What is the festival when the dragon looks up?
The origin of festivals
Folk customs and beliefs
Festival activities
Burning paper and shooting
Another name
Qinglong festival
Festival time
Every year on the second day of the second lunar month.
Festival significance
It symbolizes the return of spring to the earth and the revival of everything.
more
brief introduction
The second day of the second lunar month, commonly known as the Qinglong Festival.
The origin of the Qinglong Festival is related to the "fright" in the 24 solar terms. After the shock, the earth recovered and the yang rose. There is a saying in Shanxi folk proverb that "on February 2nd, the dragon looks up".
Jinnan area thinks that this day is the day of Qinglong activities, so it is forbidden to go to the river and the well to fetch water, so as not to bring back dragon eggs. When walking and working by the river and the well, pay great attention to silence and try not to make any noise, so as not to disturb Qinglong and ruin the good weather.
On this day in the north of Shanxi, "Qianlong" prevailed. Before the sun rises in the morning, every family carries a teapot and goes to the river or the well to fetch water. According to the calculation of several dragons controlling water this year, put a few copper coins or coins in the teapot. After pumping water, he spilled water all the way home as he walked, poured the rest of the water and money into the water tank, and Qianlong was taken home, meaning to make a fortune in one year. Don't talk when attracting Qianlong, so as not to scare Qianlong away.
In some places in northwest Shanxi, Qianlong chose a big tree or a big stone and sprinkled it with gray lines. Tie a copper coin with a red line. First, put the copper coin in the gray coil, pull it home by hand and cover it with a container.
In the southeast of Shanxi province, Yao Qianlong used kitchen ash and sprinkled a winding gray line from the door to the kitchen and around the water tank.
As the saying goes: "After a fright, all insects die." During the Dragon Festival, many activities to drive away drugs are very popular among the people. "Yangcheng County Records" records: "A hundred stings are shocked at the beginning, and the Tianshi curse hangs, preventing insects and poisons." When people get up in the morning, avoid saying the word "get up" for fear that all poisonous insects will react. Folklores in southern Shanxi like to cook Man Jing soup, which is spread all over the cracks in the walls, corners, the bottom of the kang mat and under the bed. It is called "no insects". Others gathered villagers, carried idols, went to the heads of families and sprinkled rice soup in the yard, which meant to dispel the plague. People's doors are surrounded by lime. Folk in southeastern Shanxi painted a medicine gourd, which contained poisonous insects such as snakes, scorpions, centipedes, dragonflies and spiders. , and posted on the wall, called "stop the insects". Others twist beans and wheat flour into lights and bury them in the soil, which is called "smoked dragonfly". In Jinzhong area, every folk family pats a dustpan, and the nursery rhyme says, "On February 2nd, clap a dustpan, fleas and ticks dare not go to the kang". Put a line around the toilet and the door with lime, which is called eliminating the plague. Luliang area is used to cleaning every house. The northern part of Shanxi pays attention to "paste the wolf's mouth", and paste the dough with sesame sugar or millet on Erlang God's wheezing dog's mouth.
Qinglong Festival is called "Flower Tide" in some places in southern Shanxi. People take wine and food to the suburbs, sit around in selected places, sing and dance, and enjoy drinking, which is also called "spring outing" and "outing". Southeast Shanxi is used to making pancakes with glutinous rice flour to express condolences to women. Children in Jinzhong area are used to flying kites. Some counties pay attention to this day to play ash pits and worship the land god. People in northern Shanxi like to eat noodles and vermicelli, which is called picking dragon flavor. There are also cakes to paste the wolf's mouth and pears to fight fire and get dirty. Luliang area likes to eat pancakes, which is called "uncovering dragon skin". Jinnan must eat twist and prickly heat that day, which is called "biting the keel". Northwest Shanxi pays attention to the Qinglong Festival, causing a lot of social fires and yangko, and the grand occasion resembles the Lantern Festival in other places.
On the Qinglong Festival, people in northern Shaanxi pay attention to eating jujube hill before the kitchen god. A few people in a family cut jujube hill into several pieces, one for each person, and gave the parents three tips.
