Birthday custom of the elderly in Guizhou

People live to be sixty or seventy years old, and they all have children and grandchildren. At this time, it is time for the old people to enjoy their lives. In order to honor and please the elderly, children will take the initiative to hold birthday ceremonies for their parents. A banquet was held for relatives and friends who came to congratulate. The banquet lasted for three days and three nights. People with better economic conditions will also invite professional troupes (or troupes) to sing big plays and add movies. Three days and three nights, a series of wonderful performances. Sing big plays during the day and show movies at night. The main dramas are mostly local ancient painting dramas, Huangmei Opera, traditional Peking Opera and so on. The songs that are often sung include Five Women's Birthdays, Chopped Ribs with bangs, Hanging Red Lanterns High, etc., which are the most popular among middle-aged and elderly friends. Most of the movies shown in the evening are comedies (love stories), detective films and battle films, and middle-aged friends can never get tired of watching them.

Whenever someone has a birthday, men and women nearby, even people ten miles away, help the old and bring the young, and rush to the threshing floor or wider terrace at the door of the "birthday girl" to watch a play or a movie. A sea of people, packed. At night, loud gongs, drums, horns, flutes, rumbling firecrackers, noisy crowds and colorful fireworks burst in the blue sky, drawing colorful patterns and setting off couples dressed in ancient costumes on the stage. I'm afraid it's many times more wonderful than the social drama written by Lu Xun.

Once every ten years, few people do "scattered life", so the eightieth, ninetieth and centenary birthdays are more lively. The older you get, the rarer you get. Therefore, on the ninetieth and centenary birthdays, not only friends and relatives will be here, but also villagers from far and near will come to congratulate and join in, hoping that they will live a long life.

The custom of "birthday": eat "longevity noodles". On the night before the birthday of the birthday girl, friends, relatives and neighbors will set off firecrackers and fireworks. Close friends will also send fireworks, fireworks and other red envelopes, plaques, couplets and so on. To celebrate. And send auspicious words "every year has today, every year has today", and so on. In the evening, the lover (or wife) of the "birthday girl" personally makes "longevity noodles" for the "birthday girl" and guests to entertain relatives and friends. "Longevity noodles" are cooked with high-quality slender noodles, accompanied by seasoning, four round "fried eggs" (fried eggs), and rich wine and dishes as supper. Some of them stayed up all night. Noodles are slender, symbolizing the longevity of the "birthday girl", which is longer than Nanshan. A round egg means that the "birthday girl" has all the best, and the left and right sides are round (source). In the bowl of noodles for the birthday girl-longevity noodles, poached eggs are covered under the noodles. After eating noodles, there will be "poached eggs", which means that the life of the "birthday girl" and his family will be sweeter and taste better.