What are the folklore of Zhangzhou?

Chinese New Year: The first day of the first month of the lunar calendar is the most important folk festival. People get up at dawn, set off firecrackers, say congratulations to each other and pay respect to each other. Breakfast on this day, southern Fujian people generally do not cook new rice, but eat the New Year's Eve of the "remainder of the rice", for good luck, and pray for the coming year "have more". Zhangzhou people eat "sweet noodle line", commonly known as "longevity noodles", a metaphor for longevity. Wake up on the first day of the first year, the younger generation to the elders to pay tribute to the elders, the elders to reward the younger generation "red packet", that is, "pressure money". The second day of the first month, Bingnan people used to "son-in-law" on this day, many couples are carrying children, back to the family reunion. After the founding of New China, three days of the Spring Festival (the first to the third) as a national holiday, the authorities held a reunion, the people held a garden tour. Zhangzhou held every year, "Entertainment Spring Garden" in a variety of commodities, while the performance of Xiang opera, puppet shows and other recreational programs, park visitors gathered, converging into a sea of people.

Yuanxiao: the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, historically known as the "Shangyuan" festival, also known as the Lantern Festival. Southern Fujian people every day, we have to eat "Lantern Festival". At night, various kinds of lanterns are hung on Gongfu Street, including chicken lanterns, duck lanterns, goose lanterns, fish lanterns, pumpkin lanterns, gourd lanterns and other fixed lanterns, as well as windmill lanterns, horse lanterns, cloud dragon lanterns, monkey lanterns and twisted screw lanterns, etc. The festival also features fireworks and dragon dances. At the same time, there are also fireworks and dragon and lion dances. Zhangzhou Cao Hua Street is the place where lantern-making farms are concentrated, and there are many famous craftsmen. On this night, all the newly-wed brides should go to the nearby temple to worship Buddha, and those who have got children should thank Buddha on this night, and those who have no children should take this opportunity to ask Buddha to give them children. After the founding of New China, the Lantern Lantern, fireworks and lion dance and other popular art activities in Zhangzhou, more lively. In recent years, lanterns are concentrated in Zhongshan Park, becoming a "sea of lights". Various types of lanterns such as flowers, colorful and colorful.

Ching Ming: Ching Ming, southern Fujian area to eat spring cakes, do Qingming fruit, do wine and tea, or buy cakes and cakes to sweep the ancestral curtain. Sweeping the graveyard to sprinkle long strips of paper foil, hoeing, planting trees in the graveyard, and cultivating the soil to the mound, in order to express the nostalgia for the loved ones who have passed away. After the founding of New China, school organs and groups are organized to visit martyrs' graves or martyrs' monuments to sweep the graves, lay wreaths, or plant pine trees, and hold other commemorative activities on Qingming Festival to express their nostalgia for the revolutionary martyrs.

Duanwu: This festival is said to commemorate Qu Yuan, the great Chinese patriotic poet of the fourth century BC. In southern Fujian, the Dragon Boat Festival is called the "May Festival". On this day, rural households in the lintel next to the calabash, mugwort, burning xionghuang wine, or drink xionghuang wine, children in the chest wear incense bags, to drive away diseases and evil spirits. At noon, people want to eat lo mein, tasting alkaline rice dumplings, meat dumplings or bean dumplings. This day the most lively is the dragon boat. Zhangzhou area to participate in the competition of the dragon boat boat body long and narrow, head and tail high up, the bow has a huge dragon head carving, the body of the boat painted scales and armor. The dragon boat is decorated with a huge dragon head and painted scales and armor. A "head flag" is inserted on the boat as the symbol of the competition unit. In the past, Longhai County Dragon Boat Race, are in the river buoys tied to a few chickens, so that participants to capture the mark, and now instead of sweatshirts, undershirts, etc. to do the "standard".

June Half-Year Festival: June 15 of the lunar calendar, southern Fujian rural areas to eat "half a year round". This round ball only "winter solstice round" half as big, without soup, more dyed red. On this day, every family will also add sumptuous dishes, and the family will have a half-year "small stove". This "Half-Year Festival" custom began in the Ming Dynasty. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty in the fifteenth century, Zhangzhou Yuegang became a port for foreign trade on the southeast coast of China, and the town was so prosperous that the Japanese pirates often waited for the opportunity to harass them, especially after the summer harvest, the pirate ships often sneaked ashore and attacked suddenly, killing and robbing as they saw people and objects. Therefore, people arranged on the 15th day of June in the lunar calendar, in advance of a "small year" steamed some small round pills to pray for God's blessing and peace. Some housewives stacked the pills into a small mountain on the plate butterfly and put a dried longan with shell on the top. This "Gui Yuan" is a symbol of the owner's wish for "wealth and prosperity" and "reunion".

