Lantern Festival steals youth.

In Xingguo and Ningdu counties, it is still an ancient and interesting custom among some Hakka people in Gulonggang, Huangpi, Meijiao and Xinjiang. On the fifteenth day of the first month, a festive, exciting and mysterious atmosphere filled the countryside. After breakfast, everyone pretended to take a walk, wandered around other vegetable fields, secretly explored which food was of good quality, and planned how to "steal green" at night. At night, the moonlight is clear. After eating the Lantern Festival and watching the Dragon Lantern, people will come out with baskets in groups and step on the promising vegetable fields during the day. Naturally, energetic and trouble-making girls and boys are at the forefront. They were quiet, hunched over the garden, quietly opened the garden door, and everyone rushed into the ground to "steal" it. Every piece of land is visited, every dish is stolen, and leaves are deliberately thrown into the ground. But it's all meaningful. When a young man loses his sense of proportion, the old man will scold him: "Monkey, are you really stealing?" This kind of "stealing" must be "stealing" by every family, without avoiding relatives and enemies and treating them equally. Of course, the stolen owner's house is not easy to get along with. Sometimes, the ground is covered with mud, or a few thorns are inserted on it, so that the "thief" who tries to steal vegetables as soon as possible falls into the mud, or is stabbed in the hands of the "thief". At this time, there will be a burst of laughter from time to time in the vegetable field. After stealing, the thieves pretended to be in a hurry to escape from the vegetable garden. At this time, the noisy young man had to make a few "ho ho" or set off a string of firecrackers to inform his master. As soon as the host family heard "Oh Oh" or firecrackers, the aunts rushed out of the door and went straight to the vegetable garden, leaning on their hips and swearing. Although it is a slap in the face, the renovation is wild, but it does not bring a dirty word. The abuse here is endless, and it is abuse again and again. For a time, all kinds of village slang words came out of generate's shrill and husky voice and echoed in the night sky of Shan Ye for a long time, with boldness in coarseness and wit in astringency, showing the richness and pungent character of Hakka women's language. It is said that the harder you scold at this time, the more "bad luck" you get rid of. Often, when scolded in this way, some neighbors and sister-in-law who had nothing to say about the original contradiction will break the deadlock and get back together. After the climax of "stealing green", it was a lively scene of "eating green". The "thieves" returned home with a full load, and the old man at home made a fire early. The whole family, old and young, began to wash and chop up all kinds of vegetables, throw them into the pot, and add some things like yellow rice fruit and oil tofu. Everyone sat together, eating hot dishes and chatting about the funny story of "stealing green" just now or before, which was wonderful. Legend has it that eating these stolen dishes can ward off evil spirits and make people smart, generous and kind-hearted. At this time, the old people will repeat an old legend: a long time ago, our ancestors were disunited, and they often ate each other's flesh and blood. Later, they borrowed immortals to repent, and on the fifteenth night of the first month, they referred to the youth as allies, made peace and made up from then on. Thus, there is the custom of "stealing youth". The old man said: "Stealing youth" means "stealing" the intimacy between people.