General customs and habits of Tongcheng

Top Ten Weird Folk Customs in Tongcheng (1): Play and torture on the first day of the first lunar month - eat two meals

The first day of the lunar new year is a festive day, everyone wants to have fun one day. However, just because it is the first day of the Lunar New Year and the first day of the New Year, everyone wants to be lucky and does not want anything bad to happen on this day. Therefore, there are many taboos. For example, not sweeping the floor, not taking out the garbage, and not splashing water to avoid sweeping or throwing away the wealth; not quarreling with others, not beating or scolding children, not seeing a doctor or taking medicine, not borrowing things, not falling, and not saying depressing words. The year will be peaceful and harmonious; do not kill animals, do not use knives or scissors, and do not do needlework to avoid bloody disasters; avoid taking a nap in the afternoon, the field border will collapse when a man takes a nap, and a disaster will occur in the kitchen when a woman takes a nap.

These are reasonable rules, not much different from other places. Although it brings a lot of inconvenience, it can still be done. What is special is that Tongcheng folk only eat two meals on this day. Breakfast is very late and dinner is very early, so lunch is skipped.

It’s okay to have breakfast later, because everyone stayed up late the night before to stay up late, so it’s normal to sleep in. The problem is dinner. I eat it too early and I feel hungry soon. Moreover, around four o'clock in the afternoon, when everyone was having a good time, they suddenly had to eat again. Not to mention whether they could eat or not, the rhythm of life was completely disrupted. Especially children, they usually don’t eat this dinner. The adults don’t force it. Anyway, there are some snacks during the Chinese New Year. So, just eat two meals, it’s not a big problem.

The most terrible thing is that after eating this very early dinner, it is not dark yet, so I have to go to bed early. This is what children hate the most. You said, they don’t have to go to school tomorrow, and they are having so much fun during the Chinese New Year. Why do they have to force them to sleep?

It turns out that this is related to Tujili mentioned above. Because farmers work so hard all year round, the greatest happiness is probably a good night's sleep. Today is not the first day of the Lunar New Year. In order to be auspicious and to show that this year will be domineering, you must go to bed early. Don’t you know that this kind of happiness in metaphor brings unhappiness to real life? However, on this special day, the meaning is overriding, I can’t give you sleep and you won’t sleep!

So, what is the relationship between the rule of eating two meals and the rule of going to bed early? I guess the rule of going to bed early was first established, because going to bed early does not require eating three meals, and everyone has a bad appetite during the Chinese New Year, and then the rule of eating two meals came into being. However, because eating comes first and sleeping comes later, people mistakenly think that going to bed early is to avoid hunger. However, you don’t even think about it, why are people deliberately starving during the Chinese New Year? Isn’t this a disease?

Top Ten Weird Folk Customs in Tongcheng (2): Eating wild vegetables on the third day of March - Artemisia cake

On the third day of March, Tongcheng rural people mostly eat sweet artemisia and rice flour. Artemisia cake can drive away evil spirits and ghosts. This folk custom is very, very special. Not only does it not exist elsewhere, it has not even been heard of in other counties and cities in Anqing.

March 3 is a traditional festival, but different places have different opinions. One theory is that Fuxi and his sister Nuwa kneaded earth to create humans and reproduce their offspring. From February 2nd to March 3rd of the lunar calendar, later generations held the Taihao Mausoleum Temple Fair. Devoted men and women gathered in the mausoleum area to worship their ancestors. It is also said that March 3rd was the day when the Queen Mother was born. On the day of the Peach Blossom Party, a Beijing Bamboo Branch poem describes it this way: "On the third day of March, spring is growing, and incense is being burned in the Peach Blossom Palace; the wind is picking up along the river, and the red dust is flying on the ground." Among ethnic minorities, March 3rd is also more popular: the Li people call March 3rd "Fu Nianfu", which is a festival to wish for "Mountain Orchid" (mountain dry valleys) and hunting and harvest. It is also a day for young men and women to interact freely. It is known as the Day of Love; the She people regard March 3rd as the birthday of Gumi, and every family eats black rice; the Yao people regard March 3rd as the "Ganba Festival", a festival for collective fishing and hunting; the Dong people often hold fireworks, bullfights, and Activities such as horse fighting, antiphonal singing, and marching in the hall are also called the "Fireworks Festival"; Zhuang people mostly go to the singing fair on March 3, so it is also called the Song Fairy Festival. In Taoism, March 3rd is the birthday of Taoist Emperor Zhenwu.

