History of Oracle

What is Oracle Throwing

Oracle Throwing (jiǎo), a divination ritual, is commonly practiced in the Chinese community.

The word "oracle" is also known as "cup" (貝), which is why it is also known as "trekking cup" in Minnan language. According to the traditional custom, the ritual involves throwing two palm-sized half-moon shaped oracle cups with one flat side and one rounded convex side to detect the meaning of gods and ghosts.

The convex side is "yin" and the flat side is "yang". Oracle tossing is a communication tool between people and the gods, and people can learn the will of the gods by tossing the oracle.

When tossing an oracle, one first worships the deity by lighting candles and putting incense on it, and then explains to the deity the reason for tossing the oracle, picks up the oracle and worships it by clasping his hands together, then throws it to the ground, i.e. an oracle, and after thanking the deity by clasping his hands together, then picks up the oracle from the ground, and then throws it again, and then he must throw it again, and only then he can be regarded as a deity who has made a promise to the deity.

The history of Xiamen Zhongzhai Village

can be traced back to the early Ming Dynasty.

Xiamen's "King Sending" is held on a larger scale in three places, namely, Lvcuo Village in Xike Town, Tong'an, Zhongshan Village in Haicang, and Zhongzhai Village in Huli. The custom is generally held once every three to four years, and is determined by tossing an oracle to be held on a certain day of a fixed lunar month.

The king's boat is to send the king who "patrols on behalf of the sky". The legend of the king is inconclusive, with the earliest dating back to the early Ming Dynasty and the latest to the Yongzheng Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty.

In 2004, the 148th prince was sent, and according to the four-year projection, it has a history of more than 500 years. This prince does not represent the "God of Plague", but instead of the emperor to tour the four directions, reward the good and punish the bad, and bless the wind and rain, the country and the people.

Generally held once every three to four years, by tossing an oracle in a fixed lunar month to determine a day to send the king boat ceremony, making a king boat, either made of cedar wood, or paper, the king invited to the king boat, loaded with firewood, rice, oil, salt, and even various daily necessities, such as physical objects, in the seaside burning. "Send the king boat" also known as "burn the king boat", is a coastal fishing port, fishing villages, the ancient traditional Han Chinese folklore, through the sacrifice of the sea god, mourning the sea shipwrecked heroes, praying for the sea Jingan and fishing hair profit market.

The Xiamen fishermen's custom of "sending a boat to the king" also combines the belief in the king (Zheng Chenggong). It is rumored that this custom originated in Taiwan, the early Qing Dynasty fishermen to remember the great achievements of Zheng Chenggong, to the king as a god on behalf of the heavenly patrol and worship, and build a "king boat" to send it into the sea, although not explicitly and understand the spirit.

This kind of Han Chinese folklore was interrupted during the Cultural Revolution, and in 1995, at the initiative of the Xiamen residents who went to Taiwan, the triennial event was resumed, and the scale of the event was more grand than once.

The origin of oracle tossing

Oracle tossing is a Taoist belief in divination, which is commonly practiced in the Chinese community.

The word "oracle" is also known as "cup", which is why it is also known as "trekking cup" in Southern Fujian. According to traditional custom, the ritual involves throwing two palm-sized half-moon shaped oracle cups, with one side flat and the other rounded and convex, to detect the meaning of gods and ghosts.

The convex side is "yin" and the flat side is "yang". The following is an illustration of the combination of positive and negative: One flat and one convex: This is called the "Holy Grail" (or "Holy Water"), which means that the gods approve of it, or that things will go well.

However, if you are very careful in your prayers, you should make three chalices in a row.

The two convex sides are called "Yin Cup" (or "Angry Water Rice"), which means that the gods do not approve of it, and the situation will not go well, so you can toss it again to ask the gods for help. In folk beliefs, there are several conventions and rituals for throwing wild rice, as follows:


The number of times you can throw wild rice is usually limited to three.

Before throwing wild rice, you need to state your name, birthday, address, and what you are asking for in front of the deity. Before throwing wild rice, you must hold a pair of wild rice cups together with both hands and worship them in front of the gods before letting go and letting the cups fall.

