Spring Festival custom in Sanming, Fujian

Sanming, Fujian has the following Spring Festival customs:

First, Daejeon Wolong

Datian bench dragon (also known as board lantern dragon) dances in the countryside or on the street every year on the Lantern Festival [the fifteenth day of the first month], commonly known as welcoming dragons. It consists of a dragon ball, a faucet, a dragon body and a dragon tail, all made of bamboo, light board, dragon paper and other materials, which are bundled in sections and then stitched. Daejeon Bench Dragon-has been listed in the national intangible cultural heritage list.

Second, Wolong, Cao Yang

Bench dragon, also known as plum bamboo lantern, is a dragon dance of the Han nationality. It is said that it originated in the Han Dynasty and evolved from the religious activity of "dancing dragons for rain".

Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a drought, and a waterspout in the East China Sea jumped out of the water and it rained heavily. But because it violated the dogma, it was cut into pieces and scattered around the world. People put the dragon's body on a bench and connect it (people call it "Wolong"). People run around the clock and tell each other that it can survive, so there is the custom of jumping in Wolong.

Dragon dancing can also be divided into "dry dragon" and "wet dragon". "Dry dragon" is mostly for entertainment, and "wet dragon" is for rain. Wherever the "Dragon" goes, people will splash water and cheer, and dancers will get soaked.

Third, Mei Liebi Xi Wolong

A row of lanterns leads the way in front, followed by a candle bridge, like a long dragon. From the village head, they swam all the way around the village. The old people in every household have already set the table, laid the offerings and prepared incense sticks to wait at the door. When the candle bridge arrived, they lit incense sticks and set off firecrackers to welcome them.

Four, Youxi Meixian welcome bench dragon

The dragon lanterns in Meixian Town, Youxi, Sanming are different from those in other areas. They are called Wolong, and they are handmade. It is a wooden board, about 2 meters long and 20 centimeters wide. It is made of bamboo sticks, pasted with white paper, made into a dragon body in the shape of a stove, painted with colorful moire patterns and lit with candles.

Fifth, Songyang welcomes the torch.

Songyang Village has its own unique lantern way-"Candle Bridge". Some households have a board and some households have a board. The manufacturing method is basically the same: the two ends of a plank about 2.5 meters long are drilled into fork-shaped boards, and incense sticks are inserted into the boards to make wooden lifting bars (with a round hole drilled in the middle) and Mu Cha shafts. During the performance, the bridge plates are connected in pairs to form a candle bridge, and the lifting bar must be fixed at the joint of the bridge plates.

Legend has it that when the former owner of Songyang Village, Duke of Southern Dynasties, defeated foreign invasion and returned to the village triumphantly, he learned that it was dark when he entered the village. In order to meet him, the villagers lit candles on the bridge deck early, connected them in series, carefully wrapped dried bamboo slices with oil firewood, made a big fire stick three or four meters long, and accompanied by Xiao Sheng Gule, went out to meet him. Candle bridge lights have been circulating for more than 600 years.

6. Huolongdu, Yuncheng Village, Shaxian County

Crossing the fire dragon is a popular folk activity in Jianhe Village, Fenggang Street. Every year on the first night of the second lunar month, a fire road with a width of about 1.5 m and a length of about 10 m is paved on the ground with burning charcoal fire, and the performers run barefoot from one end of the fire road to the other, so as to get rid of the bad smell and get happiness in the coming year.

At the same time, put the brick in a nearby fire to burn red, and take it out by hand, indicating the desire to "hold the brick" and get rich. It is said that those who have played the dragon and held the golden brick need to fast for seven days, otherwise they will burn their hands and feet. This folk custom may come from the ancestor's worship of fire.

Seven, Xia Mao fish lamp

Dancing fish is commonly known as dancing fish. According to legend, it was spread by Jiangxi folk artists when they came to work in Xiamao 500 years ago, and it has been circulating in Xiamao for a long time. Every year, from the first day of the first month to the fifteenth day of the first month of the Spring Festival, fish dance teams are launched in villages, holding fish lanterns tied with bamboo and pasted with colored paper, and rolling through the streets in the sound of gongs and drums, splashing fish, indicating blessing and symbolizing that there is more than enough money every year.