Customs and customs of southern China~~Thank you all

On marriage

Southern: Old-style marriage, the union of a man and a woman, mostly based on the words of the matchmaker and the orders of the parents. After the opening of Shanghai as a port, this custom has been abandoned and improved. Most of them are men and women, who are introduced by others and see each other's candidates at an agreed place. This is called "blind date". There are also cases where a man and a woman get to know each other, agree on a place, and invite their parents to come and see them, which is also called a "blind date." After both parties are satisfied with each other, they must invite a highly respected person to be a matchmaker to formally negotiate a marriage. Since this matchmaker does not actually serve as an introduction, he is called a "ready-made matchmaker". This also shows that "a marriage must have three matchmakers and six certificates" The influence of old customs. After the girl's family agrees, the boy's family will perform a "little gift", commonly known as "cutting red", including the birth date and horoscope of the future brother-in-law. After a certain period of time, the groom's family will perform the "plate ceremony" again and entertain relatives and friends to inform their relatives and neighbors that the marriage has been decided. In the Chuansha area of ​​Shanghai, only matchmakers and relatives are entertained at wine feasts, while dumplings are distributed among neighbors. The "plate" of the plate ceremony needs at least 4 lines, and it may be 6, 8 or even 12 lines. The most important thing on the plate is the jewelry for the future bride. Most people use silver jewelry, while middle-class families use gold jewelry, which is called the "Six Gifts of All Gold". There are also rich people who use beads, jade and diamonds, which are called "all diamonds and six rites". In addition to jewelry, flowers and plants are also given as gifts, namely auspicious grass, dieffenbachia, tea leaves, etc. The first two are to wish the union of a man and a woman auspicious and evergreen, and the latter tea is a relic of the ancient tea ceremony custom, because the ancients believed that "tea does not change the original." "If a plant is planted, it will give birth to a child." Tea is given as a gift at the wedding, which means "unwavering determination." After the gift plate is delivered to the woman's family, the woman's family will accept only half of the other gifts, including jewelry, flowers and plants, and the remaining half will be added with additional clothing, shoes and hats. As well as gold watches, glasses, etc., the items that are "repurchased" are then returned to the husband's family. One to two days before the bride is officially married, the bride's family performs a "big gift ceremony", which is also commonly known as "taking clothes" and "carrying dowry" in Shanghai. This was originally a happy event, but because the daughter was about to leave her parents' home, the custom required it to be sad. Especially in the countryside of Pudong, the bride-to-be sits next to her sister-in-law and watches her sister-in-law sew the red and green quilt for her dowry. After the sewing is completed, she uses a large piece of silk quilt to make a bedding with the quilt and pillow. This is called "quilt". take along". Then the parents personally handed the quilts, clothes, and materials from their daughter's trousseau to the elder brother and sister-in-law one by one, and they put them into the box one by one to show that the elder brother and sister-in-law knew what the daughter had taken away from her parents' home. This is called " Fill the box”. At this time, the mother and daughter began to cry to each other. This was not a tearful cry, but a crying song. The custom was called "crying for marriage", and it had a certain melody and content, which was called "crying for marriage song". . For example: "Mom, my dear baby girl, what are you doing to your parents? Why don't you ask Lai? It's wrong for you to have such a precious baby girl..." "My dear mother, my baby girl is going to live with someone else. I can't be filial and obedient..." etc. The "big plate gift" is sent to the groom's family. It is customary for the groom's family to hold a banquet to invite close relatives and friends, called "please serve wine" or "watch the gift of wine" to bear witness to the amount of dowry the girl has received. Then, the groom's official will go to the bride's house to meet her father-in-law and give her a banquet to thank her father-in-law for the dowry. But in the countryside of Pudong, this "visiting the Yue" ceremony is held one day before the bride's family pays the dowry. The groom-to-be picks a "shangpantou" containing gifts such as roosters, herrings, pig legs, geese, and dried fruits to the bride's family. Go, the bride's family entertains the prospective son-in-law with refreshments, and then tells him how much dowry the bride's family has, how many ropes, horizontal bars, drop poles, etc. are needed, because this is because the man is required to come to pick up the dowry the next day when he is ready, not Sent by the girl's family. In the countryside of Pudong (especially in the Fengxian area), there are many customs where the man's family goes to the woman's family to receive the dowry. The next night, the girl's family had put all the dowry in the living room, and it was like holding an expo to attract neighbors to visit to show off their wealth. The fun of putting on makeup here has not yet been finished. There, a group of young people (the number of people must be in pairs) carrying poles and baskets with the word "囍" on them came from the groom's house to welcome the makeup. firecracker. According to custom, all actions of the man's groom must obey the command of the woman's father and brother. For example, the wedding tools must be placed in fixed places: poles and poles are placed next to the firewood pile in the yard, and baskets and baskets are placed on the yard. . The custom is that at this time, the girl's family should express "angry" without putting on makeup, while the man's family should beat gongs and set off firecrackers to "rush the makeup". This will attract more viewers and satisfy both men and women.

