Shanxi folk custom

Taboo is called taboo in Shanxi folk. It is forbidden to approach "sacred" or "illegal" things in order to avoid incurring punishment, that is, to be afraid of some mysterious force, which is a negative preventive measure. Different from laws and moral norms, taboos are based on people's common beliefs and folk beliefs about gods and witchcraft, which people use to regulate their own beliefs.

Taboos are generally spread among the people through oral inheritance and behavior demonstration for thousands of years.

Taboo items are varied and strange, so it can be said that there are all kinds of things. It permeates all aspects of people's production and life. According to the records of ancient books, some have passed away with the passage of time, while others still exist. In today's underdeveloped rural areas, it still has a certain market in people's minds. Here, only the taboo customs widely circulated in Shanxi rural real life are listed as follows.

Residential taboo

Housing is the place where people settle down and live, and it is also the habitat of nearly half of their lives. Especially in rural areas, housing as a part of personal property, the number of houses, good or bad, the size of the courtyard, is a measure of a family's wealth, whether family members have the ability to sign. Therefore, building a house is a top priority for married young people and families.

Just like building a house in a city, building a house in a natural environment should also conform to the laws of nature. Of course, rural houses should also conform to the rules of traditional customs. As a part of the whole village, any house should be built in harmony with other people's houses. Therefore, residential buildings should not only deal with the relationship between man and nature, but also deal with the social relationship between good people and families. At the same time, it should conform to customs and beliefs. Harmony is the key to the problem. The people think that only in this way can the family business prosper and the children and grandchildren prosper. Otherwise, it is inevitable that the family business will decline, children and grandchildren will be childless, and disasters will arise. As a result, a series of folk taboos, rules and stresses have been formed in the long-term historical dust.

There are two main types of houses in rural Shanxi, one is cave dwelling, and the other is building houses. According to the building rules of China people, the site selection should conform to the natural terrain, with the north facing south, and the shelter and sun protection design should be carried out according to the geographical and climatic environment. It is a general rule to build a house with water on the mountain. It is forbidden to build a house in a dry and waterless place or in a cool and humid place. At the same time, it is also forbidden to choose places without vegetation and running water. Any place located in the valley, the city gate, outside the prison and at the mouth of the Baihe River is by no means a good place to build a house.

In short, on the one hand, the choice of homestead conforms to the natural requirements, that is, there is water and sunshine, on the other hand, it also reflects people's social psychology of seeking myth, avoiding ghosts and gods, avoiding war, seeking peace, avoiding disasters, having more children and being afraid of litigation.

Because the population density is sparse, perhaps influenced by the northern minorities, Shanxi people like to live in scattered communities, and Shanxi is a mountainous area with few plains, so the rule of sitting north facing south has also been revised in mountainous areas.

In the mountainous areas of northern Shanxi and Lvliang, the orientation of the main house depends on the land type, not necessarily facing south. For example, in Lingqiu, which side of the mountain is higher, east, west, north and south, which side is the direction of adobe houses, and the rest are houses, which may reflect people's lofty psychology. This is, of course, the choice in the case of being surrounded by mountains.

Some places, such as Linxian County, pay attention to the mountain instead of the ditch, that is, the back ditch faces the mountain to show good luck. But this is not the case in some places. Many houses in mountainous areas are forbidden to have high mountains and deep ditches in front of them, which is considered to be the devil's way and unfavorable to the owners.

In some places in the south of Shanxi, "leaning on the air" is forbidden. If the house has its back to a cliff, pit, pit, ditch, etc. , it will be "empty", even the well will be taboo. However, there are ways to solve this taboo. If we want to clear this phenomenon and build a road between the house and the taboo, we can turn the "emptiness" into reality, clear the disaster and avoid it. In many villages in Pinglu area, careful observation shows that the houses in the four corners of each village often change their orientation slightly, which is the result of this taboo and reflects people's mentality of seeking "reality" and "stability".

"Living near the city" is a folk custom in Shanxi and a tortuous reflection of the traditional mainstream values of China, which is ashamed of doing business. However, farmers are also afraid that the front of their yard is empty, which often gives people a sense of loneliness and thinness.

In Jinzhong area, we saw many interesting phenomena when we conducted field investigation. In some villages, in order to avoid facing the empty fields directly, they take the way of turning the courtyard gate to the village instead of outside. If you can't open it to the outside, there is another remedy, that is, put a bottle on the top of the gate, called "Feng Shui Bottle", with the bottle mouth facing the empty door. According to the owner, this can leave the evil spirits blown from the wild in the bottle, so as not to affect the safety of the people in the house.

