Anhui Festival Customs

Bengbu people mainly celebrate the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Qingming Festival, etc. In addition, in the old days, the Cowherd and Weaver Girl's Festival was celebrated on the 7th day of the seventh lunar month, and various theater troupes performed "Tianhe Pairing"; the Ghost Festival was celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, which was also the "Ghost Festival". Buddhists or local people raised funds and invited monks and nuns to set up a stage to chant. According to scriptures, river lanterns are placed on the Huaihe River at night and street lanterns are placed on the streets to save the souls of "lonely ghosts"; on September 9th, the Double Ninth Festival is celebrated, and people in the city go on autumn outings together to climb high and look into the distance. After the 1950s, apart from the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival, only the Tomb-Sweeping Festival continues to this day. According to the national statutory holidays stipulated in the Gregorian calendar, the customs are basically the same as those in other places.

1. Dragon Boat Festival

Children dress up for the Dragon Boat Festival. Children should wear "tiger head" shoes; coats are made of floral cloth with patterns of tigers, snakes, clams, crabs and centipedes. Wear a pouch in the shape of a tiger or other animal on the chest, filled with herbs, or tie a longevity lock with silk thread and hang it around the neck, or wear five-color silk thread to drive away "disasters" and bad luck. There are also small net pockets woven with silk thread to hold salted duck eggs and worn on the chest. Family members use realgar wine to rub their children's ears, noses, palms of feet, navel and other places to dispel plague and detoxify, hoping to survive the hot summer and avoid contracting diseases.

Dragon boat racing on the Huaihe River. Northern Anhui was once the land of Chu in ancient times, and dragon boat racing was very popular in Bengbu's history. During the prosperous period in the early Republic of China, shops in the city had full or half-day holidays, and prospective apprentices went to the Huaihe River to watch dragon boats. The boats (boats) of more than a hundred grain stores have small triangular red flags on them, with the name of their own grain store written on them. The boss and his family get on board in their best clothes to congratulate the grain ships they have a relationship with and watch the dragon boats at the same time. Ordinary citizens also hired small boats to watch on the move. Sometimes, there are dozens of dragon boats in the river, and most of the boat racers are boatmen transporting salt and grain. During the festival, there are many masts on the shore, dragon boats competing in the middle of the river, and hundreds of rowing boats crossing the river, crowding the river. The streets in the city were deserted, and people crowded to the shore and formed a human wall. The red flags were fluttering on the water, and the gongs and drums on the shore were deafening, echoing the cheers. The dragon boat race is quite spectacular. On each dragon boat, there is a row of young men, wearing red scarves and colorful clothes, shaking the wood pulp with their hands, chopping the waves, like arrows from the string rushing forward, accompanied by the sound of gongs, drums, trumpets and the cheers of the audience on both sides of the strait. It resounded for miles. The boat race starts in the morning and ends at sunset. In addition to dragon boat racing, small plays such as "Finding Foreign Money in the Water" and "Four Masters Drilling the Noodles" are often performed on cruise ships. The fishermen and fishermen in the roles fight with each other. Sometimes they deliberately fall into the water and have fun to show their water skills. The crowd watching the dragon boat burst into laughter. This custom disappeared in the early 1950s.

In the old days, factory stores usually had wine and meat on display during the Dragon Boat Festival for their apprentices to feast on. From the sixth day of May, clerks can take a nap and not work night shifts until the Double Ninth Festival in September. The credit accounts of various stores must be settled before the holiday. Bathers have to pay a little more to the tea servants when they take a bath. The Jiangyuan store provides "outside pieces" to chefs and aunts who often come to purchase, depending on the size of each store's transactions. The amount varies.

