Worshiping God at the end of the year in Chaoshan

Worshipping God at the end of the year

Worshipping God at the end of the year

There are two major rituals in the life of the Chaoshan people, the first one is to drink tea, and the Chaoshan people feel uncomfortable if they don't have tea for a day. The other one is to worship the gods, which is also the belief of the Chaoshan people, and the following is the worship of gods at the end of the Chaoshan New Year.

The worship of gods in Chaoshan is famously grand, and it is the peak season for worshiping gods at the end of the year, when all the families are busy with their work, and the degree of the old heat is comparable to the Spring Festival.

The end of the year to worship God, originally a custom of the northern pioneers, pre-Qin has been. At the end of each year, after the crops are harvested, a ceremony to thank the gods for their gifts. The ancestors of Chaoshan gradually immigrated from the Central Plains after the Jin Dynasty to escape from the wars in the north, and because of their remote location, they were less exposed to the impact of foreign cultures. Therefore, many customs have been passed down from generation to generation, and worshipping the gods has become the most solemn and important indispensable event for every family in Chaoshan.

Before worshiping the gods, we have to do a lot of hygiene, all the things in the house should be washed and cleaned, the men have to cut their hair and shave their beards, and the people who go out have to rush back as much as possible. And there are many taboos, such as worshipping the gods must not be involved with red and white things, women to avoid menstrual leave, the family should be happy face, never say disrespectful words to God, debt collectors should also be avoided, there can not be any noise, and so on. The gods to be worshipped are: Jade Emperor, God of Heaven, South Star, North Star, King of the Three Mountains, Saint King of Shuangzhong, Gods, Master Fude, Mother Pearl, and the unique "Masters" and "Bogongs" of each township and each village, ranging from about twenty to forty or fifty. The worship of God is divided into general "end of the year worship God" (commonly known as "worship God") and "worship God" two categories.

The general year-end worship offerings of poor families are of two types, food: pork, chicken (to worship the God of the Jade Emperor must be a rooster, to worship others are not limited), ducks, fish (usually fish or grass carp), mandarin orange, cabbage, chervil, fungus, fried peanuts, three cups of tea, three cups of wine, two sugar pagodas, sweet potatoes, four bowls of round, and various kinds of kuey teow, and so on. Kuey teow, such as more than 60 to 70 centimeters in diameter, rice lambs, more than 60 to 70 centimeters in diameter, large bread, bread, small bread, red-shelled peaches, "noodle head boy", etc.; in the food should also be affixed to the corresponding pattern of various types of auspicious paper cuttings. Paste framing category: the size of the pole money, money pairs, treasure, Jin Si, stickers, incense, candles and so on.

A god to offer food offerings and paste framed offerings each one. Prominent gods, such as the Jade Emperor God (Shantou Chao people called "heaven") food offerings are chicken, duck, pork, fish, sugar tower, tea, wine, pineapple, incense, fungus, the largest one kuey teow, etc.; paste framed offerings are: four pairs of large pole money (about 90CM × 40CM), respectively, written on the door of the money, money, money, money, money, money, blessing money, big money pairs, money, money, money, money, money, money, Blessing money, etc., three pairs of large money, each about half a catty, a large treasure, a sticker, three large incense, a pair of large candles (should be more than half a catty), one hundred and twenty jinshi, firecrackers, a string. The general gods are fish and meat discretionary, a kuey teow, a sticker, three incense, a pair of candles, four small rod (written in the same content and large rod of money), three small pairs of money, a Yuanbao, thirty-six Jinshi, and so on. When worshipping the god, they also play a record of Teochew Opera, the content is the Teochew Opera "Cai Lou Ji" in the "Terrace Meeting". A little rich family also invited people to play the jiao-festival, the jiao-festival is to "shed" counting, at least to play four "shed" jiao-festival, more than a dozen to dozens of "shed" ranging. It costs more than a thousand to a few thousand dollars to do this.

Before worshipping the gods, everyone should be bathed and dressed, and women should wear waist skirts. The head of the family lights a candle and puts on three large joss sticks of incense, and then the women start to worship. See the worshippers hand holding incense worship, mouth reciting words. The content of the chanting is to report the year's events to the god, pray to the god, make a wish, and return the wish that was made while worshipping the god on New Year's Day. Just see a kneeling down on the mouth to read non-stop, half an hour did not stand up, some even to stand up to faint. Sacrificial worship, another person while burning paste framed offerings, worship a burn a paste framed offerings, burn paste framed offerings will be more than two hours in a row. I don't know whether the gods have the heart to listen to the long prayers of the good men and women, perhaps the gods are listening to them, unknowingly into the depths of the dream world by mistake? The food offerings should be shared with friends and relatives and neighbors, and every family should give a share.

