Spring Festival

The beginning of the year is called Spring Festival. The first day of the first month is called Yuanri, Yuanchen, Yuanzheng, Yuanshuo, New Year's Day, etc., commonly known as the first day of the first month, and there are other nicknames such as Shangri, Zhengchao, Sanshuo, Sanchi and Sanyuan, which means that the first day of the first month is the beginning of the year, month and day. The Spring Festival is the most solemn traditional festival of Wuxi people. On December 23rd, 1949, the People's Republic of China and the Central People's Government of China stipulated that the Spring Festival should be closed for three days every year. It is an old custom in Wuxi to open the door on the morning of the first day of the new year, and to open the door three times to explode. Eat cakes, dumplings and noodles for breakfast, which means reunion, promotion, longevity and Changchun. On this day, we only eat leftovers from New Year's Eve, which means "more than enough". You can't pour rice with soup or eat porridge when eating, for fear of going out in the rain. Also avoid begging for fire and water from neighbors, warning not to curse, not to get angry, not to speak unlucky words, and praying for peace and good luck throughout the year. During the Spring Festival, the younger generation first pays New Year greetings to their elders, and then visits relatives and friends. When relatives and friends meet for the first time, they say something like "Congratulations on your new happiness", "Congratulations on getting rich" and "Congratulations" to congratulate each other. The new son-in-law pays a New Year call to his parents-in-law's house, usually on the third day of the year. Since the old man reached the age of 6, he held a banquet to celebrate his birthday during the Spring Festival every 1 years. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, healthy folk customs remained.

Lantern Festival

The fifteenth day of the first month is called Lantern Festival, also known as Shangyuan Festival. Yuanxiao means the first full moon night in a year, so it is also called Yuanxi and Yuanye. In the morning of the Lantern Festival, we eat steamed cakes or dumplings with shepherd's purse (also known as Yuanxiao), spring rolls at noon and family reunion dinner at night. On this day, when making tea in the teahouse, it is customary to add olives, commonly known as "eating olive tea", also known as "eating Yuanbao tea". Olive basket symbolizes the gold ingot, which means getting rich and being blessed. The fifteenth day of the first month in the summer calendar is the Lantern Festival. On this night, there are many kinds of lanterns hung by Wuxi folk, including dragon lanterns, wind lanterns, fish lanterns, rabbit lanterns, lantern lanterns, all kinds of mythical lanterns and people's lanterns of past dynasties. Some of them are tied into lamp trees, lamp houses, turtle hills, memorial archways, etc., and there are activities such as stepping on the high court, dancing yangko, playing Taiping drums, playing flower boats, playing dragon dances and lion dances. Lantern riddles are also written on lanterns to attract people to watch lanterns and guess riddles. In the city, the most lively is Chong'an Temple. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the lantern market here was extremely prosperous, and the whole street was decorated with lanterns. After dinner, people lit all kinds of lanterns, knocked on gongs and drums, and gathered in Chong'an Temple for the Lantern Festival. Some also dance the big-headed doll dance, and some have lanterns and firecrackers. The lanterns are more exquisite and numerous, and the fireworks are higher and louder than the fireworks. There are also juggling competitions such as somersault, tiger jumping, triangle handstand and rope jumping. Some set up barriers, set up high platforms, choose beautiful men and women, wear silk clothes and play new plays. Every year from the fifteenth day of the first month to the twentieth day of the first month. In rural areas, after supper, people light all kinds of lanterns, and young adults form a dragon lantern team, beating gongs and drums and playing dragon lanterns in villages. Many candles are lit in the dragon lantern and roll in the night sky, just like a dragon flying. The audience is like a cloud, so Wuxi has a folk song of "watching the dragon lantern in the first half of the first month". A few nights before and after the Lantern Festival, every corner and every window of Xishan Longguang Tower was hung with colored lights, like a flaming tree. On the night of the Lantern Festival, some people carry wine and vegetables to Mount Xishan and Huishan, and enjoy the night view of the city while drinking and enjoying the moon. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Lantern Festival still has the custom of eating Yuanxiao in the morning and having a reunion dinner at night.