Folk health customs: During the Dragon Boat Festival, people in urban and rural areas often spray realgar wine on the earthen corners of their courtyards for disinfection and sterilization. Children tie sachets around their ankles, hands, and necks to repel mosquitoes and flies with their fragrant scent. Moxa moxa is often inserted in front of each house and on the heads of women and children to ward off evil and drive away plague. There is a nursery rhyme that goes: "If you don't wear moxa during the Dragon Boat Festival, you will turn into an old turtle when you die." Farmers often collect calamus, plantain and mugwort and hang them under the eaves to dry, and use them to boil water for drinking in summer to dispel heat and relieve fever. On the Dragon Boat Festival, people catch toads (commonly known as leprous monkeys) and stuff ink blocks into their stomachs. After drying, they grind the ink blocks and use them to treat gills. However, according to farmers' legends, it is extremely rare to see toads on this day, and there is also a saying that "scabby monkeys hide in the Dragon Boat Festival". Wealthy people in urban areas become vegetarians from the Dragon Boat Festival onwards. After the festival, men and women, old and young, in urban and rural areas, change into spring clothes. There is a saying that "after eating Dragon Boat Festival rice dumplings, come and give away cotton clothes."

Dragon Boat Festival Food Before the Dragon Boat Festival, ordinary households make rice dumplings. The salted duck eggs before the Qingming Festival are taken out during the Dragon Boat Festival and eaten with the rice dumplings. In the morning, I used to buy candy cakes and fried dough sticks for breakfast. With the improvement of people's living standards, Dragon Boat Festival food is also commonly used in daily life, and this custom has been diluted.

2. Mid-Autumn Festival

In the old days, in addition to eating mooncakes during this festival, most people also baked small sugar cakes made of yeast dough and bought fish, meat and vegetables as a snack. Huaiyuan pomegranate is a delicious fruit during the Mid-Autumn Festival. In addition to settling current and credit accounts, each store must give gifts and social entertainment to dignitaries from chambers of commerce and those with whom they have contacts in society before the festival. After the 1930s, it became fashionable to gift sets of cigarettes, wine, cans, tin biscuits, etc. sold at the Simei tea shop on Erma Road. Rich families in rural areas usually set up tables to burn incense, display moon cakes, pomegranates and other tributes, worship the moon and worship their ancestors, and sit around the whole family under the bright moon in the hope of Mid-Autumn Festival reunion.

There are also young people who pick wax melons and paint them with human faces and facial features as gifts for infertile couples to wish for an early child. Some children go to the fields to "steal green" (peanuts, radishes, sunflowers) and play while eating. After the 1950s, many old customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival in urban and rural areas were gradually abandoned or diluted, while habits such as eating moon cakes and improving festival meals remained. Young and middle-aged families often give gifts to their parents during this festival and have a "reunion dinner" with their families; if it is close to the National Day, the two festivals will be celebrated together. During the holidays, there are many interactions between people, and people like to go shopping or take their children to play.

3. Spring Festival In the old days, ordinary households in Bengbu began to prepare New Year’s goods after the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. The Kitchen Festival is celebrated on December 23, and the whole family reunites on the eve of the New Year. On the first day of the first lunar month, people celebrate the new year, eat, drink and have fun, and visit relatives and friends. On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, we "receive the God of Wealth". Celebrate the Lantern Festival on the 15th. Various customs have many similarities with those in urban and rural areas in northern Anhui.

Eating Laba Rice It is said that Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty was herding cattle in Fengyang when he was a child. He was unbearably hungry and hunted rats to satisfy his hunger. However, he dug out rice, corn, beans, peanuts, etc. from the holes and cooked porridge to satisfy his hunger. After he became emperor, he still ate this porridge and named it "Laba porridge". People from Fengyang in Bengbu used to attach great importance to eating Laba Rice and cook porridge with rice and whole grains. This custom no longer exists.

In the old days of offering sacrifices to stoves, this was especially popular in the suburbs of cities. As the saying goes: "The emperor sacrifices three times (23), the people sacrifice four (24), the king sacrifices five (25), and the turtle sacrifices six (26)" (the last two days refer to the memorial days for the glans, madams, and prostitutes in brothels), but generally Everyone chooses to worship the stove on the evening of the 23rd. When offering sacrifices to the stove, pious families set up a table to burn incense and place offerings. When offering sacrifices to the stove, people's mentality varies depending on their family background: rich families pray for long life and wealth, while the toiling people, who travel all year round to find food, clothing and peace, use this as a way to comfort themselves. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, this custom gradually disappeared. Before offering sacrifices to the stove, "Tanggua" cooked with rice is often sold on the streets in the city. People buy it and put it in a bowl, blanch it in boiling water, then mix in the fried noodles, roll them into thin strips, and cut them into small cubes to make crispy and sweet snacks. Noodle candy is called "stove-sacrifice candy" by Bengbu people, and this custom continues to this day.

