Life and death and worship of ghosts and gods prose
M Village, Ya 'an City, Sichuan Province, is a typical western Sichuan style with a strong flavor of western Sichuan life. Because it also belongs to the mountainous area, it retains many traditional customs. A lot of human history has been preserved here, such as filial piety archway, century-old quadrangle, clan culture and so on. Of course, there are many traditional folk rituals of praying for blessings and eliminating disasters, as well as unique funeral customs.
The wish of life-to pass the test.
At some bridges or intersections in M village, you can often see bows and arrows made of branches, paper symbols, some spells written on peeled branches, burnt paper ashes and bowls.
These all come from a custom, that is, customs clearance. Customs clearance is some disasters that children will encounter and need to solve. In traditional culture, a person's birthday determines his life's fate. Children will be thirty-six and seventy-two. Such as general arrow, short-lived pass, night crow pass, fire and water pass, etc. Different customs need different taboos and need to be solved so that people's lives can be safe. These are all related to ghosts and gods. Therefore, whenever children are unhappy, parents will ask Mr. Taoist to preside over the customs clearance ceremony. Mr. Taoist had a big seal on his ancestors. Without this seal, ghosts and gods would not recognize him. Friends and relatives will be invited to help cook and burn incense.
In the customs clearance ceremony, Mr. Taoist first wrote symbolic paper and tablets of five parties and five emperors, wrote good deeds, prepared incense paper and foil, and the ceremony began.
First of all, Mr. Taoist can recite scriptures, which is actually similar to rap. He began to show his identity, and then invited gods, such as Taishang Laojun, Four Heavenly Kings, Twenty-eight Stars, and then local gods, such as Taibai Venus, Kitchen God and Land. All the immortals are in place, and then the Jade Emperor and the Empress Dowager are in place. This is "asking for heaven".
After the ceremony, please start telling the immortal what ceremony to do this time and which officials passed. Ask the Jade Emperor to arrange it, some will avoid it, and some will act. Mainly for the kitchen god, the house beam god, in short, all the gods in the family. General Fan told his uncle to burn incense and worship God with a bow and arrow made of branches and paper according to the calculated position of his birthday, which is also called "sending him to the body". Then he met the first person who passed by and worshipped him as michel platini. Then catch the nightingale, level the burnt firewood, and make "tongs, tongs, five thors in the sky and police officers" with cinnabar as gods. Catch the nightingale, don't put it on the firewood, and put it on the child's bedside at night. Men left and women right, don't panic and be afraid of failure. Tomorrow morning, precious candles will be sent out of the double fork in the road outside the gate.
After the evil spirits were dissolved, they began to send gods again. This is the "gift instrument". The ceremony is over. In this process, it is impossible without the mobilization and scheduling of the founder Yin Da.
All kinds of customs are disasters that people may encounter in their life, such as knife wounds, car accidents and children crying at night. In short, people will encounter setbacks or disasters. Every custom is different. Although the specific rituals have increased or decreased, it is constant to ask God to resolve them.
The goodness and health of life depend on the blessing of ghosts and gods. Only by fearing God and calming one's nerves can we overcome all hardships.
In addition, there is a level of ghosts and gods. The level of ghosts and gods is actually set according to the imagination of the level of the dead. The dead have an emperor, the ghost world has a jade emperor, the sick have a medicine king, the cultivator has a land god, the famous person has Wenchang, the celestial army has 28 stars, and the city keeper has a city god. In short, people fantasize that the ghost world and the dead world are the same and dominated by the ghost world. People's prayers and good wishes for life are all in the hope of maintaining peace by worshipping ghosts and gods. Officially, people have deepened this worship because of the uncertainty of the future, the change of the world and the irresistible mystery of nature.
