What are the folk customs about February 2nd?

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Folk customs on February 2 include attracting money dragons, shaving dragon heads, painting barns, lighting beams, worshiping the earth god, avoiding touching needles, and frying longan beans. I have to get a haircut on February 2. Every year, on the day when the dragon raises its head, barber shops are full. Another thing is to take care of the roof beams, because February 2 is the time of the Waking of Insects, and the bugs have all woken up, so you have to drive them out of the house.

The folk customs of February 2 are as follows:

1. Attracting money dragon

In most areas of the north, there is a custom of attracting money dragon. Early in the morning on February 2nd, people carried water back from the well and the river. When the water tank is full, use a dustpan to hold the kitchen ashes and spread them from outside the gate into the courtyard in a zigzag manner, until you reach the water tank, and then spread them in a circle around the water tank. People have two wishes for this event: First, it will bring back the "Qian Dragon", which symbolizes money and wealth. This year, production will be prosperous and business will be prosperous. The second is that after the dragon is lured back, snakes, scorpions and insects will not dare to move out. At that time, due to poor medical conditions, hundreds of insects were rampant and diseases were prevalent. People used insects to prevent diseases and ensure the health of their family.

2. Shaving the Dragon Head

There is a folk custom of not shaving the head in the first lunar month, but every February when the dragon raises its head, both young and old have to get a haircut, which is called "shaving the dragon head". . There is a folk saying that people don’t have haircuts during the first lunar month. From the time when the head is shaved during the Chinese New Year to February 2nd, it is more than a month, and the hair has grown long. It is the time to shave the head. People call shaving the head as shaving the dragon head. A "dragon" character is used to bring good luck. It is said that shaving your head on this day can make you healthy, fly freely in the sky like a dragon, and you will be prosperous in the future.

3. Painting a warehouse

There is a proverb: On February 2, the dragon raises its head, big stores are full, and small stores are full. On the Dragon Head Festival, the custom of "painting warehouses" is popular in many places in northern my country. Early that morning, every household was drawing barns in the threshing floor or in the courtyard. The custom of painting a warehouse is to pray for a good harvest and a full warehouse in the new year. In some places, chickens or cats are cut out of paper, smoked with pine tree seeds, and pasted on the wall to represent chickens eating bugs and cats catching mice to avoid bugs and mice damaging the food.

4. Shine on the beams of the house

As the saying goes? On February 2, if you shine on the beams of the house, scorpions and centipedes will have nowhere to hide. On the second day of the second lunar month, the weather gradually gets warmer. Traditional folk customs emphasize cleaning the house on this day to keep the house clean and drive away pests. Therefore, there is a saying that "February 2, smoke out insects". The method is to light the remaining candles from the New Year sacrifices on February 2nd and shine them on the beams and walls to drive away scorpions, centipedes and other insects. The insects that are about to revive will automatically fall down after being illuminated by the wax light, and can be driven away to achieve the purpose of eliminating disasters, preventing diseases, and ensuring health.

5. Sacrifice to the God of the Earth

The second day of February is the birthday of the God of the Earth, and there is a custom of worshiping the God of the Earth in various places. Among the people, the image of the Ten Earth Gods is mostly portrayed as an old man with chicken skin and white hair. He wears earth-colored robes and holds a cane. In the early morning of the second day of February, every household puts various crystals in front of the land shrine, lights incense candles, and sets off firecrackers to celebrate the birthday of the land god, praying to the land god to guard against evil spirits and tigers and wolves at the gate or at the entrance of the village. . In addition, we also pray to the God of the Earth to bless the seedlings in the fields to grow vigorously and ensure that the warehouses are full of grains after autumn.

6. Avoid moving needles

Women do not do needlework, but they do not do needlework on February 2. It is said that when the dragon raises its head, moving the needle will cause injury. Dragon's eyes, in order to avoid hurting the dragon's eyes, do not do any needlework on this day. Our country has a vast territory and a large population, and the folk activities held on February 2 are also rich and colorful. She people in Fujian, Zhejiang and other provinces carry out "Pan Song" activities on February 2nd; many people in central Sichuan also "welcome wealth" on February 2nd and so on. Looking at various folk activities on February 2, most of them are related to the dragon and have strong feudal superstition. Nowadays, with the gradual popularization of science and technology, the enhanced ability to defeat natural disasters and diseases, and the prosperity of people's lives, people who place their hope on dragons may no longer exist, or at least the level of superstition has been reduced. Many customs of this festival have also gradually Forgotten, but there is still something positive about cleaning the house and keeping things clean.

7. Fried longan beans

On this day, the dragon raises its head, so the fried beans are called "longan beans". The most standard thing about fried longan beans is that they have black, round soybeans with brown circles on them, which are similar to eyeballs. This is the most popular among children. But most people don't have this kind of beans, so they fry ordinary soybeans, broad beans, peas, etc. In some places, there is a custom of "sacrifice hundreds of insects". That is, the aged grains are ground into powder, kneaded into the shapes of various animals and fruits, steamed and then inserted on green bamboo poles, and sent to the fields or ancestral graves to worship the God of Insects, so that the insects will no longer damage the crops.