What does the old man's nest mean?

Who knows the custom of boat people on the Huaihe River in Bengbu?

Customs of boat people in Huaihe River in Bengbu

"Pay attention to taboos in peacetime" is a major feature of the life of boat people in Bengbu Huaihe River. There are similarities and differences in taboos among different groups. "Rowing a boat" (building a new boat), it is generally believed that the front wave-blocking seam cannot be connected with the rear wave-blocking seam, and two seams must be broken (avoided). Otherwise, it is considered that the front cabin is flowing away and the rear cabin is unlucky. Sell boats, not springboard, or you will sell your way to make money. Don't sell the "children's door" (in the middle of the hatch), otherwise there will be no children or girls. People can't sit on the "jump" head, otherwise business will be blocked and not smooth. Women can't cross the bow, which is considered unlucky (Beijiang gang is not taboo), so the boats of Nanjiang gang all take "side jump". When you buy a pot, you can't empty the boat. You should put tofu and other things in the pot. Nanhe Gang can't buy pig heads, urine horses (toilets), pots and so on. Directly from someone else's boat, but you must float on the water or paddle with your own paddle. Carrying an oil pot on someone else's boat means that when crossing the lake, you often encounter wind and waves and can't get out of the lake. Oil is in the lake. Don't do it on someone else's boat by washing the quilt and covering it. Being "carried" is homophonic, which will make people unlucky. Ship owners do not borrow bread and noodles, nor do they lend others fire, for fear that their "wealth" and "wealth fire" will be borrowed by others. The big mast is called the general, and it can't be untied near the big mast. Some gangs think that there are "gentlemen" (that is, white and fox), and they pay special tribute to "gentlemen" on New Year's Eve. Usually very cautious, children occasionally pee by the big mast, adults must immediately burn incense and kowtow, pray for "Mr." to forgive, or the child will have a fever. If the big mast breaks, it indicates that the owner of the ship will be in big trouble. If this happens, even if the husband kowtows and burns incense and wishes, he will still be worried all day long. The boatman thinks that the needle is something that pokes the eyes of the god of wealth, and it is forbidden to move the needle on the seventh, seventeenth and twenty-seventh lunar months. He also thinks scissors is a tortoise that has lost its family. Scissors are not allowed on the sixth, sixteenth and 26th of the lunar calendar every month. On New Year's Eve, the ship's elders always tell the younger generation to seal the scissors with red paper and not open them until the sixteenth anniversary. Syllables such as "turn" and "sink" are particularly taboo for boat people. So Chen's name is "don't move", "rice filling" means "rice loading", "sail" means "canopy", "capsizing" means "capsizing", and "capsizing mast" is the most powerful language for boatmen to swear. For good luck, jiaozi is called "Rao" and noodles are called "Qianben". The ship has committed a "taboo", that is, it is considered to have closed other people's financial doors and luck. Violators should open a "financial door" for it, that is, shoot guns, burn incense, or "hang red" with red rooster. Sailing on a foggy and cloudy day, a carp jumped on the bow, and the boatman thought it was the third prince of the Dragon King on board, which was a good omen. Kowtow and burn incense, tie a red rope to the carp and put it back into the water according to the rules of jumping on the port side and putting it on the starboard side. This is called "releasing". Some gangs often buy live carp from the market and release them. Some people don't eat carp and snakehead. It is said that when the female snakehead gives birth, she sinks under the eggs day and night and does not swim to protect the safety of her offspring. After the little black fish is born, the old black fish will be blind for a short time because of overwork and can't find food. At this time, the little black fish surrounded the old black fish, beside their mouths, for them to swallow. The little black fish didn't leave until the old black fish