Minnan folk culture

I festivals, folk songs and dialects

At the beginning of the Spring Festival and the New Year, Vientiane is renewed, and ceremonies are usually held in Fujian and Taiwan. Every household puts up new Spring Festival couplets, symbolizing the renewal of annual rings and the spring of everything. Men and women, old and young, dressed in new clothes, arranged vegetarian meals, tea and wine, and annual meals to worship heaven and earth, family gods and ancestors. Eat longevity noodles (noodles) or rice cakes for breakfast, which means "long life" and "rising year by year". After dinner, a slightly longer worship sequence, worship the ancestral hall and elders, relatives and friends to congratulate each other and say auspicious words. Most elders give lucky money to their younger generation. Hakka, with fructose, oranges, melon seeds, betel nuts, etc. One product will do. While visiting the New Year, there is also the custom of traveling, that is, putting on new clothes, going to the temple to burn incense and kowtow, and praying for the blessing of the Bodhisattva. On New Year's Day, kill things, eat porridge, eat delicious potatoes, clean up feces, cry, take medicine, throw things, etc. In order to have a good year, it is generally avoided. Since the Ming Dynasty, Fujian has had the custom of going to the grave during the Spring Festival, especially on the second and third days of the following year, most of Huamen's giant surnames took the young and old to visit the grave. The fourth day of the first month is the extension day. The body you are connected to generally refers to the family gods such as Kitchen God and Kitchen Niang. The fifth day was a fake open day, and the cannon was fired. Putian, Xianyou and other places have designated the fifth day as "older". It is said that on the New Year's Eve of the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese raided, burned and plundered. After the enemy was driven out the next day, the refugees came back at a certain speed. On the second and third days, every family was busy collecting the bodies of their loved ones for the funeral, and had no intention of visiting the New Year. Therefore, it is agreed that the next day will be a day for families to pay homage to the victims, instead of visiting each other to pay New Year greetings. On the fourth and fifth day, they will make up for the New Year holiday. Therefore, in the future, Puxian area will make up for the New Year on the fourth night of each year, and then make up for it on the fifth day.

Minnan folk songs refer to folk songs sung in Minnan which are widely spread in Fujian and Taiwan, and have formed various styles and characteristics with the differences of regional environment, living habits and historical changes. According to the style differences, Minnan folk songs are mainly divided into Quanzhou and Zhangzhou in Fujian. The folk songs in Quanzhou are greatly influenced by Nanqu, including the ancient scales that change from palace to palace. The melody is in a steady and tortuous linear rhythm, and the medium speed is slightly slow, which is characterized by elegance. The folk songs in Zhangzhou area are mostly modal and simple in color. Local tapestry songs and dramas have also had a far-reaching impact on folk songs. For example, there is a close relationship between Zhangzhou opera songs and miscellaneous tunes, which forms a contrast between feather merchants and business tunes and melodic tunes, with bright colors.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou immigrated to Taiwan Province Province in large numbers, bringing a lot of Minnan local music with strong local characteristics. With the spread of immigrants, local tunes have been formed, such as Taipei tune, Tainan tune, Changhua tune, Hengchun tune and Yilan tune. Nevertheless, these folk songs still have the local flavor of southern Fujian, and scholars in Taiwan Province Province collectively call them Fulao folk songs. Fu Lao folk songs have been enriched and developed in various places. For example, after the rich old folk songs entered Hengchun, influenced by Hakka, they created folk songs such as Missing, Four Seasons Spring, Three Disappointments, and Oxtail Swing. After entering Taipei, he created Taipei Tune, Fat Feet Tune and Longjia Cry Tune. In addition, after some ancient Minnan folk songs spread to Taiwan Province Province, after several generations of processing, they formed quite perfect tunes. The Minnan folk songs in Taiwan Province Province are characterized by progressive melodies, exquisite and beautiful, simple and fluent, catchy, cordial and touching. The singing content of Minnan folk songs covers a wide range, including nursery rhymes, love songs, narrative songs, sacrificial songs and labor songs.

Minnan dialect was formed and developed in southern Fujian province. It is mainly formed by the fact that the Central Plains people in the north moved south many times in different historical periods to escape from war, anti-war or famine, and then entered the southern Fujian area. In the process of communication and integration between Central Plains and local indigenous languages, Central Plains Chinese has an absolute advantage, which is the integration of indigenous languages. Although it also absorbed some elements of indigenous languages, it finally formed Minnan language with Chinese as the main body.

In the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, with Zheng Chenggong leading Fujian people and Hakkas into Taiwan Province, Minnan became the most important language in Taiwan Province Province. In terms of domestic distribution, Minnan dialect can be divided into five parts: local Minnan dialect, Taiwan Province Minnan dialect, Chaoshan Minnan dialect, Lei Qiong Minnan dialect and Zhejiang Minnan dialect. Due to the influence of other dialects in the region and the passage of time, the five major Minnan dialects are slightly different, among which Minnan dialect and Taiwan Province dialect are the closest, and there is almost no difference. About 75% people in Taiwan Province speak Minnan. Secondly, Hakka dialect and mountain dialect.

Second, residence, marriage customs and ancestor worship.

