Worshiping the Master in Chaoshan, a Ritual in Chaoshan Area

Worshipping the Old Master is a traditional folk custom in Chaoshan. It is a kind of sacrificial activity to the god. And this folk custom has a long history and a very wide influence. And in the Guangdong culture, in different seasons need to pay homage to different "masters" in a wide range, so it involves a lot of gods and goddesses. So there are a lot of gods and goddesses involved, which is beyond the imagination of the general public. Next, let's learn about this ritual activity!

"Worshipping the old master" is a traditional folk custom in Chaoshan, a kind of sacrificial activity to the gods. It has a long history and a wide variety of objects of worship, and its influence is very extensive. As a result of thousands of years of folk worship and deification, as well as successive rulers of the clamor, the use of the worship of the lord and its place (the lord of the Palace) is covered with a layer of mystery veil.

Speaking of the Chaoshan people "worship master", learning is really too big, different seasons have different "master" to worship, the scope of the wide range of gods and goddesses involved, beyond the imagination of the general public, in addition to the first fifteen months of the month to worship the home of the landlord master, in addition to the year, there is also the Lord of Heaven (the Lord). In addition, the year there is the God of Heaven (Jade Emperor), Buddha (Buddha Rulai), Goddess of Mercy, God of the Land, God of Wealth, Goddess of the Moon, God of the Door, Ancestors ...... Especially in the first month of the year, the worship of the old man is a major event, about the rise and fall of the family home for a year, from the thirtieth of the year to the fifteenth of the first month of the year, almost every two to three days will be worshipped, the scene can be said to be The scene is very grand.

Compared to religious activities such as worshiping Buddha, "worshiping the master" is more local and flexible. The activity time of "worshiping the master" is based on the lunar calendar as a standard. On the first and fifteenth day of each month of the lunar calendar, two days are fixed for worship. These two days are usually held at home in a simpler form. The main purpose is to offer sacrifices to the landlord and the God of Heaven, set up incense burners, candlesticks, and offerings, burn incense and prayers, and then burn paper. In addition, there are a variety of other birthdays of God, the form of grand and solemn.

For example, on the Birthday of the God of Heaven, the Birthday of the God of the Earth, especially in the first month, "worship the old man" is not only a lot of activities but also a large scale. The family has to make sacrifices, but also to the "Master's Palace" to make sacrifices. The offerings are also elaborate, with three animals: pig, chicken and fish; specially made Chaoshan kuey teow, such as hair kuey teow, ping pong kuey teow, peach kuey teow, etc., a variety of fresh fruits, and the necessary marinated goose. Each village has its own grand scale of "welcome the lord" activities, the temple to offer a super large incense, please sing opera performances, there is an honor guard parade, firecrackers fireworks and so on.

"Worship Master" in addition to burning incense and paper, but also "ask the cup" form. Take two pieces of bamboo or wood made of cups, pray and then fall to the ground. If the two pieces are turned upside down, it is a "laughing cup"; if both sides are turned upside down, it is a "stable cup", which is unlucky; if one is positive and the other is negative, it is a "holy cup", which is an auspicious omen that the contents of the prayers can be realized. This form is also used for conversations with God. This form is also used in the dialog with God, the chalice means that the gods agree with your request, and vice versa, do not agree with your request.

Worshipping the gods is a phenomenon that exists among Chinese people and even all human beings, and the Chaoshan people are no different, as the Dongli Zhi (Chen Tianzhi, the second year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty) says: "The Cantonese custom is still expensive, and shrines and temples are flourishing." In the Chaoshan region there are thousands of large and small temples, temples enshrined in the gods, there are natural gods (heaven and earth parents, the sun god, the moon god, the gods of wind, rain, thunder and lightning, the gods of the mountains, rivers, plants and animals ......) Buddhist gods, Taoist gods, emperors, sages, martyrs, Qing officials and so on.

Every first and fifteenth day of the month, women can be seen carrying baskets and baskets, running between the temples, devout worship. The gods in Chaoshan are collectively known as the "master", why the Chaozhou people will be so obsessed with the worship of the gods, and is a number of gods together to worship it. It should be said that there are certain geographical and historical reasons, Chaoshan is located in the coastal areas, also belongs to the southern barbarians, since ancient times, more natural disasters, and the cultural development of the late, primitive religious ideological basis led to the belief in God.

In people's minds to form a concept of thinking, when people meet their own powerless to dominate the fate, it is easy to develop a belief in God mentality, people so believe in God, God, whether it is an idol or a natural image, are due to the belief that it is useful and beneficial to them, hoping that "there will be a response" to worship, the main reasons for this are:: the main reason for this is that the people in the area are not able to meet their own destiny, they are not able to meet their own destiny. The reason for this is: fear of psychology, insurance psychology, entertainment psychology, idolatry psychology, and so on.

Worshiping God is something that is actually very difficult to locate, saying that it is a feudal superstition can be, saying that it is a kind of faith can be. Faith is a good thing, people can not have no faith, people always need to have some spiritual support and spiritual power to support, but too much faith when it becomes superstition. The current Chaoshan people are the same as other peoples in the world.

Although the world that there is no God, but worship a god can not hurt, at least to get the peace of mind, the so-called "rather believe in it, do not believe in it," Chaoshan's worship of this belief is basically inherited by the Han people of the community's various traditional beliefs. And because of all the worship activities in Chaoshan, there are many gods and temples in Chaoshan, and they have gradually become a typical and characteristic part of the folk culture.