Head taboo

Head, head also; Face, face also. The head is where human dignity lies. People with glory and achievements are called "bigwigs" by the people. In order to do bad things, people call it "shame". The general view is that the first move is the strongest, and hitting the face is the most damaging. The so-called "swearing does not expose shortcomings, hitting people does not hit the face." Teach children to hit the body and hit * * *, but it is forbidden to head the ball and hit the face. Heading will make children stupid, and hitting the face will hurt their self-esteem. Wa people are particularly afraid that others will touch their heads at will. If someone does this, they will think it is a great insult to themselves and will fly into a rage and fight with them.

In the old days, superstitious fortune tellers also divided people's faces into zodiac signs, thirteen parts, fourteen stars, eight letters, three stops, three talents, four blasphemies, five mountains, six hospitals, six nights, etc., and even into "Sun Angle", "Mountain Forest" and "Pavilion Gate"&; Hellip& amphellip etc. 120 parts. It's mysterious, not to mention that most people can't figure it out. Even people who spend their lives in divination and face-to-face teaching are in a fog. It is nothing more than leaving a lot of room for manoeuvre, so that you will not fall into a dead format because of your nonsense, and you will be led by the nose and have nothing to say. Where is there any definite law? However, superstitious deception grows in superstitious soil, and in turn enriches superstitious soil with its rotten branches and leaves. In this vicious circle, folk customs and letters must be wrapped and dyed repeatedly. Folk customs and beliefs certainly affect the "cultural originality" of professional fortune tellers, but they also contain the "precipitation" of these "cultural originality" in the public mind, thus forming an interactive relationship between folk customs and folk superstitious activities. Sometimes it is difficult for us to distinguish the nature of a belief, because there are superstitious elements in popular letters. But since folk belief is a foundation and folk superstition is a cultural phenomenon based on it, there is a simple way to classify the beliefs prevailing in people's mouths or minds into folk beliefs, and those that need to be deduced, especially those that need special personnel, into the category of non-folk beliefs. In this way, the contributions and functions of the ruling class and upper-class culture in fostering and supporting superstitious activities may not be obliterated, and the boundaries between folk customs and beliefs are clearer and more grounded. In view of this, I don't want to say more about the belief that fortune telling is good or bad. Let's continue to talk about the taboos about human head and face in folk popular letters.

Not only the head shape and face shape are taboo, but also the color of the face is taboo. According to ancient records, Shi Kuang once said that "red does not live long". People think that turning blue, black and gloomy are ominous signs of disaster and a sign of not living long. As the saying goes, "it only takes half a month to turn black."

The good or ill luck of the face is also related to the muscle beating on the face. According to the general view, at noon, in the morning and in the afternoon, the meat on the right face will tremble, which is unlucky and ominous. The trembling meat on Shihai's left face will lose money; At other times, the flesh trembling on the face is a good omen, or you meet a noble person, or you have a happy event, or you are promoted to a higher position. If you have a fever on your face, there are good signs and bad signs to avoid. Ugly, ill-timed, and feverish, it's not a worry, it's a worry, it's a lawsuit. In Shihai, there will be a lawsuit about the fever on the right face; A fever on the left face will get an official position; At other times, hot face is not taboo, irrelevant or auspicious. This belief is still popular in Taiwan Province Province and other places.

The Oroqen people have the custom that patients don't wash their faces. I believe that patients can't wash their hands and faces, otherwise their condition will get worse and they will not recover easily. Han people are afraid of head swelling, especially women. Head swelling is a symbol of death.

It is precisely because of the above many head and face taboos that people dare not show their faces in front of others in order to protect themselves and prevent accidents. On the one hand, it is to prevent others from bringing disasters to themselves through onlookers, on the other hand, it is also afraid that their weaknesses will be directly exposed to others and caught for rectification. This passive avoidance ideology has formed a closed mentality, which can still be reflected in many folk customs in China.

Because the growth of eyebrows is related to people's face shape, eyebrows are also taboo. From the appearance, it is not good to pull the eyebrows together, commonly known as the "eight-character eyebrow", which is generally considered to be a symbol of sinister. Some people think that love is not specific and easy to escape. There is a saying that "the eyebrows are divided into eight characters, and the flowers are greedy." If the eyebrows stand upright and form an inverted figure of eight, some people think it's wicked heart with a bad heart, but it's generally considered as a sexual domain, with the appearance of courage and resourcefulness, commonly known as "tiger eyebrows". Eyebrows are generally thick and thick in men and thin and light in women. If a woman's eyebrows are as thick and thick as men's, it is considered a sign of cruelty. Yao women especially avoid heavy eyebrows, and their customs have the habit of trimming thin eyebrows. Fine eyebrows are a sign of gentleness and kindness of women.

Eyebrows are often compared with life expectancy. According to the general view, old people with bushy eyebrows will live longer. Therefore, avoid shaving your eyebrows and pull them out. Especially the prominent long eyebrows, commonly known as "longevity eyebrows." The longer the eyebrows, the better. Shoumei is the most taboo to take off, even if it covers your eyes, otherwise you will "lose your life." It is said that people with less eyebrows have no brothers and fewer brothers. People with fewer eyebrows will not succeed.

Don't write "down" on your eyebrows. Because the word "eyebrow" is homophonic with the word "mildew", I am afraid it will become a prophecy, which is really "unlucky". Eyelashes are close to eyebrows, so it is taboo to say "down", which means the same thing.

