What other folk customs on July 7

1. Doo Qiao, begging for coquettish:

"Doo Qiao" originated in the Han Dynasty court games: Han Gaozu love consort Mrs. Qi's courtesan Jia Peilan left the palace to marry the Fufeng people Duan Ru as his wife, and often talk to people in the Han Palace Tanabata things. She said: "the Han Palace in the seventh day of the seventh month every year, first of all in the Baizi Pond, after playing Yu-Tian music, with five-color strands, tripping each other up, called 'love each other'. Subsequently, the palace eunuchs talented girls, together to the closed lapel, we learn to wear seven coincidental needle begging. And a courtesan named Xu Jieyu, can be raw lotus root, carved into a variety of exotic flowers and birds presented to the emperor, the emperor will be these trinkets in the evening casually placed in the palace on the corner of the table for the courtesans to find in the dark, this game is called "bucket coincidence".

Begging for a pair of skillful hands from the Weaving Maiden is the meaning of "Begging for a pair of skillful hands". According to the "Records of the Years and Seasons of Jing and Chu", on the night of Tanabata, women would use colorful threads to thread a needle, set up an incense burner, and place some fruits and melons on the table to beg the Weaving Maiden for coquettishness - if small spiders made webs on the fruits and melons during the night, they were believed to have been favored by the Weaving Maiden and would be able to get a pair of skillful hands. In the "Tianbao Remains", it is even recorded that Emperor Minghuang of the Tang Dynasty and Yang Guifei had a banquet at the Huaqing Pond, and on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, they displayed fruits and gourds, inserted flowers, and prepared wine and food to beg the Weaving Maiden of the Cowherd (this is also the origin of the saying of Bai Juyi, a great poet, who referred to the Song of Everlasting Hatred as "The Hall of Everlasting Life on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, when no one is whispering in the middle of the night... ...."). But after the Ming and Qing Dynasties, more popular "throw the tricky needle" game: in the morning of July 7, take a bowl of water exposed to the sun, after a while, the water surface will produce a layer of film, then the usual sewing clothes or embroidery needles into the water, the needle will float on top. If you see the shadow of the needle under the water into the clouds, flowers, birds and animals, or thin straight as a needle, it is "begging for coquettishness"; but if the image of the needle under the water is as thick as a mallet or curved and unshapely, it means that the woman who threw the needle is a clumsy woman.

Additionally, on the eve of the seventh day of the seventh month, not only can you beg for coquettishness, but you can also beg for wealth, longevity, and children, but you can only beg for one, not all three. It is said that there was a place called Taiye Pond to the north of Jianzhang Palace in the Han Dynasty, and to the west of the pond there was a sunbathing pavilion of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and it was common to see palace maidens sunbathing their clothes on the seventh day of the seventh month.

The custom of sunbathing clothes on buildings in the Han Dynasty evolved into the custom of sunbathing books in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. It is said that Sima Yi because the power is too big and by Wei Wu Di's suspicion, so pretend to be crazy lying at home, Wei Wu Di sent people to investigate, exactly on the seventh day of July, pretending to be crazy sick Sima Yi but at home in the sunshine book, sent back to report, Wei Wu Di ordered Sima Yi immediately back to the court, if not to go to the post, to be arrested, Sima Yi had to go back to the court to follow the order, the literati at that time, they are all about the name of a false name, and often used to sunshine book to show that their own The book is a very good example of this.

3. earth doll "mill Haole":

"mill Haole" is also known as "mill throat Luo", in the translation of the Buddhist scriptures is the earth doll, according to the "Tokyo Dreaming Records" and "Dream Sorghum Records" and other books of the record, the doll is used in clay, there are carved wood, tribute to the court inside the carving of ivory or ambergris or Buddha's hand made of incense wood, it is the size of the posture varies, the largest can be three feet, and the real child is not similar to. The largest can be up to three feet, and the real child is not similar. Some places in the July 7 sale of wax made of small dolls, so that women buy home, floating in the water to think of the auspiciousness of the child, known as "the birth".

