Funeral Etiquette of Minnan People (2)

Before dressing the dead, a ceremony of "putting on a condom" should be held. In the courtyard in front of the hall, there is a big bamboo pole. Filial piety holds a bamboo tube (to support the ground and make filial piety stand firm), wears a hat and inserts a red spring flower as his signature. Another man stood face to face with the filial piety man, and put the shroud on him one by one in the order of inside and outside. After putting on the sleeve, put the hemp rope into the sleeve and tie the knot at the cuff. Then Xiao Wen pulled out his arms, pulled out the shroud, put it on a new rice screen, and put it in the main hall for the use of the dead. The bamboo hat was thrown on the roof. After the "pullover" ceremony, filial piety men or daughters should eat a bowl of sweet glutinous rice balls.

Generally speaking, the custom of "pullover" is to facilitate the deceased to change clothes, which can be put on at one time without tossing one by one. Filial piety men or women standing on the bamboo stool are also convenient to set up. However, it is puzzling to wear a bamboo hat and put a "reed" under the bamboo chair. It turns out that this is due to the tradition of Minnan people's resistance to the brutal oppression and rule of the Qing Dynasty in history. Wearing a bamboo hat on your head means "no clear sky (sunny day) on your head"; "Add reeds under your feet" means "your feet are not clear (to the ground)". During the Manchu dynasty, Minnan people had to endure the oppression of the Qing dynasty when they were alive, and they never wanted their souls to be oppressed again after death. This strong anti-Qing sentiment can be vented through the "condom" ceremony. From generation to generation, it has not changed until the demise of the Qing Dynasty.

From "begging for water" to cleansing and changing the shroud for the deceased, it is called "wearing". "Dressing up" means putting on "an old shirt and jeans" for the deceased, which was called "small funeral" in ancient times. After the "small coffin", it is the "big coffin" of the body of the deceased, commonly known as "entering the big coffin". Xiamen customs should not directly call the word "coffin", but? Big mistake or longevity board is the residence of the deceased. The deceased "entered the building"? It represents a major turning point in the soul life of the deceased, and a grand farewell ceremony should be held.

Enter the coffin

Before the body of the deceased enters the coffin, a ceremony of "releasing money" should be held. "Lucky" or "Sigong" quietly stuffed 12Q copper coins into the rice bucket through the hands of the deceased, and then distributed them to the survivors of the deceased one by one. At this time, "Good Life Man" or "Sigong" shouted; "Let go of money, and future generations will be rich!" It means that the deceased left wealth to future generations. Children and grandchildren who are "easy to get" have to wear copper coins with belts and tie them on their wrists. Filial sons use hemp belts for men, and some use leucorrhea and green belts, which are called "money in hand". They are both filial and grateful to the deceased for passing on the signs of wealth and good fortune to themselves.

When the body of the deceased enters the coffin, there must be filial piety. Daughter-in-law helps the feet and other children help. After putting the body away, cover it with a "water quilt", cover it with a wooden sign with the name and date of birth of the deceased, call the name of the deceased, ask him to attach himself to the owner, and then ask him to leave the owner. Only in this way will the workers cover the coffins and give them "red envelopes" when they are bereaved.

After the coffin is covered, a "coffin sacrifice" ceremony will be held, and the relatives of the deceased will bow down in turn according to their generations. If the coffin is to be buried for a long time, it will be nailed down and sealed by workers after it is finished. It will be buried in a few days, and it will be sealed before it is buried.

After the body of the deceased entered the coffin, the "mountain sedan chair" placed outside the door melted, allowing the soul of the deceased to report to the underworld by sedan chair. At this time, you can't send gold and silver paper mourning, nor can you send gold and silver paper money. Medicine bottles, bowls, chopsticks, mats and other things used by the deceased should be discarded in the open fields or set on fire.

In the process of "great mourning", monks and Taoist priests kept ringing bells and drums and chanting scriptures.

The customs in southern Fujian also include "knocking on the coffin head" and "jumping on the coffin". If the parents of the deceased die alive, they will knock on the coffin head with a stick and condemn the deceased as a son, which is not filial. If the deceased is a woman and the husband wants to remarry, he should take an umbrella, carry a bag, jump over the coffin and shout, "I want to go to the frontier." In this way, if a man remarries in the future, the ghost of a dead woman will no longer be in charge. The dead are so easily deceived, so there is another saying in southern Fujian called "stupid dead", which is used to beat people who are easily deceived.

