Festival custom of social day festival

In the laughter of Chihiro Oaks, this spring breeze belongs to the public. I prefer to drink freely to treat deafness.

The fifth May Day after beginning of spring is Spring Club Day. In ancient times, villages were used as units to offer sacrifices to the country and pray for a bumper harvest. The god of the sacrificial society first set up a society, built a stone house on the earthen altar without a roof, pasted red paper on it, and sprinkled meat around it to pay homage to crows after the sacrifice. The Chronicle of Jingchu: "On the social day, the neighborhood formed a clan association to slaughter the animals in prison, offering sacrifices to the gods first and then enjoying them." Song Mei Yao Chen wrote the poem "Spring Club": "Welcome the rain of the club every year, and gently wash the flowers. Drums under the trees, and meat crows on the altar. Spring mash wine * * * drinks, wild old people are in a state of collapse. The swallow arrived with long and oblique wings. " The dragon heads up in the north, and "February 2nd" is mainly the Dragon Head-raising Festival, which is an important traditional festival of the Han nationality in China, and its festival customs are very rich, which can be summarized as follows:

1. lead this dragon. There are roughly two ways to recruit dragons: one is to sprinkle ash to recruit dragons. People in the north scatter ashes (from plant ash, furnace ashes, chaff, lime, etc.) from the gate to the kitchen and turn around the water tank, which is called "Lucky Dragon". It is said that dragons can be brought out, and all insects are in awe. Qing Xianfeng's "Wu Ding Fu Zhi" records: "The second day of February is the Spring Dragon Festival, and it looks like a dragon snake when it reaches the ashes of the stove, which means lucky dragons are lucky." Gong Jinghui and others' "China Zhi Tianjin" contains: "On the second day of February, it is commonly known as' the dragon looks up' ... According to the old custom in Tianjin, a dragon made of green ash is to be scattered on the river, and then a yellow dragon is to be scattered, and chaff is scattered to lead it home, in order to send the lazy dragon away and attract the money dragon." In short, throwing ash into a well (or river) is to pray for good weather and good harvests. The second is to draw water to attract dragons. It means to fetch water to go home in the morning, and it means to lure Qian Long home. Hebei's Huailai County Records records: "On February 2nd, the dragon raised its head and was surprised. Every family was flooded in the morning, and there was a sense of embarrassment. "

2. Insect control and fumigation. Before and after the sting in early February, it was the time when spring returned to the earth and farming began, and it was also the time when all kinds of insects came out of the sting hole and were ready to move. Therefore, many Han people take cleaning, flapping and dust removal at the age of 18, including biting insects, throwing scorpions, smoking insects and bumping into beams. In ancient times, the way to smoke insects was to fry food in oil, smoke insects and scorpions with oil and eat them. Generally speaking, it can avoid insects, which is more popular in North China. Hebei's "Yongping Fuzhi" contains: "If you smoke insects with sesame oil pancakes, things will not rot and avoid insects and ants."

3. Scrape the tap. In the northern Han nationality, shaving your head every day is called "shaving your head", which is considered beneficial to your life. A survey in Qingshuihe County, Suiyuan Province, Inner Mongolia shows: "February 2nd is the Zhonghe Festival, which is generally considered as the day when dragons raise their heads ... that is, the day when their hair is shaved more and more, which is the so-called" shaving faucet ". The custom of scraping faucets on February 2 has spread in the north so far, and most people shave their heads and have their hair cut every day. In Hebei, it is generally believed that if you don't get a haircut every day, you will be unable to lift your head and have no future.

4. Eating habits. Legend has it that the dragon dominates the rain, which can suppress all kinds of insects and bless the harvest. Therefore, the food on February 2 is also related to the "dragon". Pancakes are made in the shape of dragons, which is called dragon-forest cakes. Jiaozi is called Dragon Ear and Dragon Horn; Rice is called Zi Long; Noodles are called Longxu Noodles; Eating pig's head is called "inducing food", and it is generally believed that eating pig's head meat is a symbol of good luck.

5. Marry a woman and live in spring. Farmers in the north have the custom of taking their married daughters back to their parents' homes on the second day of February. Hebei's "Luanzhou Zhi" contains: "(February 2) In advance, the custom will welcome women to return to Ning, which is called' living in spring'." Shandong's "Licheng County Records" contains: "On the second day of the mid-spring month, smashing ash refused to return to Ning." In some places, on February 2nd, the newly-married daughter will take a bag sewn with green cloth, which contains 100 fruits and grain, and leave it at her parents' home, commonly known as "sending it to February 2nd".

