It's the seventh day of the seventh lunar month-Chinese Valentine's Day. In China, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month is the most romantic festival among traditional festivals, and some people call it "Begging for Qiaojie Festival", "Seven Bridges Festival" or "Daughter's Day". In this romantic and clever day, Chaoshan has another unique rite of passage-"going out of the garden". "Going out of the garden" is a farewell ceremony, and it is also a beginning ceremony. From then on, even if the child jumps out of the garden wall and bid farewell to his childhood of flowers and birds, innocence, carefree and ignorance, it marks that he or she has entered adulthood and really embarked on the road of life.

Adult ceremony of Chaoshan people

"Going out of the garden" is an adult ceremony held by Chaoshan people to bid farewell to their childhood. Whether male or female, when they reach the age of 15 (nominal age), their parents will prepare their children to "go out of the garden".

Guo Mafeng, honorary chairman of Shantou Folk Writers and Artists Association and a folklorist, said that the custom of "going out of the garden" is slightly different in Chaoshan area. In some places, only boys are allowed to go out of the garden, but no girls are allowed. In some places, it is necessary to ask God for advice first and learn that there is no "taboo" and "collision" before the ceremony can be held, but the form is basically the same. On the day of "going out of the garden", children should wear new clothes and have red clogs on their feet. The ceremony is to put three kinds of fruits together into four, eight or twelve pieces, put them on the commonly known "glue-skimming", invite the in-laws out of the furnace, and the children who leave the garden will bow down and worship, and then they will not worship again. Children who "leave the garden" should wear new clothes and red leather shoes, boys should eat the head of a rooster, and girls should eat the head of a hen or duck. In Chenghai, Chao 'an and Raoping, it is customary to bathe those who leave the garden with 12 kinds of flowers, while in Jiedong, Puning and Huilai, children are required to eat pork intestines and pork bellies, commonly known as "changing intestines and bellies". At noon, prepare a sumptuous lunch with meat, three birds' eggs and twelve dishes. Vegetables are mainly thick and green garlic, which means that after eating thick and thick, they are everywhere "Liuhe" after "out of the garden"; Green garlic, when you grow up, can be counted and removed, smart and clever; Qin is a lifelong hardworking. On this day, he (she) sits in the right position, with the head of the chicken facing him (her), and others can't smoke it, so the head of the chicken becomes the patent of the "out of the garden", which means that he (she) can get ahead and prosper when he (she) grows up.

"Going out of the garden" originated from "Begging for Clevership Festival"

Why did you choose "Going out of the garden" on the seventh day of July? Guo Mafeng told reporters that there is a saying in Chaoshan that "15% of the people are young and 16% are adult". In ancient times, economic backwardness forced young people to leave their homes early and make contributions to their families' livelihood. The choice of Chinese Valentine's Day to hold this rite of passage stems from the story of "Cowherd and Weaver Girl". In this story, the Weaver Girl is a famous clever girl in the Heavenly Palace. On the night of the seventh day of July, when she left the Heavenly Palace to meet the Cowherd, all the women in the world offered her fruits and impatiens to beg for ingenuity. Therefore, the seventh day of July is also a "begging festival" in China. Choosing this day to "go out of the garden" also means "cleverness". Parents expect their children to grow up. But whether there was a "begging festival" in Chaoshan ancient times. There is no data to test at present. Guo Mafeng said that both Chaoshan people and Hakka people in eastern Guangdong have the custom of "going out of the garden", but the difference is that Hakka people hold it when they are 16 years old.

The protagonist can be a "king of the children"

Mr. Wang from Jieyang rural area recalled the "out of the garden" ceremony that brought him good memories, and said that "out of the garden" is still a very grand ceremony in his hometown. Mr. Wang said that relatives came to give gifts a few days before they left the garden, and grandma, aunt and menstruation all sent a bunch of raw pork, eight eggs and a new dress. Gifts are given to the protagonist who goes out of the garden. Parents usually accept clothes, a little pork, two or four eggs, and return the rest to the giver as a gift. Mr. Wang said that many people now directly wrap a red envelope and send money to their parents. The day before "going out of the garden", the family will kill chickens and ducks, and they will also cook strips. At noon on the day of "going out of the garden", a banquet will be held to entertain the children of relatives in the family. In addition to the sumptuous dishes, there is also a traditional staple food at the banquet, that is, a soup cooked with chicken and duck soup. All the children who are invited have not yet left the garden, and all the children who are invited will envy the protagonist who has left the garden. Because as the protagonist, on this day, there are beautiful new clothes to wear and a chicken to eat, and there is no contract and no restraint. At present, king of the children, a child who comes home to eat with him, can play whatever he wants, but he can't leave home all day.

