Customs of Wuzhen Water Town

After the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month, the Spring Festival in Wuzhen is officially over.

With the changes of the times, Wuzhen New Year's Eve customs are also quietly changing, some of the above mentioned customs are no longer all the people of Wuzhen New Year's Eve essential program. But there are still a considerable portion of the residents adhere to the traditional way of New Year's Eve, the red-hot, joyful Spring Festival, is the Wuzhen people release joy and blessings of the day, but also become the eyes of tourists from all over the world a bright scenery.

Wuzhen Incense Market

"Incense Market" is an old folk custom in Wuzhen. "Some places call it "Temple Market" or "Temple Fair", which has a long history and is said to have existed in the Tang Dynasty.

Mao Dun in 1933 had "incense market" as the title of the article, depicting the scene of this folk custom in Wuzhen. "After the Qingming Festival, there is the so-called Incense Market in our town as usual, which lasts for about half a month at the beginning and the end," he wrote. "The location of the incense market is at the Social Temple." "The main activities of the incense market

are just 'eating' and 'playing'. Makeshift teepees, juggling arenas, jar and pang, rope-walking, triple-hanging martial arts classes, tigers, shorties, string-carrying plays, funky children's plays, western mirrors, -- packed the large square of fifty to sixty acres in front of the She Temple to the rafters."

Every year in March, the town's various rows of stores, one after another to the square in front of the land temple, set up temporary stalls, selling goods. There were toy stalls, fruit stalls, cake stalls, and everything in between. Especially on the tea stalls, one after another, as if a grand tea feast.

At the beginning of the incense market, a variety of foreign "theater troupe" are also on schedule to arrive, each selected site, open-air performances. What horse racing, puppetry, funky children's theater, monkeys changing tricks, magic acrobatics, animal exhibits, a variety of different, all kinds of strange. Do funky children's theater stage, built in front of the temple

face south of the high slopes. The play is made for God to see, commonly known as do God theater. The cost of the play by the town businessmen to share, the people of the incense market to take advantage of God's light, can see the white play. The first play is called "Windstorm Pavilion" in honor of Yue Fei.

The temple inside is the world of God, a candle inserted all over the Buddha platform, illuminated dazzling; a root root sandalwood incense smoke, smoked full of fuzzy face; a clay Buddha sitting silently; an incense guest kowtow devoutly. Inside and outside the temple, the sound of wooden fish, hawking, banging gongs and drums, noisy

, resounded into a piece, miles away can also be heard.

During this period, peasants from the four townships, all in groups, took the boat, or rocked the bare shoulders of the boat to catch the incense market. They either carry yellow bags or bamboo incense baskets, selling their own bamboo utensils, or other products, and shopping for much-needed supplies. So the incense market is actually a form of bazaar.

The rural women who catch the incense market, there is another activity, that is, after burning incense in the temple, but also to the land temple in front of the pool of water, wash their hands, commonly known as "wash silkworm flower hand. It is said that after washing hands there, raising silkworms will be disease-free. This is a special

custom of Wuzhen silkworm township.

Marshal will

Old times. Every year on the 15th day of the 5th lunar month, Wuzhen has a special custom, that is, to welcome a plague marshal will.

The statue of Marshal Plague in Xiuzhen Guan has a green face and fangs. His head and hands are made of colored porcelain. It is said that when he was alive, he was a white-faced scholar, but in order to protect one side of the townspeople, threw himself into a poisoned well and died, so that he became like this. So people worship him as God, called this plague Marshal,

specializing in epidemic ghosts, to protect the local peace.

Wuzhen in May of the lunar calendar to welcome the plague marshal will be in order to catch and drive away the plague gods and ghosts, blessing the upcoming summer epidemic period of peace. Although the plague marshal is called marshal, it seems to be of low status, so the path to welcome the meeting is not long. Characterized by two people to carry a black glazed ceramic Beng, Beng and a

porcelain green-faced ghost head, the head of a thin rope, wearing a pulley in the center of the bar, carry Beng people walking while tugging on the thin rope, the ghost head in the mouth of the Beng a hidden one, said the "collection of the epidemic ghosts". The end of the meeting, the cover of the Beng Beng, then sealed with a seal painted with incantations, placed under the altar of the plague marshal.

It seems that this is a toss, has collected all the plague God epidemic ghosts in Wuzhen.

Water town wedding

Wuzhen old customary marriage by parents and friends as a matchmaker marriage. First of all, the two families to explore the doorway, called the "name". Both sides agree, each other

exchange gung stickers, called "betrothal". After that, there is the process of "seeking auspicious" and "back to auspicious". Welcome to the bride to color with drums and music to welcome the bride into

Tang, after the ceremony, with the cave, family and friends congratulations, the master set up a feast for guests and friends, wine, friends and relatives to go into the cave to laugh at the new into the new, said

"room". The next day, the new couple back together to marry, said "eat back to the door wine", the same day back together, the wedding was finished.

Water Dragon Club

Wuzhen firefighting will be well-organized, sub-style clear, the two towns **** 26 Square, some alone, some joint establishment of the "Dragon Room" and will save the club. Long room with various types of water hoses and corresponding fire extinguishers. There is also a special person in charge of each square of the "gong hand". In case of fire, the person concerned

/cms/html/wzh/2007-7/5/18321439_6.html