The origin of the Dajia Mazu parade

The Dajia Mazu parade has a history of more than a hundred years, according to the legend of the old generation, and it is the largest and most distinctive of all the Mazu temples in the province, and it is the most striking religious activity in Taiwan. In 1977, Zhenlan Palace decided to change its old name from "Dajia Zhenlan Palace's Mother of Heavenly Saints' Incense Visit in Beigang" to "Dajia Zhenlan Palace's Mother of Heavenly Saints' Incense Visit", which caused a dispute between the two temples about whether Zhenlan Palace's A-Ma is a sub-spirit of Chaotian Palace's A-Ma, and at the same time, Fengtian Palace in Xingang positively invited the Dajia A-Ma to come to Xingang to visit the shrine in an encircling way.

Parade: Every year in early March of the lunar calendar, the "parade" is a huge spectacle, with the head of the formation, the art gallery, floats and other lively scenes, the whole country can not be seen, the parade incense people can not be estimated, every good man and woman manpower an incense flag, the Palace to worship with a prayer to the Heavenly Mother blessing the peace of the family, and all things are going well. The night of the Lantern Festival determines the time and date of the incense. At the same time, we accept the registration of the "incense snatching" and the service personnel of each formation head.

Going out of the city: on the day of incense (usually in early March), Dajia is crowded with people who send the "Heavenly Mother" to follow the incense. After the restoration of the Guangxu era, it resumed its work, and is still the largest, most numerous, and most extensive parade of incense worshippers in the province. This is the largest and most widespread parade in the province. The activities of this parade show the spirituality of the Dajia Heavenly Mother and the extent of her beliefs.

Every year in the third month of the lunar calendar, there is the biggest festival in the Dajia area, which is a seven-night, eight-day incense procession. The group travels more than 200 kilometers round trip, and because of their devotion and respect, they are able to accomplish the feat every year as scheduled, making the Dajia Mazu Incense Tour the largest and most famous in the province.

It is said that the Dajia A-Ma has been traveling to Beigang for a hundred years. In the year of Wuchen (77th year of the Republic of China), Zhenlan Palace canceled the trip to Beigang during the seven-night, eight-day trip, and went to Fengtian Palace in Xingang for the purpose of paying homage to the A-ma.

The A-Ma parade starts at 00:00 in the morning, and a large number of devotees flock to Zhenlan Palace in advance, holding incense flags, kneeling, making wishes, and divining cups. In the afternoon, a ceremony is held to purify the sedan chair and pray for safety and security. The incense ceremony was then ready to begin. When the head of the A-Ma Association of Taipei arrived at Dajia, the horsemen rushed to guide them into the Zhenlan Palace, followed by the performances of the two incense burners and other performances along the way, which attracted a large number of spectators.

At 00:00 in the morning, after the three "Kima Cannons" placed in front of the temple town were lit, the sedan chair was slowly advanced to the temple town under the heavy protection of the police and other personnel, and wherever the sedan chair went, the devout believers kneeled down to worship. The firecrackers and fireworks turned Dajia into a city that never sleeps.

After a long journey of more than 200 kilometers, the last day of the A-Ma's return is the last activity of the visitors ***, the incense group entered the city of Dajia, and will be in the streets ***, the townspeople will prepare a feast to entertain relatives and friends, and the north and south department stores will gather in front of the temple Chiang highway and Shun Tian roadside stalls, so the day of the return of the A-Ma's is the most bustling day of the town of Dajia.

The main rituals of the A-Ma parade in Dajia include eight ceremonies: praying for safety, mounting the sedan chair, starting the car, stopping the car, praying for blessings, wishing for longevity, returning to the car, and settling the seat, etc. In addition to religious significance, these ceremonies also serve to appease the people's hearts and reinforce their beliefs. The Prayer for Safety Ceremony is held the day before the departure, mainly to inform A-Ma of matters related to incense, and to pray for the smooth conduct of the incense activities and the safety of the visitors. After the sedan chair purification ceremony, the three A-Ma Zu are welcomed into the sedan chair and seated, which is the sedan chair boarding ceremony. The A-Ma of Dajia takes off at around midnight, and when the time comes, three "starting cannons" are lit and the procession departs for Xingang. After three days and four nights, the procession arrives at Fengtian Palace in Xingang, where the A-Ma is welcomed into the temple and seated, and then a stopping ceremony is held, the main purpose of which is to thank the A-Ma for her blessings, so that the process of the process will be safe and smooth. The main purpose of the ceremony is to thank A-Ma for her blessings, so that the process can go smoothly. The blessing ceremony is to pray for A-Ma to help the worshippers eliminate disasters and prolong their lives. On the fourth day of the incense procession, believers hold a ceremony to celebrate A-Ma's longevity, which is the most important part of the procession, and toss an oracle to A-Ma to determine the time for the procession to return to Dajia. The ceremony is held at midnight on the same day, and the procession returns to Dajia with A-Ma. On the eighth day, the procession returned to Dajia, and after the parade through the downtown area, they returned to Zhenlan Palace surrounded by believers, and then held a ceremony to thank A-Ma for her blessing and for the successful completion of the procession, which officially ended the annual Dajia A-Ma Parade.

