Weather in Zhongshan Huangpu
Since ancient times, there have been sacrificial activities such as offering sacrifices, attending ceremonies, feasting, divination, greeting the gods, greeting the New Year and enjoying. When the Han people celebrate the New Year, the activities are even more grand. The ancients in Zhongshan followed suit. From ancient times to the present, Zhongshan people's custom of "celebrating the New Year" mainly includes the following aspects:
1, sweeping the house:
Sweeping the house, also known as sweeping the dust. This custom has a long history, which is roughly similar to the custom of "sweeping houses" in the Han area of the Central Plains, and it is an essential custom on the eve of the Chinese New Year. "Washing sloppy clothes on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month" is the mantra of Zhongshan people before the Spring Festival. The essence of cleaning is to send the old and welcome the new in the form of cleaning. But in the past, Zhongshan people were very particular about cleaning the house.
At the beginning of cleaning the house, first sweep the door, then pick up a long broom or chicken feather sweep, bamboo sticks and other tools to sweep up and down the lintel, and then sweep from the outside to the inside, that is, sweep from the hall to the kitchen and from the roof to the underground. There is a proverb here: "Good sweeps in, bad sweeps out". Generally, men clean the house, while women at home are responsible for cleaning the house, including washing doors and windows, moving chairs, washing dishes, cups, teapots, woks and so on. , without exception. In addition, all the bedding and clothes of adults and children at home should be thoroughly washed until they are clean. This custom of general cleaning, like other customs, is also mixed with feudal superstitions. Therefore, before the traditional cleaning years ago, it must be carried out "another day". Although people used to clean their houses from the end of November in the lunar calendar, they all needed to find an almanac and a general book to "choose a day". Regardless of the rich and the poor, the days of sweeping houses before the year can't be such days as "red mouth", "broken sun" and "unfavorable events", especially avoiding "Mars". Of course, it is best to "auspicious day". In addition, in the past, Zhongshan people generally had the custom of worshipping Buddha (usually on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, Zhongshan people would burn incense to worship Buddha), so the first thing to do in the morning is to "wash Buddha". Although the water used to wash the Buddha is not "holy water", it is not ordinary water. Putting a few "Luyou" leaves into the water to wash the bodhisattva is said to be "evil spirits", which also shows that the owner of the family is "alert". This kind of work is usually done by women at home.
2. Buy new clothes in the New Year:
As the saying goes, "all the year round." In the first half of the year before the Chinese New Year, Zhongshan people began to be busy buying new year's goods. In the old society, there were few rural shops in Zhongshan, and the supply of goods was not sufficient. Therefore, by the end of the year, rural people will go to farmers' markets and towns in Shi Qi to buy new year's goods, such as buying red lines, making paper treasures, cutting new clothes, holding vegetarian meals and buying sweets and cakes. In particular, the rice vat at home should be filled with "dishes", from which the so-called "constant fullness" is derived. The first sentence when people meet before the Spring Festival is "Is the Spring Festival over?" This is the most common mantra of Zhongshan people before the Spring Festival. Until today, every "polder day" (farmer's market) or major shopping malls before the Chinese New Year, people can see a sea of people. Imagine how nervous and important it is for Zhongshan people to celebrate the New Year. At the same time, this custom of buying new year's goods has also brought prosperity to shops in urban and rural areas. In Zhongshan, especially women are more nervous about buying new year's goods.
