15 What should I do in the first month?

Besides celebrating the Lantern Festival, there are also religious activities. That is to say, most of the participants in "taking all kinds of diseases", also known as "baking all kinds of diseases" and "spreading all kinds of diseases" are women. They walk together or against the wall, or cross the bridge through the suburbs, with the aim of driving away diseases and eliminating disasters.

As time goes by, there are more and more activities for the Lantern Festival. In many places, activities such as playing dragon lanterns, playing lions, walking on stilts, rowing dry boats, dancing yangko and playing Taiping drums were also added during the festival.

On the fifteenth day of the first month of the Lantern Festival, some little-known folk activities have been lost. Here are two or three.

In ancient times, there were "seven sacrifices" at the sacrificial gate and the sacrificial households, which were two of them. The method of sacrifice is very simple. Put poplar branches above the door, put a pair of chopsticks in a bowl filled with bean porridge, or put wine and meat directly in front of the door.

Mouse chase

This activity is mainly aimed at sericulture families. Because mice often eat silkworms in large areas at night, it is said that they can stop eating silkworms by feeding them rice porridge on the fifteenth day of the first month. As a result, these people cooked a large pot of sticky porridge on the fifteenth day of the first month, and some even covered it with a layer of meat. They put porridge in a bowl and put it on the ceiling, corner and mouth where mice haunt, cursing that mice will not die a natural death if they eat silkworm babies again.

Yingzigu

Zi Gu is a kind and poor girl in folklore. On the fifteenth day of the first month, Zi Gu died of poverty. People sympathize with her and miss her. In some places, it is convenient to have the custom of "welcoming the daughter-in-law on the fifteenth day of the first month". Every night, people tie a life-size portrait of purple aunt with straw and cloth heads. Women have stood beside the toilet, pigsty and kitchen where Zigu often works to meet her, holding her hand like sisters, telling her sweet words and comforting her with tears. This scene is very vivid and truly reflects the thoughts and feelings of the working people who are kind, honest and sympathetic to the weak.

Perform a lion dance

"Playing the lion" began in Wei and Jin Dynasties and flourished in Tang Dynasty. It is also called "lion dance" and "peace music". Usually it is made by three people, two dressed as lions and one dressed as lions.

lion dance

Boss, one person acts as a lion.

The lion dances with its hind legs, and the other party acts as the leader of the lion. In the dance method, there are also civil and military points, showing the style of writing and dancing.

At present, the gentleness of the lion includes shaking hair and rolling, while the martial lion shows the fierceness of the lion, including prancing, pushing high and rolling colored balls.

Dance dragon lantern

Legend has it that there was a drought in the Tang Dynasty, and the Dragon King crossed the line and drowned many Chang 'an people. The Jade Emperor ordered Wei Zhi to supervise and behead the Dragon King. From then on, the Dragon King haunted the palace every night, which frightened Li Shimin, the king of the Tang Dynasty. So he asked the ministers for advice, and they thought that he should cross over the Dragon King, so people had the habit of playing dragon lanterns on the Lantern Festival. dragon

Dance dragon lantern

Lamps are generally made of bamboo, colored paper and cloth. And the number of festivals is odd, up to dozens, and candles can be lit in the festival.

Dance dragon lantern

It's called "Dragon Lantern", and those who can't light candles are called "Bulong". When dancing the dragon, the leader holds a faucet, and dozens of people hold wooden sticks and are closely connected with the dragon body. Then, the whole dragon runs along the prescribed route and queues up with the music. Dragons are like living things, and people use this custom to make good weather and good harvests.

Solve riddles; solve lantern riddles; guess riddles on hanging lanterns

Also known as "playing riddles", it is a characteristic activity of the Lantern Festival that has been circulated since ancient times. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, every household hangs lanterns and sets off fireworks. Later, some busybodies wrote riddles on paper and pasted them on colorful lanterns for people to guess. Because solve riddles on the lanterns can enlighten wisdom and cater to the festive atmosphere, many people responded. Later, solve riddles on the lanterns gradually became an indispensable program for the Lantern Festival.

During the Tang and Song Dynasties, various acrobatic skills began to appear in the lantern market. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, besides riddles and hundreds of operas, there were also opera performances. In addition to visiting the lantern market, people in the past dynasties also had customs such as welcoming children to visit Ce Shen, crossing the bridge and touching nails to walk away from all diseases, and playing games such as Taiping Drum, Yangko, stilts, dragon dance and lion dance. At the same time, we should also eat some festive foods: in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, we ate bean porridge or rice porridge boiled with meat and animal oil during the Lantern Festival; In the Tang dynasty, we ate a kind of pasta called "cocoon" and baked cakes; In the Song Dynasty, a spoon made of salted black bean soup and mung bean powder appeared, and the "jiaozi" appeared. From then on, we ate Yuanxiao in the north and south.

Lantern Festival in traditional society is a folk festival that both urban and rural areas attach importance to. It is particularly lively in the city, which embodies the unique carnival spirit of China people. The traditional Lantern Festival's function of festival customs has been dispelled by daily life, and people have gradually lost their spiritual interest. The complicated holiday custom is simplified to the eating custom of "eating Yuanxiao".

Hangtou Bridge is located in Chaoshan area of South Guangdong. Hongyang Town, Puning City has the custom of Hangtou Bridge during the Lantern Festival. The "Head Bridge"-Taiping Bridge-is located on the inland river in front of the Baozheng Dijun Temple in front of the old county of Hongyang. It was built about 400 years ago. There are five stone steps at both ends of the arched small stone bridge. The bridge deck consists of seven stone slabs about six meters long and the bridge is about three meters wide. There are two stone lions on both sides of the railing. Although the small stone bridge is not spectacular, it is small and exquisite, with a long history, simple style and extraordinary excitement, especially the "Fifteen Nights Bridge", which has become a local custom and an essential activity of the Lantern Festival.

Lantern Festival is the first festival in a year. On this night, people always go to Hangtou Bridge in groups after eating and drinking enough, in order to set a good sign and cross the Taiping Bridge for a safe year. That night, people came from all directions. No matter which direction they come from, they must cross the Taiping Bridge and never look back when crossing it. Some people say "it's unlucky to turn back". Because the Lantern Festival is a "holy day", people often say something nice when they cross the bridge at night, and it is accompanied by harmonious movements: children who are studying say "touch the lion's nose and write some elegant words" when they touch it; The girls went to touch the lion's head and said, "If you touch the lion's head, everything is good"; Unmarried young men touch the lion's belly and say "touch the lion's belly to find elegant effect"; And pregnant women say, "Touch a lion's ear to give birth to a younger brother" … and so on. On the way home across Taiping Bridge, people always spend a few yuan to buy some long bamboo poles. Legend has it that it is more than enough to buy long bamboo poles across the bridge this year.