1. Hanging Lanterns (Lighting Lanterns)
Lighting lanterns means adding children to the family, as "lantern" and "ding" sound the same in Chiu Chow. On the night of the Lantern Festival, lanterns are lit at the entrance of every house in Chaoshan. People also have to carry lanterns, paper and silver joss sticks to the temple in the countryside to catch the fire, and come back to hang in the family shrine and bedside, which is called "hanging happy lights".
2. Appreciation of lanterns
Lunar New Year's Eve is the night of the full moon, if the sky is clear and the moon is bright, the Chaozhou people's lanterns and the full moon into an interesting, pleasing to the eye. Towns, counties, cities have built lantern shed lantern show, rural temples and ancestral shrines hung up large lanterns, large lanterns, small children with bought or homemade small lanterns, groups through the streets and alleys, "camping lights", and festive. Since the eleventh day of the lunar calendar, called "starting lights" (that is, "starting Ding"), the year a boy's family to the township ancestral shrine to hang lanterns, is regarded as a newborn boy into the clan to discuss the style, and every night to hold the child to the ancestral shrine to light up the lamps, to accept congratulations from the townspeople until the eighteenth day of the closing lamps.
3. Eating tea
Previously, families with a male child should prepare refreshments and invite relatives to eat and drink, which is called "drinking tea". As long as you have the pleasure of that night, even if not invited, just walk into any house will be the host's hospitality.
4. do Ding table
In the countryside, the previous year, the family had a boy, the night of the Lantern Festival to host a banquet in the ancestral hall to celebrate the "out of the Ding", commonly known as "do Ding table". There are two kinds of banquet style, one is to use a lot of square tables and together, in the shape of a dragon boat, inviting friends and relatives to eat, called "dragon boat seat"; the second is no matter the countryside, passers-by can come in to eat, eat on the way out, the next batch of guests to come up to eat, the host continues to renew the dishes, called "horse The next batch of guests came to eat one after another, and the host continued to put on dishes, called "walking horse seat". I've heard of the foreign "wedding banquets" that have been done this way," he said.
5. Swinging
Swinging is called "bingdengqiu" in colloquial language. Because the tide of spring early, unlike the Central Plains to the Qingming Festival is not suitable for swinging. Some villages organized swinging contests or performance activities, there are many villagers spontaneously tied hanging swing play, and even some evolved strange customs, such as Jieyang City, Taoshan Township in the first month of men, women and children can swing swing, but the Lantern Festival, men are forbidden to board the swing shed. Individual villages in Chaozhou, there is the Lantern Festival night to swing under the banyan tree, the village people to the young couple threw dung on the body, in order to give birth to a boy that year.
6. Guessing riddles
Previously, the Chaoshan riddle game is only held on the night of the Lantern Festival, that is, in the lanterns with riddles attached to the paper strips, to the spectators around the guess. With the gradual increase in the number of literate people and the popularization of knowledge of riddles, riddle-guessing activities in various festivals are prevalent, but the most grand and lively is still the Lantern Festival, hanging riddle lanterns have also changed into a riddle paper guessing. After the founding of the country, the Lantern Festival riddles are more popular all over Chaoshan, in which Chenghai is also the "Hometown of Chinese Ethnic Folk Art (Lantern Riddles)" awarded by the Ministry of Culture.
7. Fighting She Songs
She Songs, in fact, is a beautiful tea-picking song imported from the She tribe. In the evening, boys and girls selected by the township are dressed up as tea-picking girls, lined up in groups, carrying flower baskets, singing and dancing, performing tea-picking labor, and the dance steps of the "tea-picking girls" follow the dance of the two leaders in front of them, which is very touching.
8. Quasi-Lover's Day
Feudal society, unmarried women raised in the boudoir no one knows, is not allowed to go out freely, the only major festivals can be accompanied by a trip, so the Lantern Festival lanterns are often unmarried men and women to meet or lover's meeting opportunity. The Chiu Chow Opera "Chen San Wu Niang" is a story about young men and women falling in love at first sight while enjoying lanterns at the Lantern Festival.
