Overview of Xingyang’s scenery and legends
1. Spring Festival The Spring Festival is the beginning of the year in the lunar calendar, commonly known as the "New Year's Day" (the first day of the first lunar month). The preparation stage for the Spring Festival begins on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, and the period from the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month to the twentieth of the first lunar month is collectively called the Spring Festival.
Laba, on this day, eat Laba porridge and eight-treasure rice (rich people use glutinous rice, lotus seeds, ginkgo, rose, tremella, guiyuan, lychee, preserved fruit and sugar, while ordinary people use sweet potatoes, jujubes, and peanuts. , cowpeas, soybeans, mung beans, rice, millet cooked). For personal use after worshiping gods, it is customary to leave a large bowl in the middle of the grain store, and mix some into cooking every day until the Spring Festival, which is called "receiving Qi".
On the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, every household will offer sacrifices to the stove. People who go out have to rush home on this day. In the evening, they burn incense, set off firecrackers, and worship gods. They take down the "Zao Lord" (image) and burn it to send it to "ascension to heaven". The custom is that "women do not sacrifice to the stove" and must be worshiped by a family. Male parents, as representatives, pray to the "Kitchen God" that "God will say good things and return to the palace to bring good luck"; "Twenty-Four House Cleaning" is a general cleaning for the Spring Festival. "Twenty-five to cut tofu; twenty-six to cut pieces of meat; twenty-seven to kill the New Year's chicken" to prepare New Year's dishes; "Twenty-eight to post rattles (Spring Festival couplets, door paintings); twenty-nine to steam steamed buns." It is not only the food during the Spring Festival. A staple food and one of the must-have gifts for visiting relatives. New daughter-in-laws from Sishui County go to their parents' home during the Spring Festival and carry large oil cakes of 5 to 10 kilograms each. Therefore, there is a saying that girls are called oil cakes. When a girl is born, she is said to "pick up a big oil cake."
Thirty packs of flat food. On the afternoon of the 30th, every household makes dumplings to worship the gods first, and then the whole family eats them. The night of the 30th (or 29th) of the twelfth lunar month is called "New Year's Eve". People have to stay up all night to express their attachment to the past year, which is also called "saying goodbye". In the early morning, people spread sesame stick ashes or plant ashes all around the courtyard, which is called "Sa Sui". They begin to worship gods, burn incense, turn paper, set off firecrackers, and light cypress fires. Then the whole family sits around the stove, making dumplings and chatting about home affairs to celebrate the beginning of the new year.
The first day of the first lunar month is the climax of the Spring Festival. Before dawn, firecrackers are set off, incense is burned to worship the gods, and then the young and old eat the first reunion dinner of the year - dumplings. After breakfast, the children and grandchildren first kowtow to their ancestors and the elderly to pay New Year greetings. Then the neighbors pay New Year greetings to each other. Every family prepares peanuts, walnuts, red dates, persimmons, etc. to entertain greeting guests and children who come in groups to "kowtow". Children of close relatives are also given "lunar New Year" money.
Reunion banquet. For the first year of the Lunar New Year dinner, sumptuous dishes are prepared according to family conditions, and the whole family has a dinner called a reunion banquet. There is no work on this day, "men do not hold brooms, women do not work with needlework", and livestock also rest. As the saying goes: "On the first day of the Lunar New Year, mules and horses rest from work."
Visiting relatives started on the second day of the Lunar New Year. On this day, the newlyweds went to their father-in-law’s house to pay New Year greetings.
The third day of the Lunar New Year is the "Ghost Festival". When a parent is newly deceased, the daughter (son-in-law) has to go back to her parents' home to visit their parents' grave, and it is taboo to go to other people's homes. From the second day to the ninth day of the lunar month, it is customary to visit relatives to celebrate the New Year. The general order is first the new and then the old, and first close relatives and then distant relatives. The gifts in Xingyang and Sishui areas are mainly white steamed buns (before liberation, white flour was often used to make persimmon skins, vegetable fillings or sweet potatoes inside the skin. It is said to be a "rule", but in fact it is because of the lack of white flour. Guangwu area only brings snacks. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, most of them are still the same. , in recent years, it has been replaced by snacks. In the first year when the new son-in-law visits his father-in-law, he will also receive a "gift note" (big meat) and several packs of snacks and candies. In recent years, cigarettes and alcohol have also been added. The fifth day of the lunar month is said to be "breaking the fifth", which means that there are many taboos from the first to the fourth day of the first lunar month, such as breaking bowls, basins, jars, etc. "holes". This is because in the past, my family had a lot of debts and had many unhappy things. After eating dumplings or noodles, there would no longer be "holes", or the foreign debts (holes) owed could be made up.
