Customs of Beggar's Nest What are the customs of Beggar's Nest?

Customs of Begging Festival

There are many customs of Begging Festival (Tanabata Festival), such as: Xiangqiao Hui, catching dew, worshipping Seven Sisters, fighting coquettishness, begging for marriage, swimming in Seven Sisters' water, storing Tanabata water, celebrating the birth of the cow, Tanabata Tribute Cases, worshipping the cowherd, dyeing fingernails, stargazing on the eve of the Tanabata Festival, listening to whispers, purifying the water to see the shadows, knotting the red headrope, girl shampooing her hair, tanning the books and clothes, tying up the coquettish nuns, and playing mill and drinking music, and so on. The following are specific to look at these customs.

1, needle begging

This is the earliest way of begging, began in Han, flowing in later generations. Xijing Miscellany" said: "Han color women often wear seven holes in the seventh day of the seventh month needle in the lapel building, people have to learn." Southern Liang Zongmou "Jing Chu chronicles" said: "July 7, is the evening of the women of the family color building to wear seven holes outside, or to gold, silver, stone for the needle." Yiyizi Zhi" said: "Qi Wudi up layer of the city view, July 7, the palace more than boarding the needle. The world called the needle piercing building." Fifth Wang Renyu "Kaiyuan Tianbao remains" said: "Tanabata, the palace to brocade knot building hall, 100 feet high, on the can win dozens of people, Chen to fruits and wine sizzling, set up seating, to sacrifice the cow female two stars, concubines to nine-hole needle five-color line to the moon to wear, over the person who has been clever of the marquis. Move the song of the Qing Shang, feast music up to the end of the day. The soil people's homes all follow the example." Yuan Tao Zongyi "Yuan's Yatei Records" said: "nine cited Taiwan, Tanabata begging for coquettish place."

2, sun books, sun clothes

It is reported that Sima Yi year because of the high position of power, quite subject to Cao Cao's suspicions, given that at that time for self-preservation, he side pretending to be crazy to hide at home. Wei Wu Di still not quite assured, he sent a close to the order of the history of covert investigation. It was July 7, pretending to be crazy Sima Yi also at home in the sun. The historian went back to report to Emperor Wu, who immediately ordered Sima Yi to return to his post, or else he would be taken into custody. Sima Yi only obediently obeyed the order to return to the court. There is another kind of people who, in the chaotic world, express their depression by being unrestrained. They flouted the laws of propriety and opposed the customs of the times. Liu Yiqing's Shishu Xinyi (New Sayings of the World), Volume 25, says that on July 7, everyone sunbathed in books, but only Hao Long ran into the sun to lie down, and when he was asked why, he replied: "I sunbathe in books". On the one hand, this is contempt for the custom of tanning books, on the other hand, it is also boasting of his own belly of talent. Tanning the belly is also tanning the book. The Han Dynasty custom of sunbathing in the Wei and Jin Dynasties for the rich and powerful create an opportunity to boast about their wealth. Ruan Xian, one of the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove", despised this style. July 7, when his neighbors sun clothes, only to see the rack is full of Lingluo silk satin, brilliant.

3, the seed of the child

The old custom, a few days before Tanabata, first in a small wooden board on a layer of soil, sowing corn seeds, so that it gives birth to green seedlings, and then set up some of the small cottage, flowers and trees in the above, made into a small village of people in the field of the model, known as the "shell plate", or mung beans, beans, wheat, etc. immersed in a magnetic bowl, and so on, and so on. Or mung beans, soybeans, wheat, etc. immersed in a magnetic bowl, wait for it to grow out of the buds, and then tied into a bundle of red and blue silk rope, known as the "seed", also known as the "five pots of life" or "flower pots".

4, happy spider should be clever

This is also an earlier way of begging for coquettish things, its custom a little later than the needle begging for coquettish things, roughly in the North and South Dynasties. In the Southern Dynasty, Liang Zong懔 "荆楚歲時记 "said: "It is the evening, and the fruits and melons are displayed in the court to beg for coquettishness. If there is a net on the melon, then it is considered a charm." Wang Renyu of the Fifth Generation, "Kaiyuan Tianbao Legacy", said: "July 7, each capture the spider in a small box, to the dawn of the opening; depending on the spider web sparse and dense for the coincidence of the marquis. The dense say more, the sparse say less. Folk also effective" Song Dynasty Meng Yuan Lao "Tokyo Meng Hua Records" said, July 7 Eve "to small spiders in the An Hezi, the next day to see, if the web is round is said to get coquettish."

