Zaosai Festival Zaosai Culture

The 23rd day of the lunar month is the traditional festival of Zaos in China's Han Dynasty, which is often referred to as the "New Year's Day", "Little New Year's Day", and "Little New Year's Day" in folklore. Every family will hold a "Zaoshen" ceremony on the evening of this day, which is to send the Zao Wang ascending to heaven.

Sacrificing Zaoshen is one of the five rituals of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, which was first a summer festival and later changed to a wax festival. Anciently known as "Yandi in the fire and died for the stove". Ancient sacrificial date, there are "official sacrifice three, the people sacrifice four, the king eight sacrifice five, turtle sacrifice six" said. The sacrifice of the God of the stove is located in the southeast corner of the southeast region of Fujian, an important part of the many worship activities.

Legend of Zaojiao Festival

The legend says that Zaojiao was surnamed Zhang List, and his name was Ziguo. He was originally a rich family, married a virtuous woman as his wife, but later on, he was greedy for a new wife, so he abandoned his wife and married again. His second wife, Li Haitang, was a beautiful woman, but she was lazy and a spendthrift.

Li married into the Zhang family, and soon squandered the Zhang family's property. She saw that Zhang Shan's family was in decline and did not want to follow the suffering, so she remarried someone else. As the saying goes, "When the house leaks, it rains overnight, and when the ship is late, it meets the wind at the top". One day, the Zhang family had the misfortune to be patronized by Zhu Rong, and saw that the wind helped the fire, and the fire borrowed the power of the wind, and the Zhang family's mansion burned down to ashes in no time at all. Zhang single since then homeless, sleeping on the street every day, sadness of his excessive tears all day long, so blind, reduced to beggars.

One day, about lunchtime, he begged to a family, the hostess gave him good food. He listened to the accent of déjà vu, they opened the question, the original giver of food is many years ago he abandoned his ex-wife. Zhang Shan suddenly felt a blood towards the head, feeling ashamed and ashamed of himself. The first time, I heard a muffled "thud" and Zhang Shan's eyes rolled back in his head, and he died in front of the stove.

The Jade Emperor was informed of this incident, and thought that Zhang Shan was still ashamed and repentant, and knew that he had not lost his conscience, and remembered that he had done a lot of good deeds in the past, so he named him King of the Stove, so that he could eat and drink without any worries in the future.

The legend of Zao Wang started with the stories of Yan Di and Zhu Rong in the early days, and later many different versions appeared. For example, the Taoist book Jing Shuo (经说), which describes Zao Wang as a female mother, says she "manages people's homes, has twelve hours, and is good at knowing what is going on in the world. On the first day of each month, the record of man-made good and evil and their merits, recorded its weight, and at midnight played on the heavenly Cao, set its book."

In different parts of China, the Zao Wang couple is made by different candidates, folk popular a variety of legends, there are many different titles, such as Zao Shen, Zaojun, Zao Wangzhi, Zao Shen Bodhisattva and so on.

Now every year on the 23rd day of the Lunar month, commonly known as the night of the small New Year, is the day of folk worship Zao Wangzhi. This custom has a long history, dating back to before the Qin Dynasty. For example, it is written in the Analects of Confucius that "it is better to worship Zao than to worship Yi-Ao, and Zao is better to worship Zao". Before the Qin Dynasty, Zaosai was one of the Five Sacrifices. Which five rituals were they? It was to sacrifice to the stove, the door, the well, the house and the thunder. To sacrifice to the stove to set up the stove king tablets, the ancient use of rich food and wine as a sacrifice, such as display on the tripod and chopping board, set up fruits and beans and so on.

But the day of the sacrifice of the stove, traditionally there are different sayings. Such as the first month, April, May, August and December have, in each region varies. Our country is the coexistence of various religions of the country, many gods and goddesses, too numerous to mention, the folk general respect, lest there be omissions. Later, through the evolution of generations, do not know to which dynasty which generation, in order to facilitate easy to remember to see, so the stove king monthly report to the court of heaven said, determined to report to the court of heaven once a year, the time set in the waxing month of the twenty-third day.

Since then, this day has become the traditional day of sacrifice, that is, commonly known as the New Year's Eve. In addition to some individual areas is the twenty-fourth day of the waxing moon, most areas are according to this day to hold Zaosi activities. On this day, every family is engaged in sanitation, sweeping the room and cleaning the windows, washing clothes.

When sacrificing to the stove, every family not only serves the sumptuous food and wine that is characteristic of each region, but also such things as sesame sugar, peanut sugar, malt sugar, fried rice cakes, powdered rice cakes, sugarcane, fruits, etc., and the customary offerings vary from region to region. But the candy must be very sticky, this practice is quite mysterious.

It is said that one is to throw his favorites, Zao Wang likes to eat sweets, so that he "ate people's mouth soft", on the Court of Heaven to report on the hidden evil to promote the good, and say more good things about the master of the house; the second is to use the candy to stick to Zao Wang's mouth, he reported that the master of the house has been done by the good things can be, if the report of the master of the house of the bad thing, the candy will make him "have a mouth difficult to say", even if he wants to say something, but also can only say sweet words (good words) clouds. It seems that our forefathers were extremely wise, this trick is really amazing! But the wind of bribery and acceptance of bribes through the ages, from this practice can be found in the shadow.