3. Boil rice cakes and fry piles:
There is a saying in all parts of Zhongshan during the Spring Festival: "Everyone has me when trading stocks at night." The custom of "cooking rice cakes" is a unique custom of Zhongshan people during the New Year. When foreigners first arrived in Zhongshan, they all laughed at Zhongshan people for "driving" when they saw those "ordinary hairy" rice cakes (with colorful long hairs and enzymes on their surfaces). However, despite people's jokes, Zhongshan people's custom of making cakes for the New Year has not changed since ancient times and has become a major event for Zhongshan people to celebrate the New Year. Similarly, cakes should be made on auspicious days before the Spring Festival. Housewives in every household got up and worshipped with clean incense on their hands, and then began to work. They use glutinous rice as powder, mix it with yellow (red) syrup, knead it into a whole paste, add condiments such as salted pork and salted egg yolk, put it in a steamer with banana leaves and bamboo leaves at the bottom, and cook it with slow fire for more than ten hours. After the rice cake is steamed, you should say a few auspicious words and respectfully put them in the class, then put red dates, plums, a word "plum" and two oranges, and then open the cake after the New Year (that is, after the first day of the New Year's Day). It means: "rice cake, rice cake, step by step", "grow up quickly" and so on.
There is a habit here, that is, in the process of making rice cakes, children at home can't say anything wrong or unlucky, but only say something good, otherwise they will make half-baked "raw rice cakes", mainly due to the influence of feudal customs left over from history. Zhongshan people think that the success of rice cakes is a symbol of good luck in the coming year, so what children say is also very important. As the saying goes, "children's voices are not for fun" is probably an argument.
In addition to making rice cakes, Zhongshan people also have a saying called "What do I have when people are buried in fried piles?". The homonym of "Gao" means "high in years". However, "fried pile" (a kind of food fried with glutinous rice flour and peanuts) means the reunion of people with its round and full shape. In addition, because the fried pile is golden yellow, like Jin Yuanbao, Zhongshan people say that "the fried pile is full of gold and silver." It can be seen that Zhongshan people used to pay more attention to the custom of bombing piles before the Chinese New Year. In addition, the cost of piling up is low, and it can be appreciated, so Zhongshan people have the custom of making cakes and piling up piles in the New Year. In addition, there are customs such as frying "oil angle Zi" and frying "scattered eggs". After the Republic of China, the dietary customs such as making jiaozi in the Central Plains and frying wonton became popular in Zhongshan.
4, hanging pendulum spring keeper:
Hanging spring, commonly known as hanging peach symbols, is one of the traditional customs of the Han nationality. Because most Zhongshan people live in the south of the clan in the Central Plains, this traditional custom has also been inherited. According to Wei Nanzi, written by Liu An in the Western Han Dynasty, "Taofu is made of two pieces of peach wood about seven or eight inches long and more than one inch wide, and auspicious characters are written on both sides of the gate to ward off ghosts and evil spirits" (there are folk tales here, so I won't mention them here). The custom of hanging Fu Tao can be traced back to the Five Dynasties (907-960 AD), when some people began to write couplets on the Fu Tao board, which was called Spring Festival couplets. According to "The History of Songshi Shi Jia Xi Shu", Meng Changjun Xin, a scholar in the later Shu Dynasty, wrote a poem on the tablet, saying, "Happy New Year! This is probably the earliest Spring Festival couplets in China. Spring Festival couplets are improvised or printed into couplets before Chinese New Year. Especially in rural areas, please ask people with good culture and calligraphy to help write Spring Festival couplets. Businessmen are used to buying from fairs, literati and calligraphers. On the eve of the Spring Festival, they are often posted or hung on both sides of the gate, which is called Spring Festival couplets. Spring Festival couplets are mostly composed of auspicious words and words wishing a better life. From the couplets, people can see the work occupation of the host. This custom has been passed down to this day.
