The custom of folk festivals in China

Dragon Boat Festival is on the second day of the second lunar month, commonly known as "Dragon Boat Festival" or "Spring Dragon Festival". February 2nd in northern China is associated with the third solar term in spring, which adds the content of "raising the dragon's head" and gradually evolves into a festival with the main content of praying for a bumper harvest and expelling pests. Stockpiling and frying scorpions and beans are popular in Yuancheng area.

Playing hoarding is a symbolic granary, also known as playing ash hoarding. Sprinkle some granary-shaped patterns on the courtyard with plant ash (commonly known as ash locally). In the early morning of February 2, before the sun came out, the Han family used a dustpan to hold plant ash, tapped the edge of the dustpan with a wooden stick, and let the ash fall slowly and walk around, which was the grain depot. The seal of the circle should face the gate, indicating that the money will not flow out. Then grab a handful of grain (wheat, cereals, beans, etc. ) and put it on the ground in the center of the shop, covered with bricks or tiles. There are generally three stores, one selling wheat, one selling millet and one selling beans. On the outer edge of the ash bin, a scorpion-shaped pattern is also sprinkled with ash, which symbolizes the high grain storage and indicates a good harvest. There is a local agricultural proverb, "On February 2nd, the dragon looks up, and the big hoard is sharp and the small hoard is flowing".

Eating fried scorpion beans on February 2 is said to prevent being stung by scorpions. Scorpion beans are fried with soybeans. Soak soybeans in sugar water or salt water in advance, take them out and dry them, and fry them with fine sand, either sweet or salty, crispy and delicious. At the same time, mix the sticky rice flour with sugar water, cut it into rhombic pieces, and fry it with scorpion beans. If you have a dragon at home, you are not allowed to fry scorpion beans on February 2, but a few days ago. At the end of 1950s, local soybean planting decreased, and popcorn and rice fragrance increased. Now that life is rich, the custom of hoarding goods is no longer continued, but the custom of eating fried scorpion beans on February 2 is still continuing.

The day before in Tomb-Sweeping Day, Tomb-Sweeping Day, was a cold food, a traditional grand festival to worship ancestors and sweep graves. Folk also known as "Ghost Festival", and July 15th, October 1st, collectively known as "Three Ghosts Festival".

It is a custom to add cold food to the grave in Changshan area. Before the sun comes out in the morning before the cold food, it is advisable to borrow the soil from the north and south, or things from the north and south, and fill the old grave with new soil, which means to repair the house for the ancestors in case of heavy rain in summer. The next afternoon, I went to visit the grave to worship my ancestors. The ancestors are all baked vegetables, including spinach, radish boxes (water radish, carrots), lotus root boxes, salted fish and so on. When the ancestors died, they had to go to the grave on the morning of cold food for the first three years, and then changed to the grave three years later. The new grave will not be filled in for three years. After the 1960s, cremation was carried out, most graves were leveled, and the custom of adding soil gradually died out. Nowadays, the pace of life is fast, and people's sacrifices to graves are simplified. Now some still use baked vegetables, some use jiaozi, and some use biscuits and snacks.

Qingming is a festival for people. This is a good day for an outing. Swings were set up on street corners or yards in the village. There are two kinds of swing, one is driving swing, that is, straight swing; The other is a wandering thousand made of big wheels. Men, women and children, especially women, have fun. Swing high and throw far means a good life and skills. Children are flying kites in the wild. Some kites are shaped like butterflies and frogs, while others are shaped like carp, centipede and figures. In the morning in Tomb-Sweeping Day, every child eats a pair of red eggs, which is said to brighten his eyes.

After the founding of New China, every year in Tomb-Sweeping Day, primary and secondary schools organize students to visit local martyrs' cemeteries or places with graves of martyrs to mourn the revolutionary martyrs and carry out revolutionary traditional education activities. After 1990s, people combined cold food with Tomb-Sweeping Day. Now the custom of adding soil is dying out, and the custom of worshipping ancestors is still continuing. At the same time, Qingming will gradually become a day to improve life and spring outing.

Dragon Boat Festival The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the Dragon Boat Festival. The most common saying is to commemorate Qu Yuan, a great patriotic poet of Chu in the Warring States Period. According to legend, the day when Qu Yuan threw himself into the river was the fifth day of May. On this day, the custom of inserting mugwort leaves, calamus, making zongzi and racing dragon boats is popular all over the country.

