What are the customs of capping beams?

According to relevant historical records, as a kind of etiquette, building beams began in the Tang and Song Dynasties and spread all over the country in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. After the house is built and the ground is broken, the foundation is laid first, and then the columns and walls are erected. When the specified height is reached, the beams will be erected one by one from the eaves according to the gables and columns. When the beam is erected to the highest position, that is, the roof position, that beam is the girder, that is, the "main beam", or the beam and purlin, which has always been regarded as the beam of the town house and is paid more attention to.

It is believed that the smoothness of the upper beam is not only related to the firmness of the building structure, but also to the prosperity of the residents in the future. As the saying goes, "there are beams on the roof, food at home, no beams on the roof, and six animals are not prosperous." It can be seen that the beam is important in people's minds, so a grand ceremony should be held every time the beam is released.

Although the customs vary from place to place, the ceremony of releasing the beam is very grand, and the whole process can be divided into several procedures, such as offering the beam, releasing the beam, collecting the bag, throwing the beam and waiting for the craftsman. It can be said that the whole beam-setting ceremony is carried out around the "main beam".

Before loading the beam, the beam should be carefully selected and manufactured. For example, in Taishun, Zhejiang, first of all, the owner must personally find the beam, and the conditions for selecting the beam can be described as harsh. First, the beams must be Chinese fir; Second, it is necessary to towering trees and flourish; Third, the age of the tree is not long or short, and the size of the tree is as consistent as possible from bottom to top; Fourth, there should be many small Chinese fir trees around the tree, and the more the better, representing the children and grandchildren.

When cutting the beam, don't destroy the small Chinese fir around you. When cutting beams, the direction should be south, not other directions. On the day of opening the beam, to choose an auspicious day, the carpenter should first light three sticks of incense, then set off two firecrackers, and then start making.

After the beam and wood are finished, the master will choose a good day to beam. According to the traditional custom, Shangliang can't collide with anyone in the master's family on this day, otherwise it will have a negative impact. In addition, other people's zodiac signs should be avoided if they conflict with Liang's time.

The time to put the beam on the beam varies from place to place, mostly in the middle of the night or before dawn, so it is better to "do it at sunrise at dawn". I think it's unlucky to bump into pregnant women or Dai Xiao during the day. People talk a lot during the day, and people watching the scene will inevitably say something unlucky, so I choose the night when there are few people. There are candidates for "noon" and Fujian candidates for 12 noon. The coast of Fuzhou is lucky at high tide.

When Liang Liang was appointed, the boss told his relatives and friends everywhere. At that time, relatives and friends will come to help and bring gifts. Changle and other places call gifts "sacrificial treasures", including meat, noodles, candles, cannons, blankets and so on. There is also a piece of red colored silk, commonly known as "hanging red", as well as zongzi, small baskets and lanterns.

Sacrificing the beam before loading is an essential procedure. Before climbing the beam, you must sacrifice to Luban's ancestors. In some places, the beams were sacrificed. The host put on the "three sacrifices" of chicken, fish and pig. The carpenter who presided over the beams sifted wine to offer sacrifices to heaven, earth and god, then caught the prepared red rooster, cut off the chicken's neck with an axe, and sprinkled chicken blood on the beams while chanting, which was called "lighting a lamp".

Stick red paper on the beam, write the words "good luck on the beam", cover it with red cloth or red quilt cover, and tie two big cakes to symbolize a better life. In some places, there are stickers in the center of the main beam, such as "Gold 20,000" or "Good luck shines high", "Purple gas comes from the east", "Beams are forever solid" and "Jiang Taigong is here, prosperous as a brocade". There are also some red papers written in auspicious languages, such as "tree pillars meet auspicious days" and "upper beams meet auspicious days", which are called "Pihong".

Tie a red cloth on the beam, wrap it in HongLing or stick red paper on it. Why are you doing this?

There is also a saying that Piliangpihong is associated with the ancient concept of wooden spirit tree monster. Most of the wood used as beams by the people are tall and strong old trees, which are made red for fear of being unfamiliar. It implies the potential pursuit of returning the tree monster and guarding the new house.

What does it mean to put a red sticker in the middle of Zhongliang that says "Taigong is here, good luck"?

The custom of crossing flowers, such as the dragon and phoenix, the lion closing the door and the pig arch, symbolizes "the dragon looks up", "the phoenix falls into a treasure land" and the prosperity of the family business.

Some of the "holy pets" of flour flowers enshrined on the beams of houses weigh more than ten kilograms and are huge in shape, with all kinds of small flour flowers inserted on them. In addition to the great sacred insects, they also make animal face flowers with different shapes, such as lions and pigs. When placing the offering, the lion's head is facing outwards. The local people say: the lion puts the door head outward and the fat pig arches his head inward, which is auspicious.

In addition, hundreds of cookies with different patterns will be steamed out and scattered to the villagers when the beam is on.

Before the arrival of Liang Jishi, the master should not only help arrange two masters, carpenters and masons, but also arrange all kinds of materials and furniture needed by Liang. The women are preparing Liang's sumptuous dinner and Liang's cake.

The owner moved the girder to the new house. On the girder, there is a letter that reads: "On an auspicious day, a certain month, a certain day, a certain beam will prosper." Tied with red cloth and nailed with a nest of colorful swallows, it is exactly the sentence "Swallows only fall in good families." Face swallows, including big swallows and small swallows, are all painted.

