Jinhua's festival customs, weddings, funerals, growth ceremonies and other cultural traditions and customs.

Lantern Festival is the most distinctive folk art and entertainment activity in Jinhua. People say hello and light lanterns to show that they can drive away evil spirits and plagues, pray for disaster relief, and seek a bumper harvest and human and animal safety. Lantern Festival is also called "Lantern Festival". Generally, the lights are lit on the tenth day of the first lunar month, and scattered on sunny days, which is the most prosperous on the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth days.

Jinhua lanterns have a variety of colorful items and shapes. The dragon lantern is the main lantern of the Lantern Festival, and the most representative one is the "bridge lantern" (Jinhua and Lanxi are called "bench dragon" and Pujiang is called "dragon lantern"). ), there are generally more than 100 bridges (one section is a bridge), hundreds of bridges for the elderly, and even thousands of bridges. Bridge lights are divided into "faucet" and "light bridge". The faucet is supported by wooden boards, supported by brackets, and tied with bamboo sticks to form a spinosaurus shape. Outside the school gate, colorful dragon phosphorus and clouds are painted on cotton paper, with dragon whiskers on the cheeks and dragon balls in the mouth. The four engines are equipped with lights of various colors, with flags on their backs, "sky lights" hanging above them and "ground lights" hanging below them. The production is extremely exquisite. Light a candle in the lamp, the color is bright and dazzling. The light bridge supports wooden boards, each of which is 2.3m long,18cm wide and 5cm thick. There are holes at both ends of the board with a spacing of 70 cm for receiving light. There are lamp holders on the board, two for each board. Wei Long is the last bridge, Wei Long-shaped, covered with a satin rainbow. The main array of bridge-welcoming lights are: piano hoop, belly rolling, green snake sliding, wheat cake picking, lotus spinning, scissors, double doors, and room column winding, which is extremely exciting and thrilling.

In the old society, welcoming dragon lanterns was cumbersome and exquisite, and there were many taboos. You must steal the bamboo that makes the faucet. Its "stealing" method is to gather people to cut down bamboo at night after checking its proper use. After cutting, put a red envelope on the bamboo root and it will be on fire. The same is true of the new "stealing" method of faucet plate and bridge light plate. The stolen person receives a red envelope, no matter how much compensation, which is considered auspicious and never blames. After the faucet was carefully painted, two pieces of small red paper were pasted on it. On the day of the Lantern Festival, the faucet was carried to the main hall with the ceremony of "going out of position", and the case was dedicated to grains, sweets and cakes. After the Taoist priest "invited the dragon god", the little red paper was removed and read "Open your eyes and see". Later, the villagers worshipped with incense sticks. Those who greet the dragon lanterns must take a fire bath to clean themselves, and then carry the light bridge and "put" the cannon into the open field, so that the whole village can be connected with the light bridge, and the whole dragon lantern is complete before leaving for the temple, which means to greet the gods. The bigger the village, the more light bridges and the longer the light queue. Then, follow the usual route in Youlong. In Youlong, the most respected old people walk at the head of the procession, those with incense trays and incense burners on them, then those with guns and candles, then those with double-headed gongs and tiger tags, and then the leader. Children holding fish, shrimp and crab lanterns are not prohibited and unrestrained. They can occupy one side of the lantern bridge before holding incense, or follow the dragon's tail and say, "The dragon will go, and the shrimp and crab will clear the way to protect the driver." The dragon lantern swims in the field, which is called "walking" and "looking for wheat." The road is narrow, and it is inevitable to step on wheat seedlings, but no one is surprised. When you are in Youlong, you should "jump lights" and "assemble lights".