Shangsi Festival

The third day of March is Shangsi Day. In ancient times, the first third day of March in the summer calendar was called "Shangsi". On the third day of March, there are always four days. On this day, people spread shepherd's purse flowers on the stove and in places where they sit and sleep, thinking that they can eliminate pests such as ants; Hide cauliflower and tung flower in sweaters and feather clothes, thinking that clothes can not be eaten; Women wear cauliflower on their heads, thinking that they can avoid headaches and sleep soundly at night. Urban and rural people also climbed Huishan, Hongshan, Doushan and Xishan Mountain for an outing. On the third day of March, it was the temple fair in Junyi Mountain, Nanxiang, and the incense boat was full of burning incense. The farmers in Xuelang Township at the foot of my aunt's mountain have the custom of regatta. In the morning, young people from all villages shook the clippers and loaded with villagers, and rushed to Huizhao Mountain to see the temple fair and visit the festival. In the afternoon, the clippers gathered in Changguangxi, near Gedai Bridge, and men, women and children who had seen the God-welcoming tournament and the festival also came here to watch the clippers race. The clippers who participated in the competition first performed freely and showed their magical powers. Then, the ambassadors who emerged in the performance were free to combine and compete with two ships as a group. The winners of the group are free to combine again and compete in turn until the champion is decided. During the game, the shore was full of people, gongs and drums were loud; The boats in the river are flying like arrows, rushing forward bravely, which is very spectacular.

Tomb-Sweeping Day

Wuxi folk began to grow vegetables and fruit trees. Silkworm farmers hatch their eggs in cotton-padded clothes on Qingming night. On this day, people went to Huishan for an outing. Those who don't go up Huishan, go up the city wall and walk around the city, which is called climbing high for an outing. Donglin Temple, the east gate, is a gathering place for scholars and women, so there is a saying that "peach blossoms are seen in Donglin Temple". On this day, it is also the festival venue of Jiaoshan in Dongxiang and Doushan in Beixiang, and there are competitions nearby, so Doushan is nicknamed Qingming Mountain. People go hiking in the mountains, catch up with festivals and watch games. From the Lantern Festival to Tomb-Sweeping Day, adults and children fly kites in groups of three or five in the wild. It is a traditional folk custom in Wuxi to pay homage to ancestral graves (commonly known as "going to graves") during the Qingming Festival. Pick some new earth to fill the grave when sweeping the grave. Every new grave must be swept before Qingming; Old graves can be clear, but not long summer. The new wife must visit the ancestral graves, commonly known as "going to the flower graves". When sweeping the grave, use meat and vegetarian dishes to watch and pay homage to wine and rice. Later, it was used to replace fruits and cakes.

long summer

1. long summer

People have always had the custom of tasting three delicacies in long summer. The three fresh foods are divided into three fresh foods: ground, tree and water. The three fresh plants are broad beans, garden vegetables and cucumbers (amaranth, wheat and broad beans, but also amaranth, broad beans and garlic seedlings); The three fresh trees are cherry, batch handle and apricot (one is plum, apricot and cherry, and the other is plum, cherry and toon head); Three fresh waters are sea-fish, puffer fish and shad (shad, pomfret and yellow croaker, but also shad, whitebait and mackerel). Among them, tasting fresh ground is the most common. In some places, there is also the custom of eating moldy tofu in long summer, saying that eating moldy tofu will not reveal itself.

Second, the summer solstice

People in Wuxi eat wheat porridge in the morning and mixed dumplings at noon, which means chaos and harmony. There is a proverb that says, "The summer solstice wonton and the winter solstice group bring people together in Ankang in the four seasons." After eating the mixture, weigh the children, hoping that the children will gain more weight and be healthier.

Dragon Boat Festival

The fifth day of May is the Dragon Boat Festival. The real name is Duanwu, also known as Duanyang, and there are other names such as Noon Day, Dila, Pujie, Chongwu Festival and Tianzhong Festival. On this day, Wuxi people eat zongzi in the morning. Attach great importance to lunch. At that time, new geese were on the market, and they often killed geese and chickens. People also drink realgar wine on this day, or sprinkle it on the ground, or dip it in Xu's body, or write the word "Wang" on the child's forehead to show that he is afraid of illness. Some people hang mugwort leaves and kudzu on their doors, which are called mugwort flags and swords to ward off evil spirits. Some fumigate the room with mugwort leaves for disinfection. Dragon Boat Festival, the dragon boat race between urban and rural areas is very prosperous, among which the dragon boat race in Ronghu Lake is the most spectacular. Every year in late April of the summer calendar, the contestants perform exercises. Since the beginning of May, the dragon boat has been concentrated in the area from Jiangjian to Huangbudun to continue its performance. On the fifth day of May, the participating dragon boats gathered in Rong Lake. Long and narrow dragon boat, with dragon-shaped bow and stern decorated, with blue cloth and white cloth at the top, green flag on the boat, 16-2 fast paddles on both sides, one holding L paddles, and one drumming conductor at the stern. At the first command, the competition began, and everyone was drinking loudly. Qi Xin paddled and the boats flew. In order to watch the competition, people put up high platforms and screens on both sides of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal. Some high platforms have four or five floors. There are also many boats carrying paintings and lanterns of the audience moored on both sides of the competition line, and the boats are connected, so people take a quick look.

