Brief introduction of Mongolian customs and habits

Offering Hada is a traditional etiquette for Mongolians to greet princes and nobles, to celebrate their birthdays and to greet distinguished guests. Later, Hada was widely used in celebrations, sacrifices, banquets for guests, exchanges and other occasions, indicating solemnity, sincerity, friendship and auspiciousness. Hada is equivalent to a gift towel, about 3 to 5 feet long and about 1 foot wide. It is made of white, blue, yellow and silver-gray silk. In recent years, the ceremonies of offering Hada to Mongolians in Zhaoyuan were mostly held in Nadam, the county seat and Mengxiang. Or when welcoming VIPs in Mongolian villages.

2. toast.

Toast is the most common and common etiquette of Mongolian people. When a guest is seated for dinner, the host must first propose a toast to the guest. In ancient times, Mongolians toasted their guests. In front of the guests, they first put the wine into the cup and drank it, and then filled it for the guests. This is an extension of the ancient custom of "testing poison". Now it has gradually evolved into honoring guests first. Mongolians take three as a lucky number and generally propose three cups. When the host makes a toast, he must give it to the guest with his right hand, and the guest should also pick it up with his right hand. When toasting guests, they are often accompanied by toasting songs, and at the climax of drinking, they have to dance to express their sincere wishes.

3. Sacrifice fire.

Worship of fire is an ancient tradition of Mongolians. In the eyes of Mongols, fire is sacred. A family offering fire is inheritance, and it is necessary to offer fire when getting married for the New Year. There are a series of rituals and taboos around braziers and stoves.

The most solemn fire sacrifice is in the twelfth lunar month, the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month. It is said that this day is the day when Mirren Zamuleha, the god of fire, was born. The ceremony is very grand, and the courtyard and houses are often cleaned one or two days ago to prepare sacrifices.

In the evening, just as night fell, the lay man lit a handful of incense and walked around the house for a week. He came to the equipped brazier, held incense around the brazier three times, put the incense into the brazier, and the ceremony began.

Huozhu, called Tuliga in Mongolian, is a fire shelf with three hoops at the waist and four supporting points on it. Set a fire stand on the brazier and put dry wood in it. Some people set up a quadrilateral dry wood rack in the brazier, without fire support. Hanging colorful strips of blue, white, yellow, red and green on the four eyebrows of a fire pole or firewood respectively represents blue sky, white clouds, yellow religion, red flame and green life.

In front of the kang, spread a white blanket, set a wooden table, and sprinkle patterns on the white blanket with fried rice. In Mongolian, it is called hasta Moga, which means jade seal. There are fried rice, tea, red dates, butter, lamb breast and so on in a bowl in the middle of the table. , burning incense on it. There is also a plate on the table, which contains four ribs, neck bones, enema, chest and tail of the sheep ... The order of loading the plate is to use the neck bones and ribs below, enema in the middle, breast above and fat tail of the sheep above. The sacrifice on the plate was used in the ceremony that night. The offerings in the bowl will be kept until after 24th and before New Year's Day. Put the sacrifice into the brazier twice every morning and evening, and the fire in the brazier will last for at least three days. Some people kept it for three months, and even offered sacrifices to the fire the next year. The Mongols call the youngest son the keeper of the fire tray, which means to continue the incense.

The main participants in the ceremony are the householder and the boy. Neighbors, relatives and friends can also participate, and girls and foreign names avoid it. These sacrifices are not for married girls.

At the beginning of the fire sacrifice, each participant sat on the ground with a small wooden plate or a bowl of food, ready to pray.

There are Tibetan, Mongolian, profound and popular, all of which are beautiful rhymes. For example, one of them said:

"Flint is the mother, Sickle Iron is the father,

The life of the kind Vulcan elm.

Offer a full glass of wine and a rich sacrifice.

Pray for the prosperity of mankind and five kinds of animals. ...

Fulai! Fulai! Fulai! Fulai! "

After the fire sacrifice, the whole family ate "A Mu", a kind of rice porridge made of butter and dates.

4. Sacrifice to heaven.

Mongolians regard December 30th of the lunar calendar as a day of worship. Light a bonfire in the yard in the middle of the night, put a square table, put four dishes of cheese, milk powder, cream and white grain, and put a pot of white wine, a wine glass and an incense burner. The whole family ran to the table according to their age. The elders lit three incense sticks, put them in incense burners, poured white wine into cups, sprinkled sacrifices into the sky, said a word of offering sacrifices to heaven, kowtowed three times to the bonfire, poured all four dishes of sacrifices and wine in the pot into the fire, and lit firecrackers. After the ceremony, I went back to the yurt or living room to watch the New Year and have dinner.

5. It's the New Year. Before making an introduction, I won't do too much introduction here.

6. Happy New Year.

On the morning of New Year's Day, all relatives gather in the longest house, and the younger generation bows to the elder, while the elder wishes the younger generation. Then, take turns to pay New Year greetings. After finishing the coffee table, sit down from old to young and taste the rich and fragrant milk tea. After drinking tea, set a banquet, fill the cup with New Year's wine, and drink the wine cup by cup in the order of old and young. New Year's wine is also called "New Year's gift". Singing and dancing accompanied by drinking, the children set off firecrackers and had a good time. If the elderly or disabled can't get together with you, send someone to send a New Year's wine and a New Year's Eve dinner, wishing you a long and healthy life. This New Year greeting ceremony lasted until the 15th day of the first month.

7 Sacrifice to Aobao.

The Mongolian pronunciation of "Aobao" is translated into mound and stone pile. For a long time, Mongolians have always regarded Aobao as a local protected species, and gradually formed the concept of sacrificing Aobao to avoid disasters and seek good luck. Today, the main purpose of Mongolian sacrifice to Aobao is to pray for good weather and prosperity. There are many kinds of Aobao, including Zasak Aobao (Qi Aobao), Nutuke Aobao and Aili Aobao. The existing Dongyishun Aobao in Zhaoyuan is a Dawaqi family Aobao, which later became Qiaobao, and it has been more than 200 years.

When offering sacrifices to Aobao, there are cows, sheep, hada, dairy products, wine and so on. Be used. First, people are sacrificed, and then horse racing, wrestling, archery, singing and dancing are held.