After the "great mourning", the relatives of the deceased should formally put on mourning clothes. The ancient ceremony was called "becoming a costume". Some people wear mourning clothes after death.

A complete set of mourning clothes includes "filial shoes", "bald heads" and "filial hats" in addition to clothes.

Filial piety shoes; Filial piety is straw sandals, which have been woven into hemp belts; Women are cloth shoes, sewing a small piece of "hemp" or "second hemp" to see the relationship with the dead. Grandson's shoes are covered with cloth.

"Whitehead": a white mourning towel worn by relatives of the deceased, made of white gray cloth. You can't use scissors when making a mourning towel. It must be torn by hand, torn into squares, then folded obliquely, folded into triangular towels and tied to the forehead. Filial piety towel is a small piece of hemp or hemp around the middle of your forehead. Sun Tzu's "white head" is made of bleached fine white cloth (commonly known as "Baiyang") and sewn with a small piece of blue cloth. Other parents sew a small piece of red cloth with "White West" cloth and wrap it around their left arm instead of their heads. Children who have not worn mourning clothes should sew a small piece of red cloth on the "hemp", "hemp" or blue cloth on the towel of mourning clothes to reduce frustration.

"Filial piety hat": Married filial piety men wear a paper hat made of white paper, with jute hanging from both sides to their ears, and a "filial piety hoop" wrapped in hemp strips, which is also divided into "one hemp" and "two hemp". Women wear "sweet heads" made of white and gray cloth. "Sweetness" is rectangular, like a flour bag with gaps on two adjacent sides. The seamless narrow edge is covered on the top of the head, and the other parts are draped over the shoulders, hanging straight down the waist, which is worn by adults and children.

According to the five clothes, the mourning period ranges from three months to three years, and mourning is appropriate. After the funeral, the mourning period changed accordingly.

Hall layout

After the mourning, the mourning hall was officially renovated, and the atmosphere became more solemn and dignified. Before the funeral, relatives and friends who come to mourn should bow down, and there are straw mats and red carpets in front of the spirit to show their respect for the mourners. When the hanger arrived, the family members in the filial shed burst into tears, lost their homes and burned incense, and handed it to the hanger. The hanger lifts a corner of the red carpet, revealing the white pad below to show respect for the bereaved, then lights incense and bows down. Mourning should be accompanied by worship. Worship; The incense burner is inserted before the spirit. In the evening, male students should lay grass beside the coffin for vigil and put clods on their heads, which is called "sleeping on the coffin head" or "keeping the coffin feet" for at least three days. Filial piety men slept on the grass with clods on their pillows. The ancients had the meaning of "bereavement in the grass" and "bereavement on it". It's called "sleeping with a bitter pillow" After the death of a bereaved person, tea and rice should be offered before the spirit every day, which is called "holding rice", once in the morning and once in the evening. When "holding a meal", the filial wife will wail and call on the deceased to "get up and eat!" It's called "wake up and make you sleepy", and you are extremely filial.

Even after the dead are buried, all the days of paying homage to the dead are still held. One or three days in advance, they wail "wake up and call for sleep" and then "hold a meal" until the funeral period expires. Therefore, "removing ghosts" is also called "San Fan".

After the coffin is sacrificed, it usually takes "ten days" (that is, seven days later) to be buried, except that the deceased is buried immediately after his death or illness. It takes two or three days to one or two weeks for the poor to be buried. After "March 7th", we must choose an auspicious day for burial. The rich put coffins for months, years or even decades before they were buried, which formed a bad habit of funeral in southern Fujian.

Putting coffins to rest in peace is generally for filial consideration. The longer the people don't mourn, the more filial they are. If the old man is buried as soon as possible after his death, it will be regarded as unfilial and hasty. They all had to stop for a while under the pressure of public opinion.

Minnan is a commercial center and hometown of overseas Chinese, and many people go abroad for business and business. In order to wait for children and grandchildren to come home from mourning, they should also stop pivoting. There are also stop-loss fundraising.

More superstitious people, in order to find an auspicious place with good feng shui, delay time, or believe in the auspicious day designated by the date selector, and do not bury it for a long time. Some large families and "house pillars" have different opinions, some think that their teachers chose different days, and some ask Mr. Feng Shui to choose a base. The selected auspicious places are far apart, so it won't be long before they are buried indefinitely.

