. On the other hand, it also comes from the traditional ethical concepts and moral concepts of "caution in the end to catch up with the distant future", "hundred good filial piety first" idea. Ancestor worship in ancient times was mainly manifested in the establishment of temples and shrines, and there were also shrines for ancestors in the homes of the common people. Every New Year's Eve, the second floor of the shrine in front of the ancestral shrine incense burner please to the hall, set up on the eight immortal table soup and rice offerings to show filial piety and remembrance.
New Year's Eve ancestor worship is usually held in the afternoon. In the afternoon, it is said to be Yin, and the ancestors are also Yin people, it is natural to worship the ancestors in the afternoon, if the ancestors are worshiped in the morning of the Yang, the ancestors will not be able to eat the soup and rice. However, the Zeng family in Jiao Yang followed the custom of their ancestral home in Quanzhou, to worship their ancestors in the morning of New Year's Eve, the reason is that Zeng's ancestor died in the morning.
Prior to the festival, the same house faction of the family to prepare a soup and rice on the Baxian table, generally have three sacrificial blessings (pork, fish, eggs), rice, rice cakes, tea, wine and so on. Ritual food also has to pay attention to, turtle lake of the Wang's not allowed to use cowpeas ancestor; under the Hong Xu's taboo with snails ancestor, if the taboo, the offspring of the child will be extremely ugly, eyes as big as a snail. In terms of taboos, under the Hong Xu Clan there are not allowed to children crying during ancestor worship, which has a legend. Legend has it that in one year's New Year's Eve afternoon, one of the ancestors of the Xu Clan came to the feast in the sun, but the men of this family have not rushed back to New Year's Eve, the woman is in the kitchen to prepare the soup and rice, no one to take care of the child and crying. The woman was preparing the meal in the kitchen, and the child was left unattended, crying and screaming. The ancestor then coaxed the child. After the meal was served and the ritual started, the woman was busy with other things. The ancestor had to coax the child and eat at the same time. A joss stick of time passed, the Xu ancestor had not yet eaten enough. Unable to soup and rice has been removed, had to go back with a hungry stomach. A few days later, he dreamed to the descendants of the sun, and told the future ancestor must not let the child cry again.
The way the offerings are arranged varies slightly from place to place. The next Hong Beigu to the north side of the Baxian table set a large bowl filled with rice, bowl built-in oil lamp, rice in the insertion of incense, large bowl next to put two large bowls of tea. Yangxi Fujia Yang Zhuang clan, then in the building hall ancestor worship, ancestor worship has not set the custom of chopsticks, because their ancestors moved from Pingyang, it is said that this custom from Pingyang. Yayang tower head bottom of the Ji clan in the ancestor worship will also be invited out of the ancestral portrait, hung on the wall of the master, for the solemn ritual activities added a solemn atmosphere.
After lighting the joss sticks and candles, wine is added to the wine cups and then again every few minutes. The wine is usually added three times. In some places, the wine is also added five times, believing that "there are eight lines in a poem, and five rounds of wine."
In Guohu Zhengjiazhuang and Shiyang Xidong, New Year's Eve ancestor worship is held in the ancestral hall. This kind of vast ancestor worship scene, more can reflect not forget the ancestor merit, remember the bad forefathers of the heart. To the ancestral ancestral worship, everyone should be neatly dressed and well behaved, to show respect for the ancestors.
Seven New Year's Eve Dinner - Night Supper - Burning the New Year's Pig - Keeping the New Year's Eve
After honoring the ancestors on New Year's Eve, each family will set up a "New Year's Eve Wine", also known as "New Year's Eve Dinner". No matter how far away they are from home, they must find a way to return home and eat this "reunion meal" with their loved ones. In the turtle lake, Yangxi and other places, if a family member did not make it home to eat New Year's Eve dinner, the family still want to give him a place to set up bowls and chopsticks, meaning reunion.
