Festivals in Jinjiang

Steaming "Bowl Cake"

In Jinjiang, in order to celebrate the Spring Festival, there is also steaming "Bowl Cake", which is also known as "Fat Cake". In Minnan language, rice cake is the more "hair" the better, because "hair" is the meaning of wealth, developed. Steaming "bowl cake" has to be "fermented" first, so "bowl cake" means to be able to develop and become rich and wealthy.

Sticky Liangtu introduced, flour fermentation is good with a high fire to steam, the top of the cake will be split, meaning "smiling mouth always open", symbolizing the family's happiness and well-being, joyful. Most of the "bowl cake" is steamed with sugar, which is sweet, symbolizing a sweet life and good luck.

Brush Dust:

The twenty-third or twenty-fourth day of the Lunar New Year is the "Brush (xian third sound) Dust Day" in southern Fujian. Ancient book "dream sorghum record" contains: "December end ...... regardless of the size of the family, all sprinkled clean the door, to dust, net household ...... to pray for a new year of peace." That is to say, the main purpose of "brush dust" is to clean, so that can be clean and fresh over the year, but also to drive out disease, sweep away the plague, pray for peace in the coming year. In the past, "brush dust" can have a lot of details.

People usually use young bamboo branches and leaves, banyan tree branches and leaves, or straw, sugar cane leaves, etc., tied into a long duster, used to sweep the dust on the beams in the corner of the house, cobwebs, but also with the "tablecloth towel" to clean all kinds of agricultural tools, objects. After sweeping the dust, the young bamboo branches and leaves, straw, sugar cane leaves, etc. on the broom handle are usually not discarded, but collected, and then taken out on New Year's Eve to be used as fuel for "jumping on the fire".

There is another legend about "Brushcrash": Every year, the Jade Emperor sends the "Three Corpses God" to inspect the earth, and the "Three Corpses God" writes down the crimes of each family on a piece of paper and glues the paper in front of the door. The "Three Corpses God" wrote down the crimes of each family on a piece of paper and glued the paper to the spider's web in front of the door for the Jade Emperor to inspect during the inspection. Later, when this was known to the people, they thought of a good way to use young bamboo branches and leaves to tie a long broom, and quietly swept away the paper stuck on the spider's web, so that the Jade Emperor could not see what he had written down when he inspected the house. Since then, the 23rd or 24th day of the Lunar New Year has become "dust-brushing day".

Pasted Spring Festival couplets:

Spring Festival couplets, also known as the "door", the New Year's couplets are red (in addition to the first year of the family of the funeral pasted green Spring Festival couplets, the second year pasted aqua Spring Festival couplets, the third year pasted red Spring Festival couplets), pasted Spring Festival couplets means that the next year of spring is full of, red hot.

Around the stove, keep the year:

New Year's Eve night, the family gathered around a reunion dinner, which is the Chinese *** with the tradition. In southern Fujian, the whole family around the New Year's Eve dinner is called "around the stove". Early due to the Jinjiang overseas Chinese townships to go out to make a living is very much, go home to eat a reunion dinner, *** to enjoy the joy of family, is the most happy and joyful thing for the whole family.

"Around the stove" is very distinctive, but also very elaborate. When you eat New Year's Eve dinner, you have to "add bowls and chopsticks". This means that the bowls and chopsticks on the table must be in pairs, with a few more bowls and pairs of chopsticks ready for those who have not yet returned. Some of the family members who have gone out to do business or work are unable to come back for the New Year, so adding more bowls and chopsticks will show that the family misses them.

After the "fire", we like to sit together and chat, waiting for the arrival of the New Year, this process, commonly known as "New Year's Eve".

Jumping fire group:

New Year's Eve "around the stove", there is an important activity is Jinjiang people can not do without, that is, "jumping fire group". Folk believe that "adults jumped in, year after year great wealth. Children jumped out, happy without worry ......" not only implies that the coming year life is red-hot, but also to drive away evil spirits to avoid disasters.

After the New Year's Eve dinner, people will be in the courtyard ready to light up the fire of the grass --- "spring grass", usually rice straw and sweet potato vines. After the fire is lit and burning, the highest-ranking male member of the family takes the lead and jumps over the fire first, and the others jump over the fire in order of seniority. After jumping over the fire, they walk up the steps and enter the "Alcove" through the main door, and walk all the way to the "Tien Kung Lamp" in the shrine hall to complete the journey. Then go back to the starting point in the courtyard and continue. It does not matter how many times you jump, when the fire subsides, the women in the family hold fire crackers and tiles (there are fewer tiles now, so you can replace them with other containers), and clip out some unburned sweet potato vines with sparks from the fire, put them onto the tiles, and put them into the "room", "sleeping bed", under the "Alley". below. Sticky Liangtu emphasized that only the husband and wife living in the "room" need to put these.

The "fire jumping" is not just about jumping over a pile of burning "fires", but sometimes people also recite the "four lines of Minnan" while jumping. For example, jump in to, great wealth; jump out, good fortune; jump over the East, eat a (will not) empty (finish); jump over the West, money and silver to the Alley (full of money).