4. Qiaoguo:

The so-called Qiaoguo is a kind of noodle fruit. There are many different ways to make it: besides oil and honey, there are different ingredients like sesame, peanuts, kernels, roses, etc. It is deep fried and very tasty.

5. Festive knick-knacks:

In addition to begging for coincidences, the Song Dynasty's "Tokyo Monhua Records" recorded that in the Northern Song Dynasty, on the seventh day of the seventh month in the capital city, there were also some festive knick-knacks for enjoyment and eating on the market. Such as carving all kinds of patterns on the melon, called "flower melon"; with yellow wax casting small mandarin ducks, ducks, chickens, fish, etc. painted with color, placed in a water basin, known as the "water floating"; in the wooden boards on the soil remodeling, so that it grows green seedlings, and then with a small thatched cottage, a small figure, made of pocket-sized cottages and houses, known as the "Valley Board", the first few days of the mung beans or wheat placed in a magnetic basin, soaked with water, so that it grows a few inches long! Tender shoots, and then tied into a bunch of red and blue colored tape, known as the "species of life" and so on, fully demonstrating that the Northern Song people then really know the joy of life.

6. Worshiping the Seven Niangma: (This custom is found in Quanzhou, Taiwan and the coastal areas of South China)

The well-known Weaving Maiden is honored as the "Seven Star Maiden" in the religious worship of this province. He and the other six sisters (i.e., the Seven Immortals) will bless children under the age of sixteen on earth to grow up smoothly, and are the guardians of children, and the seven Immortals who protect children are often honored by the folk as the "Seven Immortals Mother". Every year on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, at dusk on that day, those who have children at home have to worship the Seven Immortals at the entrance to pray for the safe growth of their children. First, incense is burned to invite down the incense burner on the shrine, and then offerings are prepared, which include:

Soft kuey teow (also known as "reluctant kuey teow" in Taichung): rolled with glutinous rice, similar to soup dumplings, and pressed with a finger to make a concave hole in the center (because the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden meet only once a year, and inevitably feel sad, so sentient believers press a concave hole in a dumpling, which symbolizes the "reunion of the family," to contain their tears), chicken, wine, oil, and rice (glutinous rice, caraway oil, wine, and chicken combined with oil), and chicken wine, oil and rice, (rice made of glutinous rice, sesame oil, wine and chicken), gifts, fruits

Incense flowers: round flowers, cockscomb flowers or jasmine flowers, fenghuangxian flowers, etc. (one is for many children, the other is for a strong fragrance, which is taken to mean that there are many children, and the fragrance is strong.)

One basin of clean water, one new towel (so that the Seven Nyonyas can wash their hands and faces.)

Convex powder, rouge (cosmetic products), red sand threads, etc.

Golden paper, longevity gold, candles, etc.

Golden paper, mowed gold, candles, etc.

Containing the most important things in the history of the festival, such as the "family reunion", Kariyaki gold, candles, etc.

The rituals are the same as those of general festivals. At dusk, worship is held in front of the door or in the courtyard, and at the end of the ritual, some of the flowers, powder, and red yarn are thrown up to the roof for the Seven Nyonya to make up her face, and some are reserved for their own use, which is believed to make them as skillful and beautiful as the Seven Nyonya.

After worshipping the "Seven Nyonya's Mom", we should also prepare another chicken wine, oil rice, soft rice cake, and worship the "Bed Mother" at the head of the bed, burn three joss sticks to thank and pray for the "Bed Mother" to protect the young children to sleep well, and good rocking feed, praying for the completion of the prayer, the incense will be inserted in the crevice of the safe place, and then wait for a few moments, holding the "Bed Mother Clothes (a kind of gold paper printed with the clothes pattern)" to worship for the "Bed Mother" to be Tsana, and then burned to complete the rituals.