He who has eyes has eyes. "Ling shu jing. The theory of great confusion says: "the essence of the five internal organs is concentrated on the eyes." The essence is the eyes. The essence of bone is the pupil. The essence of tendon is black eyes. The essence of qi is white eyes. " Han Shi Zhuan said: "(Purpose) The image of the heart." As we all know, eyes are the expression of human thinking. Mencius once said: "those who keep people are not good at eyes." Eyes can't hide their evil. If the chest stands upright, it will be dumbfounded; If the chest is not straight, then the eyes will be very awkward. " (See Mencius Li Lou) What people think is often reflected in their eyes. People vaguely realize that people's psychological activities are closely related to people's physiological composition. Any emotional expression, such as joy, anger, sadness, joy, surprise, fear, worry, etc. , all from physiological function, at the same time will affect muscles and muscles, will leave an indelible mark on physiology. This thought contributes to the development of physiognomy. There were many photo albums in ancient times, and all kinds of photo albums attached great importance to eye observation. The so-called "if you want to see the sky, look at the eyes first." This principle of attaching importance to eyes must also be based on folk beliefs. It is generally believed that the eyes are magical. Through the gaze of the eyes, one person's essence can be cast, which will lead to another person's good or bad fortune, even make a woman pregnant, make plants flourish and wither, and make things succeed or fail. It is forbidden for Hani people in Xishuangbanna to meet again after divorce. This is probably because they are worried that their souls will meet again when they look at each other. A person who loses his eyes loses his spirituality. If the portrait of an animal is dead when the eyes are not drawn, it is alive when the eyes are pointed at it. The story of "making the finishing point" is the embodiment of this belief.

From the appearance of eyes, that is, eye shape, it is considered that "people with eyes live longer." It is generally believed that "the eyes are crooked and the heart is crooked." Don't have moles on your eyes. A mole should be a robber. It's not good to grow moles at the moment. Ewenki people believe that the moles that grow at this moment are tears and should be cut off with a knife, otherwise they will often encounter sad things. Han folk, women avoid "four whites". "Four Whites" means that all eyes are white. As the saying goes, "four dirty eyes, five husbands look after the house." We should also avoid the triangle eyes and those who think that the eyes of the Yangtze River Delta are withdrawn, ruthless, ferocious and hard to prevent. In the past, people also associated the shape of eyes with the names of various animals, such as longan, phoenix eye, ox eye and sheep eye. The following is an interesting lyric of a folk rapper about judging people by their appearances. The recording is as follows:

Although there are rhyming restrictions and vague meanings, it is not difficult to see some folk beliefs and taboos in the eye shape. It should be pointed out that this is not all arranged for fun. According to some historical records, there is such eye shape classification in ancient phase method. There are more categories than these, such as elephant eye, deer eye, snake eye, bee eye, wolf eye and so on. There must be some folk experience in observing the eye shape and habits of animals, and folks often regard people with similar eye shapes as having the same temperament as animals.

Eyes are magical, and there are yuan gods in tears, so when you are sad, don't drop tears into the coffin. Lao Suntou said in the novel "The Storm": "This is not good for your health."

Because there is a spirit in the eyes, which can indicate good or bad luck. In terms of vision, Gaoshan people in Taiwan Province Province are forbidden to meet hundreds of snakes, bobcats, violent deaths and their places of death, and they are also forbidden to see animals mating, thinking that seeing them is fierce. In the past, there were also taboos that folk letters were seen by jealous people. "Bao Puzi Jin Zidan Volume" says: "People who are dyed lose their beauty when they see the color." "Different Garden" describes that there is Huashan Mountain in Lanling. "There is a well on the mountain with a bird's nest inside. Golden beak and black wings, birds see water. The well can't peep, and the peeper is under one year old and needs to die. "

It is generally believed that a quick glance is a sign of God. Ewenki people think that the upper eyelid jump is a good omen, and the lower eyelid jump is bound to cry. There are folk sayings in the Han nationality that "the left eye jumps for wealth and the right eye jumps for disaster" and "the left eye jumps for happiness and the right eye jumps for disaster". There are also "jumping left for joy, jumping right for sorrow, jumping left for hair, jumping right for killing" and so on, all of which have the same meaning, all of which are left and right. It may be related to the ancient belief principles of "male left and female right", "left is yang, right is yin" and "left is upper and right is lower". It is said that there is a saying in Xiuwu County, Henan Province that men and women are separated. Men are "jumping with the left eye is a treasure, jumping with the right eye is a curse". Women are "jumping in the right eye is a treasure, jumping in the left eye is a curse." This is even more obvious, and the concept of yin-yang opposition is used to explain the good or bad luck of saccades. However, both men and women are generally vicious. When the right eye jumps, people often put mats and straw sticks on the right eye, which is considered illegal. "Ren Qinglei Copy" once recorded that "the eyes trembled and were stained with wheat straw", and the cloud said: "Lady Wang's doll is stained with a wheat straw in her right eye, or if she is asked in horror, she says: If her right eye trembles, she will suffer from it. For a moment, my right eye trembled and I hated it. & amprsquo "According to relevant data, in Taiwan Province Province, people also divide the signs of saccade into different hours. The symbols of saccades are different at different times.