The above statements seem to have nothing to do with Tongcheng people eating wormwood cake. To understand the issue of wormwood cake, we must firmly grasp the core of "Shangsi Festival". Shangsi means Si day in early March, in early spring, and the specific date is not fixed. March in spring is the time when mountain flowers bloom and the spring tide surges, but it is also the time when spring insects stir and all kinds of diseases invade. Therefore, Shangsi Festival is also called Ghost Festival.

"Book of the Later Han·Book of Rites" records, "On the first day of the month, the officials and the people were all gathering on the east flowing water, saying that they were washing and purifying, removing dirt and scabies, and it was a great feast." Because the act of washing was too monotonous, later activities such as banquets by the water and spring outings were added. By the time of the Cao Wei Dynasty, for the convenience of operation, the date of Shangsi Festival was fixed as the third day of March, which has been followed to this day by future generations.

What should we use to entertain guests? On the one hand, it should be solid healthy food that prolongs life and strengthens the body; on the other hand, it should be seasonal food that is adapted to local conditions and adapted to everyone’s needs. Therefore, among the Han people, something is always eaten on March 3rd. The amount of food eaten is related to ward off diseases, but the specific foods vary. For example, in some places in the south, rice flour is ground to make "ghost cakes" and "foot-binding noodles" for consumption; in Taiwan and Fujian, "sage grass is collected and rice flour is combined into rice cakes to worship the ancestors" ("Taiwan Prefecture Chronicle"); in our Tongcheng, Artemisia cake was invented.

The story goes something like this: March 3rd is the Shangsi Festival. On this day, we need to eat some seasonal food that can ward off diseases, so Tongcheng people started eating Artemisia cake. The question is, mugwort is everywhere, so why don’t people in other places make mugwort cakes? This is indeed an open question.

Making mugwort cake is very particular. Rice noodles can be indica rice or mixed with a little rice. Don't put too little wormwood, otherwise it won't be a wormwood cake. However, the plant fiber of mugwort is relatively thick, so you must pick the tender ends and don't put too much. In order to taste better, you must put more bacon, both plain and fat. Haoziba is a big oil eater, so he can't bear to eat oil. Moreover, there is a characteristic of mugwort cake. It is not delicious when made fresh. It tastes better when it is welded with oil after being stored for a few days.

Every year on March 3rd, Tongren eat mugwort cake together. Game!

Top Ten Weird Folk Customs in Tongcheng (3): Wearing plain clothes three times in your life - woolen clothes

Tongcheng custom is that at birth, marriage and death, you must wear a raw cloth coat and Pants, the edges of which do not need to be sewn with needlework, are commonly known as sweaters.

Shengbu is cotton cloth that has not been drained. People in Tongcheng call it Laobu. In the old days, because life was hard, almost every household spun cotton yarn. The spinning wheel is similar to other places, it is a hand-cranked wooden wheel. Spinning cotton yarn is a delicate job that looks simple but is actually very difficult. Each spun yarn is twisted out of the hand entirely by the internal force of the fingers, otherwise it will either be too thick or it will be broken. The speed of the spinning wheel is also very particular. It is neither urgent nor fast. The spinner needs to operate it himself and cannot be replaced by others.

After the cotton yarn is spun, it can be weaved. This is not something that every family can do. Often a large village only has one skilled woman. In fact, weaving is a manual job that requires feet and hands. I don’t know why this was a job done by women in the past. It is a common custom that after everyone spins the cotton yarn themselves, it is sent to the weaver's home for weaving, and you need to give them some hard-earned money. There are also those who do not spin yarn themselves and go directly to buy cloth; there are also those who just spin yarn and sell it to weavers without cotton cloth. No matter what, no cash will be given. At the end of the year, if you have money, you can give money, but if you don’t have money, you can give some food.