During the Dajia Mazu parade, the believers along the way were obliged to provide food and drink and set up incense burners to welcome the A-Ma, and there were many customs that were passed down in the folklore that could be used to pray for peace and increase luck. For example, grabbing a sedan chair to keep the A-Ma, asking the feet of the sedan chair for peace, asking for a tea ceremony from the A-Ma to cure illnesses, asking for a marriage proposal from the horseman, exchanging pacifiers with the third son of the king in order to ask for good luck for a child, and touching a pen of the clergyman to ask for good luck for the exams, and so on, all these phenomena can be seen. From these phenomena, it can be seen that as long as the artifacts associated with the A-Ma's incense tours are endowed with "sacredness," what is reflected behind these behaviors is the people's inner anxiety and helplessness; after all, their repressed souls need a channel to vent their feelings, only that they choose to talk to the A-Ma, instead of looking for a lifeline or a psychiatrist. Every year, when the Mazu delegation passes by, it is common to see believers kneeling down to greet Mazu, breaking down and crying when the palanquin appears, no matter what their grievances are, they will be relieved in this moment.

How believers worship A-Ma Feng Shui master Xu Shaofeng analyzed

,, A-Ma name Lin Mo at the age of 28 years ascended to heaven. Because of the life saved countless people, so people build shrines and temples to worship, praying for Lin Mo shelter fishermen's safety. Legend has it that after Lin Mo became an immortal, he often rates the accompanying clairvoyant and compliant ears to ride the clouds between the islands. If a passing ship encounters danger, as long as it sincerely recites the holy name of A-Ma, A-Ma will respond to the sound of her voice and save the people from danger. Therefore, people call A-Ma Zu the god of protection on the sea. With the development of history, Taoism honors A-Ma as Heavenly Concubine, Heavenly Empress, and Heavenly Holy Mother. Mazu temples have a great influence at home and abroad, from Dandong in the northeast of the motherland to Tianjin, Shandong, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, as well as Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and other places. There are many temples and incense burners. With international contacts and cultural exchanges, A-Ma's beliefs have spread around the world, such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries. The blessing of A-Ma's spirit makes people's belief in A-Ma y rooted. Enshrining Mazu has become a custom and tradition. So, how to make offerings to Mazu and how to worship Mazu in order to have better results? Let's listen to Feng Shui master Hui Siu Fung's experience in this area. After choosing an auspicious day to throw the holy grail, you can take the A-Ma statue back home.

Secondly, choose a quiet place at home and put a shrine there after getting the sacred permission of Mazu by throwing wild rice. In the center of the shrine, put a stack of gold paper to put the idol on top of the gold paper, and the bottom of the idol seat should be slightly lower than the incense burner.

Third, the two sides of the idol can be placed in a vase or lotus lamp. Mazu front to round copper incense burner is preferred, with two candlesticks and long bright electronic red candle. Three plates of fruit can be placed in front of the Holy Mother.

