Festival Customs in Zibo, Shandong Province
The first day of the first lunar month, commonly known as "Chinese New Year", is the most grand festival in a year. Public officials have a three-day holiday, and folk fun lasts for half a month.
Strictly speaking, the Spring Festival begins at 10: 00 on New Year's Day, but in the days before that, the festive atmosphere has enveloped thousands of families. Most people are busy making steamed buns and steaming rice cakes, which means "high every year"; Adding new bowls and chopsticks means increasing population; Clean the courtyard and buy new clothes to show farewell to the old and welcome the new; Buying fish and meat symbolizes more than a year; There are many farmers who grind pulp to make tofu. They use the homonym "Du Fu" to hope that their families will be happy. However, in the old society, most of the poor people evaded their debts at this time, commonly known as "hiding the year", and there was a saying that "the New Year is like passing customs".
On this day, firecrackers were set off in the early hours of the morning, and every household used three lettuce (chicken and fish) as much as possible to worship the gods of heaven and earth, to meet the God of Wealth and the Western God, in order to make a fortune. Before dawn, the whole family eats jiaozi, and jiaozi is mostly filled with vegetarian food. Jiaozi wants to cook more, it must be more than enough. When eating jiaozi, jiaozi is packed with sugar, peanuts, copper coins, red dates, chestnuts and other things, indicating that people who eat are blessed. After dawn, the younger generation began to pay New Year greetings to their elders. In the past, they had to bow their heads. Now they usually just say hello. The elders prepare candy and give the "lucky money" to the young children, hoping that the young children will be safe in the new year. At the same time, neighbors will visit each other to pay New Year greetings, and the host will treat them with rock tea, candy, melon seeds and peanuts. In recent years, "group worship" has become popular in government organizations. New Year's greetings are enduring.
There are many taboos in grade one. I don't sweep the floor, draw water, move needles or scissors, eat food without burning or branding, and eat meat for good luck.
Visiting relatives and friends is an important activity in the Spring Festival, and everyone should bring some gifts. The order is generally "the second day, the second day, the third day, the fourth day and the fifth day", which lasts until the fifteenth day of the first month. Friends and relatives entertain each other and congratulate each other on their new happiness.
The end of five days
On the fifth day of the first month, it is also called "Five Horses Day". On this day, it will not be burned or branded. Generally, lunch is mostly jiaozi. This day is also called "Breaking Five". From this day on, people began to make a living, and most shops opened on this day in order to open the market.
Man-day
The seventh day of the first month. In the past, China residents ate small tofu made of various wild vegetables on this day. Zichuan eats small tofu on this day, while eating it, while using chopsticks or thin bamboo sticks (knives) to hook the corners, and at the same time reading "bamboo sticks, bamboo sticks, ten rats and nine blind, brains turn into tofu residue". It is said that eating small tofu symbolizes eating mouse brains, which reflects people's strong desire to kill rats. Nowadays, many people don't celebrate this festival.
the Lantern Festival
The fifteenth day of the first month, also known as "Shangyuan Festival". The main activity of Lantern Festival is to watch lanterns, so it is also called "Lantern Festival". Generally, from the 14th to 16th of the first month, the main streets of cities and districts are bright for three nights. According to folklore, Lantern Festival lanterns are auspicious lanterns, which can ward off evil spirits and cure all diseases. So people often look at each other's faces with lights, and look at every corner inside and outside the house. During the Lantern Festival, night falls and the city is brightly lit. When the time comes, the whole city will be out, and the people watching the lights will flow like a flood. Accompanied by watching lanterns, there are all kinds of acrobatics: yangko, dragon dance, lion running, walking on stilts, rowing a dry boat, playing a central role, and walking around the streets, which are called "drama" and "Lantern Festival" by the people. In recent years, the Lantern Festival is unprecedented. In addition to displaying traditional palace lanterns and paper lanterns, all kinds of mechanized and automated colored lights are more vivid and eye-catching than before.
On the Lantern Festival, people in cities and rural areas have the habit of eating "Yuanxiao", that is, it is made of glutinous rice flour and sugar, green and red silk, and looks like a ball, symbolizing family reunion.
The second day of the second lunar month
Also known as "Spring Dragon Festival", there is a proverb "On February 2nd, the dragon looks up". In the old society, many families in rural areas had the custom of "hoarding grain", which was usually played by the householder in the morning, that is, plant ash was paved in a circle in the yard, called hoarding grain, with a little grain in the middle to pray for a bumper harvest. On this day, the coal miners didn't go down the well and invited them to drink in Shan Ye. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), this custom has been abolished. Fried scorpion beans are more popular now. It is said that after eating scorpion beans, you will not be stung by scorpions for one year. Scorpion beans are generally fried with soybeans, some wrapped in sugar noodles and some soaked in salt water, which are crispy and delicious. Then stir-fry noodles with scorpion beans. In addition, melon seeds and popcorn are now added, which is a new development of the custom of frying scorpion beans.