regained his sight. So boatmen call snakehead "filial fish". Not only do they not eat snakeheads, but they often buy them at high prices and set them free. As a symbol of each boathouse, raise the national flag or fish (wood) on the boat. The flag of Beihe Gang is called "crooked hair" and the flag of Nanhe Gang is called "beating foreign sticks". The flag is at the bow and the octopus is at the stern. Each flag has different colors and specifications, and the tall flagpole is more than 12 meters. Other gangs must pass under the banner, otherwise it will be regarded as disrespectful to the gangs. Often a group of ships are together, flags are flying, and the sound of hunting is very spectacular. The idea that men are superior to women has different effects on each gang. In South River Gang, Yellow River Gang, Huai Gang and other gangs, girls have lived in cabins since childhood and are generally not allowed to show their faces. Older girls specialize in sewing in the cabin, serving tea and meals. It is generally not allowed to cross the mast after marriage, mainly cooking and sewing in the back cabin. Otherwise, girls are suspected of attracting butterflies, while women are frivolous and contemptuous. But it's different in the net gang, gun gang and cat boat. Girls wear silver collars and "nose muffs" (gold or silver) since childhood, and learn skills such as swimming, fishing, netting and hunting waterfowl with adults. After marriage, they wore white cloth towels and silver collars around their necks and fished and hunted in front of men. Because of women's different roles in work and life, these boat people are also called "helping Han people". Women who support the Han clan often stand on the hull of a ship and paddle. Their bodies are light and powerful, and their posture is beautiful and moving. They are listed as one of the beautiful scenery of boatmen, especially for women. Each gang also has its own escort ship. The Shandong Gang and the Subei Gang took "Laoguan" as the ship protector. On the left side of the big mast Liang Shi, there is an ingot incense burner, which is dedicated to incense all year round. I hope it can guard the home and protect the ship. South River Gang, Yellow River Gang, etc. To the "King", there are many Dawang temples donated by boat people in towns and villages along the Huaihe River. These help ships raise the "Wang Qi" early on the first and fifteenth day of each month and set it late. When they are killed, they pray for the king's blessing. During the Spring Festival, all hail the king is a great ceremony for these boatmen. What is a big prince? It is said that it is a small snake less than seven inches, with a square head, and often follows the mop into the boat on foggy and cloudy days. Only at this time can such a small snake get on the boat be called the king. Boatman boarding is also an important event. After the boatman found it, he invited the big prince up with a clean plate and covered the lantern cover. Then, beating gongs and drums, burning incense and shooting guns, holding the big prince in hand, took a boat to inform neighboring ships, and each ship donated incense watches one after another. Finally, the boatmen followed the temple to "send the king" (there is no temple in the lake, and the king sent it to the bow water). Legend has it that when seeing the king off, he shouted, "Your Majesty, change your robe." You can see the big prince turn black, red or suit. Boat people on the Huaihe River are divided into four types according to their costumes and accents: cat, savage, ugly and claw. As a cat boat, there are two opinions: one refers to the boat people below Hongze Lake and around Helixia River; Fishing boats fishing for a living in Huaihe River. There are two names for net gang: one refers to fishing boats, and the other refers to fishing boats and gunboats that hunt waterfowl. The worship of God by the net gang, also known as "burning paper", is the collective action of the whole gang. Usually dozens of ships are together, covered with white cloth tents, and there are 100 kinds of white cloth hanging around the tents. Usually held for three days and nights, they burn incense and kowtow, and ask Duan Gong (Han Shen) to "open the door". Duan Gong was topless and crossed in red. While singing, he knocked