The most prosperous thing in Changshan area is inserting mugwort leaves. Inserting a bunch of mugwort leaves outside the door of every household, or sticking mugwort leaves on the eaves of the gatehouse, can avoid evil spirits, disasters and plagues. There is a saying: "If you don't insert wormwood in the Dragon Boat Festival, you will become a big turtle shell when you die." On this day, children's wrists are covered with five-colored flowers, which are called longevity thread and life-tying thread, commonly known as five silk threads. It is said that it can ward off evil spirits and make children live longer. The girl is wearing a sachet. The sachet made of cotton cloth is filled with five kinds of spices, and some of them are also filled with mugwort leaves, which have a fragrance when worn on the body and can drive away epidemics and avoid insects.

Eating zongzi and drinking realgar wine is a unique dietary custom of Dragon Boat Festival. It is steamed with bamboo leaves, reed leaves and lotus leaves. Realgar wine can solve the "five poisons" of snakes and insects. In Changshan area, cinnabar, realgar and wine are mixed together and coated on children's soles and palms to repel insects, avoid drugs and ensure safety.

After the 1960s, the custom of inserting moxa, tying five pieces of silk and tying fragrant cloth bags gradually disappeared, and eating zongzi became the only custom handed down. Due to the improvement of living standards, Zongzi has gradually become one of the folk foods that urban and rural residents love all year round.

The 13th day of the fifth lunar month is the Rain Festival. Folklore is the day when Master Guan sharpened his knife, and some people say it is Master Guan's birthday. The chance of rain on this day is as high as 90%. Even if it doesn't rain, it will be cloudy or cloudy. The folk proverb says, "The drought will not last until May 13." May 13 is designated as the rain festival, which has certain empirical basis. If it rains and the sun is like fire on May 13, it means that there will be a severe drought this year, and a rain prayer ceremony is often held. There are various forms of folk praying for rain, mainly including Guan Gong, Dragon King or Dai. The ceremony of inviting the king to appear is very unique. A small snake was placed in Sichuan cuisine covered with yellow watch paper for the shed. People burn incense and paper, bow down and kowtow, and pray for rain. Some of the kings in Changshan area are King Liu, some are Liu Yong in Qianlong period, and some are Liu Hongxun in Liu Ge who was excluded by treacherous court official Wei Zhongxian in the Ming Dynasty.

The first day of the sixth lunar month is a semi-annual festival. When the wheat harvest was over, new wheat was put into storage. In the old society, there was a custom of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors. Jing Tian's sacrifice is steamed bread wrapped in new flour or jiaozi. There are incense tables in the yard, burning incense and paper, and kowtowing to the north, in order to thank God for blessing and get a bumper harvest. On the first day of June, the ancestor was sacrificed, and the sacrifice was jiaozi of new wheat bread for the ancestors to taste. The local area is also called "Shangxin Maifen".

June 6th is Grace Day. On this day, clothes and books are often taken out to dry to avoid mildew and moths in summer, so June 6 is also called "Clothes Day". There is also a local custom of eating fried noodles. Wash the wheat with clear water in advance, take it out and dry it, fry it in a large iron pot, then grind it into flour and eat it with hot water or cold water and brown sugar, which has a special flavor. Fried noodles can be preserved for a long time. It is said that fried noodles on June 6th can cure diarrhea.

Qiaoqi Festival, commonly known as "China Valentine's Day" or "Qiaoqi Festival" on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, evolved from the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, one of the four major folklore stories in China. There is an ancient custom of women begging for cleverness in Changshan area. On the night of July 7, groups of young girls put on new clothes and gathered in the yard, putting on incense tables and displaying all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables. Whoever puts the thread through the eye of a small needle is a skillful weaver, and the one who wears it quickly is the most skillful, which has the nature of skillful competition. On the third night of Tanabata, the legend is hidden under the grape trellis, and you can hear the whispers of cowherd and weaver girl. On the seventh day of July, there are few magpies on the ground. It is said that they flew to Tianhe one after another to bridge the gap between Weaver Girl and Cowherd.

After the fifties, the custom of begging for cleverness disappeared, leaving only the beautiful myths and legends of the cowherd and the weaver girl.

The Mid-Autumn Festival, called Ghost Festival, is the Mid-Autumn Festival of Taoism and the Orchestral Club of Buddhism.