Cold food, Qingming
The solstice of 105 days after beginning of winter is called cold food, and the fifteenth day after the vernal equinox is Qingming. Cold food: no fire and cold food are allowed on this day. Historical records are recorded to commemorate the burning of mesons in Mianshan during the Spring and Autumn Period, and Jin Wengong ordered the fire to be repaired and banned. At this time, the weather is sunny and sunny, which is a good day for outing. Old customs such as hiking, flying kites and swinging are rare now. After the founding of New China, sweeping graves is the main activity in Tomb-Sweeping Day, and there are many folk customs of sweeping graves and adding soil. On this day, institutions, schools and other organizations. Organize grave-sweeping in the Martyrs Cemetery and carry out revolutionary tradition education.
In Tomb-Sweeping Day, people have the habit of eating boiled eggs. It is said that Qingming eats eggs with bright eyes. Boshan farmers will cook a pot of millet dry rice in Tomb-Sweeping Day to give their cows a hearty meal, so as to reward them for a year's hard work, which is called "rice cows". There is a saying that "1000 hits, 10,000 curses, a bowl of rice in Qingming". On this day, all cows are not allowed to work, and they are not allowed to beat and scold.
Dragon Boat Festival
The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the day when people commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan. On this day, every household eats zongzi and sticks wormwood and peach branches on the door to ward off evil spirits. Children have five-color lines on their hands and feet, which are called life lines, and a long life lock is hung around their necks, which means "long life". The palms, soles and heads are painted with realgar to avoid patients. Women and children wear sachets on their chests and sew them with flowered cloth, which contains a variety of Chinese herbal medicines. It is said that they can drive away plagues and ward off evil spirits. This custom has been gradually abolished, but the wind of eating zongzi still exists.
Rain festival
On the thirteenth day of the fifth lunar month, folklore is the day when Master Guan sharpened his knife. Boshan and Zichuan have a saying that on May 13th, Master Guan sharpened his knife and killed Xu San. Sharpening the knife will not miss the woodcutter, so it will rain. In the past, it was usually held on this day to pray for rain, but now it is no longer this festival.
half a year
On the first day of the sixth lunar month, rural areas often use new wheat to grind bread and jiaozi or roll "noodles" to worship their ancestors to thank God for blessing the summer harvest. Residents of Huantai pay homage to their ancestors on this day in order to let them see the fruits of later generations' labor, "before it is too late".
Paradise day
On the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, it is also called clothes day. In the past, people used to take out clothes and books to dry on this day, which was called "drying dragon robes". It is said that the things dried on this day are bug-free. On this day, the masses also have the custom of eating "fried noodles", that is, frying new wheat and grinding it into flour, blending it with water and brown sugar, commonly known as "eating fried noodles". It is said that eating for a summer can relieve summer heat without diarrhea.
Summer solstice
One of the 24 solar terms, eat more cold noodles this day.
Qixi Festival
The seventh day of the seventh lunar month, also known as "Qixi", is said to be the night when cowherd and weaver girl meet. In the past, many girls put incense tables late at night to please the Weaver Girl, but now they are basically abolished.
Ghosts'Festival
The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is also called "Ghost Festival". In the old society, there was a custom of "inviting home first". Most of them worship their ancestors at home at night. At the same time, they pulled out a grain (sorghum, millet, soybean, sesame and millet) and put it in front of the hall. After the sacrifice, they sent away the "former family" and put the grain on the gate, which means praying for a bumper harvest. Zichuan takes grains as horses, so that ancestors can ride back. Nowadays, the wind of "pulling out five grains" has been abolished, but ancestor worship still exists.
Day of heavenly medicine
On the first day of the eighth lunar month, Huangdi and Zeebe were sacrificed. In the old days, there was a custom of collecting dew for eye drops capsules and moxibustion. Some old ladies go to the fields before dawn to collect dew on the grass tips, grind them into juice with fine ink at noon, and then touch the children's hearts and surroundings with chopsticks, which is called "Bai Bing". In the 26 th year of the Republic of China, "Boshan County Records" contained: "Flowers appear in August and the eyes are washed, which means that the wind and heat are removed and the clarity is improved. Also, touching the child's abdomen with ink means that you can go to the abdomen. " Now this custom has been abolished.
