What customs do Zhongshan people have during the Spring Festival?

The Zhongshan people’s New Year customs are the same as those of the Han people in most parts of the Central Plains. They essentially refer to the Spring Festival. "Zuo Zhuan: The Fifth Year of Duke Xi" states that the New Year is called "December Festival". Du Xin of the Western Jin Dynasty noted: "Sacrifice the names of the gods at the end of the twelfth year of the twelfth lunar month." It means that after a year's farming work is completed, a worship activity is held to repay God's gifts. The New Year, in ancient times, was a festive day to celebrate a good harvest; it was also a day to worship the Buddha (here it was the Bodhisattvas rather than the ancestors who were worshiped). As it is said in "Gu Liang Zhuan: The Third Year of Duke Huan": "When all the grains are ripe, it means there is a year." The word "year" in oracle bone inscriptions and bronze inscriptions are all images of a good harvest and ripe ears of grain. However, the dates for the beginning of the year were different in ancient China. It was not until the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (140 to 87 BC) that Luo Xiahong and Deng Ping created the "Taichu Calendar", which clearly stipulated that the first day of the first lunar month of the lunar calendar was the beginning of the year. "Historical Records" states that the first day of the first lunar month is the "four beginnings", namely: "the beginning of the year, the beginning of the hour, the beginning of the day, and the beginning of the month." And the first month of the first month must be the Lunar New Year. After Dr. Sun Yat-sen led the Revolution of 1911 that overthrew the Qing Dynasty, he announced that our country would adopt the AD calendar, with the first day of the first lunar month of the Gregorian calendar as the New Year's Day, and the first day of the first lunar month of the lunar calendar (commonly known as the lunar calendar or the old calendar) as the Spring Festival. However, due to inheritance from past dynasties, the Chinese customarily call the first day of the first lunar month of the Gregorian calendar New Year's Day, and the first day of the first lunar month "New Year", so celebrating the Spring Festival is also called the Chinese New Year.

Since ancient times, the Chinese New Year has included ritual activities such as sacrifices, court gatherings, banquets, divination, welcoming gods, New Year greetings, and appreciation. When the Han people celebrate the New Year, their activities are even more special and grand. The ancients in Zhongshan also followed this example. From ancient times to the present, Zhongshan people's customs of "Celebrating the New Year" mainly include the following aspects:

1. Sweeping the house:

Sweeping the house is also called sweeping the dust. This custom has a long history and is roughly similar to the custom of "house sweeping" in the Han areas of the Central Plains. It is an indispensable custom on the eve of the New Year. "On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month (the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month), wash away the filth" is a mantra of Zhongshan people before the Chinese New Year. The essence of house sweeping is to send away the old and welcome the new in the form of general cleaning. But in the past, Zhongshan people were quite particular about cleaning their houses.

When you start sweeping the house, first sweep the door, then pick up a long broom or a feather sweep, a bamboo branch or other tools to make a few strokes and sweeps on the door lintel, and then sweep it in from the outside to the inside. That is, sweeping from the hall to the kitchen, from the roof to the ground. There's a saying here: "Sweep the good in, the bad out." The work of cleaning the house is usually done by the men in the family. At the same time, the women in the family are responsible for the cleaning work at home, including: washing doors and windows, carrying chairs and sundries, large and small dishes, tea cups, teapots, and rice cookers. Wok, stove, etc., without exception. In addition, all bedding, adults' and children's clothes, etc. in the home must be washed thoroughly until they are clean. This custom of general cleaning, like other customs and habits, is still mixed with feudal superstition. Therefore, before the traditional New Year's cleaning begins, a day must be chosen to carry out it. Although in the past, people would clean the house from the end of the eleventh month of the lunar calendar, they had to find an almanac and a general book to "select the day." , "breaking sun", or "unfavorable events" and other days, especially "Mars" days to avoid, of course, it is best to be "zodiac auspicious days". In addition, in the past, Zhongshan people generally had the custom of worshiping the Bodhisattva (usually on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, many Zhongshan people would burn incense and worship the Buddha). Therefore, at the beginning of the morning cleaning, the first step was to "wash the Bodhisattva" and wash the water used to wash the Bodhisattva. , although it is not "holy water", ordinary clean water cannot be used. A few pieces of "luyou" (yuzu) leaves should be put into the water to wash the Bodhisattva. This is said to "ward off evil spirits" and also represents the "divine heart" of the owner of the house. This kind of work is usually done by women in the family.