6. Taboo. In order to honor the dragon's gift, make it harm the people and bless the harvest, there are many taboos in Japan, including: (1) Don't touch the needle and thread. Don't move the needle, knife or scissors on this day, for fear of hurting the dragon's eyes and causing disaster. The journal of Zhangbei County, Hebei Province said: "(February 2) Women are afraid of stabbing longan." "China Chronicle Tianjin" contains: "Women don't move their needle and thread this day, for fear of damaging longan." (2) Avoid bringing water. Shanxi's "Yonghe County Records" contains: "If you don't take water early, it is said that you are afraid of taking back the dragon." "Records of Shanxi, China" says: "When Jackie Chan comes out for activities on February 2nd, he can't go to the well or the river to draw water, and he can't make a loud noise at the water's edge, so as not to frighten the dragon and ruin the good year." (3) Avoid washing clothes. Today, some places will stop washing clothes, saying that they are afraid of "hurting the dragon's skin." (4) avoid grinding. Hebei's "Xinhe County Records" contains: "If you don't grind the noodles, you are afraid of squeezing the faucet."

February is the season of planting crops, and most of the festival activities and taboos of Dragon Head-raising Festival are related to honoring dragons, which has certain symbolic significance. People eat "dragon food", seek fortune to avoid dragons and other customs and activities, all in order to pray for the blessing of the dragon god, bless the good weather and abundant crops, which reflects and embodies people's worship and belief in dragons. Social Day "February 2" in the south still follows the custom of offering sacrifices to the society, such as Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and other regions; In addition, a new "February 2" custom, similar to the Dragon Head-raising Festival, is formed, focusing on offering sacrifices to the society, such as Hakka areas in eastern Guangxi.

The land god was called "country" and "country god" in ancient times, and it is said that it is the god who manages one side of the land. Because "the earth carries everything" and "amasses wealth on the earth", human beings have worshipped the land. After entering the agricultural society, the belief in the land is linked with the abundance of crops. In southern China, land gods are generally worshipped, also known as "Land Gods" and "Fude Shen Zheng", while Hakkas call them "Land Gods". There is also a social day festival dedicated to social gods (namely Land Gods). The custom of "February 2" social day is rich in content, and its main activities are offering sacrifices to the land, gathering for social drinking, and entertaining people by worshipping and entertaining God.

The god of the sacrificial society must first set up an altar and a temple. What the king set up was called "King Snake" and what the people set up was called "Big Society". The social altar must also have a social master-a social god. The earliest owners were trees, such as pine trees planted on altars in Xia Dynasty, cypress trees planted in Shang Dynasty and chestnut trees planted in Zhou Dynasty. Later, the owner changed to stones,' re and mounds. For example, the community altar in Beijing Zhongshan Park is dominated by five-color soil, with blue soil in the east, white soil in the west, red soil in the south, black soil in the north and loess in the middle, which not only represents the earth on earth, but also contains yin and yang and five elements. Just to pray for a bumper harvest in agriculture, the millet god was added to dominate the grain, so it was called the altar of the country. This is the "Wang Society" of the Imperial Sacrifice Society in Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The co-operatives established by the people are now called land temples. There are many land temples in urban and rural areas: in towns, residents donate money to build temples; In rural areas, under the big trees outside the village, build a small temple one or two meters square, or use four stone pieces, three as walls, one as a roof and one as a broken piece as a cover. Such a "wronged" god who dominates the land, is young and strong, and has never heard of complaints and revenge from the land god.

Therefore, the land gods created by the Han people are mostly kind old people with long beards. Later, some people thought it was too lonely to let him stay alone in the small temple, so they added a wife who was commonly known as Dipo according to human society. But in Fujian, Guangdong and Southwest China, people set up one or two stones in the land temple and covered them with red cloth, which is the land god-this is the ancient legacy of taking stones as the main people? The farmer also posted a piece of red paper with the land god written on it under the wall of the main hall dedicated to the god of heaven and earth, put on the incense burner, and invited the land god to protect the family.