Wearing woolen clothes three times in one's life is a great invention that deserves to be appreciated by future generations. Birth, marriage, and death are the three major transitions in life. Each transition represents the beginning of a new life. What does it mean for a new life? White, primitive and simple! Look at this sweater, made of pure natural cotton yarn. It has never been in the water or sewn at the edges. How original it is! Newborn babies wearing woolen clothes signify the beginning of a life of ups and downs; young people waiting to be married wear woolen clothes to face the big test of married life; old people traveling by crane to the west wear woolen clothes and are nothing more than virgins waiting for reincarnation.

This extremely simple woolen sweater seems to be a patent of the people of Tongcheng, the capital of Wenzhou. There are very few people like this in other places. There may be some in other surrounding counties and cities in Anqing, but most of them learned it from Tongcheng people. If you have to trace its origin, it would be best to look for it in Jiangxi and Lianghu areas. Almost all the people in Tongcheng come from that place. If you really find it, I suggest everyone in Tongcheng go there to get a woolen sweater to wear, and you will find your true roots.

Top 10 strange folk customs in Tongcheng (4): Change your belt at the age of thirty-six to give you a gift at the age of 36

Tongcheng has a folk custom of "giving you a gift at the age of thirty-six". Regardless of men or women, when they are 35 years old, relatives and friends will give them a white chicken, a new trouser belt, and a white shirt as gifts. On the eve of the New Year's Eve, men choose the white chicken stew sent by their parents-in-law's family and the women choose it. If you are particular about it, the white chicken needs to eat alone and bury the chicken feathers at the three-way intersection.

"Tongcheng County Chronicle" says that this custom exists in Xixiang, Tongcheng; some relevant information says that this custom is not old and probably started in the 1970s. These statements are quite suspicious. In fact, the folk custom of "giving thirty-six gifts" is very common. This custom is found in almost all places in Tongcheng, and it seems to also be found in many provinces in the south, especially in Jiangxi and the Lianghu area.

There is an old saying that 36 is a very unlucky number, and the age of 36 is a difficult transition in life. Traditional superstition believes that it is unfavorable to encounter nine, whether it is the bright nine or the dark nine. A bright nine is a number with nine directly in it, such as 19, 29, or 39; a dark nine is a multiple of nine, such as 18, 27, or 45. 36 is a dark nine, which is of course unlucky. But why is 36 so unlucky? There may be several reasons: (1) 36 years old is a person’s original life span. The ancients believed that 36 years old is a reincarnation, and only those who live to 36 years old are enough; (2) It can be judged from life experience that when a person reaches the age of 36, all aspects of Physical functions begin to decline, and each year becomes worse than the previous year; (3) People in the old days had a short life span, generally only living to 59 or 69 years old. As a turning point, 18 and 27 years old are obviously too early. , 45 or 54 years old is a bit late. They are not turning points in life, they are almost turning points in death. Therefore, it is most appropriate to choose the age of 36 as the milestone in life. (4) Taoism has a saying of "Four Nine Heavenly Tribulations". Although it is talking about 490 years, it is still four nine years after all. It is easy to think of 36.

Since the age of 36 is unlucky, you must find ways to ward off evil spirits. However, one big characteristic of superstition is that it varies from person to person, from place to place, and in essence, it depends on needs. Therefore, the methods of "giving thirty-six" vary from place to place. In Yichang, Hubei, people have to worship gods and perform great performances; in Hunan, they have to greet relatives and friends for their birthdays; in Jiangxi, they have to give away pants.

The special thing about Tongcheng lies in two aspects: first, in other places, the day to ward off evil spirits is generally chosen on the birthday of the 36th year, but Tongcheng chooses the New Year's Eve of the year of the 35th year; The place just finds an excuse to have a meal and doesn't care what to eat, but Tongcheng insists on eating white chicken, changing his belt, and hiding away from people on the first day of the new year.