2. Lantern Festival The Lantern Festival is called the Lantern Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival. The traditional custom is that it lasts for three days, namely the 14th, 15th and 16th day of the first lunar month. On the 15th day of the first lunar month, people eat fried food and go to the downtown area. "You Liu" or "You Liu". As usual, there are three major dramas in the county. During the day, "stories" (various forms of theatrical performances on the streets) from various townships come to the city one after another, such as Jiangtou Lion, Chechang Land Boat, Longquan. Trolleys and stilts, singing on the West Street, hundreds of flowers blooming, it is extremely lively. At night, dragon lanterns rotate and dance, firecrackers blast, and people flock to the east, south, and west gates, and finally gather at the City God Temple for a performance before dispersing. In most villages where conditions permit, cultural and artistic teams have also been organized to perform in the streets and alleys of the village.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially since the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, with the improvement of people's living standards, in the first month of the new year. The Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the lunar calendar is even more colorful. Selected programs from each township will be reported and performed in the county, presenting a scene of peace and prosperity.
3. On the 19th day of the first lunar month, as the saying goes: Ten. 9. Sealing. Everyone eats dumplings for breakfast, which is called "sealing", which means that the New Year is over and farming activities will begin. On that day, incense will be burned to worship the gods, and lanterns will be lit at night. Because there is no moonlight, the fireworks are even more dazzling. .
On February 2, "On February 2, the dragon raises its head" means that the spring floods are coming, and farming is getting busier. At this time, the weather is getting warmer, there are spring thunders, and hibernating animals will come out of the ground on this day. Eat popcorn, fried beans, and fried foods for lunch.
5. Qingming Festival Qingming Festival is one of the twenty-four festivals. People have the habit of going out and visiting tombs on this day. Therefore, it has become one of the four ghost festivals in the year (the third day of the first lunar month, Tomb Sweeping Day, the fifteenth day of July, and the first day of October).
On this day, every family will go to the grave to worship their ancestors. Those who have been buried for three years must "add to the grave" and hang red, white and yellow paper flags on the grave. If the deceased has many children, whoever hangs them has already expressed their gratitude. For those who have pious filial piety, there is a saying that "early Qingming Festival, late October 1st or July 15th on the same day", you should visit the grave a few days early before Qingming Festival, and no later than noon of Qingming Festival, which means to report to the deceased that the farming work is getting busy. , the meaning of not being able to offer sacrifices at the right time.
6. Dragon Boat Festival The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is a festival for our people to commemorate the great patriotic poet Qu Yuan who threw himself into the river. It is commonly known as the Dragon Boat Festival. People are accustomed to putting mugwort branches on their doors, wearing sachets, and eating glutinous rice dumplings and fried sugar cakes. Residents near the river also throw rice dumplings into the river to feed the fish so that they will not harm Qu Yuan's body. Before sunrise on this day, people also go to the countryside to collect heat-clearing and detoxifying Chinese herbal medicines such as Polygala, Plantago, mugwort, and cat's eye for the purpose of relieving heat and detoxifying. Children's clothes are painted with scorpions, centipedes, frogs, and long grass. The snake's yellow clothes are tied with five colored threads around its neck, hands, and ankles to avoid bites from poisonous insects.
Qixi Festival is the night of the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. According to legend, it is the day when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet on the magpie bridge. It is called Chinese Valentine's Day. On this night, young women pierced the moon and asked the ingenious Weaver Girl for advice, so it was also called the "Qi Qi Festival".
8. July 15th The 15th day of the seventh lunar month is known as the Ghost Festival. At this time, every household prepares sacrifices to pay homage to their ancestors. In the old days, river lanterns were put out in villages near the river at night. They were tied into small squares with bamboo poles, and bamboo sticks wrapped with oil-foam cotton wool were inserted on them. They were lit and placed in the river. Drifting along the river, the river is full of lights, with the intention of saving the ghosts drowning in the water.
9. Mid-Autumn Festival is commonly known as "August 15th". On the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, the sky is clear and the moon is shining brightly. People have the custom of admiring the moon. Before the festival, relatives and friends send mooncakes to each other to wish them a happy holiday. There is also the custom of giving mooncakes to married girls. The mooncakes are round and steamed with red dates in them, which means praying that the nephew will become an official and wealthy soon. The largest diameter of the mooncake is one foot seven. inch.
10. Double Ninth Festival The ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar is called "Double Ninth Festival", also known as "Double Ninth Festival". Because nine is a yang number and has a homophonic pronunciation of "long", the crisp autumn air is suitable for hiking and climbing. In recent years, it has been designated by the country as the Senior Citizen's Day.
November, the first day of October is the last day of the year when graves are swept. As the saying goes, "October 1st, grave at night". After October 1st, the farming work is over and the slack season has entered. There is no time to recall the kindness of the ancestors and express condolences.
12. Winter Solstice is one of the twenty-four festivals, commonly known as "Jiaojiu". The season has entered the harsh winter, and every household is accustomed to eating dumplings, saying that they will not freeze their ears.