Composition of Chaoshan customs and habits

In the customs of Chaoshan, almost all of them use "five bowls of heads", that is, five bowls of dishes, such as funerals, general ceremonies, or five fruits and five sacrifices. Some festivals are extremely grand, with sacrifices all over the table. The "five bowls of heads" must also be placed at the top and become the protagonist. Even when they get married, the bride and groom go out and eat the same four dishes, one soup and five bowls. In some places, there are six bowls of vegetables, even.

Why are there five kinds of sacrificial gifts, no more or less? The influx of people has a sense of sacredness towards the word "five". This first comes from the ancient ancestors' explanation of nature, because "five" is among the nine ordinal numbers from one to nine, which is called the median, and it is the most gentle to deal with the problem. Therefore, the food "rice, wheat, beans, sorghum and rice" on which they live is called "five grains" and the ground where they live is called "five sides" and "five soils". People often say that the five gods of wealth are also related to this concept. There are five time series: spring, summer, long summer, autumn and winter. There are also five colors: red, yellow, blue, white and black. Gold, wood, fire, water and earth. Wuyin Palace, Shang, Jiao, Zheng and Yu. The five flavors are salty, sweet, sour, spicy and sweet. The human body has five senses, five internal organs and five internal organs. When you admire others, you say "full of admiration". Boasting that people are learned is called "learning to be excellent is to be an official." There are five kinds of feelings, such as joy, anger, sadness, joy and resentment, which are called "five emotions". All these are produced by mutual correspondence. Su Wen of Huangdi Neijing also said: "Five grains are the supplement, five fruits are the help, five animals are the benefit, and five dishes are the supplement". This is the basic human need.

For human society, the ancients also often used "five" to classify. The copula of Yi is "five days and five places". Therefore, the Emperor of Zhou set up five divisions: Situ (in charge of household registration), Sima (in charge of military forces), Sikong (in charge of engineering), Sikou (in charge of punishment) and Shi Si (in charge of officials). Monarch, father and son, husband and wife, brothers and friends are called "five ethics". Heaven, earth, monarch, relatives and teachers are collectively called "five clothes", and the titles are divided into five categories: public, Hou, Bo, Zi and public. Lu's status only passed to the fifth generation. "Gentleman Ze was cut in the fifth generation." "Five Rites" refers to the ancient auspicious ceremony, fierce ceremony, military ceremony, guest ceremony and Jia ceremony. People's five moral accomplishments "benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith" are called "five permanents". In addition, the punishment is divided into five categories: ink (face-cutting), slap (nose-cutting), beheading (foot-cutting), palace (cutting people) and monarch (beheading), which are called "five punishments". The Book of Rites also has five offerings, namely Nissan, Door, Well, Kitchen and Zhong Ling. Zhongling is the center of the room. The "Five Blessingg" that people yearn for is called longevity, wealth, corning, Xiu De, and finishing the exam. There are also "five emperors", "five tyrants" and "five bugs" in history.

With the development of human society, many things are deepening. For example, officials have changed from the "five divisions" of the ancients to "six divisions" and "nine nobles" ... The understanding of nature is also deepening, and the five colors have become "seven colors". Only Chaoshan people always adhere to the "five points" method. For all kinds of complicated personnel in society, it is often summed up as "five colors and five numbers"