What are the traditional customs of Chaoshan Lantern Festival?

1. Hanging wedding lanterns (lighting lanterns)

In Chaozhou dialect, "deng" and "ding" have the same pronunciation, and lighting lanterns means adding children. On Lantern Festival night, every household in Chaoshan lights up lights and chandeliers at the door. People also carry lanterns and paper and silver incense candles to the temple in the village to catch the fire, and then hang them on the shrine and bedside at home. This is called "hanging a wedding lantern."

2. Appreciating lanterns

Lantern Festival night is a full moon night. If the sky is clear and the moon is bright, the trendy people’s lanterns and the full moon will become interesting and pleasing to the eye. Towns, counties, and cities set up lantern sheds for lantern displays, and rural temples and ancestral halls hung up large lanterns and lanterns. Children carried small lanterns bought or homemade and walked in groups through the streets and alleys to "camp lanterns." There is celebration. Starting from the 11th day of the lunar calendar, it is called "Qi Deng" (i.e. "Qi Ding"). Families who gave birth to boys at that time would go to the ancestral hall in the village to hang lanterns. It was regarded as a ceremony for the newborn boy to enter the clan, and the baby would be held every night. Go to the ancestral hall to light lanterns and accept congratulations from the villagers until the lanterns are turned off on the 18th.

3. Eating Dingcha

In the past, families with men in the family would prepare tea and invite relatives to eat and drink. This was called "drinking dingcha". As long as you are in good spirits that night, even if you are not invited, you will be warmly entertained by the host of any house you walk into.

4. Making a Ding table

In rural areas, families who gave birth to a boy in the previous year will hold a banquet in the ancestral hall on Lantern Festival night to celebrate the "birth of a Ding", commonly known as "making a Ding table". Ding table". There are two types of banquets. One is to use many square tables put together to look like a dragon boat. Friends and relatives are invited to have a meal, which is called "dragon boat banquet"; the other is that villagers and passers-by can come in to eat and leave after eating. , the next batch of guests come up to eat one after another, and the host continues to add dishes, which is called "horse-drawn seat". Wow, I've heard that "wedding banquets" in other places are done like this.

5. Swinging on a swing

Swinging on a swing is colloquially called "Gu Deng Qiu". Because spring comes early in the Chaozhou area, it is not suitable for swinging until the Qingming Festival in the Central Plains. On that day, some villages organized swing competitions or performances, and many villagers spontaneously tied up swings to play. Some even evolved strange customs. For example, men, women, old and young can swing on the swings during the first month of Taoshan Township in Jieyang City, but on the Lantern Festival, Men are taboo on the swing shed. In some villages in Chaozhou, during the Lantern Festival night, they have to swing under the banyan tree, and the villagers pour excrement on young couples in order to give birth to a boy that year.

6. Guessing lantern riddles

In the past, the riddle game in Chaoshan was only held on the Lantern Festival night. Papers with riddles were posted on lanterns for people watching the lanterns to guess. With the increasing number of literate people and the popularization of riddle knowledge, riddle guessing activities have become popular in various festivals, but the most grand and lively one is still the Lantern Festival, and hanging riddle lanterns has also become riddle guessing. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Lantern Festival riddles became more popular in various places in Chaoshan. Among them, Chenghai was awarded the "Hometown of Chinese National Folk Art (Riddles)" by the Ministry of Culture.

7. Fighting She Song

She Song is actually a beautiful and beautiful tea-picking song introduced by the She people. That night, handsome boys selected from the countryside dressed up as tea-picking girls, lined up in groups, carried flower baskets, sang and danced, and performed the work of tea-picking. The dance steps of the "tea-picking girls" followed the steps of the two leaders in front. Euphemistic and touching.

8. Quasi-Valentine's Day

In feudal society, unmarried women were kept in a boudoir and were not allowed to go out freely. They could only travel together on major festivals, so the Lantern Festival Lantern viewing is often an opportunity for unmarried men and women to meet or for lovers to meet. The Teochew opera "Chen San Wu Niang" tells the story of young men and women falling in love at first sight while admiring lanterns during the Lantern Festival.

