What was the date selection and groundbreaking when building houses in ancient times?

It may take decades for ordinary people to build houses, which really concerns future generations. Compared with site selection, many areas pay more attention to the groundbreaking ceremony. According to folk custom, people should first choose "auspicious day" before breaking ground.

There are many ways to choose dates in ancient times. Sometimes according to the owner's date of birth, choose a date and hour that is beneficial to him. Sometimes, you can choose an auspicious day by looking up "Shu Tong". Sometimes the time to break ground is chosen according to single and double days. For example, Dai people generally choose the days of rabbit, mouse, monkey or horse, and these days must be two days, such as Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, August and October. But no matter what method is adopted, people's purpose is the same, that is, they hope to break ground on a good day and get a smooth, permanent and auspicious result.

The groundbreaking ceremony is usually grand. First of all, sacrifice to the land god. Generally, it is necessary to kill a rooster and beat the foundation with blood, and set off firecrackers when breaking ground. When the foundation laying ceremony is held, it is forbidden to say unlucky words such as "down" and "collapse".

After the ceremony, the host will treat you to a glass of "groundbreaking wine". If a big house is to be built, the host family should invite someone to preside over the foundation laying ceremony and bury the "Earth and Gas Aquarius" in the four corners of the house. Aquarius is red and contains five kinds of grain, such as highland barley and wheat, as well as five-color silks and satins. Rich people should also put some precious stones in it. The purpose of people doing this is naturally to pray for the permanent foundation of the house.

Before the construction, the "ruler in the palm" used a compass or compass to determine the direction of due south and due north, and then burned paper at the four corners of the homestead to worship the house god, set off firecrackers and posted a "good luck" cross.

He who digs the first shovel must be in harmony with the sky. If there is no suitable person at home, please invite a boy with both parents, rich family and good facial features to dig the first shovel, and then the family symbolically digs at the four corners of the foundation of the house.