Customs and habits in Shaoguan

Shaoguan's customs have a strong flavor of Lingnan Hakka and Han nationality, and Yao and She nationalities also have their own national characteristics. In agricultural production in Han areas, it has become a habit to arrange production according to the law of 24 solar terms. It has become a tradition to go out early and return late for farm work, and ask relatives and friends for help. There are also various customs in mountainous areas, such as planting beans in spring, releasing bison in winter, crossing ponds and inspecting camellia oleifera. In business and trade, we pay attention to auspicious opening and signboard, and have customs such as market day (regular market) and credit sale.

In terms of residence, rural areas are mostly inhabited by clans with surnames, paying attention to geomantic omen and choosing land. There are many types of houses, including ancestral hall (Yanjie house), dragon house, "four-cent gold" house, arcade house, enclosed building, "well-off house" and so on. Diet, pay attention to holiday food, pay attention to eating "reunion dinner" and "reunion dinner", including fried rice cake, rice cake, ointment, ash cream, wormwood cream and more than a dozen special new year's goods. People generally attach importance to traditional festivals, such as Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Double Ninth Festival.

In terms of marriage customs, there are still ancient customs in rural areas, such as crying for marriage, welcoming the bride, paying homage to the bride and making trouble in the bridal chamber. People attach importance to carrying on the family line, and their children support the elderly. There are traditions such as genealogy, ancestor worship during the Spring Festival, making family rules, and rewarding reading. Yao and She nationalities have their own unique customs and habits, which are rich in local ethnic characteristics in terms of names, daily life, costumes, holiday taboos and social customs.

Shaoguan has a long history of religion and a long history of religious culture, including Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity and Catholicism. There are many followers of Buddhism and Taoism. Some religious temple fairs, such as South China's Birthday, have influenced so far that believers have some religious colors in diet, clothing and so on.

Shaoguan dialect is mainly Hakka dialect, which is widely used in urban and rural areas and has become a tool for language communication between Yao and local Han people. Cantonese is widely used in Shaoguan City, Lechang City and Renhua County, and Putonghua is also widely used in urban areas, counties and industrial and mining areas. In addition, a few rural areas use Xiang dialect, Minnan dialect, Beijiangchuan dialect and Peyo dialect. The Yao people in Shaoguan use Yao language, while the She people give up their national language and switch to Chinese. Shaoguan is rich in folk culture and art, including tea-picking opera, flower drum opera, lantern opera, mountain opera, folk songs, storytelling, Allegro, Cantonese opera, dragon and lion dance, as well as folk crafts such as wood carving, weaving, embroidery and paper cutting.

Paiyao compatriots living in the mountainous area of northern Guangdong like to dance long drums in festivals. When dancing, dancers wear festive costumes, wear HongLing around their waist, wrap white leggings on their feet, and hang 1 meter-long flower drums. Sometimes they fly fast, and sometimes tigers pounce on food, especially when they perform in pairs, which is like two tigers fighting each other and playing with pearls. It's really interesting. The whole set of movements is vigorous, rough and free, which vividly shows the hardworking and brave spirit and strong character of the Yao people. Among them, Cockfighting, Archery and Tiger yue longmen are beautiful and strange, but they are also very difficult and require skillful performance skills. The long drum Yao language is called "Wang Du", which is about 4 feet long, with two big ends and a small middle, and is trumpet-shaped. The drum body is made of Sha Tong wood. Both ends are covered with cowhide or sheepskin as drums. When dancing, hang it around your waist, put your right hand and five fingers together, and beat the drum with your palm. Make a "than" sound; Take a piece of bamboo in your left hand and beat the drum surface to make a "winter" sound. This will send out the sound of "winter is better than winter, winter is better than winter". Performers change the beat with dance movements and express different contents and emotions to achieve their artistic effects. In the form of performance, Changdrum Dance is divided into solo dance, duet dance and multi-person dance (with 4 people, 6 people and 8 people), with a total of 36 sets of performance programs, which are very rich in content.

Yao people's custom of "jumping the king" is scattered among Yueshan Yao compatriots in Lianshan and Ruyuan counties in northern Guangdong, and there is a custom of "jumping the king". "King of Jumping" is also called "karaoke" or "King of Tune", which means that once a tune is tuned, it will flourish and become more energetic. Actually, it's a ritual of knocking on the gods to make a wish. Yao people worship King Pangu, King Tang and King Goutou very much and regard them as the ancestors of Yao people. King Pangu is the legendary hero who created the world. He is not only the ancestor of Yao nationality, but also the ancestor of Han nationality and the same ancestor of Chinese nation. The King of the Tang Dynasty refers to the sage monarch in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, in fact, it refers to the sage of our nation after the Tang Dynasty. King Kobayashi was Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty. Yao people have two folk songs reflecting this fact, which are recorded as follows: (1) helping people with twelve surnames, it is impossible to cross the sea; Eldest brother's bow is eager to make a wish, and Tang Wang's rescue is peaceful. I have helped people with twelve surnames, but I don't swim across the sea; Big brother made a wish at the bow and the boat sailed through the state.

Although the language of these two folk songs is rough, they are unpretentious. The main idea of the song is that Yao nationality has twelve surnames, and came from overseas, and made a wish in danger to save the Tang king and reach the shore safely. Yao people do have six surnames: Pan, Fang, Deng, Li, Shen and Tang, Luo, Long, Wang, Feng, Zhao and Qian, and twelve surnames. Yao's 12 family never forgot to save their lives. They knocked on God's door, sang and danced, and made vows. This is the origin of the "jumping king". Later, anyone who knocks on King Pangu's wish will "skip the king" and make a wish after it comes true. For example, if the crops are not ripe for several years, or if the children at home are in three disasters and six difficulties, knock on King Pangu and make a wish. When the years get better and the illness disappears, they will "skip the king" and make a wish. "Jumping King" stopped at 1958 and gradually recovered after 1980. From the perspective of folklore, it is not a simple superstitious activity, but a kind of commemoration, sacrifice and contract, which embodies the virtue of keeping promises of the Yao people.

The marriage customs of Yao nationality are in Qujiang, Ruyuan and other counties, and some Yao nationalities are scattered, so they are called "Guo Shanyao". Family organizations in Yao society implement patriarchal clan system. After marriage, most children are separated and new families are organized separately. Family members generally include husband and wife and unmarried children. Husband and wife are more equal, monogamy is practiced in marriage, early marriage is common, and divorce and remarriage are also common, but they are generally not discriminated against. The marriage of "Guo Shanyao" is mostly based on "parents' orders and matchmakers' words", and the woman has to accept a certain amount of engagement gift money. Friends and relatives should be entertained on the wedding day. After marriage, Otawa's parents live together and don't get married. According to the rule of "crossing the mountain", the son married his daughter-in-law, but did not adopt his son. You don't need a gift for your adopted daughter, just make an engagement. For children born after marriage, the first takes the surname of parents, the second takes the surname of mother and the third takes the surname of father. Nowadays, family planning is advocated, and Yao people have consciously responded. Most of them take their mother's surname and some take their father's surname. Those who are adopted by their wives are not discriminated against.