7. To be sixteen: (Kaolong Palace, Zhongshan Road, Tainan City; originated in the western district of Tainan City)

Folklore: After a woman gets married, she begs for the "Lady of Note" to give birth to her son; after she gets pregnant, she begs for the blessing of "Lady of the Water" for the safety of the delivery; and after the birth of the baby to the sixteenth year of age, she is given protection by the "Seven Nyonya's Mom". Because the "Seven Mothers" are the protection of children, when a child reaches the age of sixteen, a rite of passage is held on the seventh day of the seventh month of that year, commonly known as the "sixteenth birthday".

Generally young children born after the age of one, parents in order to let their children grow up in peace, often to the temple of the seven Niangma let children worship "seven Niangma" for the deed of the son, the deed of the daughter (the righteous son, the righteous daughter) of the worship ceremony, in the ceremony of the line "plus 絭" (i.e., plus money), "plus" is the ancient money, the silver made of locks sign or to draw a charm folded into the shape of the gossip with the yellow paper bag of red fabrics, tied with a red thread, hung in the neck, so it's also called "hanging 絭". We believe that "plus 絭", you can protect young children safe. Then every year on the eve of the seventh day of the seventh month, they have to go to the temple to offer sacrifices and spin the "絭絭絭" on the incense burner in the hope of obtaining spiritual power until they reach the age of sixteen, and then they bring offerings on the seventh day of the seventh month of the year. The offerings include:

Five sacrificial animals, six-colored vegetable bowls, seven bowls of sweet potato

Four fruits

Red turtle kuey teow, noodle threads, sesame oil and chicken wine

Two sugarcane stalks

Golden paper and sutra garments (for sacrificing to the lonely souls and wild spirits)

Seven Niangma Pavilions (bamboo sheets tied together with a papier-maché platform, with two or three floors and with inscriptions such as: "Fortune, Luck, and Full Longevity.

To pay homage to the temple, one must first burn incense and pay homage to the "Seven Mothers" for taking care of the temple for many years. It is customary to burn incense and pay homage to the "Seven Mothers" and perform the ritual of kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times. At the end of the ceremony, adults of 16 years of age are required to cross the offering table and drill through the "Seven Mothers' Pavilion" held by their parents; when drilling, one should not look backward but forward, indicating that the future lies ahead and that one should go straight ahead without looking back. When drilling through the "Seven Nyonya Pavilions", the men go around to the left three times, and the women go around to the right three times, which is known as "going out of the bird-mother room" and "going out of the mother-in-law room", the former is related to the legend that the "Seven Nyonya Pavilions" are in the form of a bird that protects the children; the latter is related to the legend that the thirty-six mother-in-law of Mrs. Linshui took care of the young children. Afterwards, the deity is thanked, the "Seven Mothers' Pavilion" is burned, gold paper and sutra clothes are offered, and the "koan" hanging around the neck is taken off, and the "koan" is taken off, indicating the completion of the "rite of passage" and the completion of adulthood.

8. Worshipping Kuixing:

Worshipping Kuixing, like worshipping Weaving Maiden, is done under the moonlight. When worshipping, they often play a game of "taking honor", using cinnamon, hazelnuts, peanuts, three kinds of dried fruits, respectively, representing the top scholar, the top eye, and the scout, one of the three kinds of dried fruits in one hand, throw them to the table, and let them roll, see which kind of dried fruit rolls to a stop in front of a person, and then that person represents that kind of Dingjia, and so on, until all of us have the honor.

General readers, in the Qing Dynasty, most of the purchase of frogs to release, to worship the Kuixing (because the ancient ancient word for Kuixing and frogs, Kuixing and evolved into Kuixing, so buy frogs to congratulate him on his birthday, and abstaining from eating frogs to show respect); Taiwan to worship the Kuixing with a goat or a dog, known as the "Kuixing will be", this is because of the harmonic take their horns, that the high school of the omen.