On this day, the villages around Changshan widely worship ancestors and set up offerings at home. Watermelon is essential in the sacrifice, and other seasonal melons and fruits include grapes, peaches and Mu Zi. Generally, the festivals that invite ancestors to sacrifice at home are New Year's Eve and July 15th. As the saying goes, "invite the old", other festivals are to pay homage to the grave.

In addition to ancestor worship, there is also a sacrifice to Hou Ji. There is a custom of "pulling hemp trees" in Changshan area. When you arrive in Akita, pull out a little millet, millet, millet, millet and so on. , tied with water chestnut into a bundle and put it on the top of the gate. The food chosen is the worst, which means that Hou Ji's father came in and saw that the crops were not growing well, hoping to teach him some tricks of farming. Some choose the best grain, which means telling the founder Hou Ji that there is a bumper harvest this year, and thanking the ancestors for their kindness.

There are also Taoist customs such as paying homage to the lonely soul and fighting the Tao. In the village near Fuxiaohe River in Changshan, river lanterns are used to worship ghosts who have no owners and people who die unexpectedly. The folk custom of offering sacrifices to ghosts and ghosts is unique. In advance, the venerable elders in the village collected paper incense and other things. In the evening, organize a group of people to beat gongs and drums to the mass graves outside the village, and put a lamp bowl (usually dug radish, filled with oil and filled with wick) on the top of each grave to light it. At the same time set off fireworks and burn paper incense. Religious women hold Lent. It is to put incense offerings on the street, burn incense and paper, and pay homage to those wandering souls who have no owners. Some make some steamed buns or cakes and sprinkle them on them. The children rushed to them and caught them. It is said that eating them can eliminate disasters.

Now there is only the folk custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors in the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Mid-Autumn Festival The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month is the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is named after it is just half of Sanqiu. Most families want people to be with the moon on this festival, and women who go home must also go back to their in-laws for the holidays, so it is also called the Reunion Festival.

That night, when the bright moon was in the sky, every household set up a console table in the yard and put on all kinds of fruits (watermelons, pears and dates). Grape, pomegranate, hawthorn, etc. ) and moon cakes, burning incense, Yue Bai is called "Yue Bai" or "full moon". After the sacrifice, feast and enjoy the moon under the moon.

Moon cakes are symbols of Mid-Autumn Festival, and their patterns are becoming more and more diverse. From the skin, there are two main types: crispy skin and marrow extraction. The moon cake with paste is cut with a mold, and there are patterns such as the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon and Jade Rabbit mashing medicine on it. From the stuffing, there are mainly brown sugar, white sugar, rock sugar, jujube paste, red beans, roses and other places. After 1990s, the variety and packaging of moon cakes have become a beautiful scenery of holiday food. In addition to eating moon cakes, they should also be given to relatives and friends. Visit relatives and friends before the festival and send moon cakes. Gifts such as tobacco, alcohol and fruit are very popular. Family visits begin on August 1 day and last until August 14.

Double Ninth Festival is the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. Nine is the number of yang, and the sun and the moon should be combined, which is called Chongyang. The custom of Shandong folk Double Ninth Festival is to eat flower cakes. In the countryside around Changshan, glutinous rice and red dates or mung bean and jujube cakes are often eaten at this time. Gong Fan Temple in Changshan, Liquan Temple in Zouping Temple in Gong Fan, and Fan Zhongyan was sacrificed on the Double Ninth Festival. Since the 1990s, the traditional Double Ninth Festival has been designated as the Festival for the Elderly, which has carried forward the traditional virtues of respecting the elderly of the Chinese nation and given it a brand-new content, which is deeply loved by the general public. Many villages in Changshan began to celebrate the festival for the elderly at the end of last century, giving warm care to the elderly over 60.

Hanyi Festival is one of the three ghost festivals on the first day of October in the lunar calendar. Going to the grave to worship ancestors requires burning cold clothes, so it is commonly known as "Cold Clothes Festival". According to legend, this festival was handed down in memory of Meng Jiangnu Wan Li who sent cold clothes to the Great Wall to cry. On this day, people go to the grave to worship their ancestors, burn paper money and burn warm clothes cut with colored paper in front of the grave. Zouping Changshan area, from this day on, began to store vegetables, and women began to spin cotton-padded clothes. Now that life is good, only this day is the custom of going to the grave to worship the ancestors.