Fourth, after a proper appeal, three cups of vegetables, five fruits, three sacrifices and nine rituals for the God's table, citing the ancestral temple to take the ash added to the smoke curling sandalwood incense burner. Three columns of incense are first worshipped in the sky, and then three columns of incense are inserted into the incense burner of Mazu. Kneel in front of the incense burner with all family members holding incense. Recite the words "I am grateful to the Holy Mother of God, A-Ma Zu, for her kindness to the four seas and for protecting the country and the people. The golden body of A-Ma is hereby enshrined in the house...praying for ......". Incense to half both thrown wild rice, to three holy cup to determine the Holy Mother of God spirit has been stationed. In addition, Feng Shui master Xu Shaofeng suggests that after the A-Ma statue is invited to your home, you should offer three columns of incense in the morning and three columns of incense in the evening on weekdays, and serve tea in front of A-Ma's seat early in the morning every day if conditions permit. March 23 of every year is A-Ma's birthday, and worshippers of A-Ma should pay homage to her on this day. Feng Shui master Xu Shaofeng suggests that there are rules for worshipping A-Ma. You can follow the suggestions below. Food: five animals (chickens should be roosters and castrated chickens), several kinds of fruits, six to twelve bowls of various dishes, noodle threads (put red paper), hair kuey teow, red tortoise kuey teow, three bowls of red dumplings, three cups of tea, five cups of wine.

Ceremony: The ceremony should choose the auspicious time of the day, after the tribute, first light the lamps (candles), offer tea, burn incense and pray. Cigarettes should be inserted three columns of incense, line three worship nine kowtow.

Toast: Toast the first time, invite the gods to come down, toss an oracle to ask whether the gods come down. Toast the second time, tell the god what you want and explain how to thank him. When one third of the incense has been burned, hold the gold paper in both hands and worship the god, then burn the four colors of gold (Dashoujin, Shoujin, Karijin, Fukujin, and Komazen) in order. The third toast is made and an oracle is thrown to ask the god if the offerings have been used up. If it is finished, the offerings are removed and the wine is sprinkled on the paper ashes. In addition, the ninth day of the ninth month is the day when A-Ma ascends to heaven, so it is better to use vegetarian food and fruits as the main offerings.

The history and culture of the Miao border

I don't know if I can help you The whole map of the Miao border in the 25th year of the Qing Jiaqing era (1820 AD), west of the Yuan River, south of the Youjiang River, north of the Chenjiang River, and east of the Hunan-Guizhou border as the Miao border, surrounded by water to the east, south and north, and shielded by the mountains to the west, the great Lara Mountains across the Hunan-Guizhou provinces, and the terrace topography in the hinterland of the geologic faults, and the Miao border, the Miao border, the Miao border, the Miao border, the Miao border, the Miao border, the Miao border, the Miao border, the Miao border, the Miao border, the Miao border, the Miao border, the Miao border, the Miao border and the Miao border. The Miao villages are scattered on the terrace, and Phoenix is in the middle of it.

The city was surrounded by Miao villages, and the bilateral relationship was quite tense, the atmosphere of this small town on all sides of the enemy must be unbearable, and would not have the harmony and leisure today.

"State of War" - Wei Ce "cloud:" the former residence of the three Miao, the left Pengli wave, the right Dongting water, Wenshan in its south, Hengshan in its north." Since the Ming and Qing dynasties to the ancient "three seedlings" will be attached to the later generation of the Miao, the legend is that the strong martial arts Chiyu descendants, belonging to the so-called "Nine Li" tribes.

In the long years of war with the Yanhuang Yao Shun Yu tribes, many times defeated, and gradually from its habitat in the lower reaches of the Yellow River and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River was forced to migrate southward, and one after another to settle in the desolate mountains of Southwest China, the history of the "southern barbarians", which live in Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and Guizhou region, a part of the Chinese and Tang dynasties known as the "Wuling barbarians". "Wuling Barbarians" or "Wuxi Barbarians".

When they were still settled in the era of "Chamchu Champhu" (Chu River, Han River and Huaihuai Basin), they "multiplied like fish and shrimp, and the harvest piled up like a mountain; the number of people was increasing and the team was becoming more and more firm; life was getting better and better, and the tree houses were covered with tiles and bricks; the women wore silver and gold and the men wore silks and satins; the cows and horses filled the slopes and the mountains, and the pigs and sheep filled the mountains. Cows and horses filled the slopes and hills, and pigs and sheep filled the pens and pens". Later by the evil spirits "yoke Ga" "yoke carcass" destruction, forced to leave the rich plains, moved to the "high Rongba Minato" (the edge of the Wuling Mountains), in LuXiDong re-construction of a new The men came back to set up their families and businesses, and the women came back to accumulate hemp and spinning threads", and "the grains were abundant, the six animals flourished; the smoke circled the 99 ridges, and the songs echoed through the 10,000-mile-long sky", but it was not expected that the evil ghosts would come after us, and "the scourge spread to the 99 ridges, and the world could not live in a home". The evil spirits chased them away, and "the evils spread all over the ninety-nine mountain ranges, and the people of the world could not live in their homes.