So why do people in Tongcheng think that eating white chickens and wearing new belts can ward off evil spirits? There is no correct answer yet. Probably, white is a positive color and is more reflective, which can dazzle ghosts and monsters without harming you; eating white chicken instead of white pigs is probably because chicken is more expensive than pork; and burying chicken feathers at the three-way intersection is to let ghosts and monsters come to the three-way intersection. The white chicken feathers on the back of my mouth shook me in the wrong direction; I replaced my trousers with new ones because I was afraid that the old trousers were worn out and could not be tightened tightly, allowing ghosts to get in through the seams in my clothes. This is called layer-by-layer defense, which is foolproof. Haha, superstition, how many can be clearly explained!

Ten weird folk customs in Tongcheng (5): The placenta is buried in an earthen jar under a tree - the afterbirth jar

After Tong'er was born, the fetal afterbirth was put into an earthen jar and buried in the village Under the tallest tree next to it, it means "the tree is a thousand feet tall, and the person is ten thousand feet tall."

Afterbirth is a very, very special thing that cannot be neglected. There, there are some memories of our chaotic world, and some residual warmth of our compatriots. With the first cry in life, we emerge from the afterbirth, which represents the formal ceremony of separation from the mother's body, and also represents the declaration of independence in a long life. Therefore, everyone must put the afterbirth jar in a special place and store it permanently.

Some people put the afterbirth jar in the center of the river near the village, where the gurgling water brings endless life; some people buried the afterbirth jar in their own yard. No matter where you go, you never leave your loved ones; Some people bury the afterbirth jar deep in the bamboo forest behind the house, and the roots of the bamboo shoots look like ancestors; some people hang the afterbirth jar on a tall tree and let the birds act as messengers from the sky to deliver their first gifts.

But no matter where it is, the person who is qualified to place the afterbirth jar must be a man, a man who brings the little life into the world. The small afterbirth jar holds the responsibility of every father and engraves the inheritance of life from generation to generation. As the afterbirth jar came out of his hand, the man walked towards home step by step. When we were children, a man placed our afterbirth jar in his own way; within a few years, we also had to place an afterbirth jar that we made ourselves in a place that we thought was most suitable. The afterbirths originally came from women, and men just connected them to make them one string.

Wendu people were particularly clever. They buried the afterbirth jar under the tallest tree next to the village and called the village where the afterbirth jar was buried "original place".

There is no greater invention than this! Those wanderers who are far away from their hometown will definitely be able to smell the scent of their childhood by picking up a handful of soil under the trees; offering this handful of soil from their hometown on the incense table is like offering it to their ancestors. This great invention by Tongcheng people transcends the time tunnel and allows us to see our loved ones at any time.

It’s just that my heart aches because the afterbirth tank has lost its roots in our generation. Ever since the little life was born in a place called a hospital, the afterbirth has disappeared. I don’t know if it flowed into the sewer, was boiled into soup, or became a nourishing and nourishing product for a noble person. He had no chance to place the afterbirth jar he had made, as if he was not a man at all.

Ten weird folk customs in the city (6): Uncle Jiaojiao, come together - Uncle Ao

Uncle refers to the father's younger brother, and generally refers to the father who is younger than his father. However, the names for uncles are different across the country. People in Guangdong call them "Uncle", people in Tianjin call them "Bye Bye", people in Northeast China call them "Uncle", people in the Jianghuai area call them "Master" or "Pa", and people in Wuyue call them "Uncle". This area is called "戽feed". Among them, the most special one is the people from Tongcheng, Anhui, who call their uncle "Jiaojiao".

Why is it called this? Let's listen to an interesting legend: Zhang Ying, a famous minister of the Qing Dynasty, was writing a memorial one day and mistakenly wrote "uncle" as "jiao". Emperor Kangxi was curious about the exhibition and asked why. Out of self-respect, Zhang Ying lied and said: There is a custom in my hometown that calls "uncle" "Jiao". Unexpectedly, Kangxi became suspicious and wanted to send someone to find out the truth. Zhang Ying was horrified when he heard the news. How serious was the crime of deceiving the emperor? He secretly sent his attendants to ride fast horses to his hometown of Tongcheng, and asked the county magistrate to change the name "Uncle" to "Jiao" among the people in the county within three days. When the emperor's imperial envoy arrived in Tong and consulted the people, they all agreed. Since then, "Uncle"'s nickname "Jiaojiao" has been spread in Tongcheng to this day.