9. Asking for happy things

On this day, many villages set up altars to worship gods. Chickens, geese, ducks, candies, rice cakes, candles, and good luck are placed on the altars. etc. are regarded as divine objects. "Asking for happy things" means asking for sacrifices after worshiping gods. Men and women who visit the temple can bid for sacrifices to take home. These sacred objects can bring peace to the family and increase wealth and children. Those who bid for divine objects will be required to return the number of items promised in the bidding next year as sacrificial offerings to the gods. There are also people who take advantage of the crowds to steal the offerings in front of the altar and go home to eat, saying that they "eat to prosper."

10. Offer sugar lions

Many villages in Chaoshan worship the gods during the Lantern Festival and offer sugar lions to the gods to pray for good luck in the new year.

People pour sugar syrup into a mold carved into the shape of a lion. After casting, they add painted patterns to create a crystal-clear, beautiful sugar lion. Sugar lions are paired during worship and can be eaten after worship. There is also a custom of bidding for sugar lions. The winner of the Lantern Festival next year must return the full amount of the Lantern Festival according to the size and specification promised by the bidding, which is called "candy lion gambling".

11. Tossing the Happy Child

On the 15th day of the lunar month, some towns and villages set up colorful sheds in the open spaces of ancestral halls and streets and alleys, with a topless, breast-exposed statue inside. The silly giant clay sculpture of Maitreya Buddha has "clay happy children" of different shapes placed on its head, shoulders, navel and thighs. People standing about 4 meters away can throw copper coins at them. The one who hits the mark can take away the "happy children" , if you hit the top of the head, ears, etc., you will receive copper coins as a gift. It is said that if you win the prize, it is a good sign that you can have children early and make a fortune.

12. Sending incense boats

Sending incense boats is to send the god of plague. This ritual is practiced in Chaoshan and all over the country. This is the custom of "paper boats burning with candles in the sky". "Fragrance boat" is made of bamboo tied with paper. Some are directly tied into a boat shape, and some are made into a big-bellied puffer fish with an open mouth and exposed teeth. On that day, the villagers also invited relatives and friends from other places to send incense boats solemnly, which was very lively.

13. Inserting banyan trees

In the past, during the Lantern Festival, several mascots were inserted on the lintels of Chaoshan families, such as banyan leaves, bamboo choppers, "pen carts", and "Du". "Must" etc., which means "Putting a banyan tree will make you stronger than a dragon", "Putting a bamboo stick to fatten a chicken", "Putting a pen to feed a big pig", "Putting a bamboo stick to feed a big pig", "Putting a dummy tree will make the barn overlap". In some places, women put banyan leaves on their heads, and children put them on their ears for good luck.

14. Walking across the bridge

During the Lantern Festival, some places in Chaoshan have the custom of walking across the bridge. For example, in Jieyang, all the large and small bridges in Rongcheng are decorated with colored lanterns and colorful flags that day. After being newly decorated, men, women, old and young rush to cross the bridge to pray for blessings. The Stone Monkey Bridge on Datong Street is the most lively bridge. People consider it lucky to touch the stone lion at the head of the bridge. In Hongyang, Puning, the Taiping Bridge with a history of more than 400 years is called the "Tou Bridge". There are two stone lions at the head of the bridge. It is said that children "model the nose of a lion and write elegant characters"; young men "touch the lion's belly and marry elegant wives"; A woman "touches a lion's ear and gives birth to a son." Also, don't turn back when crossing the bridge, otherwise it will be unlucky.

15. Go to the ancestral hall

In the past, rural regulations in some places required the bride to go to the ancestral hall to watch the lanterns. This was called "the bride goes to the ancestral hall". After the brides burn incense and pray at the ancestral hall, they have to go around the hall and watch the lanterns screen by screen, and then watch the "divine foreplay" in front of the ancestral hall, not only to pray for blessings, but also to let the villagers watch and get to know each other. This custom is rare now.

