The custom of lighting a lamp for boys.

The custom of lighting a lamp for boys.

In our traditional culture, there are many festivals and customs handed down for a long time, and different regions will have different ways to celebrate them. Let's learn about the custom of lighting up boys.

The origin of boys' lighting custom 1 [lighting]

In Hakka dialect, "Deng" is a homonym of the dialect "Ding", and it is also a symbol of light, hope, igniting a prairie fire and endless life. Hakka people came all the way from the land where they lived in the Central Plains, and finally settled at the intersection of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi. Their unique life experiences have enabled Hakkas to form national unity, meet the survival needs of defending the enemy, and have produced the tradition of respecting ancestors and celebrating the "Heavenly Ding" with lanterns.

"Turn on the light" is Gardin.

In 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 "Saint" and the older one is called "Saint". For various reasons, such a ceremony was not held. 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, having a boy) must hang a new lantern (harmonious "Ding Xin") in the upper hall of the ancestral hall. The earliest "lighting" date 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. "Lighting a lamp" means reporting to 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 honor ancestors and 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, which evolved in Hakka areas. After they put on lanterns, they have to "warm the lanterns" in the middle (it is an activity in the process of "putting on lanterns" and cannot be called "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 "lighting"

On the Lantern Festival next year, Hakkas who gave birth to their sons will put lights on their ancestral halls, that is, hang a beautiful lantern, and then invite the dignified old people in the village to hug the boy and formally write his name on the genealogy. The boy will officially become a member of this family, and then put down a banquet to entertain the men in the village to drink. With the progress of social civilization, many daughters are playing with lights now, and their daughters have entered the family tree.

The custom of Hakka lighting has a long history, some hundreds of years, some thousands of years. Now this custom has become more colorful, which deeply embodies the excellent cultural heritage consciousness of Hakka people.

The custom of giving birth to boys to light lamps is on the tenth day of the second lunar month. It's so lively to hang a lamp. China folk customs envy others.

On the 10th day of the first month, Lantern Festival is celebrated in many places in Guangdong and Guangxi. Lantern Festival is a traditional folk custom in China. Every year around the Lantern Festival in the first month, families with boys in the clan hang a new lantern in front of the ancestral hall and memorial tablet to convey the good news that the ancestors have added new people, which is also called "hanging lanterns", so the Lantern Festival is also called "hanging lantern festival". In Shunde, Guangdong, Cenxi, Rongxian, tengxian, Beiliu, Xingye and many other places in Guangxi have retained this tradition.

Generally, the Lantern Festival lasts five days and is divided into three steps. Lantern Festival starts from the first day of the first month 10: 00, and lights are warmed up from the tenth day of the first month to the sixteenth day of the first month, and lights are turned off on the sixteenth day of the first month. In some areas, lights are turned on on the ninth or eleventh or twelfth or thirteenth day of the first month, and lights are turned off on the fifteenth or sixteenth day of the first month. In Shunde, Guangdong, Cenxi, Rongxian, tengxian, Beiliu, Xingye and many other places in Guangxi have preserved this traditional festival.

According to records, if the newborn is a boy (Tianding), after the full moon, on the tenth day of the first lunar month of the following year, lanterns will be hung to celebrate (homophonic "adding lanterns"), commonly known as "hanging lanterns" or "putting lanterns", which means that Tianding will make a fortune. At 0: 00 on the tenth day, colorful paper lanterns were hung in the light shed on the beam of the hall (Taigong, ancestral hall). On this day, relatives and friends came with gifts to congratulate them, and the host family gave a banquet, which meant to invite lights and wine.

The 10th day of the first month is the annual Lantern Festival in Shatou Old Street, Cangwu, Wuzhou. This is a local custom that has been followed for many years. Different from other places where Tianding households hang lanterns, the lanterns in Shatou Old Street are raised by Tianding households, and the banquet is held at Deng Ge's home.

On the tenth day of the first month, only lanterns are hung and only some offerings are given. Banquets and dinners will be held on the 16th day of the first lunar month, and there will be a parade of gold, silver and pigs on that day, which will be more lively.

The first baby boy born every year is naturally regarded as a "lampholder brother". By the end of the year, that family will be responsible for convening all Tianding households to hold a meeting to raise funds and discuss the specific matters of praying for the children's birthday. Of course, the banquet will be held at Brother Deng's house.

The first born child, such as "the king came to this world", is particularly clever, which means that the child born that year will live a happy life in the future. Every year, Tianding Lake is as happy as winning the "No.1 scholar"!

Hanging Yuanxiao, it was raining in the sky, and 25 families in Shatou Old Street collectively dispatched. This year, it is Chen Dengtou. The lantern hanging team carried three sacrificial wine ceremonies, danced lions with gongs and drums, walked through the streets and alleys, and collectively went to the Tianhou Palace to worship Mazu, hanging lanterns high on the beams of the main hall of Tianhou Palace, praying for children to be smart and grow up quickly, and praying for Mazu to be blessed by their ancestors.

This is called "Geshixiang" and is used to hold offerings. This is a treasure handed down from our ancestors. The niche made of hardwood, carved with exquisite patterns and inspiring poems on all sides, is very heavy to lift. Later, it was modified with stainless steel, which lost a lot of ancient flavor.

Compared with previous years, this year's Old Street Lantern Festival is a bit deserted. The parade lacked the dragon dance, the traditional "eight tones" and the crisp seven-star drum. Because of life, some "rich women" in the dragon dance team went to Guangdong to work in advance.

On New Year's Day, lanterns were hung on the 10th and sixteen round lanterns were hung. On the day of parades and celebrations around the streets and lanes, gongs and drums are sonorous, firecrackers are ringing, lions and dragons are danced, and the sulfur smell emitted by firecrackers goes straight to people's nostrils, driving away wind and evil spirits, and the dark crowd blows each other. This is a great event in the old society.

After the Sixteenth Lantern Festival celebration, Tianding's parents took their children to take a group photo in the "Niangniang Temple" as a souvenir, fixed the happy moment and looked at their tender faces and tender babies. A sense of responsibility and yearning arises spontaneously …

When the lights are on, there will be a round (down) light, and the sixteenth day of the first month is the round (down) light day. Relatives and friends who didn't drink on the tenth day of the first month should make up on the sixteenth day.

Lighting custom for boys 3 Introduction of lighting custom in Zhanjiang in the first month. Why light the 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 the gods in the village to worship at home. In the sacrificial ceremony, there will be Taoist priests wearing Taoist robes and crowns, "talking to the court" with their hands, and reciting Taoist scriptures in front of the gods as a "ceremony". Every year during the Spring Festival, different villages set different "lighting" auspicious days because of different "village customs".

In some places in Zhanjiang, "lighting" can only be done by boys. Every year, the first boy born in the village is called the "lamp holder", and the first lamp is lit by him. Those born after the "lampstand" are called "lampstands", and the "lampstands" draw lots in turn.

The "lampstand" born every year must complete the "lighting" ceremony in the Spring Festival next year, which cannot be postponed to the next year, while the "lamp 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, and some villagers have customized cakes to worship together, which means that cakes are rising step by step! In some villages, "women" can be ordered, but only "men" can be ordered, because men are "gentlemen".

On the second day after the "little lantern" is lit, the "lampstand" will be treated with colorful flags, gongs and drums, musical instruments and lions, and 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 people next year will wait for the "lampstand" to hang 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 "lampstand" (commonly known as the "pot-bellied lantern", which is much bigger than the lanterns of the "lantern boy"), thus ending the "lighting" activities of that year.