In addition to hanging spring, there is also the custom of putting up doors. In the Chronicle of Jingchu Age written by Liang Zonggu in the Southern Dynasties, there is such a record: "On the first day of the first month, draw Er Shen, with doors attached to the left and right, leaving Shen Tu on the left and Lei Yu on the right, commonly known as the door god." It is said that the custom of door-keeper has a history of more than two thousand years. Door-sticking gods were used to exorcise ghosts when they were popular. In the past, they coexisted with the symbol of hanging peaches. So, at the age of 20, the door gods put up Zhong Kui's ghost painting and the words "Shen Tu" and "Lei Yu". Until now, we can still see some areas and towns, especially the mountainous areas where Hakkas live, and we can also see "Shen Tu" and "Lei Yu". According to legend, since the Song Dynasty, people called Guan the Emperor of the Three Kingdoms, so they painted him as an adult door god and pasted him on the door. Some skilled people also draw or cut and paste some festive New Year pictures themselves and put them on the door. This custom coexists with hanging spring. Generally, door stickers are posted after dinner on the evening of the 30th, and some are posted in the early morning of New Year's Day. Before sticking to the door god, the host should burn incense and set off firecrackers, say a few auspicious words in front of the ancestor's main card, and then respectfully stick it at the door. In ancient times, people liked to use "image concept", such as "Fu", "Lu" and "Shou". Most of them use images such as bats, square holes and peaches to express auspicious ideas. Some people even put the word "fu" upside down as a door god. This custom of putting the word "Fu" upside down is to take its homophonic meaning of "Fu Dao" or "Dao Fu".
5, Shousui group burning firecrackers:
The thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, called New Year's Eve, is also called New Year's Eve. On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, no matter the men who live in other places or have moved out after marriage (married women usually follow their husbands' families) or unmarried women who go out to work, the family usually returns to their ancestral homes with New Year's gifts and other New Year's Eve dinners. After the reunion dinner is done, it is usually to worship the ancestors first, that is, to worship the ancestors first and then eat the reunion dinner. When Zhongshan people have a reunion dinner, the main course is poultry such as pigs, chickens and ducks, as well as fish balls, meatballs and seaweed. Most of them are nine courses. Zhongshan people are used to calling it "Nine Handicaps", which means "Long Peace", "Family Reunion" and "Getting Rich in the New Year". After dinner, the whole family get together, eat melons and fruits, talk about family life, or play various games. Children go to the front and back of the house to set off fireworks or light lanterns to chase each other and play late into the night (some even stay up all night). At midnight (that is, at 12 pm), every household will set off fireworks to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year.
Here, in addition to the meaning of family reunion, there are also meanings such as sending the old and welcoming the new, wishing the elders a long and healthy life, a bumper harvest in the new year, and prosperity of people and animals. As the saying goes, "if you can keep the winter Lord (that is, the winter solstice), you can keep the old lady." There is such a passage in "Mu Ping County Records": "The year-end is except, ... children call it the life of Changchun, and staying up all night is called the life."
Another custom in Zhongshan is that after the reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, the elders will give dividends to the younger generation, especially to the grandchildren and other younger generations. In ancient times, when using square-hole coins, the elders made a string with red silk thread and hung it around the neck or waist of the junior students at home, or put it under the child's pillow. It is said that this can ward off evil spirits, so it is also called lucky money. After liberation, due to the different coins used in this custom, after the feudal superstition was broken, these lucky money were wrapped in red paper or gifts and put in children's bags or given to grandchildren, so that children could buy stationery toys or snacks, fireworks and firecrackers. But in general, it means to pray, that is, to hope that the younger generation will grow up quickly and healthily in the new year.
6, the first New Year dividend is:
"Xiangshan County Records" contains: "Happy New Year's Day, light firecrackers, don't sweep the floor". According to the old custom in China, the first day of the first lunar month is called the first day of the first lunar month. This morning, before dawn (exactly, it was the end of the New Year's Eve), firecrackers exploded in urban and rural areas, and the lion drums kept ringing, so that the doors of every household were covered with red firecrackers, and the Spring Festival couplets (New Year pictures) hung at the doors were all red. It's really a good start and good luck.