Tanabata

The seventh night of July is called Tanabata, which is the legendary day when cowherd and weaver girl meet every year. The longest and most widespread custom in Qixi Festival is "begging for cleverness". That night, girls tied colored threads and wore seven-hole needles. If you dress fast, you will find it hard to beg. During the day, some girls put a coffee table in the courtyard, put a bowl of Yuanyang water mixed with well water and river water on it, put the embroidery needle in the bowl one by one, and judge the situation of begging for skill according to various projections in the sun. Some women collect all kinds of flowers, put them in copper pots filled with water, expose them in the courtyard, and take them to rub their faces the next day. It is said that they can make their skin delicate and self-purified. Some women pound daffodils, get juice, and dye their ring finger and little finger nails, which are called "red nails". Some women also sang "Begging for Cleverness": "Begging for dexterity, begging for looks, begging for heart, begging for looks, begging for my parents to be thousands of years old, begging for my sisters for thousands of years." The custom of begging for cleverness no longer exists today, only the legend of cowherd and weaver girl remains.

Mid-Autumn Festival

August 15th is the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Reunion Festival. People in Wuxi celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. They eat braised taro in the morning, enjoy the moon and eat moon cakes in the evening. This custom continues to this day, and there are many Mid-Autumn Festival parties held by mass organizations to enhance friendship.

Double Ninth Festival

The ninth day of September is the Double Ninth Festival. In ancient times, odd numbers were used as yang, and the two yang overlapped on the ninth day of September, so it was called Chongyang, and it was also weighed as nine. People in Wuxi generally eat double ninth festival cake, and some also eat "Jiupin cake" (a soup made of 9 kinds of fruits such as water chestnut and lotus nut), which means sweet and smooth. The main activity of this day is to climb mountains. Now, the Double Ninth Festival is designated as the festival to respect the elderly, so as to carry forward the tradition of respecting the elderly in China.

winter solstice

Wuxi people attach great importance to the winter solstice, and there is a saying that the winter solstice is as big as a year. The day before the winter solstice is called "winter solstice night", and a family of young and old get together to have a winter solstice night meal. If someone at home is out, leave a seat, set a pair of bowls and chopsticks, and symbolically hold some food to show your thoughts. Before dinner, worship ancestors first. After the sacrifice, put the food back into the pot and burn it. If you don't burn, eat, saying that your memory will decline. Put soybeans in the rice, which is called "Yuanbao rice", put two cooked water chestnuts in the rice bowl in advance, and take them out when eating, which is called "clamp Yuanbao". At the winter solstice dinner, rich people eat a lot. "Rich people eat all night, but poor people freeze all night". On the morning of the winter solstice, it was called "Winter Solstice Day" and we ate glutinous rice dumplings made overnight. Therefore, there is a poem saying: "Every family mashed rice for reunion, knowing that it was the winter solstice day of the Ming Dynasty." According to historical legend, the winter solstice was New Year's Day in the Zhou Dynasty, so there is still a saying in Wuxi that eating the winter solstice night meal is one year longer, commonly known as "adding years".

New Year's Eve

The last night in December is called New Year's Eve, commonly known as New Year's Eve; The night before was called Little New Year's Eve, commonly known as Little New Year's Eve. Before New Year's Eve, every household should clean, dust and welcome the new year. A certain proportion of glutinous rice and japonica rice are ground into powder and made into rice cakes, which symbolizes high year after year and high year after year. Brush off the old Spring Festival couplets on the door and paste new ones to show the old ones are updated. On New Year's Eve, every family worships their ancestors, burns incense, lights candles, burns paper money, and offers rich sacrifices, reflecting people's reverence for their ancestors. After the sacrifice, the whole family, men, women and children, sat around to have a New Year's Eve dinner (also known as "family fun"). In the evening, some people put on a new statue of the kitchen god in the kitchen shrine, put red paper couplets on both sides of it, and offer offerings, commonly known as "taking the kitchen", to take back the kitchen god who played things in heaven on December 24. Some people hang Zhong Kui statues to avoid sneaking around. Farmers are still painting grain hoards with lime in the open space in front of their houses, hoping for a bumper harvest of grains. Before going to sleep, put on three "closed doors and exploding battles". Some people are still keeping watch on New Year's Eve, making dumplings and cutting cakes, and staying awake in the light.

