With the sound of "honesty" (purity) and "honesty" (life), folk customs have homophones such as "one product is pure" and "honesty gives birth to cinnamon". Lotus has one flower and two flowers, which is called "ice lotus", which means the integration of men and women, so it is also a metaphor for the love of husband and wife.
Cultural customs related to lotus are closely related to the meaning of lotus, including the following contents:
1, lotus picking custom
There is an ancient custom in Jiangnan, that is, picking, loving and appreciating lotus. This is mentioned in Zhu Ziqing's Moonlight on the Lotus Pond: "During the lotus picking season, young men and women are dressed neatly and sing while picking flowers by the lake. This is also a good opportunity for lovers to date and fall in love. What a lively scene this is! This can be confirmed by Liang Yuandi's "Lotus Picking Fu". " Of course, "Jiangnan" here refers to the south of the Yangtze River in the Six Dynasties or earlier, especially the "two lakes" area, which was later implemented in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.
During the lotus picking season, the ancients also had the custom of boating and enjoying the moon. Lotus picking songs are also sung when picking lotus, mostly love songs with lotus as the theme. Because lotus and its underground stems have many ecological characteristics, such as "lotus pedicel, seven hearts connected" and "broken silk". In addition, the names "Lotus" and "Hibiscus" are concerned with the specific expression of love.
Up to now, the Anhai generation in Jinjiang, Quanzhou still has the custom of picking lotus during the Dragon Boat Festival. In the afternoon, the whole family, old and young, put on new clothes, toured the streets and climbed the White Pagoda. As the saying goes, "vote". Holding wooden faucets, holding banners, holding flower baskets, beating gongs and drums, playing orchestral music and singing lotus picking songs (common name "Su Luluan"). All families are welcome. Flag bearers dance in various halls, singing auspicious words, basket bearers send flowers to householders, and people give red envelopes to their work. It means' picking lotus'.
2, put the lotus lantern
This is the traditional custom of the Dragon Boat Festival. Also known as "river lamp". The release of lotus lanterns symbolizes the use of the power of the river god to pray for good weather and peace on land and water.
In addition, in Beijing and other places, the Mid-Autumn Festival on July 15 also has the custom of putting on river lanterns and lighting lotus lanterns at night, which is another traditional Lantern Festival in old Beijing after the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month.
River lanterns are also lotus lanterns, a custom handed down from ancient times to turn over the dead. Lotus lanterns are made of natural lotus leaves and some good candles. At that time, the center was hollowed out with watermelons, pumpkins and purple eggplant, and some good candles were inserted in it, and these lights were sent into the river to form "water lanterns".
On the night around July 15, children from all families wandered in the hutongs of the market in groups of three or five. The children shouted in unison: "Lotus lantern, lotus lantern, light it today, throw it tomorrow!" " At that time, children had to compete for more beautiful and brighter lights at night, which was the so-called "Lantern Festival".
3. The custom of hanging "Lotus Lantern"
There is a custom of hanging "Lotus Lantern" on the Lantern Festival, which means prosperity. "Lotus root stands for' continuation of life', lotus seeds and sticks in the lotus stand for' early birth of your son', and red and white flowers stand for boys and girls, which just adds up to a word' good', representing children and grandchildren!"
4. New Year pictures and wallets
In some folk paintings, a dragon head, a lion's tail and a deer's body, Lin Lin wears horseshoes with scales and thin legs, and some show off their sons with a young woman on their backs and a fat doll in their hands; Some are riding a boy on their backs, holding lotus flowers and sheng, and taking the homonym of "Lotus (Lotus) Sheng (Sheng) Your Lang"; The background of the picture vaguely shows the "Tiangong" as a gift.
The patterns of embroidered purses often include "Lotus gives birth to a noble child", "Lotus gives birth" and "Fish plays with lotus". Legend has it that "fish" is a metaphor for men and "lotus" is a metaphor for women. The relationship between "Lotus" and "Zi" is the relationship between mother and child. There are also "even (lotus) years (fish)" and so on.
5. Pray for the Lotus God
Guangchang County, Jiangxi Province was named "the hometown of China white lotus" by the state. The area around Taihe Village, Chishui Town, the county is known as the folk custom of "praying for lotus gods".
According to legend, in the spring at the end of Sui Dynasty and the beginning of Tang Dynasty, the villagers who planted lotus for generations in Xixi Village, Baishui Village, Guangchang County (now Taihe Village, Chishui Town) were in the season of planting lotus, but they were forced to abandon the lotus to live in the mountains because of social unrest. When the villagers who took refuge in poverty and illness were in trouble, Qi Liantong led the idea of the Queen Mother to fall from the sky. After several fierce battles, the violence was lifted and all beings were saved from disaster. This day is June 24th. All the villagers decided to remember this unforgettable experience in a form and pass it on from generation to generation, so as to feel the kindness of Dai Qilian. Therefore, June 24th of the lunar calendar is designated as "Lotus Birthday" (referred to as "Lotus Festival"), which symbolizes the birth of your son.