the custom of "going out of the garden" has been gradually diluted

With the changes of the times, the custom of "going out of the garden" has also changed in Chaoshan, and some places still follow the ancient ceremony, but in cities and some economically developed rural areas, the custom of "going out of the garden" has evolved into a simple ceremony, and even become an excuse for adults to talk about ostentation and feasting.

Mr. Chen from downtown told reporters that so far he has attended many banquets hosted by relatives and children in hotels. At these banquets, all kinds of red tape necessary for "going out of the garden" in the past have completely disappeared. When he left the garden at the age of 15, because he was the eldest grandson of the family, he was very different. He had to go back to the countryside to do business, and put a lot of banquets in his hometown, and many relatives and friends came to dinner. Mom and dad also invited many old people in the village. On that day, the family received many gifts-eggs. For a long time to come, there were eggs to eat at home almost every day, such as boiled eggs, fried eggs, egg porridge, laver and egg soup ... In the end, when it came to eggs, his stomach turned.

Coming out of the garden-

"Coming out of the garden" is a common coming-of-age ceremony in Chaoshan area in the past. It is a ceremony held when children are fifteen years old (in fact, most of them are only thirteen years old) to mark that children have grown up. Now it seems that this custom has disappeared in some areas of Chaoshan. However, most areas of Chaozhou are still preserved.

chaozhou people believes that children under the age of fifteen live in a "garden" and are protected (actually controlled) by a pair of gods called "Flower Male Flower Mother" (also called "Flower in-laws"), which can control whether children are disobedient and healthy, that is to say, whether children can grow up depends on the gifts of these gods, so chaozhou people pays homage to "Flower in-laws". Children living in the "garden" worship "Hua in-laws" on July 7th every year, in order to pray for healthy growth; The children out of the "garden" are no longer under the control of "Hua in-laws", and they can no longer worship "Hua in-laws" on July 7.

Children who have never been out of the garden are pure children in the eyes of adults. If you make a mistake (as long as it is not extremely bad), adults will always understand and shelter you as a child. Of course, it does not mean that children of this age can be lawless. If children of this age are disobedient, their parents can beat and scold (moderately, of course). Children are no longer children when they are out of the garden. From then on, parents will treat their children as adults, and generally will not beat and scold them casually. In the eyes of others, he is also an adult. Children will slowly begin to learn to be strict with themselves. If you are still naughty after "leaving the garden", adults will often say, "You think you are still young. You are out of the garden and an adult!" Or "Are you ashamed that people are still like this when they leave the garden?"

The ceremony and meaning of "going out of the garden" will vary in details in each small area, but the principle (it seems that the word is inappropriate, so long as everyone can understand it) is similar.

The general situation is as follows:

Choose an auspicious day. At the end of the year before the fifteenth birthday, the mother at home will ask a lucky day for the children who will "go out of the garden". The lucky day should be at the beginning of the first month of the first month, the Lantern Festival, March, May and July, and not later than July 7 at the latest.

take a bath. On the evening before the auspicious day of "going out of the garden", the mother will pick twelve kinds of "flowers" (actually leaves, but I don't know why they are still called flowers) for her children to bathe in water; This flower is quite exquisite. Only three fresh leaves are taken from each kind. From the time of picking, it should be placed in a high place and cannot fall.

wear new clothes. After bathing, you should put on all the new clothes sent by your grandmother (clothes are mostly with auspicious warm colors, such as red), put on red clogs (red shoes can be used instead of clogs), and complete the ceremony from the moment of bathing to the auspicious day the next day. You are not allowed to go out of your house or meet strangers. This is quite uncomfortable for children who used to roll around outside all day. Perhaps this is also the meaning of this provision. Of course, this is also a day when brothers and sisters can work for themselves at will. I remember that Yanzi's brother didn't forget to toss my sister the day he left the garden, and told me to go out and buy some snacks every few minutes. Of course, Yanzi will get a little revenge when she leaves the "garden". That's beside the point.