Guangdong people light custom

For a family the birth of a child is the first big event. Every family will celebrate the arrival of the new life in various ways. Generally no more than four: three days after the birth of the wash three; full moon set field full moon wine; 100 days to set up a hundred days feast; one year old to let the child grasp the week. But in Guangdong side of some villages and towns there is a way to celebrate, that is, after the birth of the child in the next year, the first month of the lunar calendar to set up a light banquet.

In Cantonese, "ding" and "light" have the same sound, and "ding" is to add light. Some places in Guangdong have a male family with "light lanterns" to celebrate the joy of the newborn, to celebrate the successor, but also to pray for family prosperity. The whole process is divided into three steps: light, open the lanterns, end the lanterns.

When a boy is born in the family, the elders will go to the paper store to order paper lanterns. On the first day of the first month of the year "light", these paper lanterns hanging in the home, the family ancestral temple, the village temple, by the grandfather lit lanterns. The paper lanterns are octagonal in shape, with flowers and stickers on the outside, a small dish containing oil for lighting up the lanterns, and several small paper bags containing jujubes, peanuts, tangerines, mushrooms, and other items with good meanings hanging underneath. When it is hung in the ancestral shrine, the boy's birth date and name are also entered into the genealogy.

Next, we will set up a lantern feast, the second to fifteenth day of the first month of a certain day, the specific day of the host family to determine their own, and invited the same clan and relatives and friends to drink lantern wine. There is also a village or a family that holds a lantern feast together. "Knot lamp" is to the day of the first month of the fifteenth day to take down all the lanterns to ascend to heaven (that is, burned), to the sky to pray for blessings.

The highlight of the event is the lantern feast. "Drinking wine with lanterns is one of the essential Spring Festival activities in some parts of Guangdong, called "congratulating lanterns". Friends and relatives give the "lantern boy" a New Year's bag or a "red robe" (red clothes), and the host family gives a gift in return. The "lantern wine" is usually served in the village ancestral hall or in a restaurant. As a food-oriented nation, China celebrates any happy event in the same way, and after the ceremony, it all boils down to six words: "Eat well, drink well."

The traditional lamp wine has nine big gui, symbolizing a long time. The dishes are also very elaborate, these nine dishes, each dish contains a good blessing. For example, the stewed pork knuckle is called hand and foot, lotus seed soup is called lotus birth. Specifically choose what dishes how many dishes, mainly depends on the wishes of the host family. However, no matter what dishes are chosen, there is sure to be one of them, which is the sprout mushroom.

During the first month of the year, visitors to some restaurants in Guangdong often see signs that say, "A lantern feast is being held in a certain place". After listening to the locals explain, I couldn't help but ask, "What if the baby is a daughter? I have a friend who answered with a bitter smile: then you do not have to do anything, my mother gave birth to our three sisters.

My parents finally adopted a son from the Guangxi side, he is not good for my parents, but the family house what still all belong to him, the village dividend those he has.

In the end, it's not just a matter of son preference! Have not heard, in the rural areas around Jiangsu and Zhejiang, as early as ten years ago, the daughter is the same as the son on the genealogy. The friend is already more than thirty years old, according to her age, said should be more than thirty years ago, now there should not be this kind of thing happened. However, it is still common to see a lantern feast in the first month of the year. What do you think about this? Welcome to leave a message in the comments section, say your views. Among them, hanging lanterns, burning incense and honoring paper lanterns are sure to be done on this day, which is an important step to go deeper into the culture.

Customs of the tenth day of the first month

On the tenth day of the first month of the first month of the first year, there are hanging lanterns, lighting lamps in the water urns, burning incense, and honoring paper lanterns. Because this day is the Stone Festival, people will use where the mill, milling and other stone tools can not be moved, and even to sacrifice the stone, in Shandong Yuncheng and other places to lift the stone God's saying. Lunar New Year's Day, Chinese folk believe that the birthday of the earth. There is heaven and earth. Than is not much different than the master and mother, people and animals houses are based on the ground; rice and wheat grains are born on the ground. Vegetables and flavors are brought to the festival to make him happy on his birthday. The world's most important thing is to be able to live a life of loyalty, filial piety and righteousness, and the earth's dimensions are based on it.

Hanging lanterns means adding more children

On the 10th day of the Lunar New Year, people will hang lanterns, but hanging lanterns is also known as adding lamps, which means adding more children to the family, and the name of "adding lamps" is derived from the Cantonese pronunciation of "lamp" and "ding", which are similar, and "adding lamps" means adding more children to the family.

In the past, if a baby boy was born in Zhucun village, on the 10th day of the first month of the lunar calendar, family members would go to the Jikji altar to hang lanterns on the altar. The first thing that you need to do is to get your hands on a new baby, and you'll be able to get it on the back of your head, and you'll be able to get it on the back of your head. This was a big deal at the time, and the elders in charge of genealogy in the village would record the name of the newcomer, and he would be considered to have a name in the family.

Note on hanging lanterns on this day

On the tenth day of the lanterns, people need to pay attention to the atmosphere of the hanging and drop lanterns and wine twice, these two need to be differentiated, although it does not need to be invited to notify the host family invitation to the tenth day of the first month of the Lunar New Year, friends, relatives and neighbors will be sent to congratulate the gifts, red packets, **** drink with the same happy.

By the sixteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, families with boys are routinely set down lantern wine. During the lantern wine, some women who want to have children and grandchildren early, will sneak into the social temples and shrines in the evening, steal some lamps to take home and put in the room, praying for early birth. The family who hangs the lanterns will put up more new lanterns in the daytime for others to steal.

light this custom, is to pray for blessings or drive away the ghosts, do not understand these may get into trouble

light this custom is generally more common in the Guangdong region, but generally in the lady after giving birth to a child to carry out an activity. The main symbolism of this birth of a child to light the lamp is smooth and healthy growth. There is another kind of lighting is to do wedding ceremony will light, the meaning of this is self-evident, generally is to hope that the newlyweds have a red-hot, happy life.

This is a common way of lighting lanterns, but in the Bayu region, especially in rural areas, there is an uncommon way of lighting lanterns. That is, on New Year's Eve, lighting lanterns, perhaps in other places this is not called lighting lanterns, and the way of lighting lanterns is different from the way of lighting lanterns in Guangdong.

Not only the way is different, but also the purpose and meaning are different. In Guangdong, it is mainly for celebration, while in Bayu, it is mainly for worship. And this is not quite the same as the rituals we know, which are ordinary rituals to honor our departed loved ones and help them light incense and candles to express their condolences. But many of us don't know that there is an older 'lighting ceremony.

This lamp-lighting ceremony may or may not be carried out, because it is not to mourn our departed loved ones, but to give some unknown passing ghosts to light the lamp. On the night of New Year's Eve, when the whole family is reunited, paper money will be burned and joss sticks will be lit for the departed relatives. But some of the old elders will be outside the house on the side of the road to light a few incense and candles, and even will be a bowl of rice upside down on the ground, they call this light.

I remember every year back home for New Year's Eve, after the reunion dinner, grandma will be alone with incense and candles and a bowl of rice to go out, and always wondered what it was doing. Later asked adults, they said that is to give the passing ghosts to light a lamp. At that time, I did not understand, why give them a light, and do not know.

Grew up gradually understand, that is like to give no home a little charity or warmth. Because there are always abandoned people in the world, and ghosts are the same, will also be forgotten, no one for them to light incense and candles, let alone have offerings to worship them. So I think it's the older generation's pity for those homeless ghosts.

But there is another way of saying that it is for those lost ghosts to find their way home. In fact, I think that no matter which reason, this is a kind of human way of showing kindness to loved ones or strangers, there is a sense of respect in it. But that's all in the past, and there's basically no such thing now. Instead, there is another way of saying that it is not for the sake of sacrifice, but for the sake of the New Year's Eve.

In the rural New Year's Eve in the countryside, in the New Year's Eve will be lit all night, families out of the New Year's Eve are brightly lit. In the past, there was no electric light is to use kerosene lamps, and the fireplace of the home burned brightly, the whole village seems to be very bright. This custom is from the New Year's Eve, people who have lived in the countryside know that the rural New Year's Eve will sleep very late, the whole family sat together to eat and chat, or do some Spring Festival snacks, usually very late to sleep.

The origin of this custom has been a long time, according to the records of the North and South Dynasties began to have. Our hometown has always had the saying that "the fire on the night of thirty should be strong", so on New Year's Eve, the lights will be on until dawn, and the family will usually prepare some more things to roast with the fire. This is an expression of love for the passing years and the new year's good expectations of the feelings of the old and welcome the new meaning.

I remember when I was a child, my family ate the New Year's Eve dinner, will be sticking spring scrolls and fireworks, usually very early to ask children to go to bed, but on New Year's Eve to encourage children to stay up all night, and who can insist on getting as much as possible to get the New Year's Eve money. And parents will always say after tonight you will be a year older, to be more understanding, can no longer be naughty, in fact, this is to warn us to cherish the time.

No matter what place you are, listening to which kind of lighting, that is a tradition, are a good way to pray. Sacrifice or not, pray for blessings or not, all reflect the depth and longevity of our traditional Chinese customs and culture, is worthy of our respect.