After drinking morning tea, people from all walks of life in cities and rural areas rushed out of their homes, dressed in red and green clothes, combing their hair and holding gifts, and walked through the streets to visit their elders or relatives. It is impossible to find out when this custom originated. According to "Wanping County Records", "On the first day of the first month, on the fifth drum, hundreds of officials went to the DPRK to celebrate, and the people also offered incense, worshipped their ancestors and elders, and answered with their in-laws and said' Happy New Year'. I am afraid that the custom of paying New Year greetings in Zhongshan also comes from this. According to legend, since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it is a custom for Zhongshan to worship the ancestors of heaven and earth and the previous generation on the first day, and then to worship the elders at home. Then, everyone in the family, from big to small, should give gifts to the elders and give gifts to the children (usually married to unmarried young people and children). Between peers, just hold hands and congratulate each other. After each family member pays a New Year call, male officials go out to visit their elders or relatives and friends. During the New Year's greetings, if you meet the children of relatives and friends, including unmarried boys and girls, you have the habit of exchanging interests. When you meet an acquaintance in the street, you should say a few words of congratulations, such as "Congratulations on making a fortune", "Happy New Year", "Dragon Horse Spirit" and "Add Ding to make a fortune".
In terms of diet, on New Year's Day, the general public is mainly vegetarian. The reason is that there are too many delicacies in the reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, and it is easy to "suppress" indigestion or eat too fat, so there are many habits of fasting on New Year's Day. According to some elders and religious believers, fasting on the first day of the Lunar New Year originated from Buddhist fasting customs. In addition, it is not allowed to sweep the floor on New Year's Day; Don't cut sharp tools with a knife, but be careful to break plates and cups. If you accidentally knock them down, you should say a few auspicious words, such as "flowers bloom everywhere, prosperity" and "good luck", and then quickly clean up the mess. If there are guests present, you should say auspicious words, such as "I'm sorry" and "flowers bloom with wealth", so that you can feel at ease.
In Shatian District of Zhongshan, especially in Tanzhou, the birthplace of Zhongshan folk songs, there is also a little-known custom, "Singing around Longchuan Street on the first day of the month." For example, as the local saying goes, "On the first day of the first lunar month, lion drums, dragon boats jingle, crossing the street, and the descendants of the ancient philosophers will live for generations ...". In the early morning of the first day of the lunar new year, in Tanzhou, you will see some local people holding a bamboo or wooden stick to support a faucet or a complete wooden dragon carved with mahogany or miscellaneous wood, about one and a half feet long and about ten centimeters thick, with a dragon boat drum hanging around their necks, which is connected with gongs and cymbals; On the other hand, a folk artist holds a banner couplet with the words "Congratulations on making a fortune", "Dragon boat to send a child" and "Hundred Children and a thousand grandchildren", dances the wooden dragon in his hand and sings the dragon boat while walking. Whenever he arrives at the newly-married portal or the home of the rich, he knocks at the door, especially singing folk songs loudly, and the drums of the dragon boat are particularly lively. Generally speaking, dragon boats were sung on the first day of the Lunar New Year. In the past, the main content was to sing the theme of "a hundred children and a thousand grandchildren, giving birth to your son early", which means "giving a son" to the newlyweds. This custom is similar to the "Panlong Song" of the She nationality. In the history, the custom of the Han nationality is mainly "Kirin to send children", and the "Panlong Song" of the She nationality also means to send children. When singing dragon boat in Tanzhou, it is usually based on emotion or sigh, but the first day of the year is based on joyful melody. Therefore, in the past, most people in Tanzhou welcomed to sing dragon boats on the first day of New Year's Day, and singers sang them. This custom is still popular in Sheng Qun, Tanzhou, but its content has changed.
7. Sacrifice the God of Wealth on the second day of the New Year:
The second day of the lunar new year is usually called the opening of the year. In Sichuan, Zhejiang, Fujian and other places, it is also called "sending the year" and "opening the year". In ancient times, on the first day of New Year's Day, male officials and their sons or grandchildren used brooms to sweep the floor from the yard at the door, and then swept it into the house from the door. After cleaning, set off firecrackers, light incense to worship the ancestors of heaven and earth and the altar, pray for the blessing of the gods, good weather, abundant crops and generations to come, and so on. Mainly to worship the god of wealth (the legendary god in charge of wealth) and pray for a wide range of financial resources in the coming year. In the past, shops and restaurants used to worship before the opening of the market on the second day of the New Year's Day. They used to call it "opening their teeth" and cooked nine kinds of dishes, commonly known as "nine baskets", to show the meaning of "opening the door" and "expanding financial resources".
