What folk customs are there in Henan?

Dragon Head Lift Festival (the second day of February). The second day of the second lunar month is a traditional festival of the Han nationality. People think that this day is the day when the dragon will ascend to heaven, so it is called "Dragon Head Lifting Festival" or "Qinglong Festival". On this day, women in rural areas of Henan generally don't move scissors or do needlework, for fear of cutting off the dragon's body with a knife. According to the old people. This is to show respect for the dragon. On this festival, people go to the fields to pick wild vegetables, make jiaozi, fry pancakes, fry soybeans, fry bacon and steam jujube buns to improve their lives.

Dragon Boat Festival (the fifth day of May). The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the traditional Dragon Boat Festival in China. In Henan folk, there are two versions about the origin of Dragon Boat Festival. One is to commemorate Qu Yuan, and the other is from Tian Wen's new regulations on the Dragon Boat Festival. With vivid and interesting legends, the custom of the Dragon Boat Festival in Henan has become more and more colorful. There is a folk song that says, "On May 5th, when the wheat is ripe, dumplings will be wrapped for the Dragon Boat Festival." It shows that wrapping and eating zongzi is an important folk activity of Henan Dragon Boat Festival. In terms of shape, other provinces and cities include Bao jiaozi, Niujiao jiaozi, Cone jiaozi, Diamond jiaozi, Barrel jiaozi, Weighing Hammer jiaozi and Jiujiao jiaozi, while Henan is dominated by Niujiao jiaozi, with triangles and four corners.

Spend the next year (sixth day of June). The first day of the sixth lunar month is a festival that people in the Central Plains pay more attention to. In eastern and southern Henan, there is a saying that the first day of June is a small year. Especially in rural areas. People regard this day as a festival to celebrate the harvest and worship the harvest year. At this time, the wheat has just been planted, and the joy of harvest is full of farmers' hearts and eyebrows. People set tables in houses, yards and wheat fields, and put five kinds of melons and fruits, such as steamed bread, jujube hill, peaches and plums. They filled the barrels with newly harvested wheat, wrote the word "Fu" on the barrels, and then burned incense and set off firecrackers, praying for good weather and abundant crops in autumn. After that, people happily ate a "chop suey" made of meat, vegetables, vermicelli and kelp. Adults guess the rules of boxing in the wheat field, and children have fun while eating.

On the sixth day of June, people call it "Fried Noodles Festival", "Looking at Summer Festival" and "Daughter's Day", which are often ten miles (5 kilometers) and eight miles (4 kilometers) apart, so the customs are very different. Anyway, festivals are about eating, playing and visiting relatives and friends. And these festivals are all related to married girls. Every household in the countryside will take the married girl home from June/kloc-0 to June 6, and then send her back to her husband's house after being entertained. As the saying goes, "June 6, please ask your aunt." "On June 6th, I hung up my hoe and called my aunt and sister-in-law."

The custom of celebrating the New Year on the first day of June is quite common in the Central Plains. From June/KLOC-0 to June 6, the flavor of "Nian" in the rural areas of Central Plains is rich and lasts for about a week. Although there are differences between the first day and the sixth day, the distance between the two festivals is too close, and the festival activities naturally blend together. These festivals are not only agricultural festivals in the farming areas of Central Plains, but also "Harvest Festival" and "Harvest Festival". Custom activities in festivals are activities for farmers to taste the fruits of their labor. This kind of joy naturally allows all people to share it at the same time when visiting relatives and friends.

Jojo Day (the seventh day of July). The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is a traditional festival of the Han nationality. Because the main participants in this day's activities are girls, the content of the festival activities is mainly begging skills, so people call this day "begging skills festival" or "girls' day". The custom of begging for cleverness in Xinxiang, Henan Province is that every year on the sixth night of the seventh lunar month, seven unmarried local girls form a group (according to the number of "Chinese Valentine's Day"), each of whom exchanges things for a face and prepares offerings for the Weaver Girl. Someone wants to buy seven kinds of melons and fruits, such as grapes, pomegranates, watermelons, dates and peaches, bake seven steamed buns with oil or sugar, make seven bowls of small jiaozi and make seven bowls of noodle soup. In addition, seven big jiaozi will be packaged separately. Dumpling stuffing is made of seven kinds of vegetables, and there are seven kinds of things made of flour, such as needles, looms, flower hammers, spindles, scissors, garlic cloves or abacus. These seven things should represent the wishes of seven girls.

Animal Festival (July 15). The 15th day of the seventh lunar month is the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival in China, commonly known as "Ghost Festival". Farmers in the Central Plains also call this day "Cow Festival", and there are many activities to sacrifice cows on this day. On July 15 in Linxian County, northern Henan Province, every household steamed white bread in the shape of mutton, steamed it at noon, and then set off firecrackers to celebrate the prosperity of the trough head. Every farmer with big animals will stop work for one day, give mutton buns to the big animals, and some will feed the animals with concentrated feed such as beans to show that the Animal Festival is different from usual. In the evening, they will make a pot of rice soup for animals to drink. A folk song says, "Beat 1000 and scold 10000, and have a small meal on July 15th."

Double Ninth Festival (the ninth day of September). The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the traditional Double Ninth Festival in China. The ancients thought that "nine" was a lucky number and a positive number. On the ninth day of September, it occupies two nine characters, and double yang is important, so people call it "double ninth" or "double ninth". In the traditional customs of China, the Double Ninth Festival is a climbing festival, which, like eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival and eating moon cakes on the Mid-Autumn Festival, has become a symbol of the Double Ninth Festival on September 9. According to historical records, it was formed under the influence of a myth and legend. In addition, in the traditional concept of Central Plains people, double ninth still means longevity, health and longevity. Therefore, people regard the Double Ninth Festival as "the festival for the elderly", and there are many activities in society to respect, care for and respect the elderly.

Laba Festival (the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month). The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is the traditional Laba Festival of Han nationality in China. On this day, most parts of China have the custom of eating Laba porridge. Laba porridge is made of eight kinds of fresh grains and fruits harvested in the same year, usually sweet porridge. However, many farmers in the Central Plains like to eat Laba porridge. In addition to rice, millet, mung bean, cowpea, peanut, jujube and other raw materials, porridge also contains radish, cabbage, vermicelli, kelp, tofu and so on.

Festival of offering sacrifices to stoves (the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month). The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is an important folk festival before the Spring Festival, which is called "Festival of Sacrificing Kitchen Stove". At this time, people can't help but welcome the joy of the New Year, stop all kinds of work in their hands, and are busy with the sacrificial activities of offering sacrifices to the gods years ago. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the first round of firecrackers was set off in urban and rural areas of the Central Plains. City residents are busy buying sesame candy, fire and other food for offering sacrifices to stoves. In the vast rural areas, preparations and grand ceremonies for offering sacrifices to stoves gradually began in the deafening sound of guns. In addition to eating stove candy, fire is also a very distinctive seasonal food on the day of sacrifice. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the business of biscuit stalls in the city is booming. People gathered together and rushed to buy sacrificial stoves and burn them. Most of the countryside is made by ourselves, made of flour and kang. The home is very lively, with the taste of off-year life. ?