Death is for a better life-funeral culture
The funeral culture in M village is very distinctive and rare. I just came to M village and found many graves carved with stones, which is completely different from my hometown. Later, I learned that "some people live in it" and "some people don't live in it". This kind of sarcophagus is called "sacristy"
It turns out that local customs require people to build two houses in their lifetime, usually to build new houses for their children and grandchildren and "old houses" by themselves. There are many traditional customs in M village, and of course, the traditional concept of geomantic location of Yin house and Yang house has been retained. The principle of geomantic location of Yin house and Yang house is similar. Generally speaking, there is a hall in front, a mountain behind, a green dragon on the left and a white tiger on the right, and a mountain. Your "old house" is the grave to be buried after you die. Usually when you are 50 or 60 years old, you will be ready to build it. Of course, building an "old house" is the same as building a new house where they live. Rich people will build better, and people without money will build mediocre ones. Everyone else repairs it, but it seems worse than others if they don't repair it themselves. Sometimes it becomes a comparison, and some people even repair it for the whole family. This is normal in the geographical area of M village, and no one is afraid. Whoever repairs it has money to mix well. And repair the Yin family to a good place to benefit future generations and bless them. Mr. Feng Shui in the south is Mr. Feng Shui in Yang Gong. According to the host's birthday and the gossip position of the geographical five elements, such as the so-called four innings:
Party B and Party C meet in the library of Yin Wu Fire Bureau;
Chen Xin, Chen is Shen Zichen from the Water Affairs Bureau Library.
Bullfighting Nadine Geng, ugliness is the treasury of the ugly gold bureau;
The golden sheep's collection of armor is not the collection of Haimao unfinished wood bureau.
These four games are all princes and princes. When you come down, you should look at the sand, the water, the dragon and the acupoints. It's nothing more than figuring out the context, which means that China and Long Mai are the Kunlun Mountains, and the others are branches. Where does Long Mai come from, where to go, and then find a good position. This will ensure the prosperity of future generations.
After the people in M village die, they should set off soul guns and ask the neighbors to help. Then we started planning the funeral. Wear old clothes, burn the clothes, bedding and other things used by the deceased before his death, and then put them in the coffin. In the afternoon, please ask Mr. Taoist to calculate the date of burial, usually the third day. The next day, the dutiful son went to the village to ask for help, but he had to kneel down and ask. This is to correct the sins of the dead. Without this kneeling ceremony, no one will go, and relatives and friends will kneel down to others to show their respect and gratitude. At the same time, Mr. Taoist was asked to start work, and other relatives and neighbors began to prepare banquets and other things. This Taoist priest can't be anyone, but he has to be handed down by his ancestors and have a seal, otherwise the hell will not recognize him. Taoist priests and their own gongs and drums began to set up mourning halls to prepare for the five immortals' ranking. The general process is as follows: opening the altar, taking the throne, going straight, escorting the way, accompanying the spirit, tonight, big night, offering sacrifices to the DPRK, ten kings, wandering souls, circling the board in the underworld, chanting Buddha, burning more, changing silks, offering sacrifices and asking questions.
The Taoist priest in charge of the altar will complete these ceremonies one by one. As you can imagine, after a person dies, his soul will go to hell to be reborn as a human being, but there are many ghosts around him. You damn fool, hungry ghost, fire ghost, chihuo, foodies, etc. , will immediately come out to find fault with this soul. At this time, the Taoist priest on the altar will take the seal and read the "Taishang Zhenggui Jing" to explain to everyone that this soul is innocent. Don't make trouble, or if you spell, all the ghosts will be annihilated. Or send gods to punish troublemakers, that is, the emperor's father and the orthodox school. After all kinds of ghosts were scared away, Mr. Taoist opened the road ahead and took his soul to hell. At this time, we will also sing lamentations to express our sadness and comfort the living. By the way, Taoist priests will give family sacrifices and guest sacrifices to the dead. After tonight, the soul singing tonight will continue to go to hell.