Mid-Autumn Festival: The 15th day of the 8th lunar month is the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival. Southern Fujian rural areas before the festival, most of them have to buy ping shan pomelo, wendan pomelo or honey pomelo, displayed in the hall, to the day before peeled and distributed to the whole family to eat, in order to celebrate the reunion. In the evening of this day, both urban and rural residents will enjoy the moon and eat mooncakes on the patio, door or balcony. Some rural women ask their daughters to worship the gods under the moon, commonly known as "inviting the moon aunt", to pray for a good match. Now these ancient customs have been gradually eliminated under the impact of new trends in thinking.

Chrysanthemum: The ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar is the traditional Chrysanthemum Festival. People along the coast of China eat crab wine on this day, climb mountains and mountains, visit places of interest, and most commonly, fly kites. On this day, people everywhere can see all kinds of kites flying in the sky. In the old days, the people of Haicheng also tied lanterns to the kites on this night, when the sky was full of lights, which was a marvelous sight.

Winter Solstice: Zhangzhou custom, to eat the winter solstice sugar round. On the eve of the festival, every household uses glutinous rice to grind flour and roll balls, placed on a bamboo sieve. Early the next morning into the brown sugar pot to cook, as a holiday breakfast. In the old days, farmers also go to the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors on this day.

Ceremony for the stove: the 24th day of the 12th month of the lunar calendar, formerly known as the day of the stove. Legend has it that every family has a stove "Zaojun", is the God sent from heaven to monitor the earth, every year on this day, the stove God will return to heaven to report the family's good and bad performance until the fourth night of the first month of the first day of the month to come back. Before the Zaoshen leaves, every family has to make a farewell trip for him, called "sacrificing to the stove". During the festival, wine lees are smeared on the mouth of the stove to satiate the God of the Stove, so that he will speak more good words when he goes to heaven. In order to give light to the god of the stove, incense lamps are offered from evening until dawn.

New Year's Eve: In Zhangzhou, called the "year of the meddle", families will be "around the stove" for the New Year. Family members in the field, as long as possible, should try to come back to the reunion. If someone doesn't come back, a seat should be reserved for him, a piece of his clothes should be put on, and a set of wine glasses and chopsticks should be placed on the table. When they gather around the fireplace, a hot pot is placed in the center of the round table, and the tea and food are the most sumptuous of the year. At the same time, also seeks to symbolize, such as hot meatballs, fishballs in the hot pot, meaning family reunion; a complete fish, symbolizing the "yearly surplus"; pig's feet taro, indicating that the coming year has a head start; and put the shell in the ark shells in the back of the door, with the oldest shell coins of mankind, implying that the money does not flow out of the country, and so on. In the old society, there is a world of difference between the New Year celebrations of poor and rich families. Nowadays, every family can have this kind of sumptuous family feast. "Around the stove" later, the younger generation to the elders "resignation", and some have to be very candlelight "vigil", until dawn.

Marriage and funeral customs: in the old days, men and women married according to the words of matchmakers, parents' orders, when discussing the marriage of men and women with a red paper written in the year of the eight characters, by the matchmaker to the parents of both sides, the parents of both sides of the eight characters according to the year of the eight characters of the God Department of the Divine, and then agreed. If the marriage is successful, a date will be set for the wedding. One month before the wedding, the man notifies the woman's family, bringing gifts such as cakes and cakes, and sends the bride price. On the day before the wedding, the woman sends her trousseau to the man's house in a blowing ceremony. On the day of the marriage, the man's family prepares a sedan chair with drums and music, which is led by the matchmaker to the woman's home to welcome the bride. After entering the bridal chamber, the bride and groom sit on the edge of the bed, called "sitting on the bed". After resting for a while, the bride and groom worship heaven and earth and drink fm radio. After the founding of New China, a new marriage law was introduced, abolishing arranged and bought-and-sold marriages. Men and women were given autonomy in marriage, and new-style weddings and tea parties were held, which were both economical and lively. But some places still retain some of the old customs and traditions.

Funeral: In the old days, the families of the deceased had to invite monks or Taoist priests to do the so-called "merit" and to overthrow the souls of the dead. On the day of the funeral, friends and relatives in white to participate in the funeral. Long queues are formed at the time of the funeral, and music is also played. After the death of seven days, to do the "first seven", please monks and Taoist priests chanting sutras. Seven consecutive "seven" must be done. This is naturally very expensive, so even in the old days, only the rich people are serious about these things. Now, Zhangzhou for the funeral gradually implement cremation, the abolition of burial and superstitious customs, to send wreaths, couplets to pay tribute to the deceased. For some celebrities, a memorial service to recognize the achievements of the deceased.