After the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, ordinary housewives in the suburbs are busy baking steamed buns, sometimes filling them with red dates and other vegetables. They are filled with buckets and can be eaten by the whole family. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, some big steamed buns will be eaten until the second day of the second lunar month. People generally don’t cook at the beginning of the New Year and only eat New Year’s steamed buns. Farmers say that “if the family has grain, the wheat will turn yellow”. Urban residents steamed steamed buns to bring good luck to "having food at home" and to have fun during the festival without using fireworks. When steaming steamed buns, do not let your children keep count.

Hiding Debts Poor rural families often go out to hide out due to debts owed to landlords and wealthy families. They dare not return home until they have a new doorkeeper, saying that the New Year is like passing the customs. Therefore, some people use Spring Festival couplets to express their sadness and say: "After eating, there is no next meal, and the meals are interrupted; borrowing new accounts and paying old ones, the accounts are unclear."

The collection of accounts is the same as the Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival. Before the Spring Festival, various shops in the city will collect accounts for external transactions, and everyone must pay whatever they owe or owe others. Before dinner on New Year's Eve, a shop assistant came to collect the bill.

Reunion and have New Year’s dinner on New Year’s Eve. In the old days, on New Year’s Eve, the whole family, old and young, would get together and have New Year’s dinner. Ancestors should be worshiped before meals. There must be fish in the New Year's meal, which means "more than enough every year"; chicken is "auspicious" and tofu is "blessed". Sometimes the New Year's dinner is eaten after midnight, which means family reunion to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new. After the meal, the housewife burns incense in front of the stove to receive the "Kitchen God". The younger generation kowtows to their elders to "say goodbye to the New Year", and underage children can receive "New Year's money" wrapped in red paper. The lights are not turned off on New Year's Eve, which is called the "Light of Longevity". In the main hall, the whole family chatted around the brazier and stayed up late, a custom that continues to this day. However, after the 1960s, ancestor worship and worship of the "Kitchen God" have gradually disappeared. The New Year's dinner can be held in the evening or at noon. After entering the 1980s, on New Year's Eve, families generally watched the New Year's Gala program on TV and stayed up late with laughter. Firecrackers are set off at midnight to welcome the New Year.

Tossing out New Year’s cards. In the old days, on New Year’s Eve, the owners of various stores and manufacturers in the city would send their apprentices to walk at night with lights on. They would find some shops and wealthy families and throw out New Year’s cards through cracks in the doors. Hundreds of them would often be thrown out in one night. . This piece is red, with "Congratulations on the Spring Festival" and the words "Congratulations" and a certain font size printed on it. The boss congratulated him without visiting his door in person, but used this gift to greet the new year in advance, and took the opportunity to expand his business influence.

Betting on New Year's Day In the old days, gambling was prevalent in urban and rural areas, especially in rural areas. It was actually a bad habit during the Spring Festival. Stores in urban areas start gambling during the New Year to test their luck in business by betting on winning or losing.

In addition to the social reasons at the time, gambling in the countryside was also due to the Huaihe River flooding every three to five years. The harvest of large areas of riverbank land was uncertain. Many families had difficulty in loving the land and living and working in peace and contentment. Even trees were not planted around the huts, so farmers often There is a saying that "you will be happy if you win the bet, beg for food if you lose the bet, and float away if you don't lose". For those who are addicted to gambling, two cards will determine the winner or lose after flipping over. There is no shortage of people here who have lost everything. In the 15th year of the Republic of China (1926), there was a farmer in Xijiagou in the western suburbs who spent all his money to get a wife after the autumn. The bet during the Spring Festival failed, so he bet on the bride, but he lost again. When he was forced to deliver the bride to his home, he saw that the bride had been hanged after hearing the news, and he also threw himself into a well and died.