Ruicheng Hehe Qinglong Festival has an ancient meeting lasting for more than a thousand years, which is a strange custom. It is said that it began in the reign of Emperor Guangwu of Han Dynasty, and it has been 1800 years. Also called "Three Societies Code", it commemorates the meritorious service of Emperor Huang Shui-zhi of Dongyue. On this day, villagers revel and display the most precious treasures in their homes. Folk also called "Ming Bao Hui", which means that taking treasure can ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters, and I hope that the weather will be good and the crops will be plentiful in the coming year. At that time, women dressed in colorful costumes will sing traditional folk songs, and men will play rough and powerful gods, local military commanders, civil servants, the Eight Immortals, secular gods and so on. , or riding a horse, riding a cow, lifting a pole; Or naked, waist wrapped in wild cloth; Or homespun underpants, with a straw cutter, ice skates, coarse purlin and stone mill on his back, which is very manly. The local nickname is "Hehe Erpai". The atmosphere of social fire is composed of gongs and drums, which are rendered. The attack method is simple and primitive, commonly known as "leaving gongs and drums". Traditional programs include playing with lions, running dry boats, walking on stilts and carrying people. The whole activity started outside the village and lasted for a long time until the end of the former site of Taishan Temple. [ 1]
Festival source
Dragon heads up [2] The second day of the second lunar month [3], commonly known as the Qinglong Festival, is said to be the day when dragons look up. It is a traditional festival in rural China, called "Dragon Head Festival". As the saying goes: "On February 2nd, the dragon looked up and everyone became a farmer." At this time, the sun's spirit rises, the earth thaws, and spring ploughing will begin. This is the time to transport manure and plow the fields. According to legend, this festival originated in the period of leader Fu. Fu "attaches importance to farming and farming". On February 2nd every year, "The Queen Mother delivers meals and plows the fields with her own horses" to take care of herself. Later, the Yellow Emperor, Tang Yao, Yu Shun and Yu Xia all followed the example of their predecessors. For Zhou Wuwang, we have not only followed this traditional practice, but also implemented it as an important national policy. On the second day of February, a ceremony was held, and all civil and military officials could personally plow an acre of land. This is the historical legend of the Dragon Head Festival. On the other hand, Wu Zetian abolished Tang Lizhou as emperor, which provoked the jade emperor to be furious and ordered the Dragon King not to rain for three years. The dragon king could not bear to lose his life, and it rained heavily secretly. When the Jade Emperor learned of this, he shot the Dragon King out of the Heavenly Palace and pinned him down at the foot of the mountain. Lebanese people feel that the Dragon King is deeply grateful to Rain God and prays to heaven every day. Finally, he moved the jade emperor and released the dragon king on the second day of February, so there was a saying that "the dragon looked up on the second day of February" In fact, in the past, rural water conservancy conditions were poor, and farmers attached great importance to the spring rain and celebrated the "Dragon Head Festival" to show respect for dragons, pray for rain and let God bless the harvest. From their wishes, it is good, so the "Dragon Head Festival" has been passed down to this day! [4]
On the second day of the second lunar month, the reason why it is called Dragon Head-raising Festival is actually related to ancient astronomical phenomena. In the old days, people divided the astrology near the ecliptic into 28 groups, which respectively indicated the positions of the sun, the moon and the stars in the sky, commonly known as "Twenty-eight Hostels", as a reference for astronomical observation. The "Twenty-eight Hostels" are divided into four groups according to the four directions of east, west, north and south, resulting in "four elephants": black dragon in the east, white tiger in the west, suzaku in the south and Xuanwu in the north. In Twenty-eight Nights, the horn, kang, ground, room, heart, tail and dustpan form a dragon-shaped star, which is called the Black Dragon in the East. The horn represents the horn of the dragon, the kang represents the throat of the dragon, the old represents the claw of the dragon, the heart represents the heart of the dragon, and the tail and jump represent the tail of the dragon. In Shuowen, it is recorded that the dragon "can be quiet and bright, detailed and huge, short and long, reaching the sky at the vernal equinox and diving in the autumn equinox", which actually refers to the changes in the astrology of the eastern black dragon!