Therefore, the year-end worship expenses are quite a lot, and you have to be busy for many days. It costs at least seven to eight hundred dollars just to buy and mount the offerings. The poor families spend more than a thousand to two thousand dollars to worship the gods, and the rich families spend at least a few thousand or tens of thousands of dollars. The first thing that you need to do is to get your hands on some of the most popular products and services in the world, and then you can get your hands on some of the most popular products and services in the world.

Worship God to full pig full sheep chicken, goose, duck, fish, kuey teow, etc. countless, paste framed class offerings is more surprising, like a house as high as the sky God robe, long more than a meter of the sky God cap, etc., the light framed class offerings have to spend 10,000 to tens of thousands of dollars. But also to the temples in the package of incense to invite the gods, to invite the gods to hundreds of people (all men) holding incense with them. To send a gift to accompany each person, the gift of the least is an umbrella a towel, the gift of a heavy set of high-grade suits and a pair of high-grade leather shoes. Also invited to set up a theater, invited the Chaozhou Opera Troupe performance. After worshipping the gods to participate in the invitation to the gods to send each person a gift bag.

The first time I went to the city, I had to go back to my hometown in Chaoyang to pay my respects to the gods.

I remember working in Beijing for more than thirty years, only two or three times coincided with the time to participate in the worship of God. The three cities in Chaoshan have been practicing this custom for thousands of years, and Chaoyang, Chaonan, and Dahao are famous for their grandeur. At the end of the year, when the worship season is at its peak, all families, young and old, are busy, and the degree of bustle is comparable to that of the Chinese New Year. The culture of worship is so grand, how many people know the ins and outs of the culture?

The origin of worship

The end of the year to worship God, originally a custom of the northern pioneers, the earliest in the pre-Qin Dynasty. At the end of each year, after harvesting crops, a ceremony to thank the gods for their gifts. Chao Yang's ancestors were after the Jin Dynasty, in order to escape the war in the north, from the Central Plains gradually immigrated here, due to the remoteness, less by the impact of foreign culture. Therefore, many customs have been passed down from generation to generation, and worshipping the gods has become the most solemn and important indispensable event of the year for every family in Chaoshan.

Worshiping God at the end of the year was originally a custom of the northern ancestors in the pre-Qin Dynasty, and it was a kind of ceremony for the common people to thank the heaven for the gifts at the end of the year after harvesting the crops. The ancestors of Chaoshan were gradually immigrated from the Central Plains in the late Jin Dynasty to escape from the war in the north. Due to the remoteness of the area, many of the customs of the Central Plains brought by the ancestors have been passed down from generation to generation, with fewer impacts from the outside.

The worship of gods in the north has long been diluted, while the worship of gods has become the most solemn, important and indispensable event in every family in Chaoshan. Chaoshan people worship God, first of all, is the inheritance of the ancestors of the people of the Yellow River, the root of the worship and remembrance, Chaoshan people worship God, in fact, basically are people, with a name and a story, they are in the world for the inheritance of the people of the Yellow River and the development of the people of the nation's dedication to the blood and even the life of the merit of the Chaoshan people in memory of the merits of the sages and virtue of the generations to pay homage to the essence of the culture of the Chinese summer, and today is more embodiment of the spirit of a blessing to send.

Worshiping the gods

First of all, choose an auspicious day for the whole family, and in some cases, it is also the right time to offer incense. Before worshipping the gods, we have to do a lot of hygiene, inside and outside of the house, and to worship the gods of the dishes should be washed and cleaned, men have to cut their hair and shave their beards, and those who go out to come back as soon as possible.

Such as worshipping the gods must not be and red and white affair;

Women to avoid the menstrual period;

The family should be happy, never say disrespectful words to the gods;

Debt collectors should be shunned, there can not be any noise, etc.

The family should be happy, never say disrespectful words to the gods;

Debt collectors should be shunned, there can not be any noise.

Gods

Jade Emperor, God of Heaven, South Star, North Star, King of the Three Mountains, Sacred King of Shuangzhong (Zhang Xuan and Xu Yuan of the Tang Dynasty), A-Ma Zu (Lin Mo of the Song Dynasty), Wang Hai, the God of Wealth of the Five Roads (in the middle), Bigan, the God of Wealth of the Wen Dynasty (in the east), Guan Yu, the God of Wealth of the Martial Art (in the west), Fan Li, the God of the South, Zhao Gongming, the God of the North, and the Gods of the House of God and the Goddess of Fudu, Pearl Queen, and each township and village unique "Master", "Bogong", etc., varying from place to place, there are about two dozen to forty or fifty ranging.