This day is just the opposite of the first day of the new year. On New Year's Day, you can't sweep the floor or cut sharp weapons with a knife, but on New Year's Day, every household is fighting. Kill the duck and clean it up. After the worship ceremony, families congratulated each other. Married men brought their wives to pay a New Year call to their parents-in-law and didn't go home until after dinner. Unmarried people use this festival to visit their loved ones or friends. Lion Dance Team and Dragon Dance Team are beating gongs and drums across the street to perform green picking and make a new year's fortune.
8. On the third day of the third year, Sammy poured water and prayed to God:
In the old customs of the Han nationality, the third day of the third lunar month is commonly known as "jackal day" (an ancient animal with a short and fat tail and a nose and ears like cattail fans, commonly known as pigs). In the Chronicle of Jingchu written by Liang Zongba in the Southern Dynasties, it was recorded that "... don't kill pigs for three days ...". The ancients thought that the first day and the seventh day of the first month were more important and there were many taboos. In ancient times, people usually lacked meat, and pigs were the main meat of the Han people. So it is very important to raise pigs in rural areas. In the Central Plains, the third day of each year is "tapir day", and "tapir" is another name for pigs. Therefore, on the third day of the Lunar New Year, when people get up early in the morning, they must first look at the weather to determine the prosperity, disaster and difficulty of the pig industry. Zhongshan people call this day "red mouth", which means that on the third day people will bark like pigs. In the past, Zhongshan people were superstitious about divination, and some Taoist priests predicted that quarreling with neighbors on the third day of the first month was unlucky and easy to make "official mistakes." In addition, farmers must raise pigs and pray for God's blessing. So on the third morning, housewives opened the door, splashed rice, murmured prayers and made wishes, then went back to the back room and prayed to God and Buddha in the lobby to avoid quarrels and official mistakes, and did not go out to pay New Year greetings. After liberation, this so-called vulgar custom has gradually changed, but there are still rural elders who follow it and accuse the younger generation of not paying New Year greetings on the third day of the third year. In addition, some people in Zhongshan call New Year's Day "Che Gong Birthday", so they often go to Che Gong Temple to pay homage on New Year's Day, and turn windmills in the temple for divination.
9, the seventh day, fried powder worship:
Han Dong Fang Shuo's "The gauntlet" once said: "After eight years old, a chicken, a dog, a pig, a sheep, a cow, a horse, a man and a valley. When the sun is sunny, the main thing is fat, and the yin is a disaster. " However, there is such a passage in Sui's Homesickness of Population: "beginning of spring has only been away from home for seven days, and it has been two years. People return to yan zhen and think before flowers. " According to historical books and old people, the ancient "Man Day" was also a divination activity in the early ancient times. After the Han and Wei Dynasties, it gradually developed into a sacrificial ceremony and a social fire activity. In ancient Zhongshan, every family first worshipped the gods and prayed for the prosperity of people and animals. Then seven kinds of vegetables or seven kinds of fruits are used to make soup, which is called "Qibao soup" and "Qibao Zhai". On this day, most people don't cook and eat vegetarian food, and more often they cook porridge and fried noodles. After dinner, they went out to participate in various social fire activities and didn't come back until evening.
Starting from 1988, a group of intellectuals in Zhongshan took the lead in launching large-scale social welfare activities to carry forward Dr. Sun Yat-sen's legacy, carry forward the spirit of "fraternity" and the contents of "all for me, all for everything", "charity for the elderly" and "helping the poor", and held them on the seventh day of each year, changing the sacrificial activities in the past seventh day into charitable large-scale social activities. Giving people a day, a traditional folk activity, has injected the concept and vitality of fraternity, charity and promoting excellent national culture, and has become a new folk cultural activity in Zhongshan. Now, on the seventh day of the seventh year every year, Zhongshan people hold large-scale social welfare activities, which are called charity walks. "Raising scratches (itching) on Zhongshan people's feet" has become a new mantra of Zhongshan people.
