What are the unique folk customs in Henan Province?

The unique folk customs in Henan Province include Xunxian Ancient Temple Fair, February 2nd, Begging for Cleverness Festival, Ghost Festival, Stove Festival and Fried Noodles Festival.

Xunxian ancient temple fair

Xunxian county is a national historical and cultural city, which was called Liyang in ancient times. It has a long history and splendid culture. The life history of ancestors can be traced back to 6000 years ago. Xunxian Giant Buddha is the earliest in China and the largest in the north. The "Mud Goo Goo" in Xunxian County is listed in the "National Intangible Cultural Heritage" list. Xunxian's annual "Temple Fair in the First Month" is well known. It is a living fossil of the folk culture in the Central Plains and a microcosm of the original ecological culture. After visiting the temple fair, a German folklore scholar called Xunxian Temple Fair "China People's Carnival". In 2004, the first month ancient temple fair in Xunxian County was included in the pilot project of national folk culture protection in China; In 2007, "Ancient Temple Fair in Xunxian County" and "Folk Shehuo in Xunxian County" were listed in the intangible cultural heritage list of Henan Province, and were also rated as folk classics in Henan Province.

The second day of the second lunar month

On the second day of the second lunar month, it is "Dragon Head-raising Festival" or "Qinglong Festival". On this day, women in rural areas of Henan generally don't move scissors or do needlework, for fear of cutting off the dragon's body with a knife. On this festival, people go to the fields to pick wild vegetables, make jiaozi, fry pancakes, fry soybeans, fry bacon and steam jujube buns to improve their lives. On February 2nd, people spread pancakes and eat fried beans the most. People believe that this day is the birthday of the Dragon King in the East China Sea, and pancakes are the dragon king's afterbirth. Eating pancakes is to chew the disaster for the dragon king, and throwing pancakes is to bury the dragon king's afterbirth.

Qixi Festival

Every year, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month is the "Begging Festival". The custom of begging for cleverness in Xinxiang, Henan Province is that on the sixth night of the seventh lunar month, seven unmarried local girls get together in a group (in order to correspond to the number of Tanabata), and each person exchanges flour and articles to prepare offerings for the Weaver Girl. Someone wants to buy seven kinds of melons and fruits, such as grapes, pomegranates, watermelons, dates and peaches, bake seven steamed buns with oil or sugar, make seven bowls of small jiaozi and make seven bowls of noodle soup. In addition, seven big jiaozi will be packaged separately. Dumpling stuffing is made of seven kinds of vegetables, and there are seven kinds of things made of flour, such as needles, looms, flower hammers, spindles, scissors, garlic cloves or abacus. These seven things should represent the wishes of seven girls. That night, the seven girls put their offerings under the melon shed or in a secluded place, burned incense and lit some paper, knelt under the moon and prayed to the Weaver Girl. After praying, seven girls were given fruit and seven bowls of steamed buns. Then put seven oil cakes and seven big jiaozi in bamboo blue and hang them on the Chinese Toona tree. That night, seven girls kept vigil together, guarding the bamboo basket. This kind of behavior is called "guarding cleverness", and its purpose is to prevent joking boys from stealing cleverness. On the morning of July 7th, at dawn, seven girls closed their eyes and touched a big jiaozi in the bamboo blue. Whoever finds needles, scissors and other things in jiaozi will become a dab hand in the future. In northern Henan, Qinyang, Mengxian and other places, there is still the custom of "Tanabata" duet. On Valentine's Day in China, local girls form groups with seven people in each group, or nine or eleven people in each group, depending on the number of people. People pay attention to the number of singers, and there is a saying that "when the list is wrong, the fault lies in the generation." People divide the duet into odd numbers in order to get a "coincidence" and hope that the duet in our village will win.

Ghosts'Festival

The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is the Mid-Autumn Festival, commonly known as "Ghost Festival". Farmers in the Central Plains also call this day "Cow Festival". On this day, there are many cattle worship activities in Linxian and other places in northern Henan Province. On July 15, every household will steam white bread in the shape of mutton, steam it at noon and put it on the table for offering, and then set off firecrackers to celebrate the prosperity of the trough head. Every farmer with big animals will stop work for one day, give mutton buns to the big animals, and some will feed the animals with concentrated feed such as beans to show that the Animal Festival is different from usual. In the evening, they will make a pot of rice soup for animals to drink. A folk song says, "Beat 1000 and scold 10000, and eat a little on July 15th."

