When is the early spring of 2020?
The beginning of spring customs
First of all, welcome the Spring Festival and the God of Ju Mang.
Spring Festival is an important activity in beginning of spring, the day before in beginning of spring. This activity is very important, and many people attend it. The purpose of the activity is to bring Spring and Mangshen back from work.
Ju Mang is the god in charge of spring. It is said that she looks like a bird with a face and is responsible for the reproduction of all vegetation. In order to welcome spring and mountain gods, a spring official should be set up to announce the specific time when spring begins. Most spring officials are beggars or women engaged in bad work. This may be because the characters are funny and normal people don't want to play them.
The day before in beginning of spring, people would wander the streets with mangshen, and ordinary people would come out to watch the fun and throw grain, which is called "watching the Spring Festival". Finally, the team will go out of the city and go up the mountain to complete the sacrifice in the sound of drum music.
Second, whip the cattle in spring and send them to spring.
Whipping spring cattle was popular in the Tang and Song Dynasties in China, and has been passed down to this day. Up to now, there is still this custom in rural areas of Shandong and Hebei, but the form has changed slightly.
In ancient times, the whip spring cow was molded into a mud cow in advance, which was filled with grain. At the beginning of spring, people whip mud cows, pick up fallen grains and put them into their granaries, which indicates that they will be full of grains next year. People will also try to take away the fragments of the mud cow and take away the most auspicious cow head. It is said that many calves will be born in the coming year when the fragments of this cow are put into the cowshed.
Clever craftsmen will make many small mud cows and send them to every household outside beginning of spring, which is called "seeing off the spring", just like many children "sending the God of Wealth" to every household during the Spring Festival in rural areas of Northeast China, which is also a marketing tool.
I was lucky enough to see "whipping the cattle in spring" on a spring day in rural Hebei. That was a few years ago. Because of my work, I came to a county in Cangzhou, Hebei Province, where I spent a happy and busy day.
It happened to be beginning of spring that day, and I saw many farmers pulling their cows out and tying them outside the door. Cows are dressed in red and green and have big red flowers on their heads. All the cows are beautifully dressed by their owners, and they feel happy when they look at them.
Towards noon, people led the cows to a spacious place. Under the auspices of an old man who looked respectable, people gently whipped the cows with a whip wrapped in ribbons. It seems that this is the changed spring cow.
Third, Dai Chun chicken, hanging spring ears.
Dai Chun chicken
When I was a child, I played with my neighbor's little sister and brother at my grandmother's house. His family moved here from other places, which is different from ours in many ways. For example, when they start in spring, their mother will sew a cloth cock on their clothes and hats, which is a big cock wrapped with colored cloth. It is magnificent and beautiful. We have no other children, only their brothers and sisters. I never know what happened.
Until the other day, I suddenly remembered these two childhood playmates and the cloth cock on their hats. I made a special investigation, and it turns out that this is a custom in Shaanxi Province, China. At the beginning of spring, children will wear a big cock sewn by their mother, which means "spring chicken"-"spring luck", which is the best wish of their mother to the children. Now, we are all grown up and scattered in different cities. We haven't been in touch for many years. I wonder if their brothers and sisters will sew a cloth cock for their children?
Hanging spring ear
I've heard of this. I had chickenpox when I was a child. My mother's good friend said that if I put colored threads on beans and hung them on the speaker in the spring, the children wouldn't get chicken pox. However, my grandmother said that I treated measles in my later years and it had nothing to do with chickenpox. It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. I got chicken pox at that time. So, my mother didn't wear beans either. Just don't wear it. Looking for cattle in the city.
When I was researching the origin of the cloth cock, I also found it casually. In fact, it is an ancient custom to hang the spring ear, which is also very popular in Shaanxi. On the day of spring, mothers weave ears of wheat with colorful ribbons and hang them on children, donkeys, horses, cows and sheep to pray for a bumper harvest next year. There are also those who specialize in scattering beans on cattle to "disperse rashes".
Fourth, bite the spring
This is the most complete and widespread early spring activity. Our traditional festivals seem to be inseparable from food, and they all have their own special foods, which really answers the old saying that food is the most important thing for the people. Beginning of spring is no exception. It also has its own special holiday food. Beginning of spring mainly eats spring cakes in the north and spring rolls in the south. Spring cakes in the north are thin and crisp with shredded pork, radish and cucumber strips. People call them biting spring. As a northerner and a northerner who doesn't understand southern cuisine, I won't say much about what my southern friend beginning of spring ate, lest my southern friends laugh at me.