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, the old people would meet this day to celebrate the New Year. Instead of going out to pay New Year greetings, the whole family would get together, which is commonly known as "Celebrating the Little New Year". Businessmen also have the custom of receiving the "God of Wealth" on this day. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, this custom was gradually abandoned.

Eating Spring Wine From the second to the fifteenth day of the lunar month, relatives and friends invite each other to a banquet, which is called "spring wine invitation". In the old days, this style was popular among city dwellers, especially wealthy families, as a way to communicate and socialize, or to entertain in the business world. Please do not return the banquet.

The Lantern Festival on the 15th Lantern Festival is commonly known as "tangyuanzi". In the old days, every family would cook Yuanxiao and prepare wine and food on the evening of the 15th day of the first lunar month. This day is also the Festival of Lanterns. The lights on the fourteenth day are called "bright lights", the fifteenth day is called "main lights", and the sixteenth day is called "broken lights". There are usually two red lanterns hung in front of each store. Some stores have the word "芸" written on the lanterns to attract passers-by to watch. Children of ordinary residents pick up lanterns to play at the door and in the streets at night. There are lanterns with styles such as "Kirin delivering children" and "Carp jumping over the dragon's gate". A nursery rhyme goes: "The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is like a new year. Turn around and pick up a peace coin; the four characters on the peace coin mean prosperity and wealth for eternity." People from Fengyang and Huaiyuan are the best at playing flower drum lanterns in the amusement park at night. "Lanhua" and "Umbrella Handle", who were dressed as women, sang the flower drum lantern song in duet, twisting and singing, and won a round of applause. In addition, there are also activities such as land boating, clam dance, and stilt walking. On that night, in addition to hanging red lanterns on the front doors of every rural house, children often gather to light bonfires. They use old broomsticks or firewood handles to light and throw them into the sky, called "torches." Then, adults and children held lanterns and went to the market town to play together. In the market town, there are people playing with lions and playing with land boats, as well as young ladies riding "donkeys", "four masters" riding one-pole sedans, and "ghosts and gods" walking on stilts. Some stilt-walking teams even travel from village to village to compete at the market, which is called "walking on the streets" until late at night.

After the reform of Spring Festival customs and the founding of the People's Republic of China, Bengbu gradually transformed from an old commercial port into an industrial city. The unique phenomena of merchants celebrating the festival, such as "collecting accounts" and "throwing New Year cards", disappeared. Various superstitious taboos among the people are becoming increasingly indifferent, and gambling on New Year's Day is banned as a bad habit. However, customs such as New Year's reunions, entertainment, and eating are still carried out. After 1958, the party and the government advocated changing customs and began to change the traditional Spring Festival customs among the people. Various factories and enterprises have advocated breaking the rules during the Spring Festival, working overtime to increase production, and paying double wages; masters and apprentices gather together to celebrate achievements, and get rid of superstitious activities such as burning incense and offering sacrifices. In 1965, the city launched a campaign to "advocate a revolutionary Spring Festival" and carried out class education on remembering hardships and thinking about sweetness. Some factories once organized employees to eat "remembering hardships rice" during the Spring Festival. During the "Cultural Revolution", the customs of the Spring Festival were diluted, and the festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival was drowned out by "mass promotion". After 1977, the Spring Festival, as a traditional people's festival, has been valued by the party and the government. Relevant units have held large-scale recreational activities such as dragon lantern play, land boat rowing, and lion dance many times during the Spring Festival. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in 1984 and 1985, various agencies, factories, and groups held lantern festival competitions under unified organization.

Attachment: The unique customs of the Huaihe River boat people in celebrating the Spring Festival in the old days

The boat people celebrate the Spring Festival in the same way as on land. However, because they make a living by boating on the water, they have many superstitions and are unique compared to those on land. The customary practices include the following:

Lighting the boat is also known as "burning the boat". On the morning of New Year's Eve, boat people rush to get up early in order to meet the "God of Wealth" early. When the family gets up, they first light a torch and walk around the boat, which means using fire to drive away bad luck, lest evil spirits attach to the boat and be unlucky.