But for whatever reason, it usually stops in its own main hall. Because of special reasons, the family can't stop, so you can build another hut nearby or send it to a temple; The stopped coffin should have been painted by workers. Painting coffins is mostly carried out during the mourning period, such as "seven days" and "one hundred days". Draw several times, even dozens of times, to show filial piety, depending on the length of time and economic ability.

Most coffins in southern Fujian are made of six whole Chinese fir boards, one thick and the other small. Coffins are usually painted red and covered with gold. Some painted colorful flower-and-bird figures, and the coffin head was written with "Fu" (the deceased was male) or "Shou" (the deceased was female) in gold characters, with a bat pattern beside the words. The end of the coffin is painted with incense burners, candlesticks, and patterns of boys and girls holding flags to attract people.

Hold an official position

Funeral in southern Fujian is commonly known as "going out of the mountain". Before leaving the mountain, you should inform your relatives and friends in advance to attend the funeral. Generally speaking, most of them are oral notices and communicate with each other; There are other "obituaries" and written notices. Later, "obituaries" developed into printed and carefully bound volumes, including obituaries, portraits of the dead, everyone's eulogy and so on.

On the day of "coming out of the mountain", relatives and friends all arrived here. The bereaved family members were dressed in linen and Dai Xiao was dressed in mourning. Most relatives and friends attending the funeral wore white cloth on their left arm, and later generations wore a small flower or a small white paper flower on their chests. Near the moment of "coming out of the mountain", filial piety and other mourning women caressed the coffin and cried bitterly, calling it "crying coffin head". The wailing will not end until the coffin is tied. Filial piety man knelt by the coffin and wept bitterly. When the time comes, the coffin is carried out of the gate, which is called "turning the coffin".

After the coffin was transported, a grand ceremony was held, commonly known as "starting firewood", also known as "starting the car" and "opening the spirit", that is, offering the coffin for burial. There is an altar in front of the coffin, and five funerals are arranged, followed by the offerings of the son-in-law, and the offerings of other relatives are placed on the outermost altar, with candles lit and incense burned. Worship the Lord (filial piety) three times and nine times first, and then worship the bereaved family again. After the family sacrifice, the mourner entered the bottom of the altar and bowed to thank his wife and other foreign relatives. When these foreign relatives bowed down, the master of ceremonies ordered them to bow down and read a eulogy for them. After the eulogy, foreign relatives should also kneel down and kowtow, kneeling on the ground and crying. At this time, undertaker climbed out from under the altar and knelt behind them. When foreign relatives cry and worship, they usually can't cry because they lack sincere feelings for the deceased. As soon as he opened his mouth and cried, he raised all the dust on the ground in one breath and was scolded by people for "spraying soil powder" in waves. The son-in-law not only has the obligation to worship, but is nicknamed "spraying soil powder" and also plays the banner of "spirit" at the front of the funeral procession. Families without daughters often have to recognize a dry daughter before they can enjoy this treatment after death. After the relatives at home and abroad bowed down, the mourner continued to kneel on the side of the coffin to thank other relatives and friends for their worship.

After the "firewood head" worship, a "coffin nailing" ceremony was held to nail the coffin cover. When the nail was sealed, the descendants of the deceased knelt together at the end of the coffin. Every time a nail is hammered, "four sentences" are read by "good people" of the same family, wishing "an axe": "A little oriental wood, and future generations will live in Fulu; At two o'clock in the south, the descendants will send the guys from generation to generation; West three points of gold, from generation to generation to send ten thousand gold; At four o'clock in the north, the water will be rich from generation to generation; " At five o'clock, the central government became the land of Batu, and Zishou Peng Zu. "Every time I read a sentence, my descendants responded' good'! The last nail was only a symbolic bit, and then it was pulled out by the bereaved with his teeth. Is this the "nail house"? " "Destroy, children will continue. If the deceased is a woman, the nail should be symbolically sealed by the "in-laws" elders.

At this time, the funeral band marched around the bowl in a rhythm, and the bereaved children lined up in a long string. Under the guidance of the master of ceremonies, they circled around the coffin, which was called "coffin-turning". After that, the filial wife and daughter cried and jumped on the coffin.

Followed by "hanging coffins." Workers tied the coffin with rope to a long wooden stick commonly known as "dragon special stick", and each end of the stick was tied with a small stick. Generally, four or eight people carried it at each end, including * * * eight people or 16 people. Every family is proud to send young people with the same surname to carry coffins. Tie the dragon pole and cover the coffin. The upper part of the coffin cover is decorated with palaces and ancient costume figures, and the lower part is embroidered curtain. Above the coffin lid, the mascot stands upright, male is Kirin and female is Phoenix; They are all fresh Minnan handicrafts. Colorful plastic faucets are installed at the front end of the wooden pole, and the dragon tail at the end of the wooden pole is bent, symbolizing the immortality of the soul of the deceased. The auspicious unicorn beast and phoenix will accompany Lapras to the west to reach Elysium.