2. Buy New Year’s goods and buy new clothes:

As the saying goes, “The New Year is about to pass the debt.” In the first and a half months before the Chinese New Year, Zhongshan people start busy buying New Year’s goods. In the old society, there were few rural shops in Zhongshan, and the supply of goods was not very sufficient. Therefore, towards the end of the year, rural people went to the farmers' markets in Shiqi City and the towns and districts to buy new year's goods, such as: buying red thread, There are paper treasures, new clothes made, fasting supplies, candies, cakes, and cured meats sold, as well as firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, dried and fresh fruits, candied winter melons, candied lotus seeds, red melon seeds, and various fruits, etc. , there is a big basket with everything you need. In particular, the rice vat at home must be enough to meet the needs of "sustainable food". The so-called "constantly full" is derived from here.

The first thing people say when they meet before the Spring Festival is "Have you prepared all the New Year's goods?" This is the most common mantra that Zhongshan people used to say before the Spring Festival. To this day, you can see huge crowds of people every time before the Chinese New Year at the "Farmer's Market" or in major shopping malls. You can imagine how nervous and important people in Zhongshan's urban and rural areas are for the Chinese New Year. At the same time, this custom of buying new year's goods has also boosted shops in urban and rural areas. In Zhongshan, women in particular are more concerned about buying new year goods.

3. Fried rice cakes and fried dumplings:

During the New Year celebrations in various places in Zhongshan, there is a saying: "Fried rice cakes and fried dumplings at the end of the year, everyone has them and I have them." And "Cooking rice cakes" this kind of This custom is a unique custom of Zhongshan people during the Chinese New Year. When outsiders first arrived in Zhongshan, when they first saw those rice cakes with "hairy hair" (glutinous rice cakes with colorful long hairs growing on the surface of the cake), they all laughed at the Zhongshan people for "cheating" (meaning fool). But despite people's jokes, Zhongshan people's custom of cooking cakes during the New Year has not changed through the generations and has become a major event for Zhongshan people during the New Year. Similarly, cooking cakes also has to be made on a "selected day", always in the early morning of an auspicious day before the New Year. Housewives in each household will get up, clean their hands, put incense and worship the gods, and then start to work, using glutinous rice to make powder, mix yellow (red) ) syrup, knead it into a whole ball of paste, add salted pork, salted egg yolk and other condiments, put it in a bamboo steamer with banana leaves, bamboo leaves, etc. as the bottom, and cook it over slow fire for more than ten hours. After the rice cake is steamed, say a few words of good luck and good fortune, and then respectfully place it in the hall. Then put red dates, termini, a "good fortune" letter, and hang two red oranges and other objects. The cake is not opened until after the New Year (that is, after the first day of the Lunar New Year). Its meaning is as follows: "The rice cake will grow taller and taller", "Grow up quickly" and other meanings.

There is a custom here that during the cooking of rice cakes, children at home cannot say wrong things or say unlucky words, but can only say good things, otherwise they will end up with half-cooked "uncooked rice cakes". The reason is mainly due to the influence of feudal customs left over from history. Zhongshan people believe that whether the rice cakes are cooked well or not is a symbol of good or bad luck in the coming year, so the words of children are also very important. As the saying goes, : "There are no jokes in children's voices", I'm afraid this is also an argument.

In addition to cooking rice cakes, Zhongshan people also have a saying of "burying rice cakes in piles of fried rice cakes, everyone has it, I have it". "Nian Gao" is a homophonic pronunciation of "高" which means "rice cake is high every year". However, "Jiandui" (a food made from glutinous rice flour rolled into a round dough ball and fried in peanut oil) has a round and full shape, which means the reunion of people and affairs. In addition, because Jian Dui is golden yellow after deep-frying, it is like gold ingots, so Zhongshan people say: "Jian Dui is full of gold and silver, and the house is full of gold and silver." It can be seen that Zhongshan people used to pay more attention to the custom of fried dumplings. In addition, fried dumplings cost little and can bring goodwill, so many Zhongshan people have the custom of cooking cakes and frying dumplings during the Chinese New Year. In addition, there are also customs such as fried "youjiaozi" and fried "egg powder". After the Republic of China, eating customs such as dumpling-making and fried wontons in the Central Plains area also became popular in Zhongshan.

