What is the unique folk customs in Henan Province?

The unique folk customs in Henan Province are Xunxian Ancient Temple Fair, February 2nd, Begging for Cleverness Festival, Ghost Festival, Cooking Stove Festival and Fried Noodles Festival.

Ancient Temple Fair in Xunxian County

Xunxian County is a national historical and cultural city, which was called Liyang in ancient times. It has a long history and splendid culture. The living history of ancestors can be traced back to 6 years ago. The Giant Buddha in Xunxian County is the earliest in China and the largest in the north. "Mud Goo Goo" in Xunxian County is listed in the "National Intangible Cultural Heritage" list. Xunxian's annual "Temple Fair in the First Month" is famous far and wide. It is a living fossil of the folk culture in the Central Plains and a microcosm of the original ecological culture. After visiting the temple fair, a German folklore scholar called Xunxian Temple Fair "the carnival of China people". In 24, the first month ancient temple fair in Xunxian County was included in the pilot project of China national folk culture protection project; In 27, "Ancient Temple Fair in Xunxian County" and "Folk Shehuo in Xunxian County" were listed in the intangible cultural heritage list of Henan Province, and were also rated as folk classics in Henan Province.

February 2nd

The second day of the second lunar month is the "Dragon Head-raising Festival" or "Dragon Festival". On this day, women in rural areas of Henan generally don't move scissors or do needlework, for fear of cutting the dragon's body with a knife. In this festival, people go to the fields to pick wild vegetables, make jiaozi, fry pancakes, fry soybeans, fry bacon and steam jujube buns, so as to improve their lives. On February 2nd, people spread pancakes and ate fried beans the most. People believe that this day is the birthday of the Dragon King of the East China Sea, and pancakes are the afterbirth of the Dragon King. Eating pancakes is to chew disaster for the Dragon King, and throwing pancakes is to bury the afterbirth of the Dragon King.

Begging for Qiao Festival

Every year, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month is the Begging for Qiao Festival. The custom of begging for Qiao in Xinxiang, Henan Province is that on the sixth night of the seventh lunar month every year, seven unmarried local girls gather in a group (according to the number of "Tanabata"), and each person exchanges flour and goods to prepare offerings for the Weaver Girl. Some people want to buy seven kinds of melons and fruits, such as grapes, pomegranates, watermelons, dates and peaches, bake seven oil or sugar steamed buns, pack seven bowls of small jiaozi and make seven bowls of noodle soup. In addition, seven big jiaozi will be wrapped separately. Dumpling stuffing is made of seven kinds of vegetables, and seven things made of flour are wrapped inside, such as needles, weaving shuttles, flower-playing hammers, spinning spindles, scissors, garlic cloves or abacus. These seven things should represent the wishes of seven girls. That night, seven girls put their offerings under the melon shed or in a quiet place, burned incense and lit some paper, knelt under the moon and prayed to the Weaver Girl. After reading the prayers, seven girls shared fruit and seven bowls of little jiaozi. Then put seven oil cakes and seven big jiaozi in bamboo blue and hang them on the Toona sinensis tree. That night, seven girls kept vigil together, guarding the bamboo basket. This behavior is called "guarding Qiao", and its purpose is to prevent joking boys from stealing Qiao (jiaozi). On the morning of July 7th, just before dawn, seven girls closed their eyes and touched a big jiaozi in the bamboo blue. Whoever finds out that the jiaozi contains needles, scissors and other things, will be a skillful hand in the future. In northern Henan, Qinyang, Mengxian and other places, there is still a custom of "Qixi" duet. On the Chinese Valentine's Day, local girls form groups by village, or by township and county, with seven people in each group, or nine or eleven people, depending on the number. The folk pay attention to the number of singers, and there is a saying that "when the list is not right, it is wrong for the generation." People divide the duet group into odd numbers in order to get a "coincidence" and hope that the duet group in our village can win.