Large-scale "out of the mountain" often carries dozens of "axes" such as clouds, drums or "plays", and onlookers crowd together to watch the "excitement". Neighbors, relatives and friends who have lost their families, who have received the kindness of the deceased before, often set up sacrifices on the way through the mountain team to thank the deceased, which is called "road sacrifice". Every "road sacrifice", the coffin will stop, and the coffin bearer will lift it with a lever and beat the drum. Filial piety will bow down and thank the mourners and give them white cloth, which will also be wrapped with red silk thread.

Many descendants lost their homes. When they came out of the mountain, the survivors did not walk behind the coffin, but walked in front of it and pulled out two pieces of white cloth from the faucet on the "Dragon Bar". The survivors walked in two pieces of white cloth and climbed up the cloth, which was quite spectacular. Xiamen was once commonly known as "pulling the dragon beard". The filial piety Lord walked in the middle with a rabbit tail in his hand. The two front ends of the "dragon beard" are female marriage or granddaughter's husband or niece's husband, which is called "longan". "Pulling out the dragon whiskers" originated from the ancient "brush-holding" ceremony, meaning that the undertaker dragged the spiritual pivot to the cemetery. Government customs, more than three generations of people, the elderly out of the mountain, conditional must "pull out the dragon beard" to spectacular. "Throwing the dragon beard" out of the mountain queue, and the cymbals are bulging behind the coffin, which is called "blowing the back lattice".

The traditional "coming out of the mountain" of Minnan University is the final farewell to the deceased, the most concentrated, grand and dripping expression of the living's respect and memory for the deceased, and also a blessing to the soul and feelings of the deceased. The big "coming out of the mountain" is also a big review of the family lineup, and the big exposure of social relations is the time to show the "family style". In the grand "Out of the Mountain", Minnan mounting techniques, various pavilions and bridges, costumes, crankshafts, gezi arrays, dramas, drums and irons, southern pipes, ten tones, great preaching, western piano music, etc. One after another, colorful, complement each other, showing the splendid cultural features and spiritual yearning of southern Fujian, which is fascinating.

Be buried

After the coffin arrived at the cemetery, the coffin lid was removed and carried to the grave. The filial sons and daughters are divided, bowing down, crying and saying goodbye. Monks or Taoists are chanting. After singing, when people are buried, they put the epitaph first, then pull out the ventilation cork under the coffin, carry the coffin into the cave and cover it with Jing Ling. Filial piety man put "Woodenhead" on the coffin, demanding that the soul of the deceased be attached to his master. Filial piety man built a cup first, and then built a monument.

There is a land tablet next to the tomb, on which the word "Houtu" is written, indicating that the official should worship the land owner with five or three sacrifices and burn gold paper after the coffin is buried.

After the sacrifice, the filial piety man put the wooden master on his back, knelt down in the direction of the sun, and ordered the official to "order the master" with pen and ink. The word "God Lord" on the log owner was first written as "Wang Yu". At this time, the official in charge of acupuncture first points a red dot on Wang Yu with a red pen, and then points it with an ink pen, and the word "Wang" becomes the "subject". Legend has it that after this point, the soul of the deceased is fixed on the wooden owner. In Minnan, "point the Lord" means to point the red pen first, and then point the ink pen on the main card or idol. On Sunday, officials should also recite auspicious sentences: "Point to the sky, point to the ground, point to the eyes, point to the ears, and point to Master Sun Wangxing." When you finish lighting the brush, throw it in the direction of the sun, leaving only the star pen. After the funeral home ordered, people paid homage to the official, and then put the owner back in a rice bucket full of grains and plaid nails. The git was placed in front of the tombstone, moved past the "Houtu" sacrificial ceremony, bowed down to the grave, and then burned silver paper.

After the tomb sacrifice, the grain seeds are scattered on the tomb, and some of them are taken home to make future generations rich. Undertaker and all the survivors gathered around for a week, then carried a piece of grave soil and put it in a rice bucket.