Classification of worship

Worship is divided into general "end of the year worship (commonly known as "worship of the God of Heaven") and "worship of the Great Spirit" two categories, worship of the Great Spirit is more grand. The worship of the Great God is more solemn. Offerings for worshiping the gods A few days in advance, women do a large amount of labor and prepare two major types of offerings, called worship offerings. The food category includes: three kinds of pork, fish (usually fish or grass carp), chicken (the rooster is necessary to worship the God of Jade Emperor, but not for the others), plus lobster and goat; five kinds of fruits such as oranges and tangerines; more than six kinds of fasting vegetables such as cabbage, mushrooms, fungus, fried peanuts, bean curd, dried tofu and so on; sweet soup with sugar, ginger and potato rounds; deep-fried sweet potato Lua and oil kuey teow; and all kinds of rice and noodle kuey teow.

All kinds of auspicious paper cutouts with corresponding designs are pasted on the food. There are also cigarettes, tea, wine and flowers. The papier-mache mounted offerings include: big pole money (about 90cm x 40cm), with family money, peace money, wealth money, blessing money, etc. written on it; big money pairs, big Yuanbao, red stickers, incense, candles, small pole money (written on the same content as the big pole money), small money pairs, Yuanbao, Jinshi, etc.

Of course, there are many kinds of paper cutouts on the food, and the food is made of rice and noodles.

Of course, the specific varieties and quantities of the two types of offerings vary across Chaoshan and from family to family. What is even more amazing is that the huge market demand has now given birth to a long and sizable industrial chain, creating a large number of jobs

When worshipping the gods, they have to play Teochew Opera records, the content of which is the Teochew Opera "Cai Lou Zhi" in the "Terrace meeting". The rich people also invited the opera troupe to perform Chiu Chow opera, and invited the god to perform jiao-festival, the performance, jiao-festival to "shed" count, at least four "shed", more dozens of dozens of "shed" ranging.

Worship rituals

Worship God before the family should be bathed and dressed, this day will be one to a dozen Baxian table lifted out of the pattern of auspicious and exquisite Baxian tent tied to the Baxian table. When the auspicious time comes, the head of the family lights candles and puts on three sticks of incense. Then, the hostess of the grand appearance of kneeling, holding three incense and red post, reciting words in his mouth, reported that the first day of the first month or the first nine of the wish, a year of God's grace to shine on the changes in the family, today's wish to thank you, etc., not half an hour I guess can not stand up. Then, according to the eldest and youngest men and women in order to honor the incense, kneeling. Friends and relatives who come to congratulate the gods are also invited to offer incense. The gods listen patiently to the long prayers of the faithful for hours.

After worshiping the gods, the offerings are burned that night, and the next day, the food offerings are given to friends, relatives, and neighbors to share the joy of Dharma. The year-end worship God, a dozen tables side by side, three incense can also be! Poor family thrifty set of hundreds of dollars to thank the grace, the working class carefully accumulated thousands of dollars to pay back the wish, the rich and powerful tens of thousands of hundreds of thousands of millions of offerings also have no hesitation, abundance and frugality are different, the heart of the sincerity of the heart is the **** nature.

Worship God, the night of burning paste framed offerings, the next day will be food offerings sent to friends and relatives and neighbors, to share the joy of the law. The year-end worship, more than a dozen tables side by side, three incense can also be! Poor family thrifty set of hundreds of dollars to thank the grace, the working class careful accumulation of thousands of dollars to return the wish, the rich and powerful official tens of thousands of hundreds of thousands of millions of offerings also do not hesitate to do so, abundance and thrift are different, the heart of sincerity is the **** nature.

With the times, when I was a kid, the offerings were basically prepared by the family themselves. My father killed chickens and fish, big pot of water boiled chicken, we learn while playing, my mother in the stone mortar Tsubaki rice, steamed all kinds of rice kuey teow noodle kuey teow, deep-fried oil dumplings, sweet potato Lua, we all after school to help or to help down the help of the most happy, the most happy is to use the semi-circular type of steel knife in the pole money printing, with the vermilion brush in the pole money writing, said write pole money, I'm a little bit of brush skills may be with the child every year to write the pole money related. Now most of the offerings are outsourcing, adults save trouble, 90 after 00 after the insight, skills are all gone. In the past, the worship of God must be three animals and five animals, now many families only use flowers and fruit offerings, the ceremony is also constantly simplified.