The Miao people's seven clans and seven houses failed in their resistance, and they had to be like "fish in the river against the current", being driven from the big river to the small river, and from the small river to the small stream. The first time I saw this, I had to move to a more barren area again and again.

Now it is difficult to imagine how the ancestors of the Miao people were old and young, reluctant to say goodbye to their former homes, step by step, deep into the beasts in and out of the forests deep into the hinterland of western Hunan, where the sun does not see. Miao people love to sing songs, but even in some of today's very happy occasions, Miao song outlet will still make people listen to the bleak sadness, those choking and gulping intermittent tunes, never half a point to entertain their own meaning, but reveals a step by step a gasp five steps a turn back marks, perhaps these Miao song was born in the environment, it is the ancestors of the Miao Miao family's difficult and dangerous journey of the unpredictable future, right.

By the end of the Ming and early Qing dynasties, the Chinese population in the Central Plains, in order to solve the population and land conflicts, and constantly encroach on the Miao frontier, and the Miao people have been unable to retreat and guard, resulting in the Han and Miao two ethnic groups to fight for living space when the war. The Miao people were forced step by step into the southwest mountainous areas of the alpine zone, the living environment is more harsh.

According to the "Miao defense to prepare to see the customs of the examination": "Miao in the four seasons of the climate and the mainland to the different. Often black fog filled, Zhuo Wu began to slightly open.

When the cataracts, people and animals do not see each other, inch toes difficult to move. In the spring and summer, the rain is continuous, and for months and months, the resident mud is difficult to walk.

The rain just cleared up, the steam and humidity of the gas, invading the muscles and bones. The spring for the cave magma, the nature of the very cold and cold, drink the stomach, poor soil and water, outsiders living in the room, often born plague."

Home how to arrange feng shui can help career luck Feng Shui master Xu Shaofeng

Overview: the home's sitting to a large extent determines the ventilation and light of the home, a good sitting to bring fresh air to the home, as well as bright light, the bad sitting will be the home air haze, indoor darkness. This shows the role of orientation in the Feng Shui environment. Feng Shui master Xu Shaofeng pointed out that in Feng Shui theory, there are five elements of geography, namely, "dragon, point, sand, water, direction". The "direction" is one of the five elements. When doing feng shui, we should pay attention to the sitting direction, the sitting direction is the relationship between the dragon and the hall, with the sitting direction to distinguish the sequence. A home's sitting direction to a large extent determines the home's ventilation and light, good sitting direction can bring fresh air to the home, as well as bright light, bad sitting direction will be the home's air haze, indoor darkness. It can be seen that the house sitting direction in the feng shui environment plays a role. Feng Shui master Xu Shaofeng pointed out that the house Feng Shui sitting direction is not good will affect the feng shui. As we all know, in feng shui, to find a feng shui treasure, first of all, we need to find the dragon vein. After finding an active and vibrant dragon, you should find out where the dragon's point is according to the direction of the dragon. The point is the gathering point of the mountain range and is the best place to stay. Sand plays a decisive role in determining whether an environment has the effect of harboring wind and gathering qi. The direction of the house is the direction of the house, and its role is to choose the best degree in the knot point that has the effect of hiding wind and gathering qi in order to better receive the anger of the dragon vein. Feng Shui master Xu Shaofeng introduced, in the living dragon has the best gathering point of the knot point, surrounded by sand of the environment, choose a best sitting direction. Then the water and sand of the Ming Tang can be generated, resulting in an auspicious magnetic field. This magnetic field through the feng shui practice, it will be able to act on people, produce the effect of avoiding bad luck.

The direction of a house, facing what, will have a direct or indirect impact on the physical and mental health of people living in the house, as well as career development. If the residential door to a pandemonium of the garbage, garbage breeding pests and stench will be directly into the residence, breathing unhealthy air, looking at the dirty garbage, will not only make people physically and mentally unhealthy, but also affect people's mental mood, early in the morning out of the mood is not good, the day and can do what it is. But if, residential door facing the mountains and beautiful environment. Fresh air, gurgling water, birds and flowers, even if the mood is irritable, see such a beautiful scene will be in a good mood. Funeral scripture has a cloud: burial only multiply the anger. Feng Shui master Xu Shaofeng introduced, the direction is to dissolve hostility for the best method of peace, how to stand, directly related to its feng shui environment how. Below, Feng Shui master Xu Shaofeng summarized a few points to the main points for your reference.