The wood owner was held by his dutiful son and went home in a sedan chair. This is called "returning to the Lord", which means inviting the souls of the dead to go home. When returning to the Lord, you can't go home the same way. When crossing the bridge and turning, you should call the name of the deceased and ask him to follow you home. At the time of "returning to the Lord", we will continue to drip water pumped from the vicinity of the cemetery. The wood owner was taken home by the woman at home and cried on the outdoor road.

The wooden owner who came back from the grave was placed on the temporary coffin table in the main hall, and the grave soil was placed in the incense burner. Sacrifices and table heads are placed on the table, incense sticks are lit and a funeral ceremony is held. Those who come home from the cemetery should light incense and bow before their Lord in turn.

After calming down, the last dish for banquets for friends, relatives and banquets must be boiled red distiller's grains with pork, commonly known as "red groove meat". People attending the funeral are lucky to eat "red fermented grains meat", so please eat this banquet, which is also called "eating red fermented grains meat". This ancient custom continues to this day. Modern people thank their relatives and friends for their care and help to the delivery family with a "red-trough meat feast", and end the key stage of the funeral with a weak mourning atmosphere.

On the first day, the second day or the seventh day after the coffin was buried, the bereaved should go up the mountain to check whether the condition of the grave is normal and whether the deceased has really been buried, not buried. Mountain patrol shows the feelings of mourning for the dead and being responsible for filial piety.

During the mountain patrol, the survivors of the deceased wore hemp Dai Xiao and prepared sacrifices such as sacrificial ceremonies. First, they burned "earth" with gold paper; After the tomb, burn silver paper. Everyone should burn incense, light candles and offer them a bow. At this point, the burial is really over.

Mourn for the deceased parents

Filial piety, an ancient name? Mourning? Commonly known as Filial piety? . Some people wear mourning clothes, others wear them? Hyogo? Yes Dai Xiao's mourning period ranges from several months to three years, some have ended for 7,749 days, and some have arrived? A hundred days? Or? Yes, the year? Houxiao; There are still three years of mourning, and when the mourning period expires, you will take off your filial piety.

offer sacrifices to ancestors

Sacrifice to the dead? Foot rice? At first, many ceremonies during the funeral were sacrifices to the dead. What is it called to sacrifice every 7 days after death? For ten days? , also called what? Make seven? . Most Minnan people do this? Seventy? . One, three, five and seven are ten days, and two, four and six are ten days. The 10th and 70th days of the 10th lunar month are the chief priests of sons, commonly known as? Filial piety? ; The third day is celebrated by the married daughter. Examine a boy for ten days? ; Pentecost is celebrated by a married granddaughter. Check a grandson? ; The other ten days are just general sacrifices. Ten days is more grand, especially? End of ten days? The sacrifice is generous. Do what? End of ten days? Often have to burn? Lingbi? That is, burn the paper coffin to ashes and give it to the soul of the deceased. Where are most Minnan languages? For ten days? 30, 50, 70? Do merit? , usually on Pentecost, but also on the centenary and one year (memorial day). ? Do merit? That is, praise the deceased, express the gratitude of future generations, and wish the deceased an early reincarnation. ? Do merit? Time is different, one day and one night, three days and three nights, seven days and seven nights. Generally, merit fields are arranged in the mourning hall, and green and white vertical couplets are hung to express condolences to the deceased. Often do merit? Five or seven? Do it together? Dojo? . Do you want to burn the merit Dojo? Lingbi? . ? Lingbi? Please paste the paper shop arbitrarily, and set up a quadrangle-style bamboo frame to paste the paper on a large scale in the square. The hall plaque is hung high, the dead paper sits in it, and the servants serve on both sides. There are all kinds of furniture ornaments, roads and bridges, cars and boats, street shops and pedestrian scenery in the bedroom, which are finally burned down. Not yet? Yes, the year? On the third day of the first month, the funeral home will offer sacrifices to the dead, for the dead? Burn a new bed (made of bamboo paper) and let the dead sleep in a new bed in the underworld.

bone

Boning, also known as? Pick up bones? Commonly known as Pick up bones? . ? Pick up bones? Generally, there are other auspicious days before and after the burial of the deceased in Tomb-Sweeping Day in 3, 5 or 7 years 10. At that time, the relatives of the deceased asked the earthwork to dig the grave and open the coffin, pick up the bones and expose them. According to the connection method of human bones, they were put in a special waist-drum-shaped pottery urn with red silk thread, which was called bone urn, commonly known as? Golden urn? . And the bones stored in the small coffin. What's their name? Golden coffin? , also called what? A coffin? Then move to a new cave or bury it in his cave.