4. Hanging Huichun to stick to the door god:

Hanging Huichun is commonly known as hanging peach charms. This is one of the traditional customs of the Han people, because most of the people in Zhongshan are settled by clans from the Central Plains who migrated south. , this traditional custom is also followed. According to the "Weinanzi" written by Liu An of the Western Han Dynasty: "Peach charms are made of two pieces of peach wood about seven or eight inches long and more than an inch wide. They write auspicious words to eliminate disasters and bring blessings. They are nailed to both sides of the door at the beginning of the year. To drive away ghosts and ward off evil spirits” (there is a folklore story here, which I won’t mention here). This custom of hanging peach charms was followed to the Five Dynasties (AD 907-960). Some people began to write couplets on peach charm boards and called them Spring Festival couplets. The written record is "Song History·Family·Western Shu": Later Meng Chang, the Lord of Shu, ordered Xin Yinxun, a scholar, to inscribe a peach charm board. "Chang, because he was not a craftsman, wrote his own Mingbi and wrote the following inscription: 'New Year's greetings are celebrated, and the festival number is Changchun'". I am afraid that this is the earliest Spring Festival couplet in China, and Huichun is a couplet written impromptu or printed into a couplet before the New Year. Especially in rural areas, people who are educated and good at calligraphy in the village are often asked to help write Huichun. It is customary for businessmen to buy or hang couplets from the market or from literati, calligraphers, etc. on the eve of the Spring Festival, usually on the thirtieth night of the year, and paste or hang them on both sides of the door, called Spring Festival couplets. Spring couplets are mostly composed of auspicious words and words wishing for a better life. From the couplets, people can see the owner's work and occupation. This custom continues to this day.

In addition to hanging Huichun, there is also the custom of sticking to the door god. There is a record in Liang Zongmao's "Jingchu Age" of the Southern Dynasty: "On the first day of the first lunar month, two gods are painted, posted on the left and right sides of the house, the god Tu on the left and Yulei on the right, commonly known as the door gods."

It is said that the custom of sticking to door gods has a history of more than 2,000 years. When sticking to door gods became popular, it was to ward off evil spirits and suppress ghosts. This coexisted with hanging peach charms in the past. Therefore, sticking to door gods in old age is to stick to Zhong Kui's paintings and ghost-fighting paintings. The characters for "Shen Tu" and "Yulei" can still be seen in some districts and towns, especially in the mountainous areas where the Hakka people live. We can also see the door gods with the words "Shen Tu" and "Yulei". According to legend, starting from the Song Dynasty, people worshiped Guan Yu during the Three Kingdoms period and called Guan Yu the Emperor Guan. Then they painted him as a door god and pasted it on the door. There are also some skilled people who drew or cut and pasted some festive and joyful New Year pictures. This changed the name of sticking to the door god to sticking to New Year pictures, and this custom coexists with hanging Huichun and still exists today. Generally, the door gods are posted after dinner on the night of the 30th of the New Year, and some are posted early in the morning of the new year. Before posting the door gods, the owner must burn incense and firecrackers, and say a few auspicious words in front of the god cards of ancestors of all generations. Post it respectfully when you leave the door. In ancient times, people liked to use "image ideas", such as the words "Fu", "Lu" and "Shou". They often used items with images such as bats, square-hole coins, peaches, etc. to express auspicious ideas. Some people even pasted the words "Fu" upside down. As a door god, this custom of pasting the word "福" upside down is based on its homophonic meaning of "福来" or "来福".

5. Burning firecrackers during New Year’s Eve:

The 30th night of the twelfth lunar month is called New Year’s Eve, also known as New Year’s Eve. On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, both men who are out of town, men who have married and moved out (married women usually stay with their husbands) and unmarried women who go out to work, usually bring New Year's gifts and other gifts to their ancestral homes for a reunion dinner. . After the reunion dinner is ready, the ancestors are usually worshiped first, and then the whole family reunites for a meal. The dishes that Zhongshan people eat during their reunion dinner mainly include pigs, chickens, ducks and other poultry, as well as fish balls, meatballs, fermented vegetables and other dishes. Most of them are nine dishes, which Zhongshan people customarily call "Nine Big Gui". ", which means "long-lasting", "family reunion", "new year's fortune" and other auspicious meanings. After the meal, the whole family gathers together, eats fruits, chats about family affairs or plays various games. The children go to the open space in front of and behind the house to set off fireworks or light lanterns and chase each other and play until late at night (some even stay up all night). At midnight (i.e. 12 o'clock at night), every household will set off fireworks to see off the old and welcome the new.