on the sheepskin drum, performed an oil pan touching copper coins, and cut his arms and chest with a knife. Therefore, as the saying goes, "Duan Gong lost his sheepskin drum-there is no god." The cost of "burning big paper" is shared equally on the boat, so the boatman also calls it "cat boat", which has nowhere to make money except burning big paper. It can be seen that gifts cost a lot of money. Most of the net-gang boats near Bengbu Port live a small fishing boat life of "fish die without closing their eyes, and the net is dry without money", and they don't pay much attention to taboos. Usually in the off-season of fishing in spring, I will go to the east of the Changhuai River to offer sacrifices to the gods. It is said that there is a deep-water nest where an "old giant salamander" (turtle essence) lives. If fishermen don't sacrifice to it, it will make waves. You can't catch fish in the light. If it is serious, you will capsize and die. Fishermen go there to burn incense and kowtow at the bow, offering sacrifices to pig's head, trotters, pig's tail (instead of the whole pig) or big carp, red rooster and colorful fruit, praying for the blessing of the old giant salamander. This ceremony is called "burning Buddha". In the life of boat people, guns, incense and yellow paper are their biggest expenses, and each boat usually has a large number of such consumables. They have spent a lot of money and kowtowed a lot, but most of the boat people are still miserable. Generally speaking, the women on board have strong fertility (according to modern science, it should be related to their frequent eating of fish), with more than five women in their life, 10 women. But not many adults, most of them died of illness in the river. In order to protect these young offspring, the ship has formed a set of parenting rules. Judging from the little boy's braid and fetal hair, he was not shaved until he was 6 years old or 12 years old. When the child is 3 years old, he makes a wide cloth belt more than a foot long with red cloth, which is called "faucet belt". One end is tied to the cabin and the other end is made into an image. Now the safety belt is fastened on the child to prevent the child from falling into the water. When you are four or five years old, give your child a red lacquer gourd with a bell. If you fall into the water, you don't have to sink to the bottom, which is easy to be found and rescued. On holidays, parents often ask the boat for rice or noodles and some colorful cloth heads to make "hundred meals" and "hundred clothes" for their children (boatmen are very happy with this kind of kindness, so they usually accept new cloth heads for others to ask for). Children eat "a hundred meals" and wear "a hundred clothes", which means that they can live a long and healthy life if they are raised by a hundred families. The child is a little sick, and the boatmen mostly pray for God, make wishes and "make vinegar stalls". When the child is seriously ill, the mother cries the soul of the child at night. Children born in the New Year are called "children who catch up with the New Year" and are considered blessed. Old people are respected on board. The younger generation in the family is about 60 years old and usually makes coffins for them. Rich people often make high-standard longevity materials such as "Four Happiness" and "Twelve Round Flowers". Paint it with raw lacquer and draw patterns such as dragons and phoenixes on it. After the old man died and entered the coffin, he paid special attention to the feng shui buried with him. Usually, Mr. Feng Shui is asked to take care of the Feng Shui site and bury it nearby. Sometimes, in order to find a good feng shui, a sealed coffin can be put on the boat for three or four years. Unfortunately, two people died on some ships, and when they left the coffin, the coffin of the younger generation was carried out and buried by the elders. If an old man over 80 years old dies in his family, he will turn grief into joy and the funeral will be regarded as a happy event. Burial customs are the same as those in towns and villages along the Huaihe River. Usually, boat people in Huaishang have no hometown. When they talk about their hometown, especially where the graves of their elders are buried, they claim to be from that place.

