What is the meaning of Zhou Zhou?
The meaning of Zhuzhou: Being able to read is suitable for scholars and experts. Pen and ink: Will become a writer or painter. Seal: Powerful, capable of becoming a high official. Abacus/calculator: Can be a businessman or accountant, suitable for business. Coins: You will be very rich in the future. Chicken legs: Blessed, indicating that you will have no worries about food and clothing throughout your life. Ruler: You can become a designer or architect in the future. Celery: represents hard work. Straw: suitable for agricultural work. Sword: Can be an officer or police officer. Handset: Suitable for medical work.
Zhuzhou:
Zhuzhou, a traditional Chinese custom, is now a custom in East Asian countries that predicts the future of the baby when the child is one year old. When a newborn is one year old, various items are placed in front of the child and allowed to be grabbed. Traditionally commonly used items include pens, ink, paper, inkstones, abacus, coins, books, etc. Zhuzhou is also called Shier, Shizhou, and birthday. It is a very important ritual in the first-year ceremony. It was first seen in the ancient customs of the Southern and Northern Dynasties and spread among the people. When a baby is one year old, it is called "week" and is now called one year old. On this day, the whole family not only celebrates, but also holds a grand ceremony to catch the baby's first week. In the classic novel "A Dream of Red Mansions". I have also written about the etiquette of "grasping the week". Jia Baoyu caught a rouge hairpin on his first birthday.
Notes on week catching:
1. The time for week catching is before lunch, about an hour is appropriate, so that the child can have enough time to choose items.
2. The selected items should be consistent in color and similar in size, making it easy for children to grab. It is best to choose items that are the first time the child comes into contact with or items that are similar in familiarity. Be careful not to choose easy-to-use items such as glass products. Broken items.
3. No matter where you are doing week-grabbing, it is recommended to place items in a fan shape. Depending on the importance of the items, place them from the middle to both sides. Parents can place the items they most want their children to get in the middle.
4. Only the item that the child holds for the longest time can be used as the child’s choice during the first week of pregnancy, because only in this way can the baby’s preferences be seen. When children grab objects, parents should watch carefully, but do not let relatives and friends interfere with the children. In order to get accurate results, it is best to record the time. Generally, the child can be caught twice.
Historical status quo:
There are records in the literature about catching the Zhou Dynasty. The folk custom of "grabbing the Zhou Dynasty" can be traced back to the Northern and Southern Dynasties. When many writings discuss the history of the Zhou custom, they say that this custom was widely popular in the Jiangnan area at least during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and gradually spread throughout the country during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. By the Tang and Song Dynasties, this custom had spread from the south of the Yangtze River to the land of China, and gradually became popular in all parts of the country. It was called "Testing Sun" or "Zhou Xu". Meng Yuanlao of the Song Dynasty recorded in "Tokyo Menghualu" Yuzi: After the folk give birth to a child, "on the next birthday, a plate of lamps will be placed on the ground, and fruits and trees, food, official certificates, pens and inkstones, scales and other scriptures and needles will be used. If you pick something first, you will think it is a sign, which is called "testing". This is a great gift for children. "This custom became more popular in the Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, and was called "Qi Yang". It was not until the Qing Dynasty. It is known as "grasping week" and "testing week". Chapter 19 of "Heroes of Sons and Daughters" records in detail an interesting story: "This is your first year, and I went to congratulate your parents. That day, your parents placed many needlework, knives, and rulers on the kang. I also bought a lot of goods at the temple, such as hairpins, hairpins, pen and ink books, abacus, and even gold, silver, money, etc. I was invited to come in and watch you catch Zhou'er together." At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, it was still popular among the people in Beijing. This kind of "catch Zhou'er" ceremony for children. Although there is no banquet or banquet set up when the child is one year old, close relatives all come to congratulate him and have a gathering as usual. Generally, we do not give big gifts (such as wedding banners, gold and silver jewelry), but just buy some cakes, food or toys for the children. In addition, it is customary for elders who meet a child for the first time to tie coins with a white thread and put it around the child's neck, which is called "hanging the thread" (this ceremony is also applicable in daily life). Nowadays, in many places, when a child turns one year old, there is still the custom of "catching the week", but it no longer contains superstitious content. It is purely a fun and amusing game to help children celebrate their first birthday. And this can also be said to be a "legacy" of my country's ancient folk culture.
Customs of different ethnic groups: Korean
In terms of childcare, customs include offering sincerity to the "birth god", celebrating "three sevenths", "hundred days" banquet, " "Zhuzhou" and other rituals, among which "Zhuzhou" is the most solemn. A baby's first birthday means that the baby has spent the first spring, summer, autumn and winter safely on the road of life. For this reason, a banquet is held to celebrate, firstly, to congratulate the healthy growth of the child, and secondly, to express the adults' good expectations for the child.
Celebrating the first birthday mainly includes paying sincerity to the "three gods" (also known as the "birth god"), dressing the baby in new birthday clothes, celebrating the baby's birthday, and sharing birthday cakes. On the day before your child's first birthday, you must first express your sincerity to the "three gods". A bowl of rice, kelp soup and "purified water" (well water or spring water drawn first in the morning) are placed on each small table, which is called the "Three Gods Table". There is also a bowl of steamed rice cakes placed next to the table. The mother or grandmother of the child chants prayers to the three gods table and kowtows devoutly to express thanks. On this first birthday, the child should be put into a gorgeous new birthday outfit. Boys usually wear pink trousers, jackets with colorful sleeves, blue waistcoats, and stockings with local patterns on their feet. The girl's clothing is a coat with colorful sleeves, a long red skirt, and stockings with native patterns on her feet. Both boys and girls are required to wear a "shou bag" symbolizing longevity around their waists, and wear a "shou bag" with peonies, chrysanthemums and the words "longevity" and "luck" on their bodies. Various accessories such as silver makeup knives, silver axes, and silver pins are also tied to the pocket strings of the "pockets."