After about 1 to 2 hours, the bride's brother asked for her sister's consent and started to put on her hair and make-up: first the toilet, then the bedding, clothes box... At this time, the bride's make-up person stood outside the door, and at most she could only step in with one foot. Receive makeup at the threshold to avoid the suspicion of "grabbing makeup". As for hair and makeup being sent to the toilet first, this is because in Shanghai custom, the toilet is also called the "offspring bucket". In the old days, women gave birth at home, and their children were delivered in the toilet. Therefore, the toilet is a wish for a prosperous future and abundant offspring after the wedding. Important things that extend. After receiving the dowry, the boys carry it all the way back without stopping. Some of them have to run east or south when leaving the girl's house, which is called "Double Green Dragon". It is customary to think that this is good luck.

Qingming Festival Customs

In addition to sweeping tombs during Qingming Festival, people in the South also have a special custom of making Qingming Festival.

Moving Customs of Southerners

Southerners are the most particular about feng shui when moving, because moving is a very important thing, because it affects where we will live in the future

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Is it stable? You will definitely feel that it is very particular at the time, but it is more important for the future.

1. Choose a "good time and beautiful scenery" suitable for moving. In addition, it depends on whether this day conflicts with the zodiac sign of the family members. If so, choose another day.

Usually, you should choose to move during the day. Otherwise, moving at night may affect your luck.

2. Choose new pillows for moving. Neophysics believes that "moving into a house" is a transfer of the aura of a person, so pillows are needed to enter the house first: according to the number of people in the house, new pillows are used to open the door and enter the house. Place them according to individual beds. Chinese people in Hong Kong, Singapore and other places also put envelopes in pillows with 138 yuan inside, in order to "make money in life".

3. When moving in, take 21 sticks of incense and light them, enter from the left side of the house, and let the smoke sweep up and down the living room, toilet, bathroom, kitchen, stove, ceiling, walls and to the foot of the wall

, go out from the right side of the house, go to a safe place outside, extinguish it and discard it. This is especially important for houses built on Feng Shui general foundations to remove evil spirits.

4. On the day of check-in, you must boil a pot of boiling water, which means great wealth. At the same time, plug various basins (kitchen, bathroom, etc.) and open them

5. Special reminder: If you are pregnant, you should not witness the entire relocation process. During the auspicious time of the moving day, it is best to do some work such as boiling water

, cooking, worshiping gods, setting off firecrackers, etc.

The faucet should have a thin and slow flow of water; because a long and thin flow of water means that the bowl is full and the bowl is full. You can also turn on the fan in the house to blow the air around, but don't blow it towards the door, as it will cause trouble.

6. When moving, it is best to bring a rice vat or rice bucket filled with rice, and place a piece of red paper with "Always full" written on it, or place it in the bucket

The envelope containing 168 yuan was taken from the meaning of "send all the way".

7. Don’t be angry on the day of moving, and don’t curse anyone, especially children. Be sure to say auspicious words and do auspicious things

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8. If you are moving a long distance away, take a handful of rice, a handful of soil and a small bottle of water with you in your luggage to your new home. This is especially true for moving from one province or city to another, not to mention going abroad. This can prevent acclimatization and homesickness.

9. Do not take a nap in your new home on the day of moving, otherwise you will be more likely to get sick in the future. When going to bed that night, the owner will lie down for a few minutes and then get up and work for a short time, which means that he will get up after falling asleep.

10. If you want to make a fuss on the first day or week after moving, you must invite relatives, friends, and neighbors to your home to have a lively atmosphere: or

Chat Whether it's eating or entertainment, etc., the more lively it is, the more evil spirits it will drive away.