Here, in addition to the meaning of family reunion, it also has the meaning of seeing off the old and welcoming the new, wishing the elders longevity and health, a good harvest in the new year, and prosperity for humans and animals. As the saying goes, "The Lord who guards the winter will live long (that is, the winter solstice), and the mother who guards the Sui will live long." There is such a passage in the "Muping County Chronicle": "The end of the year is the New Year's Day,... the children call the cup for longevity, and sit around the incense table and stay up all night, which is called staying up".

Another custom in Zhongshan is that after the reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, elders distribute red packets to younger generations, especially to younger generations such as grandchildren and granddaughters. In ancient times, square-hole coins were used. The elders would thread red threads into strings and hang them on the necks or waists of the younger ones at home, or put them under the pillows of children. It was said that this could ward off evil spirits and drive away ghosts, so it was also called coins. For lucky money. After liberation, this custom was due to the different coins used and the elimination of feudal superstitions. The new year's money was wrapped in red paper or red envelopes and placed in children's bags or handed over to grandchildren for them to buy stationery, toys or other items. Snacks, fireworks and firecrackers are waiting. But generally speaking, it still means wishing for blessings, that is, it has an auspicious meaning of hoping that the younger generations will "grow up quickly" and "grow up healthily" in the new year.

6. Distributing money to pay New Year's greetings on the first day of the Lunar New Year:

"Xiangshan County Chronicle" records: "On the first day of the New Year's greetings, burning firecrackers and sweeping are prohibited." According to traditional Chinese customs, the first day of the first lunar month is called the first day of the Lunar New Year. On this morning, before it fully dawned (to be precise, at the end of the 30th year of the new year), firecrackers were lit one after another in urban and rural areas, and lion drums were played non-stop, so that the doorways of every household were covered with red candles. Firecracker paper, coupled with the Spring Festival couplets (New Year pictures) hung at the door of every house, are even more red. It can be said to be a good start, and it also means good luck and good fortune.

After morning tea, people from all walks of life in urban and rural areas rushed out of their homes, dressed in red and green, combing their hair, carrying gifts and walking through the streets to the homes of their elders or relatives and friends. Happy New Year. It is impossible to find out when this custom originated. According to the "Wanping County Chronicle": "On the New Year's Day of the first lunar month, at the time of the Five Drums, hundreds of officials went to the court to celebrate. The people also burned incense, paid homage to heaven and earth, offered sacrifices to their ancestors, paid homage to their elders, and exchanged insults with in-laws and friends, saying New Year greetings. ". I'm afraid the custom of New Year greetings in Zhongshan also originated from this.

It is said that since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Zhongshan has had this custom of paying New Year greetings on the first day of the Lunar New Year: Get up early on the first day of the Lunar New Year to first worship the heaven, earth and ancestors of all dynasties, then worship the elders in the family, and then everyone in the family, from oldest to smallest, pay a big gift to the elders and send congratulatory messages. , it is necessary to give laisi to children (usually married people give laisi to unmarried young people and children), and among peers, they only need to congratulate each other. After everyone in the family pays New Year's greetings, the men go out to visit the homes of their elders or relatives and friends to pay New Year's greetings. During the New Year greetings, if you see the children of relatives and friends, including unmarried boys and girls, they often have the habit of exchanging goodies with each other. When you meet an acquaintance on the street, you should say a few words: "Gong Xi Fa Cai", "Happy New Year", "Dragon and Horse Spirit", "Additional Child Fa Cai" and other congratulatory words.