This story is well written, but it is just a story after all and cannot be treated as official history. It is not difficult for people with a little common sense to find that there are many loopholes in this story: it is not very likely to write "uncle" as "Jiao". Ancient literati cherished paper and were very careful before writing; after the memorial was written, it was necessary to check it carefully. The important things should be backed up, and the possibility of making a mistake is very slim; after the emperor knew it, it would be okay to admit it honestly, lying is really a crime of deceiving the emperor; "Uncle" has several meanings, and the "Uncle" in the memorial is not necessarily It just means "uncle"; there are several versions of this story, and some say that the protagonist is Zhang Ying's son Zhang Yanyu; if it is really wrong, it will still be shameless to use the hometown dialect to dodge; for such a trivial matter, even if the emperor really Even if he knew he was lying, he would definitely not send someone to make an unannounced investigation; folk customary names are difficult to change, and even if they were changed urgently at the time, they would never become a habit in the future.

In order to research the origin of Tongcheng’s “Jiaojiao”, we need to pay attention to the following two pieces of “hard evidence”: First, not everyone in Tongcheng calls it this way, and some places have other names. In Tongcheng, most people are called Jiaojiao, but there are also places where they are called uncle; secondly, Tongcheng is not the only place in the country that is called like this, Guixi and Yongxiu in Jiangxi are also called like this. Could it be that the people from these two places moved there from Tongcheng? In fact, most people in Tongcheng migrated from Jiangxi.

This inadvertently provided us with a clue: most people in Tongcheng immigrated from Waziba, Jiangxi, and Waziba was obviously just a transfer station for immigrants. Those who called their uncle "Jiaojiao" "Are the Tongcheng people from Guixi and Yongxiu, Jiangxi? Regardless, an important clue is provided here.

Because there is too little relevant information provided, it is impossible to determine the exact origin of "Jiaojiao" after searching the dialect data. Here, let me provide a bold guess: Shutong Shu, Shu is a bean plant, and beans are used to refer to small children, so uncle refers to a person who is younger than his father; Jiao is a spice plant, which refers to "Panthoxylum bungeanum" "It's not chili pepper (which was introduced from America in the late Ming Dynasty). The fruit of chili pepper is smaller than bean sprouts. It can also be used to refer to smallness, and then to refer to people who are smaller than the father.

Top Ten Weird Folk Customs in Tongcheng (7): Putting all the sweetness, bitterness and spicy together - pepper soup

Starting from the first day of the first lunar month, Tongcheng people celebrate birthdays for various creatures: one chicken, two dogs , three pigs, four sheep, five oxen, six horses, seven people, eight grains, nine beans, and ten millet. In fact, in other words, I have never seen anyone actually wishing these creatures longevity. Dogs in the second grade of junior high school will not chew an extra bone, and pigs in the third grade of junior high school will not eat an extra mouthful of rice bran. As for horses and sheep, Tongcheng basically cannot see them, and Dougu and the like are hibernating during the Spring Festival. Those who only have the seventh day of the lunar month must have a good birthday.

It is a custom in Tongcheng that for dinner on the seventh day of the first lunar month, everyone has to eat hot and sour soup, also called pepper soup, which means that life will encounter various sour, sweet, bitter and spicy things.

Maybe it’s because Tongcheng doesn’t produce much pepper, or maybe southerners don’t like pepper very much. Anyway, many people don’t add pepper to this hot and sour soup, but that doesn’t prevent it from being called pepper soup. Regardless of the implication, in terms of taste alone, the pepper soup tastes quite good, much better than the spicy paste soup made by northerners. The main ingredients of pepper soup are tofu, starch, and wild rice noodles, and then add some bacon, mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, cooked chicken, shredded pork, eggs, sesame oil, chicken blood, and chili peppers, and the taste is complete. Looking at the ingredients, everyone knew that the hot and sour soup was actually neither sour nor spicy, and it was rarely available, so everyone was caught eating several blue-rimmed bowls.

