What are the characteristics of Zhaoan?

From life to spirit, Minnan people always abide by China's most traditional code of conduct. Therefore, superstition is still prevalent. From the moment I came to Minnan, I have been puzzled by all kinds of so-called sacrificial activities. Sometimes, someone will tell you when to do and what not to do today. For Minnan people, there are two things that are indispensable in life: first, no matter how magnificent the appearance of the house is, no matter how luxurious the interior decoration is, no matter what the home, office and business place are, they must worship the gods, and they must be fragrant and pious when they enter the house. More than 90% of the gods they worship are land lords, and some of them are Guandi. The second is the Gregorian calendar, because they must use it to judge what they should and should not do. There are three main types of sacrificial activities in southern Fujian.

The first category is the traditional mass sacrifice activities. Mainly to worship the gods. First of all, the 15th of every month is Guanyin's birthday, which is considered by Minnan people as a must. Secondly, on the 26th of every month, they worship the earth god, because they think that Guanyin can help all beings drive away disasters and get shelter, and the earth god is really the sustenance of living and working in peace and contentment. Of course, every village in southern Fujian should have its own god. Every month on this day, the incense will be burned, and the Gaos Opera Troupe and Nanyin Society will be invited to perform to help out. And every year, most families in southern Fujian fly to Putuo Mountain in Zhejiang to worship Guanyin, which is now a part of their daily life. Of course, in addition to the public gods, individuals also have special gods to worship. Among women, Guanyin Mazu is the main one, while among men, landlords, policemen and other frequent travelers worship Guandi as their own gods, but these are not contradictory to public sacrifices, but actually self-exertion within the framework of principles. In addition, there are gods, large and small, who can hold sacrificial activities anytime and anywhere according to the special circumstances and beliefs of each household.

The second category belongs to ancestor worship activities. The ancestors mentioned here are the earliest ancestors that they think can be traced back. Minnan people attach great importance to their ancestors. In addition, there are many overseas Chinese, and their homesickness is directly reflected in their roots and ancestors. In fact, in many cases, there is no need to seek roots, because they Minnan people have always been keen on and committed to the collection of such information. Family information is their birth certificate for them, so that they can know who their ancestors are, so as to avoid being laughed at in their future life and work. Minnan people have a strict division of clans, and people with different surnames are far less close than those with the same surname and clan. Since we respect our ancestors so much, it is natural to express our thoughts of our ancestors with rituals. The so-called life is that our ancestors smoked from the grave and our ancestors blessed us.

Because the scale of this activity is too large, the number of participants in an operation is nearly ten thousand, and the cost is about several hundred thousand. Of course, this is borne by the family, but most of them are donated by the strong economic strength in the family name. Moreover, activities are generally organized in turn by villages with the names of scattered nationalities. Under normal circumstances, large-scale ancestor worship activities are held on the day when ancestors were born. Before that, members of ethnic groups and surnames will form activity committees, and several committees will be set up for reception, sacrifice, activities and finance. Before Mr. Zu said, the chairman will carefully select a team member to go to the birthplace of their ancestors and "please" return to their ancestors. When the pioneers enter the territory of the organization, they will be greeted by a huge team of millions of people in Fiona Fang, Shiliba Township, and the traffic police will assist in traffic control and public security management because they are notified in advance. Ancestors returned to the village for grand Buddhist and sacrificial activities, followed by eating and drinking to express their feelings, and finally, literary and art groups performed one after another.

This is also the most formal and expensive of all sacrificial activities. Of course, families usually pay tribute to their ancestors to show their gratitude!

The third kind of sacrificial activity, which belongs to public welfare, is called Purdue. I know from the name that it is Purdue sentient beings. Minnan people said that according to legend, during the reign of Li Shimin, ghosts were everywhere in dreams, which was very bleak. So the next day, an imperial edict was issued, requiring every household to set aside a mouthful of rice to stew some ghosts. Up to now, every village in southern Fujian has held Purdue activities on a certain day in a certain year to pay homage to those ghosts. However, with the passage of time, the sacrificial nature of this activity gradually blurred, and it was replaced by a gathering of friends and relatives. On this day, every family in the village will prepare a sumptuous dinner. The family invites all relatives and friends, even relatives of friends' friends, to attend as long as they are free and willing. Everyone is just having fun.

This is a summary of some customs of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors in southern Fujian. In fact, there are countless sacrificial activities in southern Fujian. According to friends, each family spends an average of about 1 10,000 yuan on this kind of sacrificial activity every year. In enterprises, some daily sacrificial activities are paid from management expenses. It can be seen that although these activities are superstitions, they are actually more extreme than superstitions and because they are all in southern Fujian, so they have become unique customs in southern Fujian.