Temple fairs are held all over Jinhua. In the past, there were many temple fairs, especially the Gong Hu Great Temple held on August 13th of the lunar calendar. By then, good men and women will burn incense and worship Buddha, merchants will gather, and department stores will be mixed and endless. In addition to the custom ceremony of welcoming Buddha at noon, there will also be entertainment activities such as "welcoming the flag", "36 lines", "going over the ninth floor", "welcoming the Taiwan Pavilion" and "performing a big drama". "The so-called good Yin column is also. After a while, there will be fireworks, a troupe, as many as ten "(Guangxu" Jinhua County Records "), and the prosperity of the temple fair can be seen. Temple fairs are still held frequently in various places, but feudal superstitious activities have been basically abolished and replaced by activities such as acting, showing movies, welcoming dragon lanterns, entertainment and exhibitions. Most temple fairs are transformed into entertainment activities, material exchanges and cultural festivals.

Bullfighting began in Zhao, Song and Qing Dynasties and has a long history. After the founding of the people's Republic of China, it stopped for a time. 1In April 1985, Jinhua renovated the bullring near the lake and seawall, covering an area of 14 mu, and officially opened it to the public in April 1986. Shanghai Science and Education Film Studio came to the bullring to shoot and put Jinhua bullfighting on the screen. One year later, due to insufficient income, July 1987 was closed.

Besides Jinhua County, bullfighting can be seen in Yiwu, Pujiang, Yongkang, Wuyi and Lanxi. Generally speaking, it is an entertainment for temple fair figures. Yongkang is dedicated to "Gong Hu Dida" (Hu Ze in Northern Song Dynasty), Lanxi is dedicated to Baisha Dida (Lu Zhi in Three Kingdoms), and Jinhua County is one of the temple fairs of "Walking Palace Dida" (Xingzhi in Northern Song Dynasty). Wuyi called bullfighting "copying cattle" or "copying horns", Yongkang called it "fucking cattle" and Pujiang called it "rolling cattle". Every year, rice seedlings "open" (the first bullfight in a year) and spring ploughing "close" (the last bullfight in a year). Except for busy farming or snowstorm, it is almost a big fight in January and a small fight in half a month. Strive for the first anniversary, called "a case." Jinhua bullfighting is a struggle between cows.

Jinhua marriage custom

Blind date: it is a custom in Jinhua area. Women treat each other with eggs. If they agree, they treat each other with boiled eggs, which means reunion. Instead, let them eat poached eggs. Young people can eat a pair of boiled eggs if they like. If you don't like it, you can skip it. After the two families agree, they will post and exchange the name, birthplace, three generations, title and official position of each book.

Engagement: Both parties agree to get married, that is, engagement, commonly known as engagement. Engagement requires a bride price, also known as a bride price, and there are customs everywhere. In ancient times, leather and silk items were used as betrothal gifts, and it was not until the Han Dynasty that betrothal money was used. All the property of future generations depends on family circumstances. Engaged men and women are regarded as husband and wife, and others are not allowed to visit relatives.

Wedding: In the old days, eight people carried the sedan chair and four people carried it. The sedan chair arrived at the door of the woman's house, and the man fired a gun and played music to make an announcement. The folk song sings: "Blow three times, hit three times, and blow the in-laws to open the door." Before the girl gets on the sedan chair, she should twist off her hair with cotton wool, weigh her face, take a shower and dress up, commonly known as dressing up as a sedan chair. At noon, the woman held a farewell banquet and invited guests to marry the man. Before the bride gets on the sedan chair (now she is getting married in a sedan chair), she should say goodbye to her ancestors and bow down to her parents. When getting on the sedan chair, it is usually the woman's brother who carries or carries the bride into the sedan chair. When leaving, there is a custom of crying and marrying. The woman's parents, brothers and sisters should exchange tears and say some auspicious words while crying, thinking that the more they cry, the more children and grandchildren they will have.

Worship the bride: three kneeling and nine knocking on the bride, first worship the heavens and the earth, first worship the ancestors, then worship the parents, and then the husband and wife worship each other, commonly known as worship the heavens and the earth. After the worship, the bride was sent to the bridal chamber, but her feet were not allowed to step on the ground. She should use sacks, mats, futons, etc. to lay the floor. And spread while walking, this is called bag passing, which is traffic.

Jinhua doesn't seem to have the custom of the first wedding now, but it's better to get to know it.