5, casting the needle to check the coincidence

This is a variation of the Tanabata needle begging custom, originating from the needle, but also different from the needle, is the prevalence of the Ming and Qing dynasties Tanabata festival. Ming Liu Dong, Yu Yizheng's "Imperial Capital Scenery" said: "" July 7 of the afternoon to throw the needle. Women's exposure to ounces of water in the sun, a short while, the water film surface, embroidery needles cast is floating, look at the bottom of the water needle shadow. There are into the cloud thing flower head bird and animal shadow, there are into the shoes and scissors water eggplant shadow, said begging to get coquettish; its shadow as thick as a hammer, as thin as silk, straight as a shaft of wax, this is a sign of clumsiness carry on."

6, worship "mill drink music"

Mill drink music is the old folk Tanabata children's playthings, that is, the small clay doll, the image of its more than half-armed dress passing the lotus leaves, holding a lotus leaf. July 7 every year, in Kaifeng, "Pan Lou Street, east of the Song door outside the tile, state West Liang door outside the tile, outside the North Gate, south of the Zhuquamen outside the street and the street and the horse line, are sold grinding drink music, is a small plastic clay doll ear". In fact, a little later in the Song Dynasty after the mill drink music, is no longer a small puppet, on the contrary, the more exquisite. Grinding drink music size, posture varies, the largest as high as three feet, and the real children in the next. The production of materials are ivory carving or carved with Longyan Buddha hand incense, grinding drink music dress up, it is the most exquisite thing, there are painted wood carving for the column seat, or with red sand Bi cage as a cover, the hands of the toys held in the hands of gold, jade and gemstones to decorate, a pair of grinding drink music cost is often up to thousands of dollars.

7, worship the weaver

"Worship the weaver" is purely a young girl, young women. Most of them are in advance and their friends or neighbors about five or six people, as many as ten people, jointly organized. The ceremony is held by setting up a table under the moonlight with tea and wine. Fruit, five children (cinnamon, jujube, hazelnut, peanut, melon seeds) and other offerings; and a few flowers, bundles of red paper, inserted into the bottle, flowers before a small incense burner. Then, about to participate in the worship of the weaving maiden young women, girls, fasting for a day, bathing, punctually to the host's home, in front of the case of incense worship, we sit around the table, one side of the constellation towards the weaving maiden, meditation on their own heart. Such as young girls want to look beautiful or marry a man of their choice, young women want to give birth to a child early, etc., can be to the Weaver star silent prayer.

8, congratulate the cow's birthday

Children will pick wildflowers and hang them on the cow's horns on the eve, which is called "congratulate the cow's birthday" (Legend has it that the eve is the cow's birthday).

9, worship Kuixing

It is said that July 7 is the birthday of Kuixing. Kui Xing Wen matter, want to seek the merit of the scholar especially revered Kui Xing, so must be worshipped on the eve of this day, praying for his blessing of their own examination luck. Kui Xing Master is Kui Dou Star, twenty-eight hosts in the Kuixing, for the first star of the Big Dipper seven stars, also Kui Xing or Kui Shou. Ancient scholars in the scholar in the "big Kui world Shi" or "a lift to win", are because of the Kui Xing master in charge of the examination of the fate of the reason.

10, eat coquettish fruit

Tanabata festival food, to coquettish fruit is the most famous. Qiaojiao is also known as "begging for coquettish fruit", the style is very much. The main material is oil flour molasses. Qiaoguo practice is: first sugar in the pot melted into syrup, and then and into the flour, sesame, mix well after spreading on the case to defend the thin, cooled with a knife cut into rectangles, sin You folded for the shuttle-shaped surface Qiao embryo, into the oil deep-fried to a golden brown that is. Handy women, but also pinch molded a variety of legends related to the Tanabata pattern.