Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional festivals - Stealing Green on the 15th day of the first month of the Lantern Festival Essay (Online, etc.)

Stealing Green on the 15th day of the first month of the Lantern Festival Essay (Online, etc.)

Stealing the green, that is, the first month of the fifteenth to other families to steal vegetables.

Before the Republic of China, people in the countryside on the 15th day of the first month will play a lantern to go up the hill to "steal the green (love)". It is rumored that this can steal the year's good luck, steal the peach blossom luck girl's love. A young man who likes a girl, go to her family's vegetable field to steal a few handfuls of her family's vegetables, so that the girl will know that a young man fell in love with her. The lad goes home to pick up a few handfuls of green pea shoot tips to hand over to his mother, tell her whose house this is, and she will know who her son has fallen in love with. The immovable mom cooks a pot of fragrant Yangchun noodles, so that his son ate, looking forward to his son's good luck evergreen, called the matchmaker to go to the girl's home to propose marriage when smooth sailing.

Every Lantern Festival night, people can temporarily make a "thief" "steal" a little garden vegetables, the general home is not to care, occasionally scolded that's good, because it is said that the "thief! "The first thing you need to do is to get a good deal of money from the government.

On the night of the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month, children in the countryside in groups of three or five by the cover of the night, touching the neighboring villages on the edge of the vegetable field, pulling a few carrots, a few greens or a handful of garlic shoots to take home to cook, which is known as "stealing green". The reputation of "stealing" is not good, but most of the green stealers are not ashamed of "stealing", probably their psychology is like "on the adult" Kong Yi-hao "". The book thief is not considered to be stealing," as the saying goes. As long as you don't make a mess of someone's vegetable patch or steal everything, the owner of the vegetable garden will be very generous. Vegetable garden owner in the evening if prepared, waiting in the vegetable garden, when the group of uninvited guests to steal the green arrival, will be generous to each person to give a few radish, a little bit of bok choy and garlic shoots, so that they are happy to take back, never let them empty-handed disappointment. In my hometown, lettuce sounds like "Sheng Cai"; radish is also called "Cai Tou", which means "colorful head"; garlic sounds like "count", which means "count"; and garlic is also called "Cai Tou". The first is to take the meaning of "good intention".

In the old society, the poor people want to be in the first month of the new spring at the beginning of the year to discuss a "wealth" of "colorful", to live a year of "good intentions" of the auspicious days, and thus will be Gradually formed the custom of stealing green. "Stealing" is a dishonorable thing, but it also shows that in the old days of the people's pursuit of a happy and fulfilling life, the spirit of resistance to the fate of the poor.

1, the old Guangdong rural areas, has been popular in a mysterious and romantic custom: steal the green. In the old society, unmarried women were confined by rituals, and could not go out of the house for a few times a year. The theft of green is precisely the release of people yearning for freedom of thought.

2. Spring Festival is the most important festival in rural China. Traditionally, the Spring Festival extends to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month, which is both the Chinese "Valentine's Day" and the plowing day in the rural areas of Lingnan, after which the busyness of the year will begin again.

3, because of this, the night of the first month of the fifteenth, young men and women are free to revel in, they are accompanied by neighbors and friends, invite the girl of choice, often under the moonlight intentionally "steal" people's greens to express their madness, commonly known as stealing green.

4, "steal" the green but there are certain rules: one is not allowed to carry into the house; the second is not stored overnight, need to be the night of the picnic. Bonfire, young men and women gathered to talk, mutual expression of love, a unique flavor, many marriages from this.

5, another custom of stealing green is to be found in the theft of green vegetables, will bring each other good luck in the coming year, so all parties are often happy. In the tacit approval of the fathers, stealing green in Lingnan gradually become a custom, quickly spread to Hunan, Gui, Gan and other places.

6, the 1980s, stealing the green gradually for people to forget, now, it is a kind of fuzzy history. But in the hearts of middle-aged and old people, how can we forget the feelings of the past? How many flavors of Lingnan are waiting for us to re-appreciate.

Bishan's stealing custom

The custom of "stealing" is still popular in the area of Dingjia Town in Bishan County. The custom is said to have originated during the time of the "Sichuan Reclamation". One year there was a plague of insects, locusts eating crops in the sky, and much smaller than sesame seeds, "Tianmiao" has become an accomplice, they stick in the leaves, the locusts eat the rest of the whole ate, even the trees have no leaves, sucking to leave the bare poles and branches. Ground crops did not harvest, people had to flee. But the new to a place, many people are not accustomed to the soil, the plague, the New Year's Eve, the heavens give people a dream, over the New Year's Eve Lantern Festival that night to steal the green, while shouting, you can get rid of the disaster to dispel the disease. Bishan south of the Ding family around the people can not wait, in the night of the fourteenth day of the first month of the early action. So. Dingjia area on the fourteenth day of the first month of the New Year, stealing green also on that day.

The so-called "steal the green" is to steal the crops growing in the ground. This is not to steal quietly, it is to steal with great fanfare, to say more vividly in dialect, that is, to pull the flag and fire to steal, lest the master does not know.

Historically, there was a lot to be said for stealing. Adults walked in front with torches, and the children followed behind, yelling: "The pests and plagues go to heaven, and the grains come down to earth. At this time, the people who stole the green especially hope that the owner of the crops to come out to scold, scolding the more powerful the better, scolding will be able to scold the pestilence away. Stealing green people are very careful, can not trample the crops in the ground, but also can not steal the green broken, garlic seedlings can only steal 12, a representative of a month, which broke, it means that you which month there is a disaster, that month you have to be careful.

After the liberation, the custom of stealing green on New Year's Day was swept into the dust of history as a feudal superstition, but it still happens from time to time. At that time of the year, the production team has few mature crops, only reserved land has vegetables, the era of lack of food and clothing, people are worried about reserved land on the vegetables were stolen to go, in the afternoon of the New Year's day will be feces thrown on the vegetables.

The custom of stealing green is also "evolving with the times". To the night of the first month of the fourteenth, people ate the New Year's dinner on the streets, the town center gradually lively, only to see the crowd. On both sides of the street are people selling torches. Torches in the traditional basis for some improvements, is two feet long hard head of yellow bamboo inside stuffed with tampons, and then filled with kerosene. Now the countryside is the village highway, the stealer is riding a motorcycle, and even drive a car to steal.

A picture of stealing green is very spectacular: the light of the headlights in the winding countryside highway to move, and the fields and trails on the light of the torches reflecting each other, the horn's horn and drive away the pest plague yells one after the other, and the cheeky laughter interspersed with it.

Late at night, the people who stole the green and just flocked back to the town. Praying for a new year of good weather and good harvests.