Hot and sour soup is not special. It can be found in Sichuan, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and almost every place where there are people. Those in the north are more sour, those in the south are sweeter, and those in Sichuan are more spicy. The specialty of Tongcheng hot and sour soup is not the taste, but the special cultural meaning that Wendu people give to this pot of turbid soup, which makes people have endless aftertaste. I remember there was a song called "Hot and Sour Soup", which said, "The spicy and sour taste is so delicious and special that it slowly turns the earth into a fireball and burns to the highest temperature." I don’t know who wrote the lyrics, but it’s definitely not from Tongcheng.

So, why are people’s birthdays scheduled on the seventh day of the first lunar month? According to folklore, when Nuwa created things, she created chickens, dogs, pigs, sheep, cows, and horses in the first six days, and humans on the seventh day. Therefore, the seventh day of the first lunar month is commonly known as "Human Day", also known as "Human Day". "Victory Day", "People's Celebration", etc. How to celebrate? The methods vary from place to place: (1) Dai Rensheng: Women use colored paper, silk, soft gold and silver and other materials to make the shape of a small figure and wear it on their head, or stick it on a screen or other places. (2) Flower gifts: People make various flower gifts (in the shape of flowers) as gifts to each other; (3) Eat Qibao soup: People use seven kinds of fresh seasonal vegetables and rice flour to make a soup, called "Qibao soup"; (4) Traveling and climbing: Ladies travel and literati climb high to compose poems. Tang Gaoshi's poem "Renri Sends Du Er Supplements" says: "Renri writes poems and sends them to the thatched cottage, feeling pity for the old friend and missing his hometown. The willow branches are so colored that I can't bear to see them, and the plum blossoms are all over the place. The branches are empty and the heart is broken. I am in southern Tibet and I have a lot of worries. This year, people will remember each other. Where will they be next year? Comparatively speaking, the invention of pepper soup by Tongcheng people is the most brilliant. It is not only a feast for the mouth, but also easy to understand culturally. It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone.

Top Ten Folklore Monsters in Tongcheng (8): The bride turns out to be a monster--smashing the newlyweds

Tongcheng has a custom of "smashing the newlyweds", which means "the more you hit, the more you hit." As long as they see a wedding procession passing by the village, some meddlesome people will shout "Smash the bride" and grab a few handfuls of sand or tiles and throw them at them, in order to threaten the leader of the wedding procession (usually the matchmaker). Happy smokes and sweets. Adults usually smash the bride in a symbolic way, but children don't care so much and just smash them randomly, sometimes even smashing the bride into disgrace. However, the bride was somewhat prepared. She brought a square scarf with her and covered her head before the sand and dust hit her. I remember during the Cultural Revolution, in order to prevent being smashed, the bride held a plaster statue of Chairman Mao in front of her, so that no one would dare to smash it, and no one would be afraid of smashing Chairman Mao and the old man. But this method only worked for a while, and later the children continued to follow it. Life was tight for everyone at that time, and newlyweds didn't just go around the village giving out candies. She wouldn't give them to you if you didn't throw them.

Generally speaking, there are unwritten rules for "smashing newcomers", mainly three: only those passing by can be hit, and those from the same village generally cannot be hit; children can be hit, but adults generally cannot be hit, at least not Smash it viciously; don't smash it again after the happy smoke and sweets have been scattered. In fact, the wedding team themselves are also contradictory. If they are hit hard, they will definitely not be happy, but if no one comes to hit them along the way, they will also be very disappointed. Not to mention "If you don't hit, don't send", it at least means that the interpersonal relationships in your team are not very good, and those who show off are not eye-catching and will not answer you. On a special day, if you smash it a little and have some fun, no matter who you hit, no one will be angry or angry. so. Some people who are careful will tell a few people who like the excitement in advance and ask them to arrange for people to come and smash it.

Maybe it is just for fun, the custom of "smashing newcomers" is very common.

The wedding custom of the Dongxiang people is to hit the bride with a pillow during the wedding ceremony, forcing her to lift the veil as soon as possible; Dai Houying described in "The Huaihe River in Tears" that the Huaibei people hit the bride with neem fruit when they are having a wedding ceremony; in Xiaogan, Hubei, the bride's side is used to welcome the bride. Relatives and friends take turns throwing prepared dates, radish strips, bean dregs, rice balls, etc. for fun, mainly hitting the groom; in the Northeast, when the bride goes to her husband's house, they like to throw grains at the bride. In comparison, Tongcheng's smashing method seems primitive and somewhat barbaric.