Dragon Boat Race

Every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, there is a custom of dragon boat race in the water towns in the south of China, commonly known as dragon boat race. From the Ming and Qing Dynasties to the eve of the Anti-Japanese War in Wuxi, dragon boat race was once popular, and Huangbudun in Beitang and Goose Lake in Dangkou were both scenic spots for race.

huangbudun race crossing reached its peak in the early Qing dynasty. Whenever preparations are made in late April of the lunar calendar, the dragon boats will be staged in various waterways, and they will not gather in Beitang until the Dragon Boat Festival. The top of the dragon boat is covered with blue and white cloth curtains, and colorful flags are inserted to ride the wind. During the competition, the bronze drums were loud, and there were 16 or 18 or 2 rowers on each ship, sitting on the left and right sides of the ship, each holding an oar and struggling to hit the water. Several boats are in full swing, and the paddles are in full swing. It's really like Youlong breaking the waves and the scales are flying, which is spectacular. There are men, women and children in urban and rural areas who go to watch the race, and the audience is arranged along the pond, as many as four or five floors; On the water, cruise ships gather and collide with each other. Among them, there are young children and ladies out of the city, who ride on painted boats and play drums. After the dragon boat race, busybodies often throw geese and ducks into the river to watch the dragon boat race, which has become an episode of the race. In the third year of the Republic of China (1914), the Huangbudun race was held in the summer of June, and it was also called Sheng for a while.

Dangkou Goose Lake, in the early years of Guangxu, there was a Dragon Boat Festival every Dragon Boat Festival. At that time, tourists from dozens of miles away will be eager to watch. The boat in the lake is full, the night is brightly lit, and the orchestral sound is boiling, which is very lively. Goose Lake has an open water surface. During the Dragon Boat Festival in the Republic of China, there were five dragon boats divided into five colors, named Red Dragon, Huanglong, Qinglong, Bailong and Oolong. During the competition, drums were drumming, paddles were rushing, five boats were competing, and the lake was crowded with people.

lantern-tuning

In the old days, lantern-tuning was a great spectacle of the Lantern Festival in the south of the Yangtze River. On the Lantern Festival night, every time you smell three bells, it is the signal that lanterns are out of the array. Men, women and children will gather around the street crossings and look particularly focused.

The pioneer is a banner with eight banners, and it is written in nine Chinese characters: "General goes out in all directions.". Hunting in the cold wind makes a noise. Behind is the Taiping gongs and drums, and the horn is loud. Then came the eight meteor hammers, and the burning charcoal sparks splashed in the night, flashing uniform arcs. The words "avoid" and "silence" were written in eight rows of lamps, and people consciously gave way. The flag commander of the former leader of the cavalry holds the red and green signal flag. Behind the flag governor is a yellow umbrella cover flowing in front of the horse, and the head horse walks slowly. Erma is a fierce horse with red mane, commonly known as "Sao Ma", dressed as a clown, and a pawn in Tsing Yi. There are eight horses, and the stallion is a general of the Qing Dynasty, wearing a hualing, a dragon jacket and high sleeves. The whole Lantern Festival has a huge lineup, and two classes of gongs and drums are suona, blowing and beating, stirring up the crowd, and passing by with hundreds of troops at every turn. After the drum music was tightened, the flag was ordered by the governor. With a wave of the red and green flag in his hand, people immediately became more energetic, and the front team turned to the back team, stepping on the drums and starting to string chains and rings into the field. There is a meteor hammer in the venue to clear the way to bring up the rear, pressing the tidal stream of people to the outside, making room for a square in the middle. Horses began to array: Eight Diagrams Array, Star Array, Dragon Gate Array, Ecstasy Array ... Horses bite their ponytails, which are corresponding and interlocking, making the audience dizzying.

The highlight of the field is watching "Sao Ma" running. Eight horses, prime minister, crowded. The red-maned fierce horse made a horse-like fright, spread its hoof and reveled, and the groom made a few backflips on the flat ground, reined in the horse and the horse ran away. The groom "fell headlong", walked the "dragonfly" road and circled the field. "Sao Ma" stopped to look far away, and was caught in the bridle and raced around to release "fireworks". "Fireworks" is a special "golden spark", which can make three turns around the field. At this time, there are descendants who have made a special trip to aim at the fireworks, mostly newly married Langjun. According to legend, they can have a son when they get back the fireworks, which is worth a hundred times invisibly.

The last finale is to listen to a "scholar" in the cavalry who wears a felt hat and holds a cattail leaf fan to "cross", which is similar to the general Allegro book, but the difference is to beat the fan. The words are rhyming and catchy. Most of the lyrics are to persuade the world to do good, and there are also many gags, often mixed with meat and vegetables. Thousands of people are silent at the moment. Local slang sounds particularly cordial. The lyrics are fried and sold now, all written by several local scholars, and the lyrics are really amazing. The next day, the babbling children can spread the whole lyrics in the streets and lanes. This scene will remind me of a horse dance poem by Lu Guimeng: "There are four hundred hooves in the moon cave, and you should be arrogant and light-footed. "At the end of the song, it seems to be favored by the king. Looking back at the Red Chamber, I dare not hiss.