Boat people's marriage customs In marriage, boat people in Huaishang abide by feudal ethics and strictly abide by "parents' orders and matchmakers' words". Free love is considered as "hooking up first and then getting married", so both mother-in-law and daughter-in-law will be looked down upon and can't lift their heads. When a man and a woman propose marriage, the man first entrusts a matchmaker to negotiate. The man used a red paper passbook, with the word "autumn" capitalized on the folding surface and the man's birthday lowercase on the folding surface. The woman used a green paper passbook to write the word "allow" on the outside and a woman's birthday on the inside. That is, ask the fortune teller to calculate whether the two are a good match, which is called "matching eight characters". There are usually: Ssangyong can't lie in one bed; Dragon and rabbit waited for the wrong time, so they couldn't get married and failed to propose marriage. If the two parties match, that is, choose a double date, the matchmaker takes the man's calligraphy and several sets of clothes, puts two pots of evergreen on the table, and inserts a small red flag on the pot of evergreen (meaning the Millennium Covenant between the two families). At the same time, take a rice bowl and tea to the woman's boat and exchange books. This is called "passing books". After "writing a book", the two sides set a wedding date and chose the so-called auspicious day of the zodiac. Three days before marriage, the bride should go on a diet (the bride and groom are not allowed to meet before marriage, otherwise it will be unlucky). On the wedding day, the man's boat was in Sheung Shui and the woman's boat was in the water. In the morning, the man marries the bride with a sedan chair paddle (the sedan chair paddle is turned over with a big table, and the legs are put up on the paddle to facilitate flower arrangement, and the paddle is tied with red cloth), and the matchmaker is the man's authorized representative. The matchmaker paddles ahead, and the sedan chair paddles behind. The sedan chair contains the new couple's clothes, shoes, crown and bride price. When the wedding rowing boat meets the woman's boat, the person who congratulates her sometimes combines the boat with the woman's boat. The matchmaker must give out red envelopes, which is called "the ceremony to untie the cable". Hershey's talent paddled the merged boat and let the wedding boat lean against the woman's boat. With the sound of firecrackers, the couple put on new clothes and shoes brought by their in-laws, covered their heads, got into the sedan chair with the help of their parents, and moved their dowry. At the very least, the bride's family should have an ever-burning lamp, a girl, a red cloth bag (wrapped with a copper coin), a blue apron, a rice bowl, two sets of bedding and so on. And there are no restrictions on rich parents. Therefore, boat people have the saying that "a girl can survive without suffering". The bride sits on a sedan chair with a sieve standing behind her. There is a mirror in the sieve, which means "looking at the mirror", which means to ward off evil spirits. The bride is holding a bronze mirror with the mirror facing forward. Before leaving, the bride's family fired a kiss. The matchmaker's paddle is in front, the sedan chair's paddle is in the middle, and then the farewell paddle (it must be the woman's man's farewell). When the boat was halfway to her parents' house, the brother or nephew of the bride on the farewell boat began to shout: Sister (aunt), please turn the mirror. The bride puts the mirror on her chest and faces inward, which means that the light shines on her husband's family first and then on her family. At this time, the farewell rowing boat turned around and went back to her mother's house instead of going to her husband's house. The bride's sedan chair got on her husband's boat, and the husband's family fired guns and beat drums to meet her. The first thing the bride does when she gets on the boat is to pick up the headscarf. There are two kinds of picking methods: one is male cousin picking, using scales, and singing while picking: "Small scales are round, and the stars are all the way to the end. Today, I took it in my hand and took off the hijab with the couple. " "The hijab is lifted to the sky, and there is a jade fairy sitting inside ..." Every time I sing, the onlookers cheer in unison. "Good!" On the other hand, the groom himself chooses a pair of chopsticks wrapped in red paper, the invited people sing happy words, and the onlookers are well-intentioned. Take off the hijab and put it directly on the couple's bed. The second thing is to worship heaven and earth. Boat people take port as the top, starboard as the bottom and incense table as the top. For ancestors, parents and relatives sit at the top in order. The ceremony was sung by the master of ceremonies, and the objects of worship were arranged by him. The couple stood at the bottom, first worshiping heaven and earth, ancestors, parents and other relatives, and finally the two of them worshipped together. Everyone, including parents, has a red paper envelope as a "meeting gift", which is given to the couple by the master of ceremonies after the worship. After that, the couple sat in the new bed and drank jujube soup, which means giving birth early. Lunch is given to relatives. Newcomers sit with them first, and then they sit on the bed. This is called "sitting rich". Women sit until they fall asleep at night, while men symbolically sit for a while and then leave. Celebrate the guests in the evening, and the newcomers will not accompany them. Most banquets are ten dishes and ten bowls, which are called ten dishes (meaning is real). As soon as the groom started