The New Year's Eve dinner in the mountainous countryside is usually a heated offering to ancestors, and if it is not heated, it cannot be eaten, or it is considered unlucky. In some places, the elders are asked to move the chopsticks first, and then the elders are allowed to eat after them. There are also many rules for the New Year's Eve dinner, such as food utensils are forbidden to fall on the ground; more auspicious words should be spoken, and no bad luck words should be said. New Year's Eve dinner meal can not be swept away, all eaten, you must leave some to the second day of the first month to eat (the first day of the first month to eat vegetarian). Some of the big families on the New Year's Eve dinner dishes there are a lot to pay attention to, such as there should be rice cakes (high year), vegetable head (good luck), fish or taro (yearly surplus), dumplings (reunion), and so on.
After the New Year's Eve dinner, around 11:00 or 12:00 p.m., there is also a "nightcap". The food is far less sumptuous than the New Year's Eve dinner, but it is still valued by the townspeople and has become an important Spring Festival custom. "The "Night Supper" is often associated with the "New Year's Eve Pig Roasting", in which the New Year's Eve pig is roasted in a fire pit while the food for the "Night Supper" is roasted. The food used for the "night" is roasted in the fire pit. There are many different ways of saying that the "New Year's Eve pig roast" takes place in the prefecture.
New Year's Eve night, the family reunion to eat New Year's Eve dinner, the folk in the New Year's Eve night vigil in front of the stove fire pit (fire pit) charcoal fire buried burning firewood, called "burning New Year's Eve pig". Legend has it that during the Yuan Dynasty, the people hated the rulers, carved wood into the likeness of the magistrates, buried in the charcoal fire burning, cursing the rulers, and from then on the custom of "burning the New Year's Eve pig" has been passed down. In fact, burn "New Year's pig" is to bury the kindling, because the Spring Festival families get up early to light incense to welcome the God of Fortune, for fear of not finding the kindling inauspicious; and the fire is also a symbol of prosperity, New Year's Eve vigil, the house lit up the lamps, stoves burning fire, the warmth of the soluble, a metaphor for the family's prosperity and development. (Zhou Ruzi "Taishun traditional festivals and customs")
Popular in the area of the lower Hong story is told, I do not know in what dynasty, the dynasty Yan sent down a lot of supervisors, specializing in supervising the people's work. These supervisors were very vicious. So, on August 15, people made a promise to kill the supervisors in the month of Lunar New Year by giving them Mid-Autumn Cakes (with a note hidden in the cake). Although they killed the supervisors, their hatred for them remained unresolved, so on New Year's Eve, people took the heads of trees instead of the supervisors' heads, pressed them into the fire and burned them to a certain extent, then covered them with ashes and soil and burned them until the first day of the first month of the new year to express their dissatisfaction and resistance to the evil forces.
Yangxi area on the "burning pig" story is so circulated, in ancient times, the dynasty Yan had sent down many princes, each in charge of nine meals. One of the princes had a chopper, and if the people wanted to make a fire to cook, they had to ask the princes to borrow a chopper. The people were so disgusted by the princes' dominance that they sent a message through the mid-autumn cake, agreeing to kill the princes on a certain day in the month of Lunar New Year.
Shiyang also has the custom of "burning the New Year's pig", but it is a custom of the townspeople in order to pray to the gods to bless the pigs in the coming year to grow fat. The legend is obviously very different from that of other places.
The "Night of the Dead" is also associated with the New Year's Eve. When people eat the food, they start the "New Year's Eve vigil", which often lasts all night long. There are two meanings of the New Year's Eve: in the older people to "resign the old year", there is the meaning of cherishing the time; in the young people, there is the meaning of prolonging the life of the parents, all the parents are alive, must be the New Year's Eve. According to another saying, the year-keeping is also called "guarding the door of heaven": "very ancient and ancient times, God saw the people very poor, so in the New Year's Eve night years of the sub hour of the moment, that is, that is, the new year the old year intersection of the moment, open the door of heaven, the heavenly storehouse of gold and silver treasures scattered to the earth. The people must pick up in this instant, gain and loss only in the blink of an eye. Early no, late these gold and silver treasures