Sacrifice to the kitchen god

On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, it is the "Festival of Sacrificing Stove". The custom of offering sacrifices to stoves on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month in Henan Province, the first round of firecrackers was set off in urban and rural areas of the Central Plains. City residents are busy buying sesame candy, fire and other food for offering sacrifices to stoves. In the vast rural areas, preparations and grand ceremonies for offering sacrifices to stoves gradually began in the deafening sound of guns. Ceremonies for offering sacrifices to stoves are mostly held at night. When offering sacrifices to the stove, the people who offer sacrifices to the stove kneel in front of the statue of the stove and hug the rooster. Some people even let children hold chickens and kneel behind adults. It is said that the chicken is the horse on which jujube ascended to heaven, so the chicken is called a horse instead of a chicken. Such as red rooster, commonly known as "red horse" and white cock, commonly known as "white horse". After ordering the incense table, the cigarettes in the room were filled with mysterious colors. The host poured wine and kowtowed, muttering something. After reading it, the burning lamp shouted "collar"! And then pour the chicken head with wine. If a chicken's head flutters, it means that Grandpa Jujube has been ungrateful. If the head of the chicken doesn't move, it needs to be watered again. After the ceremony, people began to eat food, such as stove, candy and fire. In some places, they also eat sugar cakes, oil cakes and tofu soup. In Henan, the typical food for offering sacrifices to stoves should be the first stove candy. Kitchen candy is a kind of maltose that sticks to the mouth and teeth. The reason for offering sugar to the stove is to stick the mouth of the stove owner. Legend has it that Lord Zao is a god sent by the Jade Emperor to supervise good and evil. He has the responsibility to communicate with people, contact the feelings between heaven and earth, and convey the information between fairyland and human beings. In addition to eating stove candy, fire is also a very distinctive seasonal food on the day of sacrifice. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the business of biscuit stalls in the city is booming. In Henan, people regard the festival of offering sacrifices to stoves as a reunion festival after the Mid-Autumn Festival. Anyone who works, does business or goes to school in other places should try to get home before the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. If you can eat the sacrificial stove cooked at home, you will be protected by the kitchen god and your family will be safe in the coming year.

Fried noodles festival

The first day of the sixth lunar month is a festival that people in the Central Plains pay more attention to. In eastern and southern Henan, there is a saying that the first day of June is a small year. Especially in rural areas. People regard this day as a festival to celebrate the harvest and worship the harvest year. At this time, the wheat has just been planted, and the joy of harvest is full of farmers' hearts and eyebrows. People set tables in houses, yards and wheat fields, and put five kinds of melons and fruits, such as steamed bread, jujube hill, peaches and plums. They filled the barrels with newly harvested wheat, wrote the word "Fu" on the barrels, and then burned incense and set off firecrackers, praying for good weather and abundant crops in autumn. After that, people happily ate a "chop suey" made of meat, vegetables, vermicelli and kelp. Adults guess the rules of boxing in the wheat field, and children have fun while eating. The sixth day of June is after the first day of June in the lunar calendar, so some people simply put the activities of the sixth day of June into the first day of June. On the sixth day of June, people call it "Fried Noodles Festival", "Looking at Summer Festival" and "Daughter's Day", which are often ten miles (5 kilometers) and eight miles (4 kilometers) apart, so the customs are very different. Anyway, festivals are about eating, playing and visiting relatives and friends. And these festivals are all related to married girls. Every household in the countryside will take the married girl home from June/kloc-0 to June 6, and then send her back to her husband's house after being entertained. As the saying goes, "June 6, please ask your aunt." "On June 6th, I hung up my hoe and called my aunt and sister-in-law." The custom of celebrating the New Year on the first day of June is quite common in the Central Plains. From June/KLOC-0 to June 6, the flavor of "Nian" in the rural areas of Central Plains is rich and lasts for about a week. Although there are differences between the first day and the sixth day, the distance between the two festivals is too close, and the festival activities naturally blend together.