16. Sit on the vegetable garden

On the Lantern Festival night, unmarried girls in some places will sneak into other people’s vegetable gardens quietly with their colleagues, and then sit shyly on the mustard greens. , this folk custom of "sitting on the banquet and choosing a good husband tomorrow" has now disappeared.

17. Hug a big pig

The old custom of "hugging a big pig on the 15th night" means that during the Lantern Festival, housewives in Chenghai, Jieyang, Puning, Chaoyang and other places have to go to the fields at night They carried back a large piece of soil commonly known as "Tian Tu Margin". In some places, they carried back stones and quietly placed the soil in front of the pig pen (pen), pasted it with gold and red silk, and placed offerings in a pious manner. Kneel down and recite silently: "Shunshun is a big one" and "Feed pigs are bigger than cows" to pray for piglets to grow fat quickly in the New Year.

18. Ying Shen

Chaoshan has many kinds of wandering gods during the Lantern Festival, that is, carrying the gods out for traveling activities, commonly known as "Ying Laoye". The dates are mostly from the 12th to the 18th of the first lunar month. During the wandering period, there were huge crowds of people, mostly with loud gongs and drums and melodious music. Some are held at night, with bright fires and incense candles, and the atmosphere is lively. "Ying master" has two types: "Wen Ying" and "Wu Ying". "Bunying" is to put the statue on the mikoshi, parade around the community and then return to the community altar. "Wuying" actually means "Zou Laoye", and "Zou" in Chaoshan dialect means "run". "Zou Lao Ye" involves putting the statue on a palanquin and tying it up tightly, and then a few people lift it up or a strong man ties it behind and runs fast.

19. Arrange social games

A game is a gathering of many worship items to compete and observe in front of the gods. Some districts and counties in Shantou hold events such as pig racing, goose racing, and duck racing.

Puning Hongyang, Kunshan, Jiexi Mianhu and other places have calligraphy and painting, antiques, bonsai, agricultural product arrays and other activities. The commune opening day in Hongyang, Puning, is the 18th day of the first lunar month. On this day, all the married daughters go back to their parents’ homes to watch the fun, so it is called the “Zouzihui”. Jiexi Mianhu Lake is known as a place for displaying antiques and scenery.

Xinheng in Jiedong competes with big pigs and sweet cakes, and some towns have the custom of climbing Mount Huangqi.

20. Special customs

For example, there are different square animal dances in different places, including lion dance, dragon dance, fire dragon dance, lobster dance, double-biting goose dance, unicorn parrot fish dance, etc. , and parade with big gongs and drums, camp signs and flower baskets. There is a Lantern Festival fire jumping activity in Xidong Village, Zhanlong Town, Puning City. The atmosphere is lively, highly enjoyable and shocking.

Another example is that newlyweds in Puning Hakka District go to the bamboo forest near the village to shake bamboos. While shaking, they chant: "Shake the head of bamboo, don't worry; shake the tail of bamboo, and you will get a big turtle by the end of the year (before giving birth to a boy)." meaning)." And each picked bamboo leaves and put them on their heads.

The Lantern Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival, is a very important traditional festival. On this day in Chaoshan, there are various folk activities with Chaoshan characteristics. This is because Taoism believes in the three officials and gods (Heavenly Officials, Earth Officials, and Human Officials). The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the day when the Heavenly Officials are in charge, which is called the Shangyuan Festival, and they pray for blessings from the Heavenly Officials. Most of the Lantern Festival custom activities in Chaoshan include hanging lanterns, lantern tours, lion dances, guessing lantern riddles, eating soup balls, etc. The main content is lanterns, so it is also called the Lantern Festival. It has the strongest entertainment color, so it is called Lantern Festival. [1] The Lantern Festival embodies the simple emotions of the working people and its unique artistic flavor, giving off the unique brilliance of modern folk art.

Reference material: Baidu Encyclopedia—Chaoshan Lantern Festival