Southerners have the custom of drinking bean porridge and eating glutinous rice balls during the winter solstice

In the Jiangnan water towns, there is a custom of the whole family gathering together and eating red bean glutinous rice on the night of the winter solstice. According to legend, there was a man named Mr. Gong whose son was not successful and committed many evil deeds. He died on the winter solstice. After his death, he turned into a plague ghost and continued to harm the people. However, this plague ghost is most afraid of red beans, so people cook and eat red bean rice on the winter solstice to ward off plague ghosts and prevent disasters and diseases.

Eating glutinous rice balls during the Winter Solstice is a traditional custom in my country, especially popular in Jiangnan. There is a saying among the people that "eating glutinous rice balls makes you one year older". Tangyuan is also called glutinous rice balls, and eating glutinous rice balls during the Winter Solstice is also called "winter solstice dumplings".

According to records from the Qing Dynasty, people in Jiangnan used glutinous rice flour to make dough, and stuffed it with essence, meat, apples, bean paste, shredded radish, etc. The Winter Solstice group can be used to worship ancestors, and can also be used to exchange gifts with relatives and friends. In the old days, Shanghainese were most particular about eating glutinous rice balls. They tasted newly brewed sweet liquor, flower cakes and glutinous rice flour horns at the family feast, and then used meat pieces on the plate to worship their ancestors. An ancient poem goes like this: "Every family pounding rice to make glutinous rice balls knows that it is the winter solstice in the Ming Dynasty." Tangyuan is also a traditional delicious food in my country. There are many famous glutinous rice balls in various places in the north and south. For example, Ningbo glutinous rice balls have thin fillings and are glutinous but not sticky; Changsha sisters glutinous rice balls are white and crystal clear, sweet and delicious; Wenzhou County Qian glutinous rice balls are famous for their exquisite ingredients and are sweet and delicious. In addition, Taiwan's vegetable and meat glutinous rice balls, Chengdu's Lai glutinous rice balls, Guiyang's Babao glutinous rice balls, and Anqing's Weijiaxiang glutinous rice balls are also delicious foods with unique flavors. Nowadays, glutinous rice balls can be eaten not only during the winter solstice, but also all year round.

New Year customs of southerners

What are the customs? It's easy to say. It is this breakfast that must be cooked by the male head of the family. When I was a child, I heard my mother say that the reason why the men in the family were asked to cook breakfast on New Year's Day was mainly because the housewives had been cooking for the family for a year without a break. Beggars still have three days off during the Chinese New Year. Why can’t housewives enjoy the right to take one New Year’s leave? But men generally can't keep an eye on the main stove, so they can only serve as helpers when cooking New Year's Eve dinner. Then I had to choose a simple project - making breakfast for the first day of the Lunar New Year, just to have a brief idea. It is also fully considered that most men cannot cook, so the breakfast on the first day of the new year is all finished products. The woman has prepared a steamer of steamed buns, hair cakes, rice cakes, etc. in advance. When the man gets up in the morning, he only needs to put them in a pot and light the fire and steam them for ten minutes. No technical content is required. But this matter may not seem simple, but its significance is very significant. It reflects the cultural tradition of husband and wife caring and respecting each other. The situation may have changed now. There are more men who can cook and manage cooking, and women have become a vulnerable group in the kitchen. It used to be said that women should be able to go to the hall and go to the kitchen. Today's women generally only go to shopping malls and not to the kitchen. But no matter how women change, the custom of men getting up early to make New Year's Day breakfast remains the same (and probably won't change either).

Although making breakfast is relatively simple, some other preparations are still more complicated. The man of the house who is responsible for making breakfast usually gets up around five o'clock. First, clean the inside and outside of the house and yard, and then use several fruit plates to fill peanuts, melon seeds, fruits and other snacks on the table. Then go to the kitchen to boil a pot of boiling water for later use. It's best to light a fire to make breakfast. After breakfast is done, tea cups with lids (the kind usually only used when guests come) are used to make a cup of tea with sugar for each member of the family. After the family members wash up, they sit together to drink tea and eat some dried fruits, say some auspicious words for the New Year, and seek some good fortune for the new year. About ten minutes later, the snacks on the table were put away, and the steamed breakfast was served, and the family had a delicious meal. The new year begins like this.

For housewives, in addition to not cooking breakfast on the first day of the Lunar New Year, there is also a custom of not doing laundry on the first day of the Lunar New Year. A woman who does laundry on this day will not only not be regarded as diligent, but will be regarded as lazy. All the clothes that need to be washed must be done on New Year's Eve and must not be left to be washed the next year.