1. Yang orientation. In China's thousands of years of residential construction, the sun has been one of the invariable basis for residential construction. In the design of the residence, to open the open side of the sun for the direction. In addition, if in the middle of the street, the wider or more pedestrian for the sun for the direction. If there is a sea and a river next to the building, the house should be water-oriented.

2. Sit with the real and face with the imaginary. Feng Shui master Xu Shaofeng introduced, the real refers to the room or stove or God's seat, the virtual refers to the balcony, living room. That is, residential sitting to the room, stove or God for sitting, to the balcony, living room for the direction. Modern homes, living rooms generally have a balcony, as a way to incorporate sunlight and fresh air, creating a comfortable residential environment.

3. If it is a rural residence, it will be situated on the mountain with water as the direction. If one after another, and there is a patio, we must take the patio as the direction, if there is no patio to most of the homes of the direction as the direction. If there is a pond on the side of the hall, then this should be the direction. If the yard is in the front, you should take the yard as the direction, if the yard is in the back, you should take the vegetable field as the sitting.

When moving, how to invite ancestors and gods

1. Choose a good day

2. First, invite the gods, and then the ancestors

3. row the seat of the gods to the direction

4. Otherwise, the impact of the family luck will be very large, can not be ignored!

Thank you basket, black umbrella (used when inviting ancestors, not the gods)

1. worship, inform the gods (ancestors) to move, the new home address xxxxxx

2. ancestral tablets in the thank you basket, leaving the old home, you need to hold umbrellas

3. thank you basket and incense at the same time on the car, and get on the car, get off the car, when crossing the bridge, have to talk to the ancestors

3. thank you basket and incense at the same time on the car, and get off the car, and cross the bridge, you need to talk to the ancestors

4.

※Ancestor tablets do not need to be tied with a red cloth, but only when a new ancestor tablet is bought and brought back

4. After arriving at the new home, the ancestors will be seated on the table of the gods

5. Before they are placed on the table of the gods, they must be burned (a gold bucket is placed in the middle of the living room)

6. The gods will be burned with longevity gold

7. The ancestors will be burned with cari gold

8.

8. After the installation, roll an oracle to ask if the gods (ancestors) have come to your new home

※If there is no oracle when you are installing your own seat, you need to consider if there is any other problem. If there is an oracle when you are installing your own seat, it doesn't mean that the gods (ancestors) of your family have come to your new home. There is a possibility that the spirits of outsiders may come to the gods of your family (ancestors), and give you an oracle

When you arrive at your new home, you need to report to the door god before your ancestors and gods can enter the door

The gods are your family gods, while your ancestors are your family members, so you don't need to report to the door god when you arrive at your new home!

How to eliminate disasters

The following information is cited for your reference, this is the southern custom, I do not know how your local situation.

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Playing the little man

Open Category: Wicca

Table of Contents

? Villain

? Time

? Place

? Ceremony

The beating of a small person is a popular witchcraft ritual in Hong Kong and Guangdong. It is hoped that this kind of witchcraft rituals to expel and revenge the so-called "villain".

Villain

The concept of "villain" does not only refer to a specific person, but can also be an unspecified person relative to the "nobleman". The traditional Chinese view of the universe is one of dichotomy, which has given rise to various folk beliefs in witchcraft, "yang" and "yin"; "heaven" and "earth"; "heaven" and "earth"; "heaven" and "earth"; "heaven" and "earth"; and "heaven" and "earth". "earth"; "positive" and "evil"; "male" and "female "...etc. The same applies to the "villain" and the "nobleman".

Time

The time to beat the little man of the temples around the world, the most popular day is the "hibernation", the other time is the sixth, sixteen, twenty-sixth of each month of the lunar calendar, or the calendar of the "Day of the Exclusion". "Hibernation" according to folklore is the hibernation of all things by the spring thunder awakening day, but also therefore a variety of bad things including villainous, White Tiger and other Xingjun also began to activities, so you must be at this time to fight the villain to avoid villainous for the harm. The day of "six" and the day of "removal" is the traditional Chinese cosmology of the number of yin, yin day, so it is also carried out on this day to lift the day of the villain.