Today, interested people can find in many rural areas of Shanxi that public buildings such as shops and schools are often built on the outskirts of villages, with their backs on barren hills and fields. People built these buildings on the periphery of the village to enclose the courtyard that used to be on the edge of the village. The role of taboos is obvious here.

In rural Shanxi, buildings and houses are very particular about the pattern. Generally, four houses in one hospital are fixed, and the principal room, wing room, courtyard door and bathroom have their own positioning, which should not be confused, otherwise it will be unlucky. Among them, it is especially taboo to build the courtyard into the shape of a handle, and killing people without a knife will ruin the family.

When building a house, the setting of the door is a major event of "establishing a portal" and is very important in the building. Courtyard gate is regarded as the face of family and human beings. "Setting up a door" has even become synonymous with marriage and career, so it is also the most taboo.

Generally speaking, the gates in rural areas should avoid flushing rivers and wells for fear of being hit by water and causing disasters. The gate is also not allowed to the alley. The alley is a dirt arrow, which is unlucky to shoot at home. There is a saying in southern Shanxi that "the street gate does not take the northwest gate, and the northwest is high and the southeast is low, facing the northwest". You can't live in the southeast with money. It is not warm in winter and not cold in summer. "If you can't avoid it, you must put a mirror at the gate of the courtyard, which is the so-called' Eight Diagrams Mirror' and' Magic Mirror' to crack it. This phenomenon is extremely common in rural areas of southern Shanxi.

In addition, it is taboo for two families to face each other directly. If the gate of the courtyard faces the neighbor, avoid rushing straight and rushing small. It is generally believed that two doors are opposite and both sides are unlucky, especially the small one. So it is extremely rare for two doors to meet in the countryside. Even if there is opposition, it is only oblique.

For a courtyard, the door facing east is generally good, and the door facing west is called vulva. Unless the West Gate is generally closed, a barrier must be installed at the gate, or a stone tablet engraved with the words "Mount Tai Shi Gandang" should be erected on the wall opposite the alley mouth to avoid the harassment of evil spirits.

It is also necessary to avoid the courtyard door directly facing the door and window. Hit the right threshold window and install a mirror to crack it. In addition, there must be a broken wall in the courtyard of the general farmhouse. In Luliang area, after the completion of the city gate, peach and plum bows and willow arrows will be hung to ward off evil spirits.

In short, this taboo about the opening direction and orientation of doors in buildings and hospitals is related to the popular concept of "unlucky to open doors" on the one hand, and the concept of "doors are used for home defense" on the other hand, all in order to avoid bad luck as much as possible. Of course, it is also the most important in the positioning of the architectural pattern.

After the house is repaired, the owners like to decorate the empty yard with some flowers and trees. It is best to plant a few trees in the small farmhouse in mountainous areas, and it is best not to plant flowering trees in Lishi area, and try not to plant mulberry trees in Jiaocheng area. In addition to the local popular saying of mulberry "sadness", as a taboo, mulberry and mourning are homophonic, which is considered infectious and unlucky. Mulberry is often homophonic for the loss of population and the inability to retain offspring, so it is not planted. Some villages in southern Shanxi avoid planting vines in their yards, which is considered unlucky.

In the same community, the height of houses built according to customs should generally be the same, and the houses in the south and west cannot be higher than their own houses. There is a saying in the south of Shanxi that "the height in the north is not high, the waist is broken in the south, the height in the east is not high, and the waist is broken in the west". If one house is lower than the other, it is necessary to build an extra brick on the top of the middle house, or build a small pavilion similar to a temple to keep the balance. People who refuse to give up are obviously condescending and bullying others. It is said that they will oppress others' luck and good luck, even Feng Shui. Serious illness and minor disasters will be attributed to this. This situation will lead to neighborhood disputes in rural areas and even resentment for generations.

The location of the bathroom should also be carefully considered; Generally placed in the southwest corner, there is a saying that "the five ghosts have toilets on their heads", and the drainage ditch cannot pass through other people's homes, let alone face other people's doors. Don't drip the water under the eaves next door into the yard. It is considered as sewage and silly water, which will affect your luck. In addition, if there is a lucky beast or beast on the roof of the house, you can't let the bird with a bird's eye view open its mouth to face others, which is suspected of eating people. This taboo is more common in the densely populated villages in Fenhe, Shanxi Province, which has both the color of witchcraft and the shadow of some old etiquette.