What are the origins, customs and activities of the official kiln lettuce meeting in Foshan?

As a unique folk custom, the official kiln lettuce festival is well known. The official kiln lettuce party is said to have originated in the Ming Dynasty, flourished in the Qing Dynasty and continued to this day. This is a major local folk activity, and there is a saying that "lettuce will celebrate the New Year", and the number of participants is often as high as over 100,000. The origin of the Royal Kiln Lettuce Club In order to fully understand the history of the Lettuce Club, the reporter visited Zhou Qilong, Liu and other old people in the Imperial Kiln, and learned that there is a famous temple at the end of the street of the Old Imperial Kiln and a famous golden lotus temple at the nun's place. The predecessor of Lettuce Club is located in Dajiang Village. Good men and women ate lettuce bags and went to these two temples to pay homage. One year, because the White Lotus Temple was burned, Taoist priests were separated, and then the ancient Fengshan Temple (also known as White Kannonji) was built. The incense of this temple originated in the Ming Dynasty and flourished in the Qing Dynasty. The official kiln lettuce society can also be said to have originated in the Ming Dynasty, flourished in the Qing Dynasty and continued to this day. Careful preparation. The preparation for the lettuce party begins at the end of each year. In December of the lunar calendar, the main emblem is marked, and the "tail tooth" is attached to the main authority. The investment price is relatively high, about 3000 taels of silver, which will be handed over on New Year's Eve in the old calendar year. On the tenth day of the first month, the lantern parade began, and everyone held fire baskets and lanterns to parade all night. Then, the host invited Bayin to the provincial capital, set a big show, and began to build bamboo sheds and pontoons to facilitate the berthing of ships from afar. All the work will be finished before the 23rd. Ten days ago, the purple hole boat and the lower cabin on the Pearl River were fully booked. Regardless of distance, men and women are generally crowded around and come to the official kiln by boat. Villagers and overseas Chinese businessmen from Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macao and Nanyang went hand in hand by land and gathered at the official kiln lettuce party as scheduled. On the evening of the 24th, the drama began. The first play is The Great Seal of Six Countries, followed by Tian Ji's Send the Son and Happy Birthday to the Eight Immortals. The people attending the theatre are divided into men and women, women left and men right, and there are no seats in the middle. The poor brothers stand in this place and watch, which is called "nail play". After the play, the dignitaries stood at the exit of the women's shed to meet their wives. On the evening of 25th, all pilgrims stayed at the Imperial Kiln Inn. Rooms have already been booked, and scattered shops are full. These good men and women compete for futons and sit on the floor, near Baiyi Temple. On the 26th, people took futons in droves and went to the lettuce stall to eat lettuce buns. The fried rice in the bag is mixed with clams, pickles, arrowheads, vermicelli and so on. All vegetarian dishes, wrapped in raw vegetables and dipped in seafood sauce. Delicious. Delicious. In the White Temple, the Buddha's lamp has been lit, the incense tower hovers, the light smoke fills the air, and the atmosphere is solemn and solemn. Between the mist curtain, the kind-hearted Guanyin sat on the lotus platform and accepted the worship of good men and women kneeling on the futon. The bodhisattvas on the left and right, such as the Tibetan king, Guan Di and Tian Hou, are safe and sound. There are too many people visiting the shrine, and the temples and auxiliary staff are as busy as a bee. The incense has just been inserted firmly, so it needs to be taken away at once, otherwise there will be no place to put the incense burner. Believers who worship Guanyin and donate sesame oil money walk from the side door to the back of the temple. Under the bamboo cultivation in Maolin, there is an approximately circular cave with a diameter of half a meter and a depth of nearly 0.6 meters. Water is full of feet, and live snails are raised. Snails represent sons and clams represent daughters. This is the legendary Mozi Rock full of supernatural and mysterious. I saw the faithful woman cleaning her hands with holy water, holding her sleeves and holding out her jade hand. Timid and cautious, they touched the water in the rock. If you meet a stone snail, you will smile and hold your hand. When you touch a clam, you will feel disappointed. You will continue to pray sincerely and touch it again. Most of you will be satisfied in the end. Wandering and grabbing fireworks are the "highlights" of the lettuce party, which is the most lively. It was Japanese leaders who organized villagers to travel with statues of bodhisattvas such as "Tianhou", "Guanyin" and "Beidi", and the team carried banners and gongs to make way for people to worship. The next day, as usual, the magic gun was burned, and there was a sea of people, robbers and spectators were packed. The gun is as big as a bamboo tube, with a copper ring around its waist. The gun goes off and flies into the sky. Armed robbers organized a capable team, planning and commanding, grabbing the ball and passing the ball in an orderly way, echoing each other, singing loudly and determined to win, which was even more intense than today's American football. Fire six shots in a row, namely the first shot, the second shot, the third shot, the third shot, the fourth shot and the fifth shot. Among them, grabbing three cannons is the most expensive, also called Ding Cai cannons. The official kiln lettuce club originated in the Ming Dynasty, flourished in the Qing Dynasty and continued until the late Republic of China. It was still held intermittently in the early 1950s after liberation. The most prosperous year was 22 years of the Republic of China. It is said that Chen's seventh mistress Mo Xiuying also came to worship God. More than 70 purple hole boats are beside the pontoon bridge, from the Yin-Yang Gate of Blessing to the dock. There are more than 50 lion wakes, gongs and drums are loud, and stalls in Kwai Shed are dotted, selling medicines, performing arts, juggling, asking fortune tellers, divining fortune tellers, and all kinds of things are noisy day and night. Ceng Sanduo and Gui heavily hired him to perform Cantonese opera in the art festival. The official kiln lettuce party also provides a good business opportunity for businessmen. Time goes by and times change. In the early 1980s, the government of Guanyao Town Committee held a lettuce party in the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month, which changed the customs and gave it a new meaning of attracting investment, and it became more and more successful every year. In recent years, lion dance, golden dragon parade along the street, sports competitions, martial arts performances, literary parties, fireworks parties, garden parties and other programs have been held on the day of the lettuce party. What's more worth mentioning is that the lettuce fair also attracted many foreign friends to attend, which built a bridge for local investment attraction. The Millennium ancient town, full of historical charm and amazing folk customs, shows the society a brand-new and hopeful official kiln, and lettuce will become the diplomatic business card of the official kiln.

Please accept it, thank you!