10, Lantern Festival Lantern Festival:
According to the records of Xiangshan County in past dynasties, the city has a large population and many channels. Historically, Lantern Festival, commonly known as Shangyuan, Yuanxiao and Yuanxiao, is said to have originated from Taoism. Song and Wu's Dream says: "On the fifteenth day of the first month, God bless people." There was a custom of watching Lantern Festival in history, so it was also called "Lantern Festival". "Xiangshan County Records" records: "Lantern Festival will play a story game thoroughfare, dancers will beat drums with three knots, singers will beat drums with seven knots, and they will sing lanterns and cranes for the team in spring night". On the night of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Deng offered a reward to solve riddles on the lanterns. In ancient times, on the 15th day of Zhongshan nationality, many women would go to the temple to worship God, especially in Shi Qi (now a city), and most of them flocked to Sanyuan Temple in the west of the city to celebrate the birthday of Emperor Shangyuan. According to historical records, China has had the custom of decorating Yuanxiao since ancient times. From Zhongshan to the fifteenth night of the first month, every household decorated lanterns and lit candles in front of the door, and the children played across the streets with lanterns. In addition, a group of literati gathered in the ancestral halls, hanging riddles and posing as "shooting tigers". Therefore, Lantern Festival, also known as Lantern Festival, Shangyuan Festival and Yuanxi Festival, is one of the most solemn festivals in ancient times, and the custom of watching lanterns has been passed down to this day.
On the Lantern Festival, people usually eat rice cakes, glutinous rice balls and other foods with their families, which is a common custom all over the country. This is a good way for family reunion and happy life, and lovers go out hand in hand to bask in the moonlight, so some people call the Lantern Festival "China Valentine's Day". On the night of the fifteenth day of the first month, lights are decorated in front of every household to attract neighbors; Scholars write riddles and poems on lanterns and let tourists guess riddles or couplets, which is called "shooting tigers" All major martial arts schools show their martial arts by dancing dragons and lions. The extended family also performed local color (equivalent to the folk art of "dry boat" in the Central Plains) and acting in the open space at the entrance of the ancestral temple. During the Qing Dynasty, in some areas of Zhongshan, such as Xiaolan and other places, some non-governmental organizations also organized Lantern Festival activities with folk stories and allusions as the theme, which was called Lantern Festival. Young men and women hold lanterns and sing together, commonly known as singing lantern songs. Therefore, the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month is also called the Lantern Festival. This folk social fire activity didn't end until the evening of the 16th day of the first month, and it was called scattered lanterns.
1 1, turn on and off the lights in the first month:
"Xiangshan County Records" records: "On the Lantern Festival in the first month, people hang lanterns in the temple and pickle them with wine first. Say: turn on the light, or hang the light. When it's sunny, light lanterns. " In fact, the Lantern Festival is on the fifteenth day of the first month, which is the Lantern Festival. However, in the past, it was the custom in Zhongshan that most families who gave birth to boys (that is, Tianding) turned on the lights on the auspicious day of the ecliptic within one month from the second day of the first lunar month. On the day of turning on the light, go to the paper shop to customize lanterns, usually four: one is hung in front of the ancestor's coffin; One hangs in the ancestral hall; One hangs in front of the official god of the zhaimen; The other hangs on the altar of the country. On the day when the lights are turned on, Tianding's family must offer a rich meal to worship the gods, or at the same time set up several tables to entertain guests. In the ancestral halls of all ethnic groups or the grain halls in front of them, there is also the custom of offering lanterns to worship ancestors. Since there is no light, there is light. Lantern Festival is usually held on February 2nd, the birthday of the native land, and also in front of Tomb-Sweeping Day on March 3rd of the lunar calendar. Similarly, on the Lantern Festival, we should also prepare several rich dishes to reward God for offering sacrifices to ancestors and entertain clan folks.