serving the first course, the waiter shouted, "upstart stands for food." The groom immediately took off his hat, bowed twice at each table and left. After dinner, I saw the groom enter the room and called "farewell". A total of four people saw each other off. The first two people hold candles, and the last two people give each other gifts. One of them is the lead singer of auspicious words. Every time he sings, the other deliveryman says yes. The person who sent the house to sing should have a certain eloquence and act according to circumstances, otherwise the groom will not be sent to the new house easily. After the groom entered the room, the delivery man sang: "A bright candle in hand, a good dowry for the newlyweds, an eight-step bed with a high cabinet and a low box, a pair of mandarin ducks, a pair of mandarin ducks ……" Then he began to make the bed and sang: "A handful of chestnuts and dates, and the scattered children ran away from the bed". After making the bed, the task of handing over the house is completed. Relatives, mostly cousins, began to make trouble in the bridal chamber, which was more humorous. But no matter how noisy, the new home should not be annoyed, otherwise it will be considered unlucky. Many people who have sex regard ginkgo, jujube, safflower and cake in the couple's bed as disaster-free items and compete for them. Some gangs are still playing tricks on the old man. In these gangs, old people have to leave in front of noisy rooms. Otherwise, if he is caught in a noisy room, his face will be smeared with pot ashes, and his new wife will be dragged on the boat with fiberboard on her back. The new house is located in the back of the ship. Newcomers need full blessings just like people on the shore (in-laws, husbands, women with children), but the way to make the bed is not the same. Some are looking for/kloc-children and men under 0/2 years old; Some people have been looking for a big adobe press on the shore for many years, hoping that future children can be as strong and long-lived as adobe; Some people use big radishes to press the bed, thinking that the children born in the future will be as many and as watery as radishes. When couples go to bed, the man's hat is pressed on the woman's hijab, and the man's shoes are put in the woman's shoes. The above is the "big wedding". In addition, some of them are due to taboos and other reasons, or the eight characters are a bit out of line, or the husband's family is sick, which appears in the form of "small marriage". Most of the "small marriages" are when the bride's family takes the initiative to send the bride to her husband's boat and marry the groom. When the situation changes, the ceremony will be held another day. "Small marriage" is simpler in form than "big marriage". At the "big wedding", the next morning after the couple got married, the couple sat in the first place, had a reunion dinner with their in-laws, and then had dinner. The couple sat next to each other according to their seniority. On the morning of the third day after the wedding, the bride, accompanied by Quan Fu, went down to the kitchen for the first time and asked the couple to hit 8 pieces of tofu with three knives, which meant that the couple was ingenious. Then Quanfu people took out a pair of chopsticks and sprinkled them on the chopping board, so that the new couple could grasp them with their right hands at one time, thus determining the sex of the first-born child. Grasping chopsticks is singular for boys and even for girls. If you return to China in three days, your family will come to pick you up, and the new couple will kowtow to their parents-in-law when they leave the ship. This is called "opening worship". Then go back to your parents' house with gifts. Some newcomers have come and gone together, while others have come and gone successively. The difference is that when going back to parents' home, the bride takes the boat first, and the groom takes the boat later. Go back to your husband's house, the groom will go back first, and the bride will come back later. When the groom arrived at the woman's house, the woman was greeted by two men on the boat, and they also wanted to say a lot of auspicious words. After the groom took it, he stood at the bow and took off his hat to express his gratitude. Then board the woman's boat. The woman's family gave a banquet at noon, and the couple sat first. The banquet is still "perfect". The difference is that newcomers must get up and leave the table when attending the fourth course, otherwise they will be considered insatiable and worthless. In the afternoon, when I went back to my husband's house, my family invited the couple to have Yuanxiao, which was called a reunion dinner. After dinner, the couple kowtowed to their parents' elders and relatives, received gifts, and then went back to their husband's house. The couple must get back to their parents' house before sunset. They can't stay at their parents' house. The husband's family is not allowed to be vacant for a month, otherwise it will be unlucky. When a bride becomes a monk, she must bring a close-fitting coat that she has worn. As the saying goes: I can't bear to part with my mom and dad, and I can't bear to wear a hot coat. Because of the heavy traffic on the boat, the bride can't go back to her family in time, so she can only stay on her husband's boat, not on other relatives' boats or neighbors' boats. It is said that the bride has "suffocation", which will bring bad luck to others. When a woman commits a taboo, her husband's family has to "make money" by shooting, burning incense and hanging red (introduced in the boat people's holiday custom). The situation is the same as that of a woman who is not yet full moon, which shows the status of women.

The boatmen celebrate the Spring Festival on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Laba rice is cooked with vegetables, peanuts, soybeans, vermicelli, rice or noodles for family dinner. Since then, preparations for the Spring Festival have begun. As the saying goes, eat laba rice and do it next year. Legend has it that offering sacrifices to stoves should be carried out according to social class. That is, on the 23rd, 24th, 25th and 26th of the twelfth lunar month, the "three officials, four people and five emperors" were held. But the boat still worships the stove according to the folk custom of 23. The ceremony was mainly presided over by the housewife on board. According to folklore, Kitchen God will "report to heaven" on this day and come back on the evening of 30th. When cooking dinner, take down the kitchen god statue attached at the back and burn it, kowtow and burn incense and pray, hoping that the kitchen god "speaks well in the sky and keeps peace underground." Firewood can only be cut by fire, not by hand, and the candy in the sacrificial stove is smeared on both sides of the pot cavity, which means that the kitchen god will not say unlucky things when eating candy, so the sacrificial stove is also called "sending the kitchen god". According to the morning of the 30th anniversary of Zhao Chuan (Liaochuan), the boat people tried to get up early. It is said that whoever gets up early will see the god of wealth. After getting up, the master first lit a torch and walked around the boat, which means to drive away bad luck with fire so as to prevent evil spirits from attaching to the boat, also called meteor boat. Hanging red is another ceremony after the meteor boat. Hanging red is not only carried out on the 30 th of the year, but also used this method to make amends. Hang Hong used a bald red rooster to kowtow and burn yellow watch paper, then killed the hung red chicken at the bow, and drained the cock's blood directly on the wave board in front of the boat, meaning that it opened the door of wealth and became popular. The longer the chicken on the front wave board bleeds, the happier the boat people will be, thinking that they can do more long-distance business and make a fortune in the new year. After hanging red, when the hung red chicken picks up its feathers, it leaves a pinch of chicken feathers (representing live chickens) on its head, tail and wings to offer sacrifices to the "king" together with carp and pig heads. After respecting the king generally hangs up, he begins to respect the king. Put a red rooster, carp and pig's head (including four hooves and one tail, representing the whole pig) on the bow, put it in a copper basin, and have steamed bread and candles. When poor boatmen worship the king, the offerings are mostly eggs, tofu, trough meat and other things, also known as "little three beasts." There are many big gongs on the Yellow River boat. When you worship the king, you should knock the gong three times, stop each time and set off a big firecracker. After toasting the king, I stopped sailing, Tujili. After all hail the king, the boatmen began to have breakfast. Putting Spring Festival couplets on boat people and putting Spring Festival couplets on Huaishang are basically the same, but the time is slightly different. Some are placed on the morning of New Year's Eve after honoring the king, some on New Year's Eve, and some on the morning of the first day of the year. "Sail for thousands of miles without waves at the bow" and "The wind is sent to Jiuzhou (Wancheng) from behind the rudder", and the two couplets are attached to the front wave barrier and the back wave barrier respectively. Three characters "Fu" are written on red paper and pasted on the bow, and three characters "Lu" are written on green paper and pasted on the stern. Outside the main cabin door, "Look up and see happiness" is posted, and inside it, "Make money for me" is posted. Some doors are posted with "Open the door and see the treasure of the river, and the bucket will make a fortune." Merchant ships also call the ship's big mast, two masts (2) and bollards "four generals". On the main mast, there are stickers such as "The General is awesome in all directions" or "The Nine-Day Real Person's Repdu sentient