The sacrificial ceremony was a grand festival for all the people in ancient times. After the emperor went to the "King Snake" to worship Qi Feng, he also held a banquet for his ministers. People collectively offered sacrifices to the community gods in the village. From the ancient poems, we can know the scene of the social day at that time: the villagers raised money to buy pigs and sheep, then beat gongs and drums, carried pigs and sheep, carried flagons and various offerings, and gathered in front of the social temple to burn incense and worship, praying for a bumper harvest, prosperous population and peace in the village. After the sacrifice, meat will be divided according to households, and there will be picnics, dinners, drinking, drumming, duets and mowing in front of the temple, and they will return at dusk. Zhang Yan, a poet in the Song Dynasty, wrote in the poem "Society Day": "Sang Shuying stays in the Spring Society, and every family is intoxicated." 1, belief difference: the south is the belief of land god, and the north is the belief of dragon god. This different belief stems from different geographical, ecological and social environments in the north and south.

Most areas in the north are dry all the year round, and there is a shortage of surface water, so the growth of crops cannot be separated from water. The northern farmers' thirst for water and expectation of rain is reflected in the northern people's living customs, and many customs directly or indirectly express people's thirst for water and the resulting beliefs and worship. Dragon is a god worshipped by China people since ancient times. People regard it as a god who can sow clouds and rain and be in charge of rain and drought. Therefore, there is a custom of worshipping and respecting dragons in the north, in order to pray for good weather and good harvests. This is prominent in all taboo customs of "Dragon Head Lifting Festival".

Compared with the north, the south has more mountains and less water, and worships the land more than the north. The ancestors who lived on land thought that land carried, bred and destroyed everything, so it was natural to attribute the quality of crop harvest to the rewards and punishments of "land" for human beings, which led to the worship of land and regarded it as a god. Therefore, the custom of offering sacrifices to the society in the south has been passed down since ancient times and has evolved into the "February 2" custom in the south today.

2. Cultural communication refers to the transfer or diffusion of a culture to other regions, which leads to the process of cultural interaction, reference and integration. The belief in the land god originated very early, and the earliest area cannot be verified, but it can be said with certainty that it first appeared in a certain place and spread to the surrounding areas. Mr Zhong Jingwen said: "A nation and a region have formed a new folk custom. After a period of improvement, its function and value are fully revealed. It is not only accepted by the people of this nation and this region, but also becomes the continuation and development of traditional culture and begins to infiltrate into other ethnic areas. " (Zhong Jingwen: Introduction to Folklore) The "February 2nd" social day in the south has inherited the folk custom of offering sacrifices to the land gods since ancient times. Belief in the land god can meet the psychological needs of the people in the south to pray for a good year and eliminate disasters, so the custom of offering sacrifices to the land god in the south has been passed down to this day.

The custom of "lifting the dragon and raising the head" in the northern region was first formed in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River according to the textual research of the article "Lifting the dragon and raising the head", and spread to other areas with the migration of residents. Therefore, there is also the custom of raising the dragon head in Jiangsu, which should have been handed down by the Han people in the north when they moved south. Local people in the south also have their own customs. Because they work in the same area, there will inevitably be some exchanges and influences in their daily life, which will inevitably lead to cultural exchanges. In communication, both of them selectively absorbed or rejected each other's customs and culture, and gradually formed a new "February 2" custom, which combined the custom of raising the dragon's head with the local custom of offering sacrifices to the society.

Leslie White, a contemporary cultural anthropologist, regards culture as the unity of vertical and horizontal communication processes from the perspective of communication, and sees the great influence of cultural communication behavior: "People gradually realize that culture is a continuum, a process of a series of events, which spreads vertically from one era to another and horizontally from one race or region to another." (White: The Science of Culture) Communication has a great influence on the formation and evolution of a culture or custom. Therefore, the reason for the difference between the north and the south on February 2 is also based on the occurrence of cultural exchanges.

Festival culture is a traditional culture in China, with national characteristics, rich cultural connotations and reflecting our culture and national spirit. Therefore, we should pay attention to some traditional festivals with a long history. By comparing the customs of February 2 between the north and the south and analyzing the reasons for the differences, we have a certain understanding of the formation and development of the traditional festival culture of February 2 between the north and the south, and realize the great inheritance, dissemination and variability of folk culture, which is of great practical and far-reaching significance for us to correctly understand the phenomenon of traditional festival culture.