Why did Tiancang go home for dinner?

Because

Tiancang Festival, Filling the Cang Festival, falls on the 25th day of the first lunar month every year. It is said to be the birthday of Lord Cang. It is a Chinese folk festival that symbolizes a bumper harvest in the new year. "Cangcang Festival" is also called "Tiancang Festival" because "fill" and "tian" are homophonic. Folks can divide it into old Tiancang and small Tiancang. The twentieth day of the first lunar month is Xiaotiancang, and the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month is Laotiancang. It is a traditional folk festival. Some say that the Tiancang Festival is a day for worshiping stars, while others say it is a day for worshiping the land or the god of grinding. The so-called filling warehouse means filling the barn. The 19th day of the first lunar month is Tiancang Festival (also called Dadun), which is a day to worship the "Cang God". When I lived in the countryside, I could hear the sound of firecrackers very early on this day every year, but in urban areas, it seems that not many people celebrate this festival today. According to the custom of my hometown, I ate dumplings today.

I don’t know when the Timcang Festival originated. I just remember that when I was a child, every year on the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month, I would see my grandfather getting up very early. Scoop out some firewood ash and carry it to the yard with a dustpan. Then use the firewood ash to draw five large circles in the yard to represent the five granaries. Put corn, sorghum, millet and other different grains in the five circles. And use firewood ashes to form a ladder pattern on one side of the five circles, which represents a full store of grain and a bumper harvest. After the granary is painted, grandpa will set off a firecracker, probably to celebrate the harvest!

According to relevant records, the dates of Tiancang Festival vary across Henan Province. Some are on the 19th day of the first lunar month, and some are on the 24th day of the first lunar month. People in Lin County call it "Little Festival" respectively. Filling Festival” and “Big Filling Festival”. On the festival day, every family uses white flour to steam some steamed buns shaped like wheat ears, wheat stacks, wheat piles and cloth bags, and the whole family shares and eats them until they are full, which indicates that the whole family will not be short of food in the new year. Many families make dumplings at noon and serve them with noodles, which are popularly known as "golden silk wrapped with ingots" to express "blessings" for a year. Rumor has it that "eating cloth bags, drinking good noodles, and making two stones per acre of land". On this day, people also "fill" the food placed in the incense altar during the New Year into the granary, marking that the granary has been filled with food in the new year. In the Yanshi area, people often spread ashes on the ground on this day and put some grain inside to show "filling the warehouse". Some people "send away the poor" on this day and send the garbage thrown by the pass to the intersection. In Shaanxian County, Fangcheng and other places, newlywed women whose parents' family "hides" during the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month have to bring some millet, wheat or other grains back to their husband's family on this day to "add to their wealth". The Warehouse Filling Festival in various places in Henan is the end of the Spring Festival activities. After that, people go all out to spring plowing and production, and their families can also travel far away. The children's song says: "There is nothing to look forward to if you look forward to adding more warehouses. Men go to collect dung and women spin threads." Those who visit relatives and friends during the Warehouse Filling Festival must go home on the same day. After the 1950s, the Warhouse Filling Festival has gradually become indifferent and is only held in There are also people who treat each other with festivals in remote places.

Tiancang, the official name of the star, belongs to Lousu, and the "Tianwen Zhi" of the Book of Jin says: "The six stars of Tiancang are in the sky. Lounan is hidden in Canggu." To be more precise, the star hidden in "Canggu" is the "Stomach Star", as recorded in "Historical Records" Tianguan Shu: "The stomach is Tiancang." Zhang Shoujie of the Tang Dynasty said: "The stomach governs the warehouse and is the home of grains." Zhan: If it is clear, the world will be peaceful and the grain will be abundant; otherwise, it will be the opposite. "It seems that the stomach star is responsible for the granary, which is related to the harvest and harvest, and people need to pray for it. The granary is not only related to celestial phenomena, but also related to the human body. This concept originated very early. The Yellow Emperor's Internal Canon "Su Wen" was written at the end of the Warring States Period. "Linglan Secret Code" believes: "The spleen and stomach are the palace of the warehouse, where the five flavors come out. "That is, because the stomach can accommodate grains, it is the official of the warehouse. Xu Shen's "Shuowen Jiezi" of the Eastern Han Dynasty also explained that the stomach is the palace of grains. The ancients compared their understanding of the human body with celestial phenomena and believed that the stomach star is the warehouse. As quoted above The author of Guangxu's "Ningjin County Chronicles" said: "The Stomach Star is used as the sky warehouse, which is called human beings combined with the sky." "But in my hometown, we use gray paintings in the shape of a warehouse, put seeds in it, and still look up at the sky. "And praying for good harvest" tells the origin of Tiancang Festival. Based on the theory of Tiancang, the ancients created the God of Cang. Guangxu's "Ningjin County Chronicle" quoted "Spring and Autumn Wei" as saying: "The gods of Tianlincang have both names. Later, the secular gods of warehouses included Han Xin, Xiao He and others.

The customs of the Tiancang Festival are based on the above theory. The first thing is to build a warehouse to store grain.