When the red rooster enters the twelfth lunar month, the owner buys a red rooster with a single crest, raised tail and no stray feathers. After lighting the boat on New Year's Eve, he first lights incense and kowtows, burns yellow mounting paper, and then A chicken is killed on the bow of the boat and the blood is drained on the front wave board of the boat, which means "being popular" and opening up a fortune. The boat people use chicken blood to drain on the breakers. The longer the blood stains become, the happier they are. They believe that they can do more long-distance business and make a fortune in the New Year.

After the king is hung in red or on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, the boatman sets up an incense table at the bow of the boat and offers a red rooster (this is the rooster after the red rooster is hung. When stroking the feathers, leave a handful on the head, tail and wings. Chicken feathers (represented as a live chicken), carp, pig head (equipped with four hooves and a tail, represented as a whole pig), as well as steamed buns, etc., are presented to the king. The poor boatmen only used eggs, tofu and trough meat as offerings, which were called "little three animals". During the ceremony, many boats on the Yellow River are equipped with large gongs, which are struck three times and then paused. The rhythm of the gongs is first loud, then slow, then louder, and a large firecracker is set off during the pause. After paying homage, no more sailing will be done for the sake of good luck.

Posting Spring Festival Couplets Boat owners post Spring Festival couplets, and the content depends on where they are posted on the boat. The books "The bow of the ship can sail thousands of miles without waves" and "The wind behind the helm sends the nine continents" were posted on the front and rear wave boards respectively; the books "Open the door to see the treasure in the river" and "The bucket brings wealth from all directions" were posted on both sides of the cabin door; The inscription "Raise your head to see happiness" is posted on the top of the door; the inscription "Bring me wealth" is posted above the inside of the door; the inscription "The general is majestic from all sides" or "The thunder of nine heavenly yuan universalizes all living beings" is posted on the big mast; Those who wrote "The two generals hang up their seals and become marquises" are affixed to the second mast; those who write "the three generals are as determined as gods" are affixed to the generals' pillar (i.e. the cable pillar). In addition, three characters "福" (福) are affixed to the bow of the ship, and three characters "福" (written on green paper) are affixed to the back of the ship.

The noodles for steamed steamed buns at Boatman's Steamed Buns can only be pinched by hand, not cut with a knife, for fear that cutting the noodles with a knife will cut off the "noodle dragon". After the steamed buns from the first pot are steamed, first put one on a plate and place it on the head of the gang as a sign. Others will stop crossing each other when they see each other. When taking out cooked steamed buns, you should repeatedly recite auspicious words such as "the ingots are full and you buy them yourself".

Water is used on the first day of the new year, and boatmen no longer draw water from the river. They only use it after burning incense on the third day of the new year. At the same time, a sewage bucket should be prepared, and the used water should be temporarily stored in the bucket and can be poured out after the third grade of junior high school. Otherwise, the "wealth" will be poured out.

Hanging paper is also called "hanging gallery" and is carried out on New Year's Eve. The boatman cuts diamond-shaped patterns out of red and green paper, connects them together, sticks them on a sesame pole, and hangs them on the cabin door. The sesame pole means "sesame flowers are blooming steadily", and the connected paper means continuous business. Generally, boatmen take it off on the third or fifth day of the lunar month, burn incense and then burn it, which is called "send the company". There is a saying: "After three days of burning even the paper, everyone is doing their own old business." After sending off the ship, the boatman began his normal life. However, wealthy boatmen often only burn incense and fire cannons before setting sail on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Most boat people from the Henan Gang and the Yellow River Gang on the Huaihe River do this on the night of New Year's Eve. The flag is rectangular and red (white may also be used). One person sings while rising, and the others say hello. It stops when it rises halfway up, rises more than halfway up at midnight, and reaches the top of the flagpole on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year. The flag is lowered at noon on the fifth day of the lunar month.

Live boating is a collective activity for boat owners on New Year’s Eve. Generally, the boss of the ship or the head of the crew is the leader, holding the chain and shaking his hands to sing the "Living Boat Song" (playing the trumpet). Everyone then responds "Yaaaaaa" and stomps hard on the ship with their feet. Usually boatmen love their boats as much as their lives, but now they are afraid that the boat planks will not make a sound. When many boats come together, the singing and stomping sounds of live boats come and go, forming a unique scene of boatmen celebrating the New Year.