In terms of diet, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, ordinary citizens eat mainly vegetarian dishes. The reason is that there are too many delicacies at the reunion dinner on the 30th night of the year, which can easily "sustain" indigestion or eat too much fat. Therefore, many people have the habit of fasting on the first day of the new year. According to some elders and religious believers : Eating fast on the first day of the Lunar New Year is a fasting custom originated from Buddhism. In addition, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, sweeping is not allowed; knives, scissors, and sharp tools are not allowed, and you must be careful to break dishes and teacups. If you accidentally knock them down, you must say a few words: "Flowers fall to the ground, wealth and prosperity", "Big "Lucky is it" and other auspicious words, and then quickly pick up the pieces. If there are guests present, they should all say auspicious words such as "I'm sorry" or "The flowers are blooming and wealth is blooming" in order to feel at ease.

In the Shatian District of Zhongshan, especially the Tanzhou area where Zhongshan folk songs originated, there is also a little-known custom of "dragon boat singing in the streets on the first day of the new year." As the local saying goes: "the lion on the first day of the new year The drums are beating, the dragon boats are clanging, passing through the streets, hundreds of sons and thousands of grandsons...". In the past, early in the morning on the first day of the Lunar New Year, in the Tanzhou area, you would see some local people holding a bamboo or wooden stick in their hands supporting a dragon head that was carefully carved from mahogany or miscellaneous wood and was about one and a half feet long and ten centimeters thick. Or a whole wooden dragon, with a dragon boat drum hanging around its neck, and gongs and cymbals connected to the drum; the other hand holds a banner with the words "Gong Xi Fa Cai", "Dragon Boat Sends Children", "Hundred Sons and Thousands of Grandchildren" etc. The folk artists in the couplets danced the wooden dragons in their hands and sang dragon boat songs while walking. Whenever they arrived at the door of a newlywed or a wealthy person's home, they would go up and knock on the door, singing folk songs loudly and beating the dragon boat drums in a special way. Be lively. Generally speaking, dragon boat singing was performed on the first day of the Lunar New Year. In the past, the main content was to sing about the theme of hundreds of sons and thousands of grandsons and the early birth of a precious son, praying for newlyweds, and implying "giving birth to a child". This custom is close to the "Panlong Song" of the She people. Historically, the custom of the Han people was mainly about "Qilin sending off children", while the "Panlong Song" of the She people also mainly means sending children. Frankly, Dragon boat singing in Tanzhou usually has the main theme of Taoism or sighing, but dragon boat singing on the first day of the new year is mainly based on joyful melodies. Therefore, in the past, most people in Tanzhou welcomed dragon boat singing on the first day of the new year. Most of the content sung by the singers caters to the tastes of the masses, mainly singing "birth of a child early", "many children and blessings", "hundred sons and thousands of grandchildren****" and other content. After listening to the dragon boat, the house owner The bonus is given to the singer. This custom is still popular in Tanzhou Qunsheng area, but the content has changed.

7. Worship the God of Wealth on the second day of the Lunar New Year:

The second day of the Lunar New Year is commonly known as the New Year. In Sichuan, Zhejiang, Fujian and other places, it is also called "sending off the new year", "driving to start the new year", etc. In ancient times, on the first day of the New Year, the men of the family and their sons or grandsons would use brooms to sweep from the courtyard to the door of the house early in the morning, and then sweep the floor from the door to the house. After cleaning, they would burn firecrackers and light incense to worship heaven and earth. The ancestors of the past generations on the altar prayed for the blessings of the gods, good weather, good harvests, hundreds of descendants, etc. The main thing is to worship the God of Wealth (the legendary god in charge of wealth and silk) and pray for abundant wealth in the coming year. In the past, shops and restaurants used to worship the God of Wealth before opening on the second day of the Lunar New Year. It is customary to call it "Kai Ya" and cook nine kinds of dishes. , commonly known as the "Nine Great Gui", which means "good luck in opening the door" and "prosperous financial resources".

This day is exactly the opposite of the first day of the Lunar New Year. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, you are not allowed to sweep the floor or use knives or scissors. But early on the second day of the Lunar New Year, every household goes to war, poaching chickens, killing ducks, and cleaning. After the worship service is completed and everyone in the family congratulates each other, the married men, their wives and children go to the maternal home to pay New Year greetings to their maternal grandparents (father-in-law and mother-in-law), and they do not return home until after dinner. Unmarried people take advantage of this festive season to go to their lovers' or friends' homes to pay New Year's greetings. The lion dance and dragon dance teams beat gongs and drums through the streets and alleys to perform green picks and make fortune in the new year.