Zhuzhou is the main etiquette for celebrating one's birthday. First, place knives, scissors, bows, pens, books, threads, money, abacus and other things as well as several kinds of cakes and fruits on a kang table, which is called setting the sun table. The cakes placed on the table mainly include white ice cream (steamed rice cakes), red sorghum cakes, cakes, and rice dumplings. The white ice cream means a pure heart, the red sorghum pancake means exorcising ghosts and warding off evil spirits, the cake symbolizes perseverance, the dumplings (without fillings) symbolize wealth and open-mindedness, and the rainbow symbolizes a bright future. After setting up the table, place a foot of cotton noodles or stack a blanket in front of the table. Then the child's father or grandmother will hold the child on it and let him or her grab anything on the table and sweep around the table. Pick it a few times and use the first thing you grab to judge your future interests. If the first thing you grab is a knife or a bow, it indicates that you will have martial arts in the future; if it is a writing pen, it indicates that you will have literary talent in the future; if it is a cake or something, it indicates that you will not have a big future. After the "grabbing week" is over, the cakes are given to relatives, friends and neighbors. Everyone who gets a cake must give some gifts in return as a thank you. When Koreans celebrate their children's first birthday, they only have "grasping the week". When the child grabbed something from the table, the relatives watching on the side praised the child with different words and placed some coins on the table to express their congratulations.
Hui Nationality:
Zhao Zhou Li is also called Sui Li, and the Hui people are commonly known as Zhua Sui. This is a common etiquette among the Hui people, especially those who give birth to their first child, or those who are infertile and have other people's children, they pay more attention to this etiquette. The ceremony for Hui children to catch their new year is relatively simple. When a child turns one year old, the child's parents, grandfather, grandmother, etc. are all in a joyful mood and prepare the New Year's cake while busy, chatting and laughing on the night before or on the morning of the first birthday. The Hui people are very particular about New Year cakes, and they use raw materials such as fine powder, red dates, sweet bean powder, and sesame oil. The New Year cake must be made into a round shape, about three or four inches thick and about one foot in diameter, and steamed in a steamer. Pay attention to kindness and generosity. The pattern should be novel and beautiful, usually consisting of six to eight triangles. The patterns on each triangle must be made of peonies, plum blossoms, lotus and other flowers and plants made of flour. It is taboo to use patterns of animals such as cats, dogs, rabbits and sheep. Place a large red date in the center of each flower. The New Year cake is white and soft, and tastes fragrant and sweet. The person who cuts the cake should choose an elder or an old person. The Hui people who have the conditions have to slaughter chickens and sheep to make jelly and stew five-spice rice. Since the Hui people are distributed throughout the country, the custom of making New Year cakes is not entirely the same. In some places, the Hui people in some places only eat New Year cakes and do not eat rice, noodles and other staple foods on the day of celebrating the New Year. On this day, relatives, friends and neighbors are also invited to their homes to eat New Year cakes. Guests usually bring toys and other small gifts for their children to express their congratulations. When holding the New Year's Eve ceremony, the host will place a big red table on which pens, writing brushes, notebooks, small airplanes, small ships, knives, swords and other toys made of paper are often placed. Then, the mother or father will put the child on the table. Carry it to the table and let the child grab it as he pleases. The guests and the whole family gathered around the child to watch, hoping that the child could catch something ideal. According to the custom of the Hui people, if a child catches a pen and notebook, it means that he will be a talented literati and scholar who can write and draw in the future; if he picks up a sword, it means that the child will be a swordsman, swordsman, and brave in the future. A warrior; if he catches both a pen and a sword, he is thought to become a general with both civil and military skills; if he catches an inconspicuous little toy, he is thought to be an "elf" who eats, drinks, has fun, covets comfort, and cannot become talented. "Wooden knots"; if the child catches nothing, he or she is said to be a dim, accomplished idiot, mediocre person, etc.
When a child catches something like a pen or notebook, the child's parents are overjoyed and happy. They hold the child high in the air to celebrate and laugh, and the onlookers applaud! After the catching ceremony, the host brings out the New Year cake and piping hot stew. , have a meal with the guests, and wish the children good luck, safety and healthy growth year after year. Hui families who have the conditions will steam a New Year cake every year on their children's birthdays to celebrate and commemorate within their own family without inviting guests. This custom lasts until girls reach the age of 9 and boys reach the age of 12.
Bajuen people:
The Bajun people in East Africa have a popular naming method similar to the Chinese "Zhuzhou" method, which involves writing many pre-selected names on leaves. Let babies who are 7 days old after birth be fetched by themselves, and use whichever name they find. Because the peoples in the Central African Rift Valley are located at the "Crossroads of Africa" and have suffered from frequent wars since ancient times, they often name their children with sad colors, such as The Lugbara people often name their children "lazy", "disgusting", "stingy", and "badass", which are often the shortcomings of the children's parents or family difficulties, with a sense of self-deprecation; Baniolo Tribes often name their children "poor", "homeless", etc., which are vivid records of tribal disputes, diseases and plagues and other unfortunate events.