Mid-Autumn Festival
The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. On this day, everyone hopes that people will go back to their mother-in-law's house for the New Year, just like the month, so it is also called "Reunion Festival", which is a major festival celebrated by the people. Before the festival, relatives and friends exchange gifts such as moon cakes and fruits, which is the evolution of the ancient custom of "chasing festivals" (referring to the custom of giving gifts by men and women after marriage). In Zichuan County Records during the Republic of China, it was recorded that "it is a timely thing to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in August and ... give melon cakes to marriage and family". Nowadays, with the improvement of people's living standards, the gifts given by relatives and friends of herbal medicines are increasingly rich and varied. In the past, on the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, people had the custom of enjoying the moon in Yue Bai. In the courtyard, they set up an incense table for the moon to offer offerings, which is called "offering sacrifices to the moon". After the worship, they share food, enjoy a family dinner and enjoy the full moon, which is called "full moon" to show family reunion. Now, families prepare more feasts to celebrate.
Double Ninth Festival
On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, because the ancients regarded nine as yang, it was called Chongyang. In the past, most literati climbed mountains to drink or enjoy chrysanthemums and wrote poems on this day, and many people held temple fairs. On this day, there is a custom to give cakes in pursuit of festivals. Zichuan County Records of the Republic of China contained "Double Ninth Festival, climbing high to drink, making jujube cakes and feeding each other". In recent years, hiking in the wild and catching up with temple fairs have become more and more popular.
October
On the first day of the tenth lunar month, it is a traditional day for people to pay homage to their ancestors, and it is often presented together with the autumn harvest to report that their ancestors have had a comprehensive harvest. On this day, in addition to burning paper, a coat and hat will be cut out of colored paper and burned in front of the tomb. There is a saying that "on October 1st, the tomb burned cold clothes", which means that the ancestors brought winter clothes. Most of Huantai lived in civil "fried stuffing" to worship their ancestors. In addition to paying homage to his ancestors, Zichuan also went to Yelukou in the evening to offer sacrifices to the dead without descendants and add "warm clothes".
Winter Solstice
One of the 24 solar terms, people eat more jiaozi on this day, which is called "Solstice Noodle in Winter and Solstice Noodle in Summer in jiaozi". It is said that eating jiaozi is afraid of freezing your ears, which is homophonic with "jiaozi" and "rubber ears".
Labari
On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Japanese people often cook "Laba porridge" with rice, beans, dates and peanuts. It is said that eating it can increase happiness. In recent years, pickled "Laba garlic" has been popularized, that is, garlic is pickled with vinegar, which is the seasoning for eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival. At this time, garlic tastes slightly sour, and vinegar tastes slightly spicy and very delicious.
Send the kitchen god to heaven (December 23 or 24 of the lunar calendar)
On December 23rd of the lunar calendar, people commonly call it "off-year", which is said to be the day to send a kitchen ruler to heaven to tell things, so it is also called "resignation kitchen". Farmers often put cereal grass and soybeans in front of the stove, indicating that they want to feed the horses to the stove, so that the stove can ride to the sky and have a good trip. The kitchen god is like offering noodles and honeydew melon (honeydew melon means sticking to the kitchen god's mouth to prevent him from speaking ill in the sky), and chanting "God speaks well, go back to the palace for good luck, talk less about right and wrong, and bring more grains". After offering, I will tear down the statue of Kitchen God and burn it with paper money and straw, which means sending Kitchen God to heaven. It won't be until the Spring Festival that the statue of Kitchen God will be put up again. Zichuan also has the custom of divining the kitchen after resigning, that is, quietly going out to listen to people, thinking that it is an ancient mirror, which is recorded in detail in Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio. Now that the wind has stopped, the custom of eating miscellaneous noodles and honeydew melons still exists, and at the same time, every household has begun to buy new year's goods. Most people who go out go home on this day.
Chuxi
Lunar calendar1February 30, also known as "year old", means to throw away old cloth and make new cloth. In the old days, there was a custom of posting "Door God" at the gate, and nave posted "God of Wealth". Nowadays, most families stick Spring Festival couplets, hang New Year pictures and cut and paste red window grilles. In the evening, all families held ancestor worship ceremonies, invited the "front door" to go home for the New Year, and then sent the "front door" to burn incense and paper outside the door. When paying homage, be sure to put the door in front of the door to prevent ghosts from paying homage. At night, every household lights a lamp in the yard and stays up all night, which is called "guarding the old age". Most of them hang electric lights now. Bao jiaozi, the whole family will have a reunion dinner together, which means that the whole family will be harmonious and happy in the coming year. At 0: 00 on New Year's Eve, every household sets off firecrackers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. In recent years, New Year's Eve is even more lively, firecrackers are everywhere, and CCTV's Spring Festival gala brings joy and laughter to every household. The family sat together in groups of three and five, pouring pots and wine to celebrate the Spring Festival.