Laba Festival is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, commonly known as Laba. From Laba, the prelude of the New Year began. Every family grinds flour, makes tofu, and kills pigs and sheep. The flavor of the year is getting stronger and stronger.

Drinking Laba porridge on Laba Festival originated from Buddhism. People cooked porridge with adzuki beans and glutinous rice, and later mixed whole grains with red dates and chestnuts. Almonds, walnuts, peanuts, sugar and other raw materials are slowly cooked and simmered. Its porridge is delicious and nutritious, and it is a good food in cold winter.

The old custom of brewing wine vinegar in Changshan area is called Laba wine or Laba vinegar. People soak garlic in vinegar, seal it and take it out at night. Garlic tastes slightly sour and vinegar tastes slightly spicy, which is very delicious. The color is blue-green, so it is called Laba garlic. Nowadays, the custom of drinking Laba porridge and soaking Laba garlic in rural areas is still continuing.

Magnetic stove festival is the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, commonly known as "magnetic stove festival", also known as "Chinese New Year". From this day to the end of New Year's Eve, every household should clean up dust and garbage, wash clothes and bedding utensils, and bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year neatly, so it is also called "dust removal day".

On this day, people generally have the custom of offering sacrifices to the kitchen god. According to Zou Duan's Youyang Miscellany, the kitchen god is surnamed Zhang, and the folk sacrifice in Changshan is Wang. People say that the kitchen god is the "head of the family", in charge of everything in the family and secretly monitoring people's good and evil. Every year on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God reports the good and evil to the Jade Emperor for one year. At first, people offered sacrifices to stoves with only a cup of green tea and a stick of incense. Later, stove sugar was added to offer sacrifices to stoves. Kitchen sugar is a kind of sugar made from barley malt, which is not too sweet, but very sticky, and is called "candied melon". It means to stick to the mouth of the kitchen god and not speak ill of God, so as to "speak well of God and return to the palace for good luck". At the same time, tie it into the shape of a horse, burn it with incense sticks and paper money when offering sacrifices to the stove, and splash water on the ground. Kitchen God can ride a horse to heaven. It can be seen that people bribe the kitchen god and deceive themselves in order to seek happiness and avoid disaster, which is a reflection of the old world. At present, the custom of offering sacrifices to the kitchen god continues in some villages. From this day on, most people start cleaning the courtyard and indoor sanitation, steaming steamed bread, frying vegetables (also called "frying oil"), buying new year's goods and preparing for the New Year.

Spring Festival Spring Festival is also called "crossing the border" and "Chinese New Year". The last day of Laba is called New Year's Eve except the sun. Midnight on New Year's Eve is a watershed for two years. As the saying goes, "One night for two years, five hours for two years."

There are three characteristics of the activities to eliminate the sun: first, it is ringing (setting off firecrackers), second, it is red (sticking Spring Festival couplets), and third, it is fire (lighting a lamp to observe the new year). The Spring Festival is a comprehensive festival to show folk customs. There are not only custom activities such as wedding reception, family reunion, entertainment and social interaction, but also common things to worship Buddha to ward off evil spirits and avoid harm. Posting New Year pictures and blessings in Changshan area. With the development of small-scale peasant economy, folk customs such as hanging door money, stick grilles, lighting candles to keep the old age, offering sacrifices to the ancestors of the gods of heaven and earth, wrapping jiaozi, setting off firecrackers and paying New Year greetings have been handed down.

The content of posting Spring Festival couplets is very rich. Most places where Spring Festival couplets are posted are door money, which is called "Luo Bu Qian Zi" by local customs. This is the changing form of ancient praying custom. Copper coins symbolize wealth. In ancient times, five-color paper was carved into copper coins and hung on the lintel to pray for prosperity in the new year. Nowadays, the money posted in the countryside has become a color paper-cut style that combines blessing for wealth and festive decoration.