Location

The fight against villainy is usually carried out in dark places, such as under bridges. In Hong Kong, the Goose's Neck Bridge between Causeway Bay and Wan Chai has become a popular place for villain hunting. Every hibernation, a lot of people go to the local land temple to do the villain hunting activities. In the past, most of them were old people, but in recent years, there are also young people participating in the activities.

Rituals

The purpose of witch hunting can be categorized into negative witchcraft for prevention and positive witchcraft for targeting specific people, and the rituals are a mix of simulated witchcraft and contact witchcraft.

The client entrusts a specific Goddess of Worship, a man who cuts paper in the shape of a man, writes on the paper the information of a specific person or does not write any information depending on the needs, and uses shoes or other objects to beat the paper to achieve the purpose of the client.

The whole ceremony can be divided into eight parts:

Worshiping the gods: using simple incense and candles to worship the gods of heaven and earth.

The endowment: the name and birth date of the principal are written on the Baiyi spiritual talisman. If you want to hit a specific villain, write or place the name of the specific villain, birth date, birth character, photo, clothes and other things that can represent the identity of the specific villain on the villain's paper.

Beat the villain: use various symbols such as the shoes of the commissioner or the practitioner, religious symbols of weapons and even incense sticks or cigarettes to beat and hurt the villain paper. Villain paper is divided into villain paper, man ding, woman ding, five ghosts paper and so on.

Sacrifice White Tiger: If the hibernation day to beat the villain is required to sacrifice the White Tiger. To yellow paper tiger on behalf of the white tiger, paper body painted with black markings, the corner of the mouth is painted with a pair of fangs. In general, small pieces of raw pork are dipped in pig's blood and put into the mouth of the paper tiger (feeding the paper tiger), so that when the tiger is full, it will not harm people again. The Goddess of Worship will also smear the mouth of the paper tiger with fatty raw pork, so that the tiger's mouth will be filled with oil and water, and the tiger will not be able to open its mouth to hurt people again. In some places, the paper tiger will be burnt or the head of the paper tiger will be cut off with a bronze sword after sacrificing the white tiger.

Defuse: All defilements, disasters, etc. to sprinkle sesame seeds, beans and other small objects or burn paper boats, hundred solutions to the spiritual talisman, etc. to eliminate disasters and solve the problem.

Blessing: Pray for the client's help with red nobleman paper.

Jinbao: Incinerate Yuanbao, gold and silver paper, etc. to offer to ghosts and gods.

打杯："To toss an oracle," two half-moon shaped pieces of wood with one side flat and one side curved outward are thrown. The two flat upward for the Yang Cup, downward for the Yin Cup, one down and one up for the Holy Grail. The presence of the chalice signifies the completion of the ritual.

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How did the Lantern Festival in China originate

Origin and allusions to the Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival originated in the Han Dynasty in China, and there are quite a lot of traditional folk customs , Taiwanese Proverbs and customs are also interesting, according to legend, Lu's rebellion in the 15th day of the first month of the pacification, so the Han Wendi will be set for the day of the Lantern Festival, and later the Han Wudi further set the Lantern Festival for the "on the first day of the Lantern Festival," ordered that day to the whole country to open the lanterns and knots? The festival was later named by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty as the "Lantern Festival" and ordered the whole country to set up lanterns on that day.

The Lantern Festival, also known as the "Shangyuan Festival", is considered by the public to be the birthday of the Taoist "Three Great Emperors" (the Three Worldly Kings), the "Supreme Emperor of Shangyuan, the First Grade, the Nine Blessings of the Heavenly Officer, the Dongling Yuanyang Ziwei Emperor", who is in charge of granting blessings, and from which comes the auspicious phrase "Heavenly Officers Grant Blessings".