Beings", on the second mast, there are stickers such as "Two Commanders Hang Seal Hou", and on the general column (that is, the cable column), there are stickers such as "Three Commanders will be effective". On New Year's Eve, men are called ex-men and women are called post-men. ) Steaming New Year's Eve dinner from morning till night. Steaming steamed buns began on the evening of 29th, 2008. In order to avoid being gossiped, the children were pulled aside. Women don't take boats with each other at this time. Steamed bread baking powder should be pulled by hand, not cut with a knife, for fear of cutting off the noodle dragon, steamed bread is few, and steamed in the first pot. Put one on the plate first and put it on your head as a sign, so that others will not come aboard when they see it. Women are generally not allowed to talk when steaming steamed bread, but when opening the cage to take cooked steamed bread, they repeatedly say auspicious words such as "the ingots are full and buy their own bags". We should cook enough food for the whole family for three days on New Year's Eve. Eating hot leftovers from the first day to the third day is called "eating every other year", which means that you can't finish it every year and have money. The crispy rice is an ingot, and you can't eat it at all. To save enough water for the whole family for three days, you can't take water from the river at the beginning of the year, and you can use the river on the third day after burning incense. At this time, it is necessary to prepare a sewage bucket, and the used water cannot be poured into the river, otherwise "wealth" is considered to be poured out. On the evening of the 30th anniversary of Kitchen God, the people behind were busy picking up Kitchen God. The specifications of sacrificial offerings are the same as those of worshipping the king, but the difference is that worshipping the king is the first person's business, and women are not allowed to participate, while the kitchen king is the last person's full-time job, and men are not allowed to be around. According to the folk story, Kitchen God returned to earth on 30th to welcome him. After the women held the sacrificial ceremony, they put the "invited" image of Kitchen God on the back of the boat and prayed: Kitchen God, you are the head of the family, so you should be a prophet if you have something to do, and eat first to keep your family safe. At the same time, put the cooked dinner in a bowl, cover it with red paper and place it in front of the kitchen god statue. Hanging paper is also an activity on New Year's Eve. The boatman cut the red and green paper into a diamond pattern, connected them in parallel, stuck them on sesame stalks at one side, and hung them on the main hatch. Sesame stems mean "sesame blossoms are rising day by day", and the joint paper means "business is continuous". It's called "sending couplets", and it's not until the third day that it is taken down. After burning incense, the couplets are burned. As the saying goes, "burn couplets in three days and get back to your old job." Generally, normal life begins, but rich ships don't set sail until the fifth day, even after the fifteenth day, after burning incense and shooting. Stretching boatmen are equipped with statues of gods. Usually the boat is rolled up, the big boat is hung up, and there are curtains outside. On New Year's Eve, the rolled-up statue was hung up and stretched out. If you hang it at ordinary times, the curtains are open. From the first day to the fifth day, the boatman burns incense to the idol three times a day. On the fifth night, whether the idol is rolled up or pulled up. South River Gang and Yellow River Gang in Shengdawang Banner have this trick on New Year's Eve. Flags are mostly rectangular red flags (there are also white flags). One person sings and rises, while others speak well. "Yi Long Flag, Erfeng Flag ..." But it just stopped halfway. It rises to two-thirds of the height at midnight, and then rises to the top of the flagpole in the early morning of the first day of the new year. The flag was not lowered until noon on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year (there was no flag lowering ceremony). The lyrics of the Yellow River Gang's flag are as follows:

More than one flag, birds fly at the phoenix, and there was a hero Qin Qiong in the Tang Dynasty;

Two more flags, Feng Dan facing the sun, Wu Zixu crossing Zhaoguan, only protecting Huang Niang;

Three-night flag, three-yuan grounding gas, three-gas Zhou Yu of Yellow Crane Tower;

Four Seasons Peace in Sigeng Banner, Siming Mountain, Hammer Town, Li Yuanba;

Five more flags, five sons won the championship, and three thieves Yang took the Kowloon Imperial Cup;

Six more flags, six six Dashun, can be counted as Liu Bowen;

Seven more flags, seven stars pass the Beidou, and Yang Liulang keeps three customs;

Eight flags, eight gold characters, and beheading will seal Jiang Ziya;

Nine more flags, nine lotus lanterns, Yue Fei three Yang Zaixing;

Ten more flags, ten levels of wealth, crossing the sea to levy East Xue.

Live boat This is a collective activity of the crew on New Year's Eve. Live boats don't really paddle. Start the live ship, knock on the cabin gong and stack the deck. Then a person plays a tune, and everyone jumps on the boat with their feet while playing the song Yayayyo. The leader of the living ship (usually the person in charge) shook the anchor chain by hand and sang, "There are a lot of gold anchor chains, and home is in the old gentleman's furnace. It fell into my husband's hand today, so I took one from the old faucet. " Some sang: "The Yellow River has nine bends, but the head road is not as wide as two bends, three bends for horse racing, and four bends for sailing ..." At ordinary times, boatmen love boats like their lives, but now they are afraid that the number is not high and the boards are silent. Many boats are together, and the songs and jumps of the live broadcast boats come and go, forming a unique scenery for boatmen to celebrate the Spring Festival. The boat people who pick up the God of Wealth should remain 30 years old, give their children lucky money, play more cards, mahjong and so on. At midnight, two men at home are responsible for picking up the god of wealth. Fill a copper basin with red dates, safflower, ginkgo and yellow paper, pour good wine on it, and after lighting it, it will give off a rich fragrance. One person will run all over the cabin and take photos everywhere, and the next person will tell the auspicious words of picking up the god of wealth. On the morning of New Year's Day, the boatmen exchanged New Year's greetings. The first sentence: when you meet each other late, your peers respect each other like guests. The younger generation kowtows to the elders first, and the elders give money to pay New Year greetings. Then the boatmen invited each other to dinner, chat about friendship and play cards. During the festival, all the articles on board are collectively called "Yuanbao". For example, the bowl is called "Yuanbao Bowl" and the plate is called "Yuanbao Plate". For boatmen, ending the New Year is an important ceremony. The time is on the fifth day of the year. The God of Literature is superior to the Prime Minister, Wu Caishen and Zhao Gongming. Pick up the five-way god of wealth, use the "Yuanbao basin", that is, the basket, and paste the word "Fu" on the outside, put a steamed bread or a full one inside, and walk all over the boat, singing "Yuanbao is lifted, bringing joy and fortune", "Lucky boy stops the door and sits, and the five-way god of wealth enters Baolai", and "the front pole (port side) runs to the back pole (starboard side). After receiving the five gods of wealth, most of the boatmen began their normal production and life.

The boat people's long-term experience in observing wind and rain has formed a set of experience in observing wind and rain, which is basically preserved in proverbs, but it is also mixed with certain feudal superstitions. "The west wind does not last until noon, but grows with the sun after noon", which means that when the west wind blows in the morning, it usually stops before noon. If it doesn't stop after noon, the wind will get stronger and stronger when the sun goes down. "The south wind is hard at the waist, and it blows harder and harder", which means that when the south wind blows, it blows harder and harder. "Look at the southeast early, look at the northwest late", and watch the sunrise in the southeast in the morning. If the sun is red, it is basically sunny, and it will not be windy or rainy; If it is pale white, there is wind; If it looks like a dark cloud, it will rain. Watching the sun set in the northwest at night, if there are clouds, it is "the dark clouds catch up with the traffic and go down without scraping." Looking at the stars at night, the moon has a wind circle, which means it is windy in the middle of the night. Where the wind circle door faces, the wind comes from which direction. "When the stars bring water, it will rain", that is, the stars are foggy. In summer, the weather is hot and dry, and moths put out the fire, which indicates that the wind is coming soon. Sweating outside the casserole and salt pan indicates that it will rain soon. "On March 3rd, September 9th, everything will hit the river." Legend has it that the immortals in the sky have a meeting these two days, and all the immortals have taken the wind to the meeting, so it is windy on earth. "On May 25th, the old dragon visited his mother" and "On July 7th, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl" refer to the meeting of mother and son, the reunion of husband and wife, tears of joy, which turned into heavy rain. "On May 23rd, Master Guan sharpened his knife." When sharpening his knife, he did not miss the woodcutter, so it was rainy on earth. "I am afraid of June 7 in March, the first day in April, and the twelfth in April." I'm afraid there will be a big bowl floating in Yangzhou on April 12th. On April 12, the crow's hair is wet, and it is necessary to fish for wheat in the water. Spring jiazi is broken, rotten silkworm dies. It is said that in the early spring, Jihua fish was caught in the Huaihe River, from which we can see which month the water is big. This fish has 12 spines on its back, representing 12 months in a year. You can know which month the water is big by counting backwards.