In the past, the hostess would wear a special apron when worshipping the gods, called the worship skirt, but now it is simplified. In the past, they would invite their friends and relatives to drink wine to honor the gods, but now it is simplified.

... Chaoshan worship continues to this day, 30 ~ 70 after the crowd is still quite important, in part after 80, most of the 90 after 00 after the mind more and more will be diluted indifference. The traditional culture should be counted to be carried forward, or counted bad habits gradually simplified and simplified?

The 'ritual' of worshiping the gods in Chaoshan

part.1

Tea drop + worshiping the gods = Chaoshan

In the life of a Chaoshan, there are only two things you need to do. Two things to do, drop tea and worship God:

Worship the Jade Emperor on the first and fifteenth day of the month; worship the landlord on the second and sixteenth day of the month; worship Mazu on the third and seventeenth day of the month; worship the God of Wealth on the fourth and eighteenth day of the month; worship the Goddess of Wugu on the fifth and nineteenth day of the month; worship the Pearl Queen on the sixth and twentieth day of the month; worship the King of the Three Mountains on the seventh and twenty-first day of the month; worship the Lord of Shouxing on the eighth and twenty-second day of the month; worship the Goddess of Mercy on the ninth and twenty-third day of the month; worship the Goddess of Wisdom on the tenth and twenty-fourth day of the month; Eleven, twenty-five worship Bogong; twelve, twenty-six worship lice mother fairy; thirteen, twenty-seven worship Hexian nun; fourteen, twenty-eight worship Taibai Jinxing ......

Three days a small worship, five days a large worship, in addition to New Year's Eve village and townships to organize the collective worship program, private families will also be based on their own preferences and needs to pay different The first time I saw this, I was in the middle of a long journey, and it was a long time before I was able to get to the top of the list.

▲There are even some places in Chaoshan that have formed a "temple street"

The Chaoshan people worship a variety of gods, such as the sun, the moon and the stars and other natural phenomena, the ancient sages, the national heroes, and even Li Bai, Lu Ban, the Monkey King ...... as long as there is a realistic need, all kinds of objects can be created. need, a variety of items can all make a god out of worship.

The Chaoshan people worship God across the Buddha, Taoism, Confucianism differences, whether it is Buddhism's Sakyamuni, Dharma ancestors, Taoism's Jade Emperor Wangmu, Guan Gong, or traditional folk beliefs in the A-Ma Zu, the king of the three mountains, the village head of the "Bogong" and the family's "landlord", we are all very harmonious and harmonious. "All of them are standing side by side in a very harmonious ****.

▲Chaoshan people worship God's grandeur

Like Shantou Qingyunyan, there are Buddhist Daxiongbao Hall, but also enshrined in the Xuanwu Hall of XuanTian God; Puning's Panglongge is a Taoist temple, next to the Buddhist temple is called Panglongge Temple; Lufeng's Xuanwu Hall was originally orthodox *** enshrine the northern emperor God Xuanwu Taoist temple, but in front of the Xuanwu God put a statue of the Buddha, the name is also into the "Yuanshan Temple".

For the Chaoshan people, worshipping the god is a casual thing, and we forward a koi to make a wish without any difference.

part.2

Worshipping the gods with a sense of ceremony

Despite the fact that it may seem "not very heartfelt" and "a bit casual", it doesn't affect the sense of solemnity and ceremony that the Chaoshan people have when worshipping the gods.

Although it seems to be "not very heartfelt" and "a little casual", it does not affect the solemn sense of ceremony when the Chaoshan people worship God.

A few tables in the hall of the house, then set up chairs on the big seat, the male members of the family to invite the public ancestral stove, and then invite the door god, and finally, according to the size of the generation order, one by one, kneeling in front of the incense, to the gods to report to the results of the year's work. The situation is probably like this:

The player introduced to the ancestors now is our old Li family X generation in the most worrying juniors, 24 years old this year, graduated from the University of two years, not only did not get into the civil service, and so far the mother of the single, but also please the ancestors in the above care more ......

In addition to this incense type "ask God", the Chaoshan people also developed a whole set of systematic divination ask God ceremony, that is, the Chaoshan people's "throw the cup": "two pieces of wood cut into the shape of a crescent moon, protruding from the outside and the inside is flat, convex for the yin and flat for the yang, the old man in the village over 70 years of age, the village will be the first time to ask the God. The old man over 70 years old in the village will throw the cups to detect the number of yin and yang.

