What are the traditions of the eighth day of the eighth lunar month?

The traditional customs of the eighth day of the first month are as follows:

1, Gu Ri

According to folklore, the eighth day of the first month is Xiaomi's birthday. If the weather is fine this day, there will be a bumper harvest of rice this year. If it is cloudy, it will be a sorry year. The custom of "Valley Day" is to worship memorial tablets with the names of grains written on them, and not to eat cooked grains. This custom contains the idea of attaching importance to agriculture and cherishing food.

2. Release and pray

On the eighth day of the first month, there is a "release" activity, which is to take some fish and birds raised at home outside and release them into the wild. In the Ming Dynasty, Dong Liu recorded in The Scenery of the Imperial Capital: "On the eighth day of the first month, birds, fish and shrimp in pots, snails and mussels were released in Shixing Lane. Luo tang qian, monks speak Sanskrit, thousands of people are opposite, and feathers are flying in the air. Evil falls on the house, but when they move, they leave. Things like water are thrown into the bamboo shoots and bait of Jinshui River in the imperial city. "

Birds eat grains and rob people of their harvest, so we should release birds and fish on this day to express the virtue of living well and bribe them to be merciful. There is another reason for choosing to release the animals, that is, the eighth day is the day when the stars are on the right track, so that the stars can see their good deeds.

Step 3 be happy

People in China regard the eighth day of the first month as the lower limit of the stars, and make small lanterns to burn and sacrifice, which is called Shunxing, also called "offering stars" and "receiving stars".

According to Taoist priests and astrologers, everyone has an old star, also known as the "fleeting star" (nine planets, namely, sun, moon, water, fire, wood, gold, earth, Luohou and Du Ji, take turns to take charge of one year). The fate of a person's year is entirely in the hands of the stars in charge of the year. The eighth day of the first month of each year is the day when the stars gather, which is also commonly known as the "lower bound of the stars". So this day may be blessed by the stars.

Therefore, some people go to Baiyun Guanxing Temple (namely Chenyuan Temple) to burn incense and enjoy happiness. However, do you want to burn incense in the temple? It's Sunday night. After the stars come out in the sky, every household will hold a ceremony to worship the stars.

Sacrifice uses two divine symbols, the first one is printed with Xingke, Suzaku and Xuanwu. The second one with the core monument of life is the longevity prince. Two sheets were stacked one after the other, clipped on paper clips and placed in the middle of the back of the table in the yard for worship. Before the Oracle, there was a snuff twisted with yellow and white lantern paper dipped in sesame oil, which was put into a lamp bowl with a diameter of one inch and lit. Then cook Yuanxiao and green tea. After dusk, sacrifice the Beidou as the target. After the sacrifice, when the residual lamp will be extinguished, the sacred scriptures and incense roots will be incinerated together with sesame stems and pine and cypress branches to be sacrificed.

Step 4 eat yuanxiao

The eighth day of the first month is also traditionally called "Shunxing Festival", and one of the customs of Shunxing Festival is to eat Yuanxiao. As the old saying goes, "There are stars in the sky and a tripod on the ground", and the stars in the sky correspond to the population on the ground. There are many stars in the sky, which means that the population on the earth is prosperous. Eating Yuanxiao on the eighth day is to seek the blessing of the star god and express special thanks to him. In addition, after the eighth day, Yuanxiao is eaten from the thirteenth day of the first month and can be eaten until the seventeenth day of the first month.

5. Eight Immortals Festival

The folk pronunciation of the eight characters turned the eighth day of the first month into the Eight Immortals Festival. The Eight Immortals in folklore are Li Tie Guai Li, Han Zhongli, Zhang, He Xiangu, Lan Caihe, Han Xiangzi and Cao Guojiu. Because it is not afraid of power and despises wealth, it often goes deep into the people to help the poor and is deeply loved by the working people. On this day, people will prepare delicious food and fruit to offer sacrifices to the Eight Immortals.