There are many folk customs and proverbs related to the Lantern Festival, and among them, the "stealing custom" is one of the more special and interesting ones. Legend has it that on the night of the Lantern Festival, men and women in their last marriage would "steal green onions to get a good marriage, steal cabbage to get a good son-in-law, jump over vegetables to get a good marriage, and steal a good old man to get a good one," and that newlywed women and married women who wish to have a son can "steal a bamboo fence to get a man on the night of the Lantern Festival" or go to the temple "to get the lanterns, so that the ruan尪 can become an ace at the end of the year, and the ruanib can become an ace at the end of the year," on the same night. On the day of the Lantern Festival, they can also go to temples to "get a man at the end of the year".

In addition, it is also customary to use "listening to incense" on the night of the Lantern Festival to divine luck. Those who wish to do so can tell the gods in the hall of the gods in their homes what they wish to divine, and then toss an oracle to determine the direction in which they will go out and listen carefully to the conversations of the people on the way, and then ask the gods for instructions to determine the luck of the day based on the contents of the conversation they have heard when they return home.

There is also a lesser-known Lantern Festival custom of "sacrificing to Dong Shi Niang". According to legend, Dong Shi, an ugly girl in the Warring States period, was very good at red wine, and she drowned on the night of the Lantern Festival when she was twenty years old while trying to collect an embroidered shoe from a latrine.

Customs

Customs

The Lantern Festival is a traditional Chinese festival, so it is celebrated all over the country, and the customs are similar in most regions, but each region has its own characteristics.

Eating Lantern Festival

On the 15th day of the first month, we eat Lantern Festival, "Lantern Festival" as a food, has a long history in China. Song Dynasty, the folk that is popular a Lantern Festival to eat the novelty of food. This kind of food, the earliest called "floating yuanzi" later called "Lantern", businessmen also beautifully called "Yuanbao". Lantern that is "dumplings" to sugar, rose, sesame, bean paste, yellow cinnamon, walnuts, nuts, jujube paste, etc. for the filling, wrapped in glutinous rice flour into a round shape, can be meat or vegetarian, with a variety of flavors. It can be boiled in soup, deep-fried or steamed, and has the meaning of reunion. Shaanxi dumplings are not packaged, but in the glutinous rice flour "roll" into, or cook Division or deep-fried, hot fire, reunion.

Watching the lanterns

During the Yongping years of Emperor Mingdi of the Han Dynasty (58-75 AD), when Emperor Mingdi advocated Buddhism, Cai Chuan returned from India, claiming that on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the country of Moghul, monks gathered to worship the Buddha's relics, which was an auspicious time to visit the Buddha. Han Mingdi in order to promote Buddhism, ordered the night of the 15th of the first month in the palace and the temple "lighted table Buddha". Since then, the Lantern Lantern custom by the original only held in the palace and spread to the people. That is, every first month of the fifteenth, regardless of the scholarly or common people to hang lights, urban and rural all-night lights.

The custom of Lantern Festival, in the Tang Dynasty, developed into an unprecedented Lantern Market, when the capital city of Chang'an was the world's largest city with a population of millions of people, and the society was affluent. In the emperor's personal advocacy, the Lantern Festival was held more and more luxurious. After the Middle Tang Dynasty, it became a national carnival. Tang Xuanzong (685 - 762 AD) when the beginning of the heyday, Chang'an lamp market is very large, burning lamps 50,000, lanterns, lanterns, the emperor ordered to do a giant lamp building, as wide as 20 rooms, 150 feet high, golden light, extremely spectacular.

Song Dynasty, Lantern Festival Lantern Festival in both the scale and the light of the fantasy exquisite than the Tang Dynasty, and the activities of the more civilized, stronger national characteristics. Later generations of Lantern Festival continues to develop, the festival of lights is also longer and longer,. Tang Dynasty Lantern Festival is "one day before and after the first yuan", the Song Dynasty and in the sixteen days after the addition of two days, the Ming Dynasty was extended to eight to eighteen full ten days.

To the Qing Dynasty, the Manchu dominated the Central Plains, the court no longer run the Lantern Festival, the folk lanterns are still spectacular. The date was shortened to five days, and it continues to this day.

Lamps in Taiwanese folklore have the meaning of light and add a child, lighting lamps has the meaning of lighting up the future, and the Taiwanese language lamps and ding resonate on behalf of the birth of a boy, so in the past, the Lantern Festival, women will intentionally in the lamps swim downstream in the hope of "drilling lamps feet born eggs" (that is, drilling downstream under the lamps, so as to give birth to a boy).