What do you mean by jumping a monk?

"Jumping over the wall" is a ritual in both Buddhism and Taoism.

In the past, some children were not seriously ill and weak, but they were considered "difficult to feed" after fortune telling. Others say nonsense like "parents". So adults send their children to temples as so-called "jumping monks" or "jumping monks". It is said that few people become "jumping lamas". In order to achieve the purpose of eliminating disasters for children in praying for treatment.

"Jumping Monk", "Jumping Monk" or "Jumping Lama" are neither official monks nor ordained. They just hang their names in temples, so they are also called "registered monks" and "registered monks". This custom was very popular before the 1940s. Usually, children are asked to go to the temple to recognize a monk or Taoist as their master and become "registered disciples". Then every few years, a "jumping over the wall" ceremony will be held to improve customs.

The "jumping over the wall" ceremony for children of Buddhism and Taoism is similar. Take the "jumping over the wall" ceremony of Buddhist children as an example.

Rich families, taking their children to the temple to recognize Master, shave their heads and take a bath in advance, put on a monk's costume from top to bottom, and give many gifts to the temple and Master. Among them, a pair of monk shoes must be customized for master, and the sole should be integrated into a small piece of hair of the child. Please give one or three big offerings (such as honey, cakes, fresh noodles and fresh fruits) and seal some "incense money" (cash money) as offerings to take children to the main hall of the temple one day. First of all, parents offer incense and let the children kowtow to Buddha, Grandpa Shi, Grandpa Shi, Master Shi and Uncle Shi. If the recipient didn't arrive for some reason, they also asked the children to kowtow to Buddha III and said, "I'm going to kowtow." Then, Master sent me a red envelope with a red sticker, which said, "Disciple's Dharma Name XXX", and hung a so-called "lock" around the child's neck, with three small copper (silver) coins tied around the child's neck with a red silk rope, and a Buddha's bead. Then a Buddhist ceremony was held with the grandfather, master, monk and lay man of this temple. The monk and lay man shouted loudly. After the confession, the children's parents paid for the vegetarian feast for the monks.

Master can give his disciples some gifts at will, such as robes, hats, scriptures, wooden fish and so on. If the child is very young, you need to give the child a "hundred pads" and let the child spread it on the pillow as a pillow towel at night.

After recognizing the master, the child becomes a registered disciple. Although it means that he converted to the three treasures of Buddhism, Dharma and monks, he may not really go to the temple to practice, and he does not have to go to the temple to live the same religious life as a monk. Only on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, or on Buddhist festivals, such as February 19, Buddha Sakyamuni's birthday on April 8, Buddha's enlightenment on June 19, Bonism Festival on July 15, and Buddha's becoming a monk on September 19./kloc-.

As for when to "jump off the wall", there is no specific regulation. All registered monks must hold a "jumping over the wall" ceremony three days before marriage to show secularization.

According to the old rules, on the day when the child jumps over the wall, the family will send a donkey to the temple, or ask the changing shop to post a paper donkey, which means that instead of the child, he will contribute to the temple in the future and serve the "three treasures", namely Buddhism, Dharma and monks. I want to make a monk's costume, including monk hat, monk shoes and monk socks, but I don't wear it on children, but on my temples to show that I just took it off. In addition, you must buy 50 pairs of chopsticks (* * * 100), a new broom, a new dustpan and a new duster, and put them on your temples for later use. There is a bench in front of the temple, which is covered with five feet of red cloth, indicating that it is the red wall of the temple.

The ceremony began after the monks fasted. First, parents led their children to the temple to set incense, and kowtowed to Buddha, Grandpa Shi, Grandpa Shi, Master Shi and Uncle Shi in turn for a week. Master used scissors to break off the three small copper (silver) coins on the original "lock" and let the children pretend to clean the temple with newly bought brooms and dustpans, which is nothing more than sweeping the high-fragrant wrapping paper and incense ashes in front of the altar. Then, the two men twisted a piece of red cloth, dressed the child in a new robe, and stood under the robe, facing the outside of the temple. At this moment, Master came over and said, "My parents were frightened by the disaster when they were young. Since entering an empty door, all Buddha belts. The front hall is unclean, and the back hall is not worshipped. Take off your robe and drive out of the city gate ... "He said that he would let out one hundred chopsticks together and drop them on the red cloth on the child's head, which means playing one hundred mord sticks. Simply don't use red cloth, master uses a ruler to make a gesture, even if it is played. At this time, the child should immediately take off his robe, jump over the bench representing the temple wall in front of the temple, run hundreds of steps and never look back. Subsequently, the monks recited "disaster relief and refuge", that is, "auspicious mantra" Finally, when the monk on duty invited Xianggen down, those with paper donkeys were to be incinerated together, so they made a ceremony.

The child "jumped off the wall" from the temple and saw the first bathhouse and barber shop, so he was ready to take a shower and shave his head. It means it's all over again.

Excerpted from Customs of Old Beijing, Beijing Yanshan Publishing House, 2nd edition, June 1996.