Since then, from June 24th to 26th every year, Henong in Taihe Village will hold a "Blessing Lotus God" activity.
6. Buddhist customs
Lotus, also known as lotus. It is a symbol that is often mentioned and seen in Buddhist classics and Buddhist art. Lotus has an indissoluble bond with Buddhism because it is associated with many legends of Sakyamuni. As soon as the Buddha was born, he stood on the lotus, which was April 8, and later became the "Buddha washing festival" of Buddhism. When Sakyamuni realized the Tao, he rose to the north and walked around the tree. At that time, it was a lotus, *** 18 lotus. Whenever he preaches, he always sits on the lotus seat, that is, his legs are crossed and his feet are up.
In addition, according to Buddhism, the lotus represents the pure dharma body of the Buddha and solemnly declares itself, so it has become a Buddhist mascot.
There are many customs related to lotus in Tibetan Buddhism.
7. The custom of "eating lotus"
Mixing lotus with other foods to make holiday food for dinner is called "eating lotus". The traditional recipes for "eating lotus" include lotus seed cake, lotus seed porridge, lotus steamed rice and petal wine.
On the Lotus Festival of Bai people in Heqing, people watch lotus flowers, sing lotus songs and taste lotus cakes, which can be regarded as a unique flower-eating culture. In addition, Nanjing also has the custom of "eating lotus flowers", which has a wide variety. Lotus seed porridge, lotus leaf porridge, steamed pork with lotus leaf powder, etc. And Jinan and other places also have the custom of eating lotus petals.
8. "Bi Tong Drink"
Lotus plays an important role in Jinan people's life. In the use of lotus, Jinan has some special customs. Among them, the most interesting is the blue tube drink.
According to the records of Ren Duan in Youyang Miscellanies in the Tang Dynasty, in ancient times, when the lotus flowers in Daming Lake were in full bloom, some officials and scholars often went to the lake to escape the summer. They cut off the big lotus leaves in the lake, filled them with wine, and then stabbed them in the center with hairpins to make them communicate with the hollow lotus stems. People drink wine from the end of the lotus stem, and the taste, in the words of the literati who experienced it at that time, is "the wine is mixed with lotus fragrance, and the fragrance is better than water cooling." This is the beautiful talk "Bitong Drink" handed down by literati in Tang and Song Dynasties.
In addition to serving wine, Jinan lotus leaf can also be used to make many special foods. For example, the fresh and green lotus leaves are slightly scalded with hot water, covered with porridge when cooking, and the cooked porridge is cooled with sugar, which is called "lotus leaf porridge" and is a famous snack in Jinan in summer; According to the production method of "rice flour meat" or "steamed meat", the pork is cut, the rice is fried and mixed with soy sauce, then the tender lotus leaf produced in Daming Lake is selected, washed, a piece of pork is wrapped in the lotus leaf with a proper amount of fried rice, spread in a bowl, placed in a steamer and steamed to obtain "lotus leaf meat". Eating is eating meat with lotus leaves, which is delicious with pork and the fragrance of lotus leaves, especially delicious. Similarly, you can also make fine dishes such as lotus leaf chicken and lotus leaf fish. In addition, wrapping food with lotus leaves is also a unique custom in Jinan. In the past, many steamed buns, pot stickers, cooked meat and pickles sold in food stores were wrapped in lotus leaves, which were neither oil-permeable nor water-permeable, and had a fragrant taste, which was very popular among people.
In addition, people in Jinan used to eat lotus. Among them, "fried lotus petals" is a famous dish unique to Jinan in summer. Wash fresh, complete and clean lotus petals, hang a thin layer of egg paste, fry in oil pan, sprinkle with white sugar after frying, and eat in your mouth. They are delicious, memorable and deeply loved by people.
8, "put the river (lotus) lights"
Discharge lamp from upstream to downstream
The seventh day of July in the summer calendar is a folk festival in Queqiao, also known as Valentine's Day and Daughter's Day. People are afraid that the cowherd will not see the dark magpie bridge at night, so they put lights on the river to let the cowherd know the way and see the Weaver Girl quickly. This is recorded in many literati poems after the Song Dynasty.
"The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl match the Tianhe River, and the lotus lanterns on the water convey their feelings."
In the Tang dynasty, there was a saying that "Yang Yi Yi Er", and the wind of tourism appreciation was crowned in the southwest and became famous all over the world. There is a record of "the official birthday of Fayun Temple in the Mid-Autumn Festival" in "One Hundred Palace Poems of Lady Huarui in Mengchang, Shu", which shows that the Mid-Autumn Festival is popular early. The lyrics of folk songs and bamboo books, such as "When the river lantern lights up, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl are happy", "When the river lantern travels three thousand miles, my years are as sweet as honey" and "Let the river lantern go today and throw it tomorrow", can prove this time-honored custom.