Feudal customs and etiquette in the old society

In family customs, the birth of a child is highly valued. Hakka children were born in three dynasties. Grandma, sister-in-law, brother-in-law (sister-in-law) and married women wrapped eggs with bamboo radishes and came to the new delivery room to do the "Three Dynasties". Half a month later, grandma invited more women, carrying sweet wine, eggs, rice and hens to her nephew for "half a month", commonly known as "eating ginger wine". This banquet is the most lively. After the child's full moon, grandma asked a woman to make a "full moon" for her nephew. Hakkas generally live less than a year. Most Hakkas choose spouses for their parents, and the matchmaker matches them. Their weddings generally include matchmaking, sitting and talking, eight characters, betrothal, wedding and three dynasties.

When the matchmaker sees that two young men and women with similar age and matching talents are not married, they will take the initiative to go to the door to fix them up, or the parents of young people waiting to get married at home will ask the matchmaker to do good deeds. After meeting, men and women poured out their worries to each other. The old man agrees, and if he thinks it is appropriate, they will write a "eight-character" and the man will give it to the fortune teller according to heavenly stems and earthly branches's calculation. If the man orders gold or water and the woman orders water or gold, it is considered more appropriate to get married. Once the "eight characters" are suitable, both the elderly and the men and women agree, there is hope for marriage. Then the man pays the bride price, commonly known as "foreign money", which is decided by both parties. Pay the engagement fee and get engaged, and then go to the government to get a marriage certificate. When the man is ready and tells the woman the wedding time, the woman has to start preparing the dowry. The night before the wedding, accompanied by Lang, the groom sent her some meat, wine, water and sugar, and the groom went home. The next day, the groom, accompanied by Lang, married the bride and brought all kinds of gift packages to the bride's parents, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, and even the cook the meat meat cutter in the kitchen. The bride's brother-in-law will also give the groom a package and new shoes. Two girls from the men's house were chosen to take rice ears, scissors, mirrors and roosters to the women's house for entertainment. Like the local Zhuang people, the woman's family should honor Lang and the girl of the man's family and make a dowry. On the morning of the wedding, the bride stood under the rice basket and said goodbye to her ancestors. Then, she wore black clothes, black trousers, black shoes, tied a red rope, supported a black umbrella and covered a white towel. Her sister-in-law carried her out of the door and walked or rode to the groom's house. After the bride goes to the man's house to pay homage, she will go back to her family that night. On the third day, accompanied by her mother, aunt, sister-in-law and others, she will take pigs and chickens to the man's house to show the newlyweds' capital to prepare for life.

[Edit this paragraph] Hakka customs-holiday customs

Traditional Hakka festivals include Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day, June 6th, Mid-Autumn Festival, Winter Solstice and seeing off the Kitchen God. Spring Festival is a big festival, with abundant new year's goods, mostly bacon, jiaozi, fried peanuts and so on. You can't kill anything on the first day of the first month, but you can drink as much as you like on the second day. The most important entertainment in the Spring Festival is lion dancing to celebrate the New Year. During the Lantern Festival, Hakkas like to make dumplings and have a big meal. "February stove", cooking glutinous rice, killing chickens and worshipping the kitchen king, a bumper harvest in a year, a great success. Tomb-Sweeping Day in March is a traditional grave-sweeping festival. Cooking sweet glutinous rice, preparing tables and wine, touring to pay homage to ancestral graves, and Hakka people adding dishes at will are also considered festivals. Dragon Boat Festival, jiaozi. On June 6th, prepare the dining tables. Mid-Autumn Festival is the second largest festival in a year, killing chickens, ducks and fish. Daughter, son-in-law and relatives all came back to visit the old man. Mid-Autumn Festival, prepare fruits and moon cakes to enjoy the moon. Double Ninth Festival, go out and climb high. On the solstice of winter, eat a dumpling bigger than jiaozi, wrapped in glutinous rice flour and stuffed with fish, pork and diced radish. The day when the Kitchen God was assigned, that is, December 23rd (the lunar calendar), was also a festival. On New Year's Eve, the Hakka family stopped working, collected all the harvest of the year and had a grand reunion dinner. All the family members who work outside will come back for reunion.

The patron saint of Hakkas is the "Kitchen God"-the land god. The shrine of the land god is located at the entrance of the village, next to which a big banyan tree is planted. On the first day of the first lunar month, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the second day of February, the eighth day of April, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival, Hakka people will go to worship the land god, put pig heads, chickens and fish (all cooked), light incense, and kneel on the ground to pray for the land god to bless the whole family. The place where the offerings are placed is: incense is closest to the gods, followed by wine and rice, meat and vegetables are farthest, and candles are on both sides. In addition, whoever increases food and money and goes out to study and work will also sacrifice to the land god.

Fubo Temple, Adult Temple and Female Temple are visited by Hakkas every year. Even during the "Cultural Revolution", even though superstitious activities were repeatedly banned, Hakkas secretly visited. Fubo Temple was built in memory of Ma Yuan, a general of the Han Dynