"The Customs of Wuchuan" Composition

Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, Wuchuan County always followed the feudal marriage system. In the twenty-ninth year of the Republic of China (1940), "Wuchuan County Records" recorded: "Folk marriage is a way of buying and selling, all of which are based on marriage and parents get married. For children, only parents do what the matchmaker does, and men can accept it, but women have no choice. Ordinary men and women are engaged at the age of thirteen or fourteen. Many seven-or eight-year-old daughters from poor families are child brides. The method of engagement is to combine the life order of men and women, write a book on the wedding sticker, exchange matchmakers, commonly known as' changing posts', and choose an auspicious day to hold a changing post ceremony. At that time, the bride price and bride price objects were sent by the man's family. The rich are lighter and the poor are more important. The use of bride price ranges from one to two hundred yuan. " "Wedding ceremony, still the same as the old system, for horses and chariots. After worshipping the heavens and the earth, they salute relatives and friends from far and near in turn and say' worship others'. Rosty Yi, the bride and groom, visited their parents together, saying "Go back". At this point, the wedding ceremony came to an end. "

After the founding of New China, the publicity and popularization of the new marriage law broke the feudal marriage shackles that had bound women for thousands of years. Women's body and mind were liberated and men and women began to fall in love freely. Before marriage, men and women have time to get to know each other and get to know each other. The wedding is also greatly simplified.

In the sixties and seventies, women usually brought three big pieces when they got married, namely bicycles, watches and sewing machines, and free lovers were no exception.

In the 1980s, there was an upsurge of traveling and getting married. Going to Beijing far away and Hohhot near is called "visiting Beijing" or "visiting". Therefore, in addition to the bride price and clothes, there were also "visiting Beijing" or "visiting" money, which ranged from 300 to 500 yuan at that time. Most urban cadres and workers are married in a civilized way. At the same time, the woman needs to buy a tape recorder, washing machine, color TV and multi-purpose furniture to get married; Married women in rural areas demanded bride price from their husbands, ranging from five or six hundred yuan to more than one thousand yuan at that time. The furniture gradually conforms to the town.

Nowadays, in marriage, parents are more democratic, children are more free, and both men and women are voluntary. However, with the development of economy, whether in urban or rural areas, having a house, a car or a bride price is provided to those who can afford it. Some poor people buy women from Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan, so many people escape marriage or cheat marriage, resulting in more single-parent families.

festival

Slaughter pigs and sheep before the Spring Festival, press vermicelli, steam cakes, stuffed radish, barbecue, purchase dried and fresh fruits and seasonal vegetables. On New Year's Eve, families get together and stay awake. People call it "Enduring the Year" by setting off firecrackers, wrapping up jiaozi, decorating lanterns and celebrating jubilantly. In recent years, at the turn of the Lunar New Year's Eve in the early morning of the first day, every household lit a "flourishing fire", firecrackers and fireworks were set off everywhere, and the whole family ate jiaozi and turned over cakes to show the happiness and good luck of the League members. Farmers also put coins in jiaozi, which indicates a good year if family members have food. On the first day of the first month, relatives pay New Year greetings to each other, friends visit and congratulate them, and entertain guests with delicious food. It lasted until the fifth day. People usually call it "celebrating the New Year".

Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the first lunar month, is a grand festival, commonly known as the 15th. The most common activities in the county are from 13 to 16. Yangko, stilts, boat lanterns and lion dances are the main performing teams, playing different opera roles, taking the fire point as the activity point and walking the streets, while in rural areas, they walk the streets, singing and dancing, and praying for disaster relief. At the same time, the troupe performed a duet for the masses. Miaogou, Dongtucheng, Halaheshao and other places in Wuchuan once produced five lines of gossip's Nine-Qu Lantern, but Zhen Zhen began to set up lanterns and riddles in the 1970s, until now.

Spring Festival The second day of the second lunar month is the Spring Festival, which China residents call "the dragon looks up". On this day, farmers get up at dawn, put coins in buckets, draw water from the village well, sprinkle it when they go home, and pour the remaining water and coins into Weng's house, which is called "lucky dragon". Legend has it that this can bring dragons into the house and make a fortune. This reflects the farmers' good wishes of praying for rain and avoiding disasters and looking forward to good weather. At the same time, farmers have to eat "every other year cakes" (matching cakes) and have their hair cut and shaved. Eating "supporting cakes" means that you won't have backache all year round, you can be competent for heavy physical labor, you want to keep fit and prepare for spring. Adults and children are called "shaving faucets".

In Tomb-Sweeping Day, every family will hold grave sweeping activities. Farmers interview children in the shape of insects, fish, birds and other animals, commonly known as "Han Yaner", as gifts to relatives and friends and entertainment for children. Some farmers also cut colored cloth into finger-sized garden blocks, strung them together to make a "Qingming string" with blue sky and white ground, and adorning them on children's clothes, which can dispel diseases and evil spirits, and lead a long and healthy life.

Dragon Boat Festival, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, is to commemorate Qu Yuan, commonly known as "Dragon Boat Festival". Every household makes cold cakes and zongzi. In the past, farmers also planted wormwood in front of their homes, and women used wormwood to boil water for bathing. Some also use colored paper to cut out "five poisonous symbols" such as snakes, scorpions, tigers, chickens and dragonflies and stick them on doors, and make five-color silk ropes to tie around children's wrists, ankles and necks to eliminate filth, avoid poison and prevent evil spirits.

Ghost Festival The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is Ghost Festival, commonly known as "July 15th". On this day, all families go to ancestral graves to pay homage to their ancestors to show filial piety. You can move in and fill the grave. Farmers also steamed dough figurines in the shape of arhats and girls with white flour, similar to the "cold swallow" in Tomb-Sweeping Day, for children to enjoy and eat.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. At this time, the autumn harvest is drawing to a close, and the harvest of one year has achieved results. The masses used the Mid-Autumn Festival for family reunion to celebrate the harvest. Every family made moon cakes with oil, sugar and flour, and specially branded a big moon cake with the designs of Chang 'e and Jade Rabbit on it, called "Moon God". When the moon comes out, it is displayed in the yard with melons and fruits to worship the moon and watch the moon scene. In this crisp autumn, full moon night, family reunion, holding a glass of wine to talk about mulberry and hemp, talking and laughing in the moonlight night, quite poetic.

Laba Festival is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, commonly known as Laba Festival. On this day, farmers get up at dawn and cook porridge with yellow rice, peas, millet, red dates and sugar (or add beans, mung beans, glutinous rice, etc.). ). Some farmers carved ice cubes into "Laba people" on the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month and stood on the dunghill. Before eating porridge, they sprinkled a little porridge soup on the heads of Laba people, indicating that the grain was abundant and auspicious. In addition, the "Laba Festival" also has the custom of pickling Laba garlic.

The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is the day of offering sacrifices to stoves. In the past, it was an important event for the people of China to send the Kitchen God. For thousands of years, people have always regarded him as the god of housekeeping. According to legend, on the 23rd, Kitchen God will report the people's feelings to the Jade Emperor. People hope that Kitchen God will "speak well in heaven and return to the palace for good luck", but they are worried that his nonsense will bring disaster, so they offer cakes, sweets and incense to him on this day to avoid speaking ill. At the same time, fill the water tanks in their homes, ready to let the kitchen god "drink horses", commonly known as "drinking horses". It embodies the good wishes of the working people for adequate food and clothing in the coming year.

December 24th of the lunar calendar is called "New Year's Eve". From now until New Year's Eve, every family should clean, paint and decorate their houses to make them look brand-new. At the same time, all kinds of food, such as snacks, fried cakes, fried dough sticks, fried chicken, steamed stuffed bun, vermicelli, barbecue strips, meatballs and so on. , are ready to eat in the first month.

Snake festival is the "snake festival" on the tenth day of the first month. On this day, people in Wuchuan will eat oat noodles. On this day, when farmers steam oat noodles, they will pinch out the shape of a dragon with oat noodles, and twelve water storage nests will be squeezed out in turn, representing twelve months. Then put it in a cage and steam it. After lifting the cage, you can judge which month it rains, which month it doesn't rain, which month it rains more and which month it rains less by observing the twelve water storage nests on the dragon's back. According to the monthly rainfall, farmers provide reference for planting crops in spring. Nowadays, most people in Wuchuan eat oatmeal on this day, but the custom of "steaming dragons to watch the rain" is rare in this city.

Among the traditional festivals left over from the past, there are "Greeting the Western Gods" on the first day of the first lunar month, "Seeing off the poor wife" on the fifth day of the first lunar month, and "Visiting the Eight Immortals" on the eighth day of the first lunar month. On the thirteenth day of the first month, various diseases; On the twentieth day of the first month, there are small positions; On the 25 th day of the first month, there is an old position; On April 28, there was a grandmother temple fair; On May 13th, there was an outing. On July 7, there is a double star festival; On October 1 ST, there is ancestor worship; On 1 February1day, there was a ghost bean bite.