"Lapa congee" and "lead the sacrifice": the Manchu people also had Xiba Festival (the eighth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar). Legend has it that, in the early years of the Bu Manchu patriarch, with the power to bully people, year-round door-to-door Lun Liu want to eat and drink, the Manchu people dared not speak out in anger. In the past, the eighth day of the month, a farmer called Utsinla came up with a good note, with glutinous rice, brown sugar and dozens of dried fruits cooked into a kind of gruel, please go to eat the patriarch, the patriarch took a look at the angry: "What is this thing ah, slimy!" Wu Zinla told the patriarch that this is called "Laha congee", the patriarch listened to this very unpleasant porridge name, angry away, and then no longer to the family to eat and drink. Manchu descendants in honor of the U Jinla, every year on the eighth day of the eighth month of the year to cook "Lahai congee" to drink. In the past, the Manchu people Lahai Festival not only homemade "Lahai congee", but also to send each other "Lahai congee", in order to strengthen the unity between relatives and neighbors.
After the 15th day of the Lunar New Year, the Manchu people should choose any day to kill the pig, sacrificing ancestors, the grandfather and the ancestors of this branch. The pig shall not have white hair, the pig bundled up and carried to the ancestors before offering, before killing the wine poured into the ears of the pig, if the ears move for the "lead animal", such as not moving, the need to pray, until the moving party can be killed. After killing, the first pig will be chopped into eight pieces, placed in front of the ancestral tablets, burning Dazi incense, the whole family kowtow. After the ceremony, you can eat meat. When eating the first meat, the whole family should sit around the pot, without using the table.
Sacrifice ancestors and eat New Year's dinner: the twenty-ninth day of the Lunar New Year, the Manchu family home to stick windowpane, hanging paper, couplets and large "Fu" word. In the past, the Manchu people in the past on the hanging paper is very careful, the family is what color flag people on what color hanging what paper, ancestors originally from Changbai Mountain several ditch on the top of the ancestral plate on the top of a few hanging paper. Lunar New Year's Eve 30 this day, every family should erect a five or six meters high "Solo pole" (also known as the God pole), the top of the pole to hang a square tin liter, liter of pig's entrails for crows, magpies to eat. Legend has it that this pole is the Qing Emperor Nurhachu ginseng digging with the rope dial stick. It is also rumored that the Ming Li Chengliang harm Nurhachu, Nurhachu Meng Li Mrs. rescue, riding to escape, on the way to horse hoof fall to the bottom of the cliff, a group of crows, magpies fell on him to protect him, the pursuers thought that he had fallen to his death, they turned around and went. Nurhachu escaped into the mountains, to dig the ginseng proceeds of the purchase of weapons, food and supplies, rose to unify the northeast. Later generations to commemorate the crows, magpies to save their ancestors, in the Spring Festival erected "Solo pole".
New Year's Eve, the Manchu people have to worship their ancestors. Ancestor worship first in front of the ancestral board in the main hall of the home for homemade rice wine 13, homemade cream snacks 13 dishes, the board affixed to the new hanging sign (Manchu). The same offerings are also made in front of the "Solo Pole" in the southeast corner of the courtyard. Then, the eldest member of the family officiates at the ceremony and leads the whole family in bowing. Afterwards, offerings are made to the ancestors, including rice, vegetables, wine, dried fruits and snacks.
After the ancestor worship is completed, the whole family goes to the house of the highest-ranking parent to perform the New Year's salute. After the ceremony, the whole family will sit in the sequence and eat the New Year's dinner. Generally speaking, on New Year's Eve the Manchu people will eat dumplings. The dumplings should be placed in rows horizontally and vertically, which means that the coming year will be prosperous. When the dumplings are boiled, the bottom of the pot should be burned with "apricot stick" firewood, because "apricot" and "Xing" are homophonic. When the dumplings rise from the boiling pot, the person cooking the dumplings yells, "The day is coming, the day is coming!" The whole family must follow, shouting, "Up! Up!" After eating the dumplings, some people even have their children jump a few times in the high places of the house to signify that the family's day has jumped high. Some people also wrap copper coins or other things in the dumplings to measure the luck of the year, thus adding to the festive atmosphere.
Light Festival and "strainer aunt": Manchu New Year's Eve, from New Year's Eve to the first month of the fifteenth, lit "Solo pole" on the roof and under the eaves of the lanterns, they will not stop all night to show that the red lights shine high. If the lanterns go out, it means bad luck. Some people will even light to the second day of February. The Lantern Festival of the Manchu people is also known as the Lantern Festival. On this day, every family should hang all kinds of colored lanterns and hold lantern festivals. In the countryside, this night some people have to "check the month": buckwheat noodles made of 12 small lamp bowl, the bowl side marked on the month, put a soybean in each bowl, and then placed in a pot of steam, the bowl of soybean swelling means that month of waterlogging, soybean grain is small is a drought, not too big not too small for the wind and rain.
The Festival of Lights is also a festival for young Manchu women. On this day, "Gege" (girls) dressed up to play "strainer aunt". They paste pink lotus paper on the strainer and paint it as a beautiful beauty, then tie the chopsticks and the strainer into the character of "ten", with the vertical one (the strainer handle) as the body and the horizontal one (the chopsticks) as the hands, and then they put on the beautiful clothes made of colorful paper for the "Strainer Aunt" to make the "Strainer Aunt" look beautiful and beautiful. Then, the "Strainer Aunt" is dressed in beautiful colorful paper clothes and dances happily on the table. Afterwards, the onlookers can ask the "Strainer Aunt" anything, nodding their heads in the affirmative and shaking their heads in the negative. The "Strainer Aunt" nods her head when she is sure, and shakes her head when she is not.