8. On the third day of the Lunar New Year, people splash water and rice with their bare mouth and pray to God:

In the old custom of the Han people, the third day of the Lunar New Year is commonly known as "Swine Day" (an ancient domestic animal with a fat body and short tail) , long nose and ears like cattail fans, commonly known as pigs). Liang Zongmao of the Southern Dynasties recorded in "The Chronicles of Jingchu": "...No pigs will be killed for three days...". The ancients believed that the first month of the year was the first of the year, and the first seven days of the year were more important and had many taboos. In ancient times, people usually lacked meat, and for the Han people, pigs were the main meat. Therefore, raising pigs in rural areas is very important. In the Central Plains, the third day of the Lunar New Year is "Boar Day", and "Boar" is another name for pigs. Therefore, on the third day of the Lunar New Year, when people get up early in the morning, they must first watch the weather. To determine the prosperity, disaster and disaster of the pig industry. Zhongshan people call this day "Chikou", which means that on the third day of the Lunar New Year, people will bark like pigs. In the past, Zhongshan people were superstitious about divination. Some Taoist priests predicted that it would be unlucky to quarrel with neighbors on the third day of the first lunar month, and it would be easy to commit "official crimes". In addition, farmers had to raise pigs and worship heaven and earth to pray for God's blessing. Therefore, on the third day of the first lunar month, Early in the morning, the housewife would open the door, splash water and rice, and mutter prayers and blessings. Then she would go back to the back room, pray to gods and Buddhas in the lobby, so as not to cause quarrels, avoid official misconduct, and not go out to pay New Year greetings. Over time, it gradually became a bad custom. . After liberation, this so-called bad custom has gradually changed, but there are still elders in rural areas who follow it and accuse their younger generations not to go to New Year greetings on the third day of the lunar new year. In addition, some families in Zhongshan call the third day of the Lunar New Year "Che Gong's Birthday", so they often go to Che Gong Temple to worship on the third day of the Lunar New Year, turn the windmill in the temple, and perform divination.

9. On the seventh day of the lunar month, people make fried rice noodles to worship gods:

Han Dongfang Shuo's "Book of Divination" once recorded: "On the eighth day after the age of the year, one day is chicken, the second day is dog, and the third day is dog. Pigs, sheep on the fourth day, oxen on the fifth day, horses on the sixth day, people on the seventh day, and grain on the eighth day. If the sun is sunny, it will bring good fortune, and if it is cloudy, it will lead to disaster." There is a passage in Sui Dynasty's "The Population Thinks of Returning" by Xue Daoheng: "It has only been seven days since spring, and it has been two years since I left home. When people return home, their thoughts are in front of the flowers." According to history books and elders’ mouths, the ancient “people’s day” was also a divination activity in early ancient times. After the Han and Wei dynasties, it gradually developed into sacrificial and social fire activities. In ancient Zhongshan, people’s day and time were different. Every household first worships the gods and prays for the prosperity of people and animals. Then seven kinds of vegetables or seven kinds of fruits are used to make soup, which is called "Qibao Soup" or "Qibao Zhai". Most people do not cook on this day and eat vegetarian dishes, but more people make porridge, fried noodles or rice noodles. After dinner, they went out to participate in various social activities and did not return until evening.

Since 1988, a group of intellectuals in Zhongshan have taken the lead in advocating the inheritance of Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s legacy and the promotion of the spirit of “fraternity” and “everyone for one, one for everyone” and “charity”. Large-scale social welfare activities with contents such as "respecting the elderly" and "helping the needy" are held on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year every year. This changes the past seventh day of the Lunar New Year sacrificial activities into large-scale social activities for charity and public welfare, and injects the traditional folk activities of Human Day into The concepts and vitality of fraternity, charity and the promotion of excellent national culture have become Zhongshan's new folk cultural activities. Now every year on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, Zhongshan people hold a large-scale social welfare activity, called the Charity Walk of Ten Thousand People. "Itchy feet" has become a new mantra among Zhongshan people.

10. Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the Lantern Festival:

According to the "Xiangshan County Chronicles" of the past dynasties, there are many people in the city who believe. In history, the Lantern Festival was commonly known as Shangyuan, Yuan Ye, Yuan Xi, etc. It is said that it originated from Taoism. "Meng Liang Lu" written by Wu Zimu of the Song Dynasty records: "The Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month is the day when the Heavenly Official of the Shangyuan Dynasty bestows blessings." Historically, there was a custom of displaying lanterns to watch the Lantern Festival, so it is also called the "Festival of Lanterns". "Xiangshan County Chronicle" records: "The Lantern Festival lights are used to perform story games on the thoroughfare. Dancers beat drums with three as a festival, and singers beat drums with seven as a festival. In the spring night, they form groups to sing to each other. They sing lantern songs and crane songs. ” record. On New Year's Eve, lanterns are put up to offer a reward for riddles called "Lamp Letters". In ancient times, on the 15th day of the year for Zhongshan people, many women went to temples to worship gods. Especially the women in Shiqi (now the urban area), most of them flocked to the Sanyuan Temple in the west of the city to celebrate the birthday of Emperor Shangyuan. According to historical records: Our country has had the custom of displaying lanterns during the Lantern Festival since ancient times. From Zhongshan to the 15th night of the first lunar month, every household would put up lanterns and streamers in front of their doors, light candles, children would carry lanterns and play through the streets, and various ancestral halls would gather together. Groups of literati and elegant officials hang out lantern riddles and set up a "Shoot the Tiger" dragon gate array. Therefore, the fifteenth day of the Lantern Festival is also called the "Lantern Festival", "Shangyuan Festival", "Yuanxi Festival", etc. It is one of the most solemn festivals in ancient times, and the custom of watching lanterns has been passed down to this day.

On the day of Lantern Festival, people mostly eat rice cakes, glutinous rice balls and other foods together with the whole family. This is a common custom across the country, which means that family members will be reunited and live a happy life, while lovers People hold hands to date and "bathe in the moonlight", so some people call the Lantern Festival "Chinese Valentine's Day". On the night of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, lanterns and colorful decorations were put up in front of each house to attract neighbors; literati wrote riddles and poems on the lanterns for visitors to guess riddles or couplets, which was called "shooting the tiger". Major martial arts halls showcased their martial arts skills with dragon and lion dances; wealthy families also performed land color performances (equivalent to the folk art of "land boat racing" in the Central Plains), acting, etc. in the open space at the entrance of the ancestral hall. During the Qing Dynasty, in some areas of Zhongshan, such as Xiaolan, some folk societies organized lantern parades based on folk stories, allusions, etc. on the night of the Lantern Festival, called lantern festivals. Young men and women held up lanterns and sang together. , commonly known as singing lantern songs. Therefore, the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month is also called the Lantern Festival. This kind of folk social activity does not end until the evening of the 16th day of the first lunar month and is called scattered lanterns.

11. Turning on and closing lanterns in the first month:

"Xiangshan County Chronicle" records: "On the Lantern Festival in the first lunar month, those who add children hang lanterns in the temple and offer preserved wine to their ancestors. It says: Turning on the lantern is also called hanging the lantern, and burning it around the Qingming Festival is called closing the lantern." In fact, the Lantern Festival falls on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, which is the Lantern Festival. However, it was customary in the past in Zhongshan that most families who gave birth to a boy (i.e. a child) would choose an auspicious day to turn on the lights within a month from the second day of the first lunar month. On the day when the lights are turned on, you first go to a paper-making shop to customize lanterns. Usually four lanterns are made: one is hung in front of the ancestor’s spirit; one is hung in the ancestral hall; one is hung in front of the gate official of the residence; and the other is hung on the altar of the community. On the day when the lights are turned on, the family having a baby must have a sumptuous meal to worship the gods, or set up several banquets at the same time to entertain guests. In the ancestral temples of various ethnic groups or in the grain halls in front of the temples, people of the same ethnic group also have the custom of turning on lanterns and distributing colors to worship their ancestors. Since there are lights on, there are lights on. The lantern knotting is usually held on February 2nd, the birthday of the land, and sometimes before the Qingming Festival on March 3rd in the lunar calendar. Similarly, on the day when the lanterns are tied, several sumptuous meals must be prepared to honor the gods, worship ancestors and entertain clan members and fellow villagers.