In the past, on New Year's Eve, people held ceremonies to invite their ancestors home for the New Year and set off firecrackers to mark the beginning of the New Year. The whole family will sit around the fire, the fire is burning and warm as spring; The light should be on and the foreground is bright. Family members are always talking about the old and the new. They are only allowed to say auspicious words and avoid unlucky words. In the middle of the night, all kinds of gods, such as heaven and earth, only come to earth to enjoy the sacrifices of lovers. Only heaven and earth, kitchen god, god of wealth, door god, well god and so on. Eat jiaozi (also called Yuanbao) in the middle of the night and set off firecrackers. Jiaozi has to cook more, which is definitely more than enough. Jiaozi cooked, first respect heaven and earth, then respect the kitchen god, and then respect the god of wealth. Jiaozi, each person has a bowl. How many bowls are there at home? Even those who don't go home should have a pair of chopsticks and a bowl of jiaozi at home. Jiaozi is usually vegetarian, which means "plain and quiet". Some wrapped copper coins, sugar, dates, chestnuts, peanuts, etc. In jiaozi. Whoever eats them means good luck for a year. Most families born in 1980s sit together on New Year's Eve, including jiaozi and watching CCTV Spring Festival Gala, which has become a spiritual feast for people.

The custom of paying New Year greetings is very grand. The order is from inside to outside, from near to far. First of all, family worship. In a family, the younger generation pays New Year greetings to the elders and the peers pay New Year greetings to each other. Elders should give their children lucky money to keep them safe. According to age, you can press special (homophonic), which means to suppress evil. After the family sacrifice is over, the family sacrifice will be given to the elders who have never had five clothes, and then to the elders who have had five clothes. New Year greetings can promote people to deepen their feelings, eliminate barriers and adjust interpersonal relationships. In the past, you had to kowtow when you paid a New Year call. The first place to kowtow is to set up a table in the yard, with mats in front of it. If you enter a room, kowtow in the middle, don't kowtow to others. Later, New Year greetings generally stopped kowtowing and exchanged greetings and congratulations.

I have been visiting relatives and friends since the second day of junior high school. On the second day of the second lunar month, if you have an uncle, visit him first in the morning, and then visit your uncle's house with your daughter-in-law and children. Since the third grade, aunts, cousins, classmates and comrades-in-arms. Before 1950s, the gifts were steamed food such as steamed bread, rice cakes and rice noodles. In the sixties and seventies, it became a biscuit; In 1980s, it became wine, canned food, tea, cigarettes and snacks. After the 1990s, wine discussion boxes, cigarette discussion boxes, tea discussion boxes, and all kinds of cakes and foods are more upscale and beautifully packaged. The lucky money has also increased from a few cents to a few dollars in 50 yuan, 100 and 200 yuan. With the improvement of living conditions, the level, form and value of reciprocity are changing.

China New Year begins on New Year's Eve and ends at noon or evening. The seventh day is People's Day, and I hope to live in Kangning. The eighth day of August is a valley day, symbolizing "bumper harvests". It is said that the fifth day is the birthday of the god of wealth, and businessmen set off firecrackers to worship the god of wealth. In the past, merchants paid special attention to the sacrifice on the fifth day and wanted to eat jiaozi, which was a symbol of the gold ingot. When you buy jiaozi, you should break off a few specially to show that you have earned it, which is a kind of good luck. Now, most shops and factories set off firecrackers and open their doors on the sixth or eighth day.

Lantern Festival The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival, also known as Shangyuan Festival. There is a folk custom of hanging lanterns, so the Lantern Festival is also called the Lantern Festival. People put folk riddles on blue gauze lanterns and let people guess the bottom of the riddles to play games. This is the beginning of lantern riddles.

People in the south call it "jiaozi" and "Tangyuan" for the Lantern Festival. It means family reunion, peace, good luck and happiness. On the fifteenth night, farmers put on lanterns and put out flowers at night, and the flowers put out by children are called "Seven Flowers". Hanging lanterns on the Lantern Festival, solve riddles on the lanterns, eating Yuanxiao and performing arts have become the climax of common folk customs and Spring Festival activities. Therefore, it is also called "Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month". Now that life is rich, the village organizes "tricks" to enrich people's lives and add a happy atmosphere to festivals. There are cloud lanterns, stilts, boating, playing with lions, bullfighting with tigers and other traditional programs. From the tenth day of the first month, the village gongs and drums team and the literary and art team began to rehearse, and they began to perform in the village on the thirteenth day of the first month and ended on the fifteenth day of the first month. This activity has inspired rural culture and is a major event in rural areas.

These are the customs of the Lunar New Year Festival in China, our hometown. Many of them are still circulating and continuing, and some of them have disappeared. I hope that with the improvement of people's living standards, people's spiritual and cultural needs are also increasing, and these folk customs will also add more and richer content.