When it comes to the beam, put a table on the ground outside the middle of the house. A pair of red candles are lit on the table to offer sacrifices to chicken, fish, wine and meat. Put five jujube cakes on each side, with a incense burner in the middle to burn incense. Behind the altar is a wicker bucket sealed with red cloth, which contains cupcakes, chestnuts, red dates and sweets. The girder is generally Toona sinensis wood, and the local people think Toona sinensis is the king of wood.

The host will burn incense and paper in front of the altar, kowtow and set off firecrackers. After a series of kowtowing ceremonies, carpenters and masons sang cheerful songs and walked to the roof beam: "On the roof beam, the capping beam was built to cover the bride ……", "On the roof beam, there are beautiful neighbors, one treasure at a time …".

Singing like this, the two masters boarded the roof, with the carpenter in the east and the bricklayer in the west. Then they began to pull up the beam. After the beam left the ground, they lit the firecrackers hung in advance. Master Zhang Zhi sang a cheerful song while pulling the beam. After the beam was installed at the top, he put down two more red ropes. After the carpenter carried the bucket, the bricklayer carried the wine, and the wine and bucket were pulled to the roof. The bricklayer opened the bottle and sprinkled it along the beam. The carpenter uncovered the red cloth that sealed the bucket and sang loudly: set a four-corner table, put the pot and put the vegetables. Maybe the gods are watching, maybe the mortals are watching. This pot of strength is hidden in yellow wine. The master didn't dare to eat, and the mortal didn't dare to taste, just waiting for Master Lu Ban to come to Liang. Dangyang put an empty box with a pair of gold wax on both sides, together with Mo Dou and Mo Dou, and with the sages of Mo Dou. Guanyin Pavilion is built in the south, Wufeng Tower is built in the north, and golden flowers are inserted upstairs, making it the first one with wealth and splendor.

As soon as you enter the door, you can see four directions, four gold brick mats and four gold beams for the main leg. This wood is really good, and this beam is really good. It grows where it was born. Its roots are rooted in Daihai Lake in the east, and the treetops cover the sun in the sky. A pair of ox carts are sent to this village. "

When you take power, your grandchildren will be left behind. The cake hits the northeast corner first, and the food is not available. The master comes to pick up the sugar, which is getting stronger every year.

After the cake was spread, the ceremony on the beam came to an end. Some carpenters and masons can't sing high songs, but the host has to hire someone who can sing high songs. Singers of happy songs must articulate clearly and enunciate clearly. When singing happy songs, you can make up some funny words according to the owner's situation, and the onlookers must be laughing. At noon that day, the host set up a sumptuous banquet for all the craftsmen and guests in the guest house. Everyone celebrated the upcoming completion of the new house, and the atmosphere was festive and warm.

The most interesting ceremony of offering sacrifices to the beam in Fujian folk is "calling the beam". Calling Liang is also called "Hu Long". According to local folklore, Liang is the incarnation of "Dragon", also known as "Tiger Dragon", which means auspicious words.

When climbing the beam, the craftsman is called Liang, the famous master above is called auspicious language, and the craftsmen below all respond in unison. People in western Fujian call it "evocation". In Liancheng area, when the dragon is called, the carpenter holds a sword in one hand and a rooster in the other, waving a sword and shouting auspicious words, and the master below answers. If it says, "Want money?" "Do you want to be happy?" Just answer "Yes!" . A phone call and a promise, very interesting.

The host will also set off firecrackers below, and the neighborhood will also set off firecrackers accordingly, commonly known as "solitaire". When the host sees it, firecrackers will be set off more violently, so as to avoid the "dragon" being picked up by neighbors. Owners in Longhai area insist on putting the last shot, which is called "robbing money". In order to "rob money", they sometimes shoot from midnight until dawn.

There is a custom of singing happy songs all over the Liang Dynasty, which has existed since ancient times. According to "New Records of Chong 'an County Records", in the Song Dynasty, most people went to Liang to wish them well. In this paper, parallelism language is used, which includes praise and prayer. Attached poems are divided into six chapters: upper, lower, east, west, south and north. Each chapter is entitled "Er, Lang and Wei". Recently, carpenters use idioms to express their wishes, but no one has written them himself.

Fujian Jianning Shangliang Ci said: Today Shangliang is prosperous, the grain is abundant, the spring is peaceful and the summer is peaceful, and all generations are prosperous.

In the auspicious language of Shangliang in Youxi, Fujian, it is said that it is auspicious to go to Shangliang on an auspicious day and have long hair. Every year, Qing Yu, generations, Longchang.

There are also many taboos in folk going to Liang. For example, in Fuzhou, it is forbidden to wear white clothes when going to Liang, and it is generally believed that wearing white clothes at this time will become a white tiger. There is a proverb that says "white tiger, white tiger, sounds bitter", which means bad luck in the future. In Tongan and other places, when erecting beams, it is forbidden for women who are confinement and bereaved families to watch, and it is also forbidden for monkeys belonging to the tiger genus to watch.

In Fuding, when Master did not recite Buddhist auspicious words, Master kept stuffing candy, cakes or cigarettes into Master Liang's mouth to prevent craftsmen from chanting incantations and practicing witchcraft because of poor hospitality. Moreover, the host's mouth is full, and he has to say "nothing, nothing" and "nothing, nothing" to satisfy the host.