This makes people wonder: Where does this custom come from? It can be seen from the above examples that in other places, people usually smash things during the wedding ceremony, but in Tongcheng, they smash them on the way to welcome the bride; in other places, they smash things casually, but in Tongcheng, they smash bricks and stones for real; Smashing the ground just for fun, but Tongcheng took some happy cigarettes and sweets while having fun. "Kangxi Tongcheng County Chronicle" says, "The common people in Tong'an County believe in ghosts and gods, and they like distant wolfberries. The father and son may live in different places. Their human nature is impetuous, harboring disasters, and they regard death as home." Could it be said that the people of Tongcheng have been barbaric in nature since ancient times?

I thought it was wrong. Even though the folk customs in Tongdi have been strong since ancient times, the "Kangxi Tongcheng County Chronicle" also said, "Since the Pingcheng (Southern Dynasties), the customs have changed a lot, and they favor honesty, frugality, and marriages are closer to etiquette." Moreover, when people from other places criticize Tongcheng people, they only call them insidious and cunning, and never call them barbaric and vulgar.

Although the origin of "Bride Smashing" cannot be known exactly, the general development clues can still be guessed. (1) People in the old days had a strong sense of territory. When passing by their territory, they had to leave some money for traveling, otherwise they would be ridiculed as weak and incompetent. (2) People in the old days were very superstitious. If a red wedding event passed by a village, the people in the village thought that you had taken away the happiness, so they had to smash it away; if a white wedding event passed by a village, the people in the village thought that you had taken away the happiness. When bad luck comes, you must set off firecrackers to scare them away. As for "the more you smash, the more you break", it is just an excuse that has developed later. It is like a person who breaks something. Although he feels very sad, he says, "Broken (Sui Sui) is safe!"

In fact, there are still "bride smashing" similar to Tongcheng, such as the junction of Lujiang and Tongcheng and some places in Xuancheng. However, these two places are somewhat related to Tongcheng. Not to mention Lunan, Xuancheng has a large number of Tongcheng immigrants in modern times. As we all know, most people in Tongcheng immigrated from Jiangxi and Lianghu. It is estimated that these areas will most likely have this legacy.

Top Ten Weird Folk Customs in Tongcheng (9): Boiled fish is not considered a dish when served on the table

Eating fish has many benefits. In addition to being delicious and adaptable to everyone, it can also cure diseases and strengthen the body. Prolong life. During the Chinese New Year, eating fish is given a special meaning. It is said that there are fish (surplus) every year and there are fish (surplus) during auspicious occasions. In most places, fish is eaten on New Year’s Eve to bring good luck, so fish is an essential dish. In the past, there was a commonly used Spring Festival couplet: "Spring is always there in the Xiangyang family, and people who have accumulated good deeds will have more than enough to celebrate." In the old days, some literate intellectuals only ate fish but not meat, because these so-called gentlemen "cannot bear to eat the meat when they hear the sound", and fish do not howl when they are slaughtered.

In Tongcheng, everyone also likes to eat fish. When entertaining guests, they usually make Sansheng rice, which is a home-cooked meal based on chicken, fish and meat. Even when offering sacrifices to ancestors, they always bring three animal bowls. During the Chinese New Year, fish is cooked as usual, and fish is served as usual on New Year's Eve night. However, for some unknown reason, the cooked fish is not considered a dish when served, and you must not use chopsticks. . Could it be that Tongcheng people don’t want to “have fish (surplus) every year” and don’t want to be lucky during the New Year? No! It turns out that the thinking of Tongcheng people is different from that of ordinary people. In order to pursue "fish (surplus) every year", ordinary people think that this "fish (surplus)" should be eaten, while Tongcheng people think that "fish (surplus)" is It should be "fish (surplus)", and if you eat it, there will be no "fish (surplus)".