The king of the stove is the night of the twenty-third of the waxing moon every year to the Jade Emperor to report to the Jade Emperor, the first day of the first five o'clock back to return to the position, even if it is the completion of a year's reporting work.

As for the god of Zaowang, there are slight variations from place to place, and it is usually posted on the wall next to the stove by the smoke window. On both sides of a couplet: "good words in heaven, the lower world to ensure peace," and the banner: "back to the Palace of good luck". Next to the god of Zaowang, some families will post a horse for him to ride, and now some families with the times changed to a car.

Additionally, in many areas, the god of Zaowang is placed on a plate, the left and right sides of the plate is printed on the "virtuous fire, righteousness can reach the sky," the couplet, printed on the top of the "fire virtue" two words, the center of which is printed on the "Dingfu Zaojun. "Dingfu Zaojun" is printed in the center. All in all, the god and goddess of Zaowang in different regions are slightly different and not uniform.

The Zaoshengjun goes to Heaven every year to report to the Jade Emperor the merits and demerits of the master of the house for a year, and if the master of the house has committed a crime, the life span of those who have committed a big crime will be reduced by 300 days, and the life span of those who have committed a small crime will be reduced by one hundred days as well. People who do good deeds and accumulate virtue also increase their life span according to this standard. According to the Taoist book Taishang Induction Psalm, "The Secretary of Life will take away his discipline according to the severity of his sins." This "Si-Ling" refers to King Zao, and "Ji-Counting" refers to a person's lifespan; "Counting" is counted as one hundred days, and "Ji-Counting" is counted as twelve years. The punishment was very heavy. The punishment is very heavy and should not be taken lightly.

Knowing that the main mission of the king of the stove, the Jade Emperor came to the mortal world to do "undercover", to see the mortal merits and sins, usually should be careful, it is desirable to do more good and virtuous, "not to be good but not to do, not to be evil and small," know that "Raise your head three feet and there is God". Otherwise, the Zaowang master to heaven every year to Sen you a book, life expectancy this year a little bit less, next year a little bit less, life expectancy will be unknowingly all be subtracted.

While it is true that there is a folk trick of sealing with candies that can hit the dead center of the Zaobao, it is not as secure as doing good deeds and accumulating virtues. I think, nowadays there are so many fake things, in case the candy is fake, or has already expired, or Zaosi is a clean official, bribery is also not well-fed, can not seal his mouth, then is not bad?

The Jade Emperor is a great man, and he has taught us all that we need to know, and he is the only one who is good at what he does.

Culture of Zaos

Diet

Zaosai Festival, the folk say to eat dumplings. People like to use the fried corn with malt sugar bonding, frozen into large pieces, eat crispy and sweet. In addition to eating stove sugar on the day of Zaosai, fire roast is also a very distinctive festival food. Every Lunar New Year's Eve, the city's baklava stalls do a booming business on the day of Zaosai. Offerings in addition to sugar melons and the like, but also for the dumplings, to take the folk "up dumplings fall body surface" meaning, some also for the noodles.

Song?

There are two songs that have been passed down in the folklore of Southeast China.

One of them is " twenty-three , sent the master up to heaven; twenty-four, sweeping the house; twenty-five, steaming dumplings; twenty-six, cut down the meat; twenty-seven, rubbing the pewter; twenty-eight, composting the scruffy; twenty-nine, washing the feet and hands; thirty days, the door god, the couplets are posted together ". Reflecting the time constraints and the intensity of the preparations.

The second is a nursery rhyme: "Twenty-three, sacrificed the stove, the children clapped their hands and laughed. After five or six days, the New Year will come. The box of evil spirits, play walnuts, drip drip drip two guns. The five sons are on their way to the top, and the fire rises higher than the sky." Reflects the joyful psychology of children looking forward to the New Year.

Among all the preparations, cutting and pasting window decorations is the most popular folklore activity. There are also a variety of theatrical stories, folklore, "Da Deng Temple, two degrees of plum, Sanniang teach in four into the earth, five women to worship the June snow, July 7 Tianhe match, eight immortals to celebrate the birthday of the nine pieces of clothing," said, reflecting the folk of the theater story of the preference. A new daughter-in-law of the family, the new daughter-in-law to bring their own cut all kinds of window, back to the in-laws paste window, the neighbors have to come to watch. After the 23rd day of the Lunar New Year, every family should steam the flower buns.

Broadly divided into two types to honor the gods and relatives. The former is solemn and the latter is flowery. In particular, a large jujube mountain should be made for the worship of Zaojun. "A family steaming flower buns, four neighbors to help." This is often a great opportunity for folk women to show off their dexterity, and a flower bun is a handicraft.

Couplets

Posting Spring Festival CoupletsAfter the 23rd day of the Lunar New Year, every household has to write Spring Festival Couplets. Folk say there are gods must be posted, every door must be posted, every thing must be posted, so the Spring Festival couplets are the most numerous, the most complete. The couplets in front of the gods are especially elaborate, mostly words of worship and prayers.