The "Customs" in Volume 9 of Hebei's "Bazhou Chronicles" compiled by Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty records: "On the 20th and 25th, the hoarding shape is surrounded by stove ashes, grains are sprinkled in the middle, and it is pressed with bricks and stones. It is called filling the warehouse." This is This is taken from the meaning of Tiancang to store grain, to herald a good year. "Shuozhou Chronicles" of Shanxi Province during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty (1723-1735) also recorded: "The ground was covered with charcoal ash, and the kilns were gouged out and covered with kilns, which were called Tiancang." The "Yanshan County Chronicles" of Tongzhi, Hebei, etc. called it "Tiancang". "Hoarding". The custom of adding storage was derived from making warehouses. Daoguang (1821-1850) Shanxi's "Zhili Huozhou Chronicle" records: "Each family hoards more grain, water, lights lamps and burns incense to worship the warehouse god." Daoguang Shanxi's "Datong County Chronicle" There is also a record of "those who bought rice on this day to add to their warehouses". This means filling in the "tiancang". Since you want to add to your position, you should avoid making money. The "Changzi County Chronicle" of Shanxi Province during the Qianlong Emperor said that on this day, "it is forbidden to go out and go in or out". "Hui County Chronicles" of Henan Province during the Qianlong Period: "The 21st day is for filling warehouses, and the first 19 days are for small warehouse filling. We must be careful about the wealth, and the population is not allowed to come in and out lightly." Since the warehouses are stocked with grain to pray for a good harvest, it is natural to think of preventing Rats consume food. Qianlong's Shanxi "Pingyang Prefecture" said that "the lights are not lit at night, and rats are taboo".

The second is to worship the God of Cang. "Jiexiu County Chronicles" of Shanxi Province during the Jiaqing Period says: "Making noodles and making people look like the God of the Granary." "Yanjing Years' Records" written by Dunchong Fucha of the Qing Dynasty also said: "Every year on the 25th, grain merchants and rice sellers offer sacrifices to the God of the Granary." "Firecrackers are the most popular." Not only sacrifices are made to the God of War, but also anyone who can save anything. Guangxu Shanxi's "Yuci County Chronicle" records: "On the 20th, each family used rice flour as a ladle, lit lamps at dusk, and worshiped the god of warehouses, boxes, and 珏 (lù), saying "fill the warehouse." On the 25th, at dusk Burning lanterns and burning incense is said to fill the warehouse. "In addition to its function of "illuminating waste", burning lanterns also has the meaning of offering sacrifices to gods. In addition, Daoguang Hebei's "Nangong County Chronicle" believes that the use of lamps means a good harvest. The God of Cang is also named Cangguan. "Fugu County Chronicles" of Shaanxi Province during the Qianlong Emperor said: "At night, rice noodles are used to make lamps, or as figures holding the lamps, and they are named Cangguan." Xianfeng Hebei's "Gu'an County Chronicles" records: "On the 25th day of the first lunar month It is customary to use firewood and ash to stand in the courtyard in the shape of a storehouse on the birthday of the store official, either square or round, with firecrackers placed in the middle to shock it. This is called expanding the store, and it is also called filling the storehouse. Dietary changes. Pan Rongbi of the Qing Dynasty wrote in "Records of Successes in the Imperial Capital Years Old": "The fifth day is the Filling Festival. People buy beef, sheep and hog meat and eat as much as they want all day long. When guests come to stay, they will eat their fill and leave. This is called "Fill the warehouse." Qianlong's Hebei "Yongping Prefecture Chronicle" also records: "On this day, you must have enough food." In Huai County, Shandong, "the word "tiancang" is changed to "fill" in the custom, and the pronunciation of "cang" is changed. "Tiancang Day" is the day to fill the throat, and it is said that it is appropriate to fill the throat with delicious food, so every family's food will be richer than usual on this day." This is the stomach chamber that fills the belly.

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there was a phenomenon of confusion between the Filling the Warehouse Festival and the Tianchuan Festival. Some people believe that the warehouse-filling festival originated from the Tianchuan Festival. This is because the dates of the Tiancang Festival and the Tianchuan Festival are the same or similar; the pronunciations of the names of the two festivals are also similar; in addition, although the Tianchuan Festival originated early, it declined in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, while the Tiancang Festival rose in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. For example, in Shanxi Province, Volume 1 of "Customs" of Jiajing's "Qu Wo Zhi" in the Ming Dynasty says: "At the age of twenty, make pancakes and invite your son-in-law to fill the warehouse." The name of the Filling Festival is the custom of the Tianchuan Festival, and the two festivals have been mixed. "Yangcheng County Chronicles" written by Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty records: "On the eve of the New Mindfulness Day, each family makes cakes with shavings of beams and millet, and worships the warehouse officials. It is called Bu Tianchuan, and the common name is Tiancang. Xian burns lamps in the corner of the room, It is called Zhaoshu Marriage. "Tiancang is the common name of Tianchuan, and the customs recorded combine Tianchuan Festival and Tiancang Festival. Generally speaking, the above mixing is to change Tianchuan Festival to Tiancang Festival. Therefore, most of the records in local chronicles, like the previous "Quwo Chronicles", describe pancakes as a custom of filling warehouses.

No matter what the cause of Tiancang Festival is, Tiancang Festival naturally begs for more grain in farmers’ warehouses and hopes to increase harvests and increase production based on the original grain production. It places people’s trust in granaries. Good wishes for prosperity and good fortune. Food is the most important thing for the people, the granary cannot be dissatisfied, and the "granary god" cannot be disrespected. Respecting the "Cangshen" actually means respecting labor. Educating future generations to save food and respect farmers' labor is the practical significance of the etiquette of adding warehouses.