What do you mean by lighting a lamp?

What do Cantonese people mean by lighting a lamp?

What do Cantonese people mean by lighting a lamp? Many cities in China have their own different customs. In many places, there may be a custom of lighting lanterns during the New Year, but opinions and emphasis in different places are different. So what does it mean for Cantonese people to light up?

What do Cantonese people mean by lighting a lamp? 1 Introduction of lighting custom in Zhanjiang in the first month: Why do you want to light a lamp?

In Longtou Town, Zhanjiang, lighting lanterns in the first month is a custom with a history of more than 500 years.

"Lighting a lamp" means carrying a village idol to worship at home. During the worship ceremony, Taoist priests will wear Taoist robes and crowns, "talk to the court" with their hands, recite Taoist scriptures and perform "ceremonies" in front of the gods. During the Spring Festival every year, different villages will set different "lighting" auspicious days because of different "village customs".

In some places in Zhanjiang, "lighting" can only be lit by boys. Every year, the first boy born in the village is called the "lantern man", and it is he who lights the first lamp. People born after the "lampstand" are called "lampstands", and the "lampstands" draw lots to take turns.

The "lantern bearer" born every year must complete the "lighting ceremony" in the Spring Festival next year, which cannot be postponed to the next year, while the "lantern boy" can. "Lighting a lamp" is found in every village in Longtou Town, and the sacrifices are roughly the same. The difference is that people's living standards are better now.

Some villagers also customized cakes to worship together, which means that the cake (height) is rising step by step! In some villages, "women" can also be lit, but only when "men" are lit, because men are "gentlemen".

On the second day after the "Little Lantern" is lit, the "light stand" will be treated with colorful flags, gongs and drums, musical instruments and lions, and will be escorted to the land temple (also known as the ruins temple) in the village to be hung high. It is said that whoever wants to add a man next year will wait for the "lamp rack" to hang up in the land temple and grab the "lamp egg" hanging under the lantern.

On the second day of the Lantern Festival (that is, the 16th day of the first month), all the lanterns in the village will gather in front of the Earth Temple and burn together with the lanterns of the lantern bearer (commonly known as the "pot-bellied lantern" is much bigger than the lanterns of the lantern bearer), thus ending the "lighting" activity that year.

What do Cantonese people mean by lighting a lamp? 2. The origin of "lighting"

In Hakka dialect, "Deng" is a homonym of the dialect "Ding", and it is also a symbol of light, hope, starting a prairie fire and endless life. Hakkas came all the way from their ancestral home in the Central Plains, and finally settled at the intersection of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi. The unique life experience makes the Hakka people form the survival needs of national unity and common defense against the enemy, and produces the tradition of worshipping their ancestors and celebrating the "Heavenly Ding" with "lanterns".

"Turn on the light" means Gardin.

In the Hakka clan society, every boy has to hold a "lighting ceremony" all his life. People who put lanterns are of all ages. The boy who just gave birth to a child is called Sheng Ding Xin, while the older boy is called Sheng Mrding. For various reasons, they didn't hold such a ceremony. Therefore, the "Lantern Festival" is actually a celebration held by all ethnic groups for the newborn boys of that year.

It's time to "light up"

Every year, anyone named "Tianding" (that is, giving birth to a boy) must hang a new lantern (harmonious "Ding Xin") in the upper hall of the ancestral temple. The earliest date of "lighting" is the ninth day of the first month, and the latest is the nineteenth day of the first month, but most of them are around the fifteenth day of the first month. "Turn off the light" means to report to the ancestors that a new person has been added to a family.

The form of "lighting"

When "putting out lanterns", we should hold "three sacrifices", drink alcohol to worship the gods of heaven and earth, and also hold "putting out lanterns and wine" to invite relatives and friends to reunite and congratulate. This custom is more complicated in Hakka area.