I think it doesn’t matter who is right or wrong between the two understandings, but the understanding of Tongcheng people has a deeper cultural connotation. Because it is normal to eat fish during the New Year, but if you eat it now, the cultural meaning is not full; but not eating fish during the New Year is abnormal, and the cultural symbol is very strong. It's just that I can't even eat a piece of fish during the Chinese New Year, so I feel a little sorry for my mouth and saliva. Because it is not very humane, and it is even more difficult to live with oneself, many places have implemented appropriate modifications and the requirements are relatively loose. In these places, fish is not eaten on New Year's Eve. From the first to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, two bowls of fish are served to guests. One bowl is edible and the other is not. Which bowl to eat depends on the host's instructions.

Those that cannot be eaten are called "bowl fish", which means that they cannot be moved in a bowl. Later, I became more relaxed and served two bowls of fish on New Year's Eve. Anyway, after eating one bowl, I still had one bowl left, so I didn't have to worry about not having any "fish (surplus)".

Possibly, not eating fish on New Year’s Eve is not unique to Tongcheng, but this folk custom is certainly not common. Moreover, even if it is the same as not eating, the statement may not be the same. For example, some places in the Northeast do not eat fish on the 30th night, but this is because fish are spiny and they are afraid that there will be endless thorns in the year; in the old days, some places in the north not only did not eat fish on the 30th night, they also I don’t eat fish all the time because I can’t remove the fishy smell due to the lack of external seasonings.

Ten weird folk customs in Tongcheng (10): After death, the next generation will be affected - avoid blood burial

In the old days, people everywhere paid great attention to funerals. As a funeral with obvious religious overtones, there are always some superstitious sayings and practices, which can be described as various and strange. However, no matter how weird it is, everyone generally adheres to the same belief: to be buried in peace. According to Buddhism, only by resting in the grave can one be reincarnated. Therefore, after the grand funeral, the deceased must be buried as soon as possible. This is the first priority. In the past, if a person was miserable, they would console themselves by saying, "I just want to be buried in a handful of loess." If a person was extremely evil, everyone would curse him to "die without a burial place."

However, Tongcheng is the opposite. Blood burials are avoided after death. The coffin should be placed in a sheltered and feng shui place in the wild, and covered with straw to protect it from rain and snow. Commonly known as "Cuoji". At first glance, one must think that Tongcheng is a place inhabited by ethnic minorities, because some ethnic minorities like to dig holes and nail piles in the cliffs near the river to place coffins, which is called "hanging coffin burial"; some ethnic minorities put coffins in In the cave, it is called "cave burial"; Tibetans place the corpse coffin on a high platform, which is called "sky burial".

The problem is that whether it is hanging coffin burial, cave burial or sky burial, it is a kind of "burial", that is, the final placement. This is because these ethnic minorities buried their bodies without any burial. Although they were not buried in the ground, they were already "in peace". But Tongcheng is different. Leaving the coffin outdoors is only a temporary measure. It will still have to be buried after three to five years. This raises a question: Tongcheng people believe in burial, and they also believe in burial. Why haven't they been buried in the ground for so long? There must be a reason for this.

"厝", temporarily placed, waiting for burial or reburial. So why not have a quick burial now? Modern people explain that people will be reincarnated only if they stay in a house for more than three years. This is completely contradictory and misses the point. There are probably several reasons for not being buried for the time being:

(1) In the past, people were poor and could not afford burials, so they kept them temporarily until more people in the family died, so they could be buried together. This can reduce costs;

(2) In the past when wars were raging, many people died in other places while fleeing famine, and they stayed temporarily to wait for their return home for burial. Ancient Huizhou also had the custom of living in dormitories, but their conditions were better. They did not live in the wild, but in special dormitories.

(3) In the past, there was a custom of Ding You three years ago, in order to fulfill filial piety;

(4) I couldn’t find a good cemetery or couldn’t afford one;

(5) Burials are often far away, while burials are usually at the doorstep of the home, which can provide convenience for the younger generation to offer sacrifices or mourn at the grave. The combined force of these forces makes house-keeping a habit, and when the habit has been formed, even if none of these five forces exists, it has become deeply ingrained as a custom.