The building structure in southern Fujian is generally the main hall with the highest roof, with the courtyard at the second and third entrances as the center, and the two sides are symmetrically combined horizontally, with strip guardrails developing to both sides respectively. The big room on the left and the second room on the right. The back of the left and right houses is slightly lower. The house expanded from the main hall is like a winding dragon, so it is called "Ring Dragon". This horizontal combination of protective houses is most suitable for the hot climate conditions along the coast of southern Fujian. Among the urban houses in Quanzhou, there is also a small house with a long and narrow layout, which is commonly called "towel" because it looks like a long towel. There is another kind of "arcade-style" residence in Xiamen. Its house is low and small, with many doors. On the top is a flat house where people can walk. Hui 'an and other places are rich in granite, and most of them are completely stone houses built with granite, which have unique technology and style and become an important part of Minnan culture.

The unique style of Minnan folk houses is especially reflected in the roof. The two ends of the main ridge are like flying swallow houses, and the middle is flat, which shows the traditional meaning of curved top in Song Dynasty. The doors of Minnan folk houses are also quite elegant. The doors must be centered and go deep into the distance, forming a hall, causing a larger void level and increasing the physical changes of the building.

Among the wedding customs in southern Fujian, there is a custom of tying red silk thread throughout the wedding. As a mascot, this custom runs through the whole wedding process because of its beautiful meaning of "unite as one and grow old together".

The first use of red silk thread was when proposing marriage. In the accompanying meeting ceremony, the man should tie up the package with a red silk thread or use a red line instead. When entering the woman's house, put it in a conspicuous position in the hall to show good luck. When both parties are satisfied with the marriage, the next step is to choose the wedding date, commonly known as "choosing a date". "Choosing a date" means that the man chooses a relative who is respected and trusted by both sides as an envoy to avoid the woman showing her "birthday". When you finish writing "Birthday", you should wrap it in red paper with red silk thread inside, so that the man can bring back the meaning of "Match your birthday and choose a date" to tie the knot.

On the wedding day, the two sides should tie a small red silk thread and a small red paper on many gifts given to each other. Such as motorcycles and refrigerators, as small as a pair of scissors; From fresh foods such as fish, meat and noodles to gift boxes containing dried fruits and non-staple foods such as biscuits, candy and cigarettes; Even all gifts given by both parties, including large and small red envelopes, should be serious and unambiguous.

When the wedding ceremony is held, in addition to the wedding couplets, decorations made of red stripes and red silk thread should be pasted on the door eyebrows of the hall and the new house for good luck. It is really a veritable "marriage line".

According to folk stories, there has been a "marriage line of thousands of miles" since ancient times. There is an old man in charge of marriage. It is destined that only one red line will trip these two people's feet. You two families are separated by the sea, and you will have a chance to become husband and wife in the end. If old people don't have to tie a red line under the moon, they can't be together anymore. Nowadays, the custom of tying red silk thread preserved in southern Fujian is rare.

On the third day of the third lunar month, there is an old custom of ancestor worship in southern Fujian and Taiwan Province Province, which is called "March Festival". When offering sacrifices to ancestors, people should first offer sacrifices to ancestors in ancestral temples or at home, and then go up the mountain to sweep graves. After arriving at the cemetery, they must first worship the "land god". Then, they will press paper on the graves of their ancestors, fill the graves and paint them with red ink to show that their descendants will not forget their ancestors' kindness. Taiwan Province compatriots brought the customs of their ancestors to the other side of the Straits, and they still follow these customs today.

Clothes:

Friends or relatives of friends are not allowed to wear red, flowered or brightly colored clothes at funerals.

Don't put clothes on your body to mend them.

Don't wear clothes directly without putting them away after drying.

Avoid wearing it backwards.

Say "fairy" instead of "talent" when raising silkworms.

Eat:

Go to a fisherman's house and avoid turning the fish over when eating.

Don't crush noodles with chopsticks on your birthday.

When cooking steamed cakes and steamed cakes during the Chinese New Year, it is forbidden for children or others to point at the stove, talk loudly or guess "fat" and "not fat".

Pregnant women should avoid eating ginger, crabs and rabbits.

Don't put chopsticks in your rice bowl.

Children should avoid knocking on bowls with chopsticks when eating or before eating.

Live broadcast:

Avoid washing your face before going to bed.

Gaicuo taboo: "in front of the palace and behind the ancestral temple".

The mirror shouldn't face the bed.

Don't put the bed in the top cabinet, beam or light.

Ok:

It's really unlucky to have bird droppings on your head when you go out. If you are unlucky, you must change your luck quickly: eat a bowl of pig's foot noodles.

When going out to enjoy the moon, children should not use their fingers to avoid having their ears cut off at night.

Gift:

Avoid giving people towels, fans, scissors and umbrellas.

The word "towel" in Quanzhou dialect is homophone with the word "root". As the saying goes, "the towel is cut now." After the funeral, the mourners should be given towels to "sever" the connection between the mourners and the dead. Therefore, when you give someone a towel at ordinary times, you can't help thinking of an unlucky funeral or breaking off diplomatic relations.

Fans only cool down in summer and are abandoned in late autumn. In Quanzhou dialect, "Fan" and "Jian" are pronounced together. As the saying goes, "send fans, don't meet each other", so it is forbidden to use "fans" as gifts.

Scissors always remind people of "make a clean break" and "make a clean break", which not only means that the giver breaks off diplomatic relations with the recipient, but also cannot be used as a gift.

It is forbidden to send clocks in some places in the north, because "bell" and "end" are homophonic. Quanzhou people do not have this taboo. In the past, when people got married, they often put the clocks given by others in a quite conspicuous place.

Except; Umbrellas are not suitable as gifts either. "San" and "San" are homophones in Quanzhou dialect.