Ghost Festival

The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is commonly known as "Ghost Festival". Farmers in the Central Plains also call this day "Cattle Festival". On this day, there are many activities to worship oxen in Linxian and other places in the north of Henan Province. On July 15th, every family will steam lamb-shaped white flour buns, steam them at noon and offer them on the table, and then set off firecrackers to celebrate the prosperity of the trough head. Every farmer with big animals will stop working for one day, give the lamb buns to the big animals to eat, and some will feed the animals with concentrated feed such as beans to show that the Animal Festival is different from usual. In the evening, they will make a pot of rice soup for the animals to drink. A folk song says, "Hit a thousand, scold ten thousand, and have a small rice meal on July fifteenth."

offering sacrifices to stoves

The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is the "Festival of offering sacrifices to stoves". The custom of offering sacrifices to stoves on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month in Henan Province, on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the first round of firecrackers is set off in the urban and rural areas of the Central Plains. Urban residents are busy buying sesame candy, fire and other food for offering sacrifices to the stove. In the vast rural areas, the preparation activities and grand ceremony of offering sacrifices to stoves gradually began in the deafening sound of guns. Ceremonies for offering sacrifices to stoves are mostly held at night. When offering sacrifices to the stove, the people who offer sacrifices to the stove kneel in front of the statue of the stove and embrace the rooster. Some people also let children hold chickens and kneel behind adults. It is said that chicken is the horse on which Zao Ye ascended to heaven, so chicken is not called chicken, but called horse. If red rooster, commonly known as "red horse", white cock, commonly known as "white horse". After burning the incense table, the cigarettes in the house are filled with mysterious colors. The host poured wine and kowtowed, mumbling something. After reading it, the burner shouted "collar"! Then the day holds wine to pour the chicken head. If the head of a chicken flutters, it means that Zao Ye has been ungrateful. If the head of the chicken does not move, it needs to be watered again. After the ceremony, people began to eat food such as stove candy and fire. In some places, they also ate sugar cakes, oil cakes and tofu soup. In Henan, the typical food for offering sacrifices to stoves should be the first to promote stove candy. Kitchen candy is a kind of maltose that sticks to the mouth and teeth. The reason for offering candy to the stove is to stick the mouth of the stove master. Legend has it that Zao Ye is the God sent by the Jade Emperor to supervise good and evil. He has the responsibility of communicating with others, contacting the feelings between heaven and earth, and transmitting the information between fairyland and earth. In addition to eating stove candy, fire is also a very distinctive seasonal food on the day of sacrifice. On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the business of biscuit stalls in the city is very prosperous. In Henan, people regard the festival of offering sacrifices to stoves as a reunion festival second only to the Mid-Autumn Festival. Anyone who works, does business or goes to school in other places will try to get home before the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. If you can eat the sacrificial stove cooked at home, you will be protected by the kitchen god, and your family will be safe in the coming year.

fried noodles festival

the first day of the sixth lunar month is a festival that people in the central plains pay more attention to. In eastern and southern Henan, there is a saying that the first day of June is a small year. Especially in rural areas. People regard this day as a festival to celebrate the harvest and worship the harvest year. At this time, the wheat has just been laid, and the joy of harvest is filled with farmers' hearts and eyebrows. People put tables in houses, courtyards and wheat fields, and put five kinds of melons and fruits, such as steamed buns, jujube hill (a kind of steamed buns), peaches and plums. They filled buckets with newly harvested wheat, put the word "Fu" on the buckets, and then burned incense and firecrackers to pray for good weather and bumper harvests in autumn. After that, people happily ate a "chop suey" made of meat, vegetables, vermicelli and kelp. The adults guessed the boxing rules in the wheat field, and the children enjoyed themselves while eating and playing. After the first day of June in the lunar calendar, it is the sixth day of June, so some people simply rub the activities on the sixth day of June into the first day of June. On the sixth day of June, people call it "Fried Noodles Festival", "Looking at Summer Festival" and "Daughter Festival", which are often ten miles (5 kilometers) and eight miles (4 kilometers) apart, so the customs are quite different. Anyway, festivals are about eating, playing and visiting relatives. And these festivals are related to married girls. Every household in the countryside will take the married girl home from the first day of June to the sixth day of June, and then send her back to her husband's house after entertaining her. As the saying goes, "June 6th, please invite your aunt." "On June 6th, I hung a hoe and called my elder sister-in-law and my younger sister-in-law." The custom of having a small year on the first day of June is quite common in the Central Plains. From the first day of June to the sixth day of June, the flavor of "Nian" in the rural areas of the Central Plains is rich and lasts for about a week. Although there is a difference between the first day and the sixth day, the two festivals are too close, and the festival activities naturally merge together.