Commonly, there are heaven and earth god couplets: "heavenly grace is as deep as the sea, the earth's virtue is as heavy as the mountain"; land god couplets: "earth out of white jade, gold in the ground"; god of wealth couplets: "heavenly source of wealth, the earth's God of fortune and fortune! "; Wells God Couplet: "Wells can pass through the four seas, the family can reach the three rivers". Face grain silos, corrals and other places in the Spring Festival couplets, are expressed warm celebration and hope. Such as "grains, six animals thrive"; "rice and noodles as thick as a mountain, oil and salt as deep as the sea"; "cattle like a tiger in the South Mountain, horses like the North Sea Dragon"; "sheep year after year, lamb month after month. Sheng, lamb monthly increase" and so on.

Additionally there are a number of single couplets, such as each indoor sticker "head up to see the happy", the door across the sticker "go out to see the happy", the fire on the sticker "Wang Qi Chong Tian", the yard sticker "full yard of gold". "Full of gold in the yard", "deep roots" on the tree, "White Tiger" on the stone mill, and so on. The couplets on the door, is the face of a family, special attention, or lyrical, or write the scene, rich in content, wonderful words.

After the 23rd day of the Lunar New Year, adults and children have to take a bath and get a haircut. Folk have "money or no money, shaved head for the New Year". Lvliang area preaching the 27th day of the waxing moon foot washing. On the evening of this day, aunt-in-law Ruzi all use boiling water to wash their feet. Do not understand the girls, adults should also help her feet scrubbed clean, without leaving a little dirt. Folk legend has it that "on the twenty-seventh day of the Lunar New Year, mother-in-law aunt Ru Zi are washing feet. One does not wash the feet, pus and water for seven months," said the proverb.

Customs of Zaojiao Festival

Zaojiao

The day of the New Year is also the day of the folk festival of Zaojiao. According to folklore, every year on the twenty-third day of the Lunar New Year, Master Zao has to go up to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor on the good and bad deeds of the family, so that the Jade Emperor can reward and punish them. Therefore, when sending the stove, people in front of the Zaowang statue of the table for candy, water, beans, fodder grass; which, the latter three is for the Zaowang ascension of the mount prepared materials. At the time of the Zaosi festival, the Guandong candies are also melted in the fire and applied to the mouth of the Zaosi King. In this way, he cannot speak ill of the Jade Emperor.

Additionally, on the night of the 30th day of the Lunar New Year, Zao Wang will also come to the earth with all the gods to celebrate the New Year, and on that day, there must be the ceremony of "receiving the stove" and "receiving the gods". When every household burns the sedan chair, sprinkle wine three cups, send away the god of the stove, then it is the turn to worship the ancestors.

Sweeping the dust

After the twenty-third day, there are only six or seven days left before the Spring Festival, and the preparations for the New Year. Dust sweeping seems even more enthusiastic. To thoroughly clean the interior, commonly known as dust sweeping, dust sweeping in order to get rid of the old and welcome the new, pulling out the ominous. Each household should be carefully and thoroughly cleaned, so that the windows are clear. Paint the walls, scrub the glass, paste the window, paste the New Year's picture and so on.

At the end of the month of Lunar New Year, every family prepares for the New Year. In Beijing, the twenty-fourth day of the Lunar New Year is usually designated as "house-sweeping day".

Sweeping the dust is mainly a thorough cleaning of the house, and housewives usually start by covering the beds and furniture in the room, wrapping their heads in headscarves, and then sweeping the walls up and down with brooms. After sweeping the house, tables and chairs were scrubbed and floors were rinsed. After sweeping the house, the stores and residents' homes look brand new. The newly-pasted spring couplets are bright and colorful, showing the red-hot Hongfu scenery. The vivid door god, the banner of joy, the exquisite window decoration, the colorful New Year's paintings, the colorful lanterns, and the bountiful offerings on the shrines all show the festive scene of joy and prosperity.

Cutting Window Flowers

Of all the preparations, cutting and pasting window flowers is the most prevalent folkloric activity. The content of a variety of animals, plants and other palindromes, such as magpies, swallows through the peach and willow, peacocks play peonies, lions rolled embroidered balls, three sheep (Yang) Kaitai, two dragons play pearls, deer and crane Tongchun (six contracts spring), five bats (Fukushima) cupped life, rhinoceros looking at the moon, Lotus (Lian) year fish (Yu), mandarin ducks playing in the water, the Liu Hai play Golden Cicada, and the two Immortals, and so on.

Bath

Adults and children have to take a bath and get a haircut. There is a saying that "if you have money or not, shave your head for the New Year"

Marriage

After the twenty-third day of the year, the people believe that the gods have gone to heaven, and there are no taboos. Marrying a daughter-in-law, hiring girls do not have to choose the day, known as rush messy marriage. Until the end of the year, the marriage ceremony is held in particular. The folk song has "the year yan countryside marriage busy, Yichun post to tease the spring light. Sisters speak privately in front of the lamp, keep this year is the cave" said.