After the morning sacrifice, relatives and neighbors used to bring paper money, but now they are not interested in this, they all give gifts. When my soul passes through ten temples in Yamaraja, my relatives will come to see me off. If they want to burn paper, they have to give money to the Taoist priest to get paper, fix it on the road, and then turn around the coffin several times. Mr. Taoist priest will lead them, otherwise they will not see the soul. At this time, it is also necessary to worship the five parties and five emperors, so that the deceased can arrive smoothly no matter which way they take. Every checkpoint must burn money for the police on the way to hell, and Mr. Taoist must do something to pass smoothly. This is to save money from disasters and spend money to keep safe. Then I started chanting Buddha. After reading the Buddha, everyone sacrificed a rooster to the dragon who carried the coffin to ensure that the coffin did not fall to the ground and was buried smoothly. Dulong is a piece of wood, and the coffin is usually tied to Dulong, and the male villagers will carry it with eight heads. If the cemetery is too far away, they will support it with bamboo poles or change people. Push the wooden coffin into the sarcophagus and put the chickens and ducks belonging to the five elements. The dutiful son knelt down and kowtowed to everyone, and then burned wreaths, indicating that the deceased had a new home and lived in a new home. Then the dutiful son took the spirit home for sacrifice, which was a confession. After the Seventh Five-Year Festival, he officially settled in the hell, obtained the qualification of living in the hell, and waited for reincarnation.
First of all, when the soul of the deceased enters the underworld, people will imagine the underworld as another world. Hell is also called hell. Hell is where people go after death. Hell is a prison in the world. The chief is a bull's head, a horse's face and a child. The jailer will take the card, and so will the children. Money makes the mare go, so in order to let the dead go to hell smoothly, we must do less things. The ghost world is also a reflection of the real world. Therefore, many ghost novels in Ming and Qing dynasties are satirical reality. Journey to the West and Fairy Romance are both like this.
Bury the dead to a new address, and then take the spirit home to bless the living. At the same time, the living imagine that the dead will live with themselves and bless the dead, and the dead will become gods to some extent, which is the ancestor god. The living will pay homage to the dead to show their pity and memory. After burning May 7th, the dead should leave, go back to their own places, and don't stay at home, so as not to hurt strangers. People born on important festivals also burn paper to worship the dead. I will also go to the grave to worship during the Spring Festival. In Shaanxi, on New Year's Eve, the "ancestors", that is, the dead people, will be brought back for reunion, then worshipped by the people, and finally sent away.
Death is to live better. Preparing raw sacrifices in advance is also for a better life, and the location of the tomb is also to bless the prosperity of future generations. The deceased left the dead world to better protect their children and grandchildren in the underworld. Although the deceased died, he just moved to another place. In the village of the old society, the graves are far away from the village, so there are settlements for the living and ancestors. There is Zufen Mountain in M village. The living can bring the dead back to life to ensure that mysterious forces protect them. The dead have also become ancestral gods.
Although the people in M village were not afraid to live in Los Angeles when they were alive, the sick people were very afraid to go to the funeral, and even dared not pass by the undertaker for fear that they would get angry.
Funeral is more important in the eyes of villagers and should be treated with caution. Don't come without inviting the red one, and come without inviting the white one. White matter needs everyone's help more, and carrying coffins requires special labor, so kneeling down to invite people is also a respect for others.
Therefore, life and death is just a switch from one world to another. The living continue to live a better life, and the dead continue to bless the living. If you die, you can go to hell, go to heaven and be reincarnated. This is the master of ghosts and gods, the master of human destiny.
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Whether going through customs or going to a funeral, it is a life and death etiquette, including the blessing of life and the sustenance of death. Life avoids death, and death protects life. Whether life or death is the worship of ghosts and gods, only with the worship of ghosts and gods can there be awe. What kind of torture you will suffer when you go to hell after death, whether you use the straw cutter in the oil pan or go up the knife mountain, depends on your sins before you die. Therefore, if you don't go to hell after death, you must do more good deeds, do more good deeds and accumulate more virtues while you are alive. This is a culture of life and death, and it also brings comfort and hope to the living. However, the destruction of traditional customs in modern times has been influenced by modernization, and more villagers stay at the level of utilitarian worship. If they can't solve problems or get psychological comfort, they will turn to ghosts and gods for help. All the Taoist priests I have met are priests who sacrifice for a living, and I also know Mr. Taoist. Most of them directly admit that they are seeking comfort in their hearts. It should be noted that the worship of ghosts and gods is still educating most people and affecting the behavior habits of most villagers.
On the evening of March 22, 1965, 438+07
October
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