How did the custom of raising the dragon's head on February 2 come into being?
First, the existing custom of February 2nd of the Han nationality began in the Tang Dynasty and was finalized in the Yuan Dynasty. After continuous improvement in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it has incorporated many cultural connotations and spread endlessly. Today, it is still an important traditional festival popular among many ethnic groups.
Compared with ethnic minorities, it is more popular for Han people to celebrate February 2nd, and folk proverbs are circulated in northern China. On February 2 nd, the dragon looked up, the big warehouse was full, and the small warehouse flowed. ? On February 2nd, Shaanxi people scattered plant ash around their houses, and there were numerous customs activities. Fencing? . It means disinfection, insect repellent and snake bite prevention. In Foping, Shaanxi, people will bring dustpans or other plant ash around the house in the early morning of February 2, and use a rolling pin to repel insects and disinfect when knocking at the door. In Nanzheng and Xixiang around Hanzhong, people used dustpans to hold grass ash on February 2 and scattered it around houses, saying, On February 2, a dustpan, insects and ants flew by. ? It is said that this can prevent scorpions from entering the house.
Have you ever been to Fugu and Yulin in northern Shaanxi? The dragon looks up? In the early morning, use kitchen ash as a house to prevent insects, scorpions and noodles? Date card? Give sacrifices to the elderly and children at home for good luck. Beijing and other places, there are proverbs? On February 2 nd, according to the beam, the scorpion centipede has nowhere to hide? Transmission refers to the activity of taking photos of insects on February 2 every year. This activity is usually held on the evening of February 2. People will light the candles left after the New Year and take a photo in every corner of the house. They think that if this is done, insects and ants such as scorpions and centipedes that will soon be revived will fall down and die because of soot and flickering candles, thus achieving the purpose of repelling insects and snakes.
In the northeast and other places, on February 2, women will make chickens out of cloth and hang them indoors, which is very popular. Avoid dragonflies and control insects and ants? In some places, it is necessary to clean the room on this day, which is thought to make people healthy.
In some places in the south, there is a custom of offering sacrifices to insects on February 2. In the south of the Yangtze River, every household must grind the aged corn, sorghum, glutinous rice and buckwheat into rice flour on the second day of February, make them into various fruit shapes such as rolls and peaches, and some even knead them into the shapes of poultry such as pigs, dogs, sheep and chickens, steam them, put them in bamboo sticks, and send them to the ground at sunset or put them in front of ancestral graves. It is said that after eating it, the insect god will not eat the crops of the people who sacrifice it. Suzhou and Hangzhou people worship the land god on February 2 nd, thinking that this day is grandpa's birthday, so they set incense to worship and pray for a bumper harvest.
People in Chengdu and other places also have the custom of going out for an outing to enjoy spring on February 2. In the south of the Yangtze River, especially in Suzhou and Hangzhou, the festival food on February 2 is also very distinctive. Jiangsu people have been used to eating since the Qing dynasty? Support cake? This kind of rice cake is very delicious after frying and frying. People in the north and south are still used to putting a title on the food they eat on February 2? Dragon? Words, such as? Longxu Noodles? 、? Dragon unicorn? 、? Dragon horn? 、? Dragon ears? Wait, the shape of food should be a part of Jackie Chan or a dragon.
Tianjin people eat it every day? Fried braised pork? Braised pork is a symbol of Longlin. Braised pork is made by boiling starch into rubber blocks, cutting it into small pieces and frying it in a pot until a layer of yellow crispy skin is fried. Then put it in a bowl, drizzle with soy sauce and sesame sauce, sprinkle with minced garlic, and stir well to eat. It tastes delicious. As the saying goes:? Eat Longlin cake to keep out the cold all year round? .
In the northeast, there is also the custom of eating pig's head on February 2. On the day of the Dragon Head Festival, there will be a pig's head banquet at home to symbolize the dragon head. The whole family around to eat, while eating delicious steaming pork head, while eating some cooked food such as pancakes as ingredients. When cooking pig's head meat, you should first pull off the pig's hair, blanch it with boiling water, and add pickled leeks, soy sauce, chopped green onion and other seasonings before eating. The pork head meat made in this way is fat but not greasy, and it tastes delicious. In addition, in some areas in the north, people will celebrate by dancing dragons and listening to stories on February 2, while in the south, they will have occasions of collective joy, such as performing social dramas and offering sacrifices to land lords.
Regrettably, these holiday customs, which are still so popular in modern society, have been seriously diluted under the strong impact of marketization in contemporary society. At present, most Han people only have some forms left, such as scraping the dragon's head, eating Longxu Noodles, and some vague forms of entertainment.
Second, the reason why February 2 is diluted Since the 20th century, with the rapid development of China's economic modernization and the acceleration of the country's political changes, China's once extremely popular national traditional festivals have been greatly impacted, especially some endangered festivals represented by February 2 tend to die out. For various reasons, the folk culture of some festivals has been artificially distorted and deformed, while others have been forgotten. Cultural memory? Gradually forgotten by people.
First of all, people have long been prejudiced against traditional festival culture. Since modern times, social changes have been drastic, and social, political and cultural changes have taken place. In addition, with the promotion of the movement of changing customs for decades, the connection between feudal backwardness and traditional culture slowly gathered in people's hearts, and traditional culture, including February 2, was abandoned and diluted by people.
We see modern festivals, such as? New year's day? 、? Labor day? Wait, there is more market for contemporary people, and people are keen on it? Golden week? However, traditional festivals such as Dragon Boat Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day and Mid-Autumn Festival, which have been inherited for thousands of years and contain rich national cultural connotations, are left to fend for themselves. Only in rural and remote areas, there are still some original features. However, with the acceleration of urbanization, their living space is gradually squeezed, the content and form are sharply reduced, and the living environment is seriously deteriorated.
Secondly, the form of festival culture is not easy to retain. Is intangible cultural heritage material compared with material cultural heritage? Cultural relics? As support. In modern society, the ways of entertainment are increasingly diverse, and the fast food of spiritual enjoyment has accelerated the demise of traditional festival culture. It is difficult for a large-scale mass festival like February 2, which is spontaneously organized by the masses and participated by resources, to continue its vitality. Over the years, we have failed to protect the cultural heritage, and our awareness of protection is not high, and we have not paid enough attention to it, which makes the custom of February 2 be on the verge of extinction, and the cultural connotation of February 2 is gradually forgotten by people.
Finally, the impact of foreign culture greatly aggravated the demise of the traditional February 2 nd Festival. Since the port was opened in the late Qing Dynasty, western values and lifestyles have flooded into China. Since the reform and opening up, the impact of western culture has dealt a heavy blow to the traditional February 2 nd Festival, which has been forgotten and ignored by the younger generation. They generally believe that these traditional festivals handed down from generation to generation are rustic and lack fashion, and generally pursue Christmas and Valentine's Day in the West. The strong infiltration of western culture has led to more and more neglect of traditional festivals.
Today, with the gradual development of globalization, our traditional social life structure is changing rapidly, and our inherent cultural traditions are also undergoing drastic changes. In the strong infiltration of western culture, the traditional culture represented by February 2 has been seriously damaged and can be seen everywhere. The lack of contact between modern society and traditional society makes traditional festivals gradually lose their original cultural connotation and become more and more important. Hollow? What's left is just some superficial forms of eating and drinking. And so on, making our protection work more arduous and the urgency of protection more and more profound.