Besides, it has evolved. After the "Lantern Festival", there will be a "warm lantern" in the middle (it is an activity in the process of "Lantern Festival" and cannot be said to be a "warm lantern festival"). Finally, it is "respecting ancestors and thanking heaven and earth", which is very grand and warm, with the atmosphere of "one family adds more talents and the whole village celebrates".

The change of the custom of "turning on the light"

On the Lantern Festival next year, the Hakkas who gave birth to their son will put lights on their ancestral hall, that is, hang a beautiful lantern, and then invite the dignified old people in the village to hug the boy.

His name was officially written into the family tree, and the boy officially became a member of this family. After that, a banquet was held to entertain the men in the village to drink. With the progress of social civilization, many daughters now play with lanterns and their daughters have entered the family tree.

The custom of lighting lamps in Hakka area has a long history, some for hundreds of years, some for thousands of years. This custom has become more colorful now, which profoundly reflects the Hakka people's awareness of excellent cultural inheritance.

What do Cantonese people mean by lighting a lamp? In Cantonese, "Ding" and "Deng" are homonyms, and adding a lamp means adding Ding. In some places in Guangdong, families with Tian Men will use "lanterns" to celebrate Tian Men's happiness, celebrate successors and pray for family prosperity. The whole process is divided into three steps: lighting, turning on the lights and turning off the lights.

When a boy is born at home, the elders will go to the paper shop to order paper lanterns. On the first day of the first month, these paper lanterns are hung at home, in our ancestral hall and in our village temple. Grandpa will light them. The paper lamp is octagonal, painted and pasted on the outside, with a small dish full of oil hanging inside to light up and shine, and several small paper bags hanging below, which contain red dates, peanuts, oranges, arrows and other beautiful items.

When hung in the ancestral hall, the boy's date of birth and name should also be entered into the genealogy. Then there is the lantern festival. From the second day of the first month to the fifteenth day of the first month, the host family decided on a specific day and invited relatives and friends to drink lanterns and wine. There is also a village or a family to spend the Lantern Festival together. "Turning off lanterns" means taking all lanterns to the sky (that is, burning them) on the fifteenth day of the first month, and then praying to the sky.

One of the highlights is the opening ceremony. "Drinking Lantern Wine" is one of the indispensable Spring Festival activities in some places in Guangdong, and it is called "Welcoming Lantern". Relatives and friends will give "Deng Zi" a birthday bag or a "red robe" (red clothes), and the host will also give back a gift.

"Lamp wine" is usually placed in the ancestral temple or restaurant in the village. As a food-oriented country, China will celebrate any happy event with six words after the ceremony: "Eat well and drink well."

There are nine kinds of traditional lamps and wines, which means a long time. The dishes are also very particular. Each of these nine dishes contains a beautiful blessing. For example, stewed pork hands are called brothers and sisters, and lotus seed soup is called lotus peanuts. How many dishes to choose mainly depends on the wishes of the host family. But no matter what dish you choose, there will definitely be a mushroom. Bud mushroom is also called seed mushroom, which means male in Cantonese.

In the first month, tourists often see the sign of "every household is decorated with lights" in some restaurants in Guangdong. After listening to the local explanation, I can't help asking, what if it's a daughter? A friend of the author replied with a wry smile at that time: then nothing needs to be done. My mother gave birth to our three sisters.

My parents finally adopted a son from Guangxi. He treats my parents badly, but he still owns everything in the family, and he owns all the dividends in the village. My friend then told us that the old man in their village said that he had added a man to his family in the old society, and there was no lantern banquet, which meant that he did not recognize his nationality, was not recognized as a member of his family, and the ancestral hall would not give him pork.

After all, it is son preference! Haven't you heard that in the rural areas around Jiangsu and Zhejiang, as early as ten years ago, daughters went on the genealogy like their sons? My friend is in his thirties. According to her age, it should have happened more than 30 years ago. This kind of thing should not happen now. However, the feast of turning on the lights is still often seen in the first month of each year.