If you throw a yin and a yang, it is a "victory cup", which means that the gods think that what you are asking for can be accomplished; two yangs is a "smile cup", which means that about 50% of what you are asking for is likely to come true, and if you throw two yin, it is a "stable cup", which means that what you are wishing for is likely to be accomplished. The first is the "I'm not sure I can do this".

▲The two yang is "smile cup"

In addition to the universal incense burner, the ground, the Chaoshan people will also be carefully prepared to "love offerings", no wonder the Chaoshan region is always shot endless "tongue" material, after all, people's production of food standards are all The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you have a good idea of what you're doing, and that you're doing it right.

Like the Spring Festival New Year's Eve's rat kuey teow and red peach kuey teow, the Chinese New Year's Day's anzai kuey teow, the Mother of Grains Festival's tip-tan kuey teow and grain kuey teow, etc., in addition to hair kuey teow, rice-free kuey teow, beetroot kuey teow, ping-pong kuey teow, etc., almost all the festivals of the ceremonial occasions people will be prepared to peach kuey teow.

▲Fried Peach Kway Teow

In order to show that their own village is the best in terms of the products they offer, there are also food competitions between the villages. Competitions such as the "Big Pig Race", "Big Goose Race", and the "Bamboo Shooting" contests have given birth to countless classic Chaoshan delicacies. For example, the most famous Chaozhou brine goose, is after decades of "goose race" activities countless times to optimize, from the table into the common people's homes.

In order to make the "masters" happy, the Chaoshan people have also developed a variety of operas and plays to perform at the festival, such as Teochew Opera, Tiezhi Puppet Show, Yingge Dance ...... a large string of firecrackers cracking loudly.

▲The performances during the worship of gods in Chaoshan

part.3

In Chaoshan, your mom is probably the closest person to the gods

In Chaoshan, the person who takes up the role of the daily worship of the gods, offerings to the gods, pilgrimage, etc., is either your mom, or your grandma, or grandma. It is said that men in Chaoshan are drinking tea and water all their lives, while women are worshipping the gods all their lives.

▲Chaoshan girls from a young age began to worship God | Image source: microblog screenshot

Chaoshan daughters in their early teens have to follow their mothers to learn to make "kueyue" for the gods, Chaoshan daughters-in-law to inherit the mantle of the mother-in-law will be "worship" tradition to pass on, the "kueyue" tradition is not only the most important, it is also the most important, the most important thing for the people of Chaoshan. "Once a daughter-in-law enters the family, she has to inherit the mantle of her mother-in-law and pass on the tradition of worshipping the gods, making sure that she can tell the name and main function of each lord, as well as straighten out the relationships and demands of the family's old and young members. When the children grow up, they have to pray to the gods for a good marriage, and when a new member of the family is added, they have to go to the ancestral hall to tell their ancestors ......

"Do a good job of combining meat and vegetables, not all dry and not all wet, and not singular but also not repetitive, and you have to be able to say the auspicious words to the gods!

▲The women of Chaoshan who are busy with the worship of the gods | Image Source: twitter.com.cn

part.4

Why are Chaoshan people so fond of worshiping the gods?

Although worshipping the gods is a common custom among Chinese people in both the north and the south, there are not many people who can do it in such a grand way as the Chaoshan people do.

The Chaoshan region is situated on the back of the Five Ridges and facing the South China Sea, and unlike other deep inland areas, the sea is both a "desperate" and a "way of life" for the Chaoshan people, who often call fishing in the sea a "sea of discussion", which is a way of fighting with the sky. The Chaoshan people often call going to the sea for fishing as "seeking the sea", which has a little meaning of fighting with the sky for one's life. In this kind of danger and chance are gathered in the territory, to trust themselves to the unknown gods, naturally becomes the best way to resolve the fear.

▲At the time of the eight festivals, the Chaoshan people worship their ancestors and gods

Don't look at the Chaoshan people worshiping the gods, but they are "not superstitious" and are very practical:

In the eyes of the Chaoshan people, no matter what you do, you can't be sure that you're not going to get the best out of them. In the eyes of the Chaoshan people, regardless of whether you are natural or artificial, as long as you can tell a story, what "manifestation" of things, can be worshipped, and the Buddha, Jesus in the hearts of the Chaoshan people in the status of the gap is not too big. Simple point, on the column of incense and broken thoughts can be, generous point, on the big set of offerings, are very best, not bound to the fixed rituals and regulations, sincere can be.

▲ ▲ around the statue of God is full of people to pay tribute to the incense

So, for the Chaoshan people, worship, is a piece of bone into the habitual action. They know how to create what they need, and each of the gods has its own role to play in making the lives of the Chaoshan people better.