9. Seeking Good Fortune
On this day, many villages have set up altars to worship the gods, and chickens, geese, ducks, candies, kuey teow, candles, and dai ji on the altars are regarded as gods. The "plea for good luck" is to ask for sacrificial offerings after worshipping the gods. The men and women who worship the gods can bid for the offerings to take home, which will bring peace to the family and bring wealth and prosperity to the family. Those who bid for the sacred objects should return the sacrificial offerings to the gods next year according to the number of objects promised in the bidding. There are also some individuals to take advantage of the crowded opportunity to steal the altar offerings home to eat, said "eat Xing Sheng".
10. Sugar Lion Worship
The Lantern Festival in many villages in Chaoshan, where the gods and goddesses are worshipped, involves the offering of sugar lions to the gods and goddesses to pray for good luck in the New Year. People use sugar syrup to pour into the mold carved into the shape of a lion, cast and painted decoration is crystal bright, beautifully shaped sugar lions. Sugar lions are paired when worshipping, and can be eaten after worshipping. To the sugar lion also has the custom of bidding divination, cast the Lantern Festival next year, according to the size of the bidding commitment specifications, known as the "bet on the sugar lion".
11. Throwing children
Fifteen this day, some towns and villages in the ancestral ancestral halls of the large Cheng, the streets and alleys at the end of the open place set up a colorful shed, which is set up a chest exposed breasts, naive giant clay Maitreya Buddha, its head, shoulders, navel, thighs on the pendulum of different shapes of the "clay happy children", to stand about 4 meters away from the people! Throwing coins, hit the person can take away the "happy child", hit the top of the head, ears, etc. There are coins to give. It is said to be a good omen, can be born early and rich.
12. send incense boat
Send incense boat is to send the God of the Plague, Chaoshan and all over the country are the same this ceremony, "paper boat burning candles in the light of the sky," said this custom. "Incense boat" is made of bamboo paper paste, some directly tied into a boat shape, some made of open-mouthed teeth belly puffer fish and so on. On that day, the villagers also invite friends and relatives from other countries to solemnly present the incense boat, which is very lively.
13. insert banyan
Previously, the Lantern Festival, Chaoshan families are inserted on the lintel of several auspicious objects, such as banyan leaves, bamboo brushes, "pen car", "Dupu", etc., which means "insert banyan healthy over Dragon", "insert bamboo brush to raise fat chickens", "insert pen car to feed big pigs", "insert Du Bi barn stacked". In some places, women put banyan leaves on their heads, and children take banyan leaves and clip them to their ears for good luck.
14. line over the bridge
In the Lantern Festival, some places in Chaoshan have the custom of line over the bridge, such as in Jieyang, the day of the size of the Yung City bridges are dressed up with colorful lanterns, flags, men, women, children and old people scrambling to be the first to cross the bridge to pray for blessings, hit the Copper Street, the Monkey Bridge is the most bustling bridges, people touch the bridge to the stone lions for luck. In Puning Hongyang, has more than 400 years of history of Taiping Bridge for the "head of the bridge", there are two stone lions at the end of the bridge, said the children "mold lion nose, write elegant words"; young man "touch the lion belly, marry elegant wife"; women "touch the lion's ear, write elegant words"; women "touch the lion's ear, write elegant words"; women "touch the lion's ear, write elegant words". The young man "touch the lion's belly, to marry the elegant wife"; women "touch the lion's ear, to give birth to a son". Also, do not turn back when crossing the bridge, otherwise unlucky.
15. fall ancestral hall
In the past, some local rules and regulations require that the bride married into the year, to go to the ancestral hall to see the lamp, called "bride fall ancestral hall. Brides to the ancestral temple incense prayers, to go around the hall, screen by screen to watch the lanterns, and then in front of the ancestral temple to see the "God before the play", not only for the blessing, but also for the townspeople to watch the recognition of this custom has been rare.
16. Sitting on a large vegetable
Lunar New Year's Eve, some local unmarried girls will be accompanied by the same Yin, quietly slipped into the family's vegetable garden, and then shyly sit on top of the mustard, this we "sit on a large vegetable, tomorrow choose a good husband", this folk custom has disappeared.
17. hold a big pig
The old custom of "fifteen night hold a big pig", that is, in the Lantern Festival, Chenghai, Jieyang, Puning, Chaoyang and other places of housewives, to the fields at night to hold back a commonly known as the "field inside the" large pieces of soil, some places are holding back stones. The place is to hold back the stone, and quietly put the soil block in front of the pig pen (circle), affixed with gold flowers and red silk, to swing offerings, pious kneeling, the mouth reads: "Shunshun greatly only", "feeding pigs over cattle," in order to pray for the New Year piglets long fat fast.
18. Ying Shen
Chaoshan in the Lantern Festival has a variety of touring God, that is, carry the God out of the activities, commonly known as "Ying Laozi", the date of the first month of the twelfth to the eighteenth between the tour of the God, the crowd, most of the drums and gongs, Chiu Chow music melodious. Some are held at night, the fire incense and candles bright, hot. There are two kinds of "camps", "cultural camps" and "military camps". In "Wenying", the idol is put on a palanquin and paraded around the community before returning to the shrine. "The "Wuying" is actually the "Going Master", which means "running" in Chaoshan. "The idol of the god is put on a palanquin and tied up tightly, and then carried by several people or tied behind the back by a strong man and run fast.
19.Pendulum Society Saikai
Saikai is the gathering of many worship items in front of the god for competition and observation. In the districts and counties of Shantou, some of them hold big pig races, goose races, duck races, and so on.
Puning Hongyang, Kunshan, Jiexi cotton lake and other places have painting and calligraphy, antiques, bonsai, agricultural products and other activities. Puning Hongyang set social day is the eighteenth day of the first month, the day of marriage of the daughter are back to see her family, so called "go boy will". Jiexi cotton lake is called pendulum antique, pendulum King.
Jiedong's new Heng Sai big pig, Sai sweet kuey teow, some towns and villages have climbed Huangqi Mountain custom.
20. Characteristic customs
such as different square animal dances around the world, there are lion dance, dragon dance, fire dragon dance, lobster dance, double-bite goose dance, unicorn parrot fish dance, etc., and big drums, camping standard, tandem flower basket parade. Pu'ning City, Zhamlong Township, Xidong Village, there is a Lantern Festival jumping fire pier activities, the atmosphere is warm, extremely ornamental and site shock.
Puning Hakka District, such as the new bride to the village side of the bamboo forest under the shake bamboo, while shaking and read: "shake bamboo head, no worries; shake bamboo tail, the end of the year to raise a big turtle (the meaning of the birth of a male child)." And each pick bamboo leaves inserted in the head and so on.
The Lantern Festival, also known as Shangyuan Festival, is a very important traditional festival. On this day in Chaoshan, there are various folk activities with Chaoshan characteristics. This is due to the fact that Taoism believes in the three gods (Heavenly, Earthly and Human), and the 15th day of the first month is the day when the Heavenly officials are in charge, which is called the Shangyuan Festival, to pray for the blessings of the Heavenly officials. Most of the Lantern Festival customary activities in Chaoshan are hanging lanterns, swimming lanterns, lion dance, guessing lantern riddles, eating soup balls, etc. Its main content is in the lanterns, so it is also known as the Lantern Festival, which has the strongest color of amusement, so it is called the Haunted Lantern Festival. [1] The Lantern Festival is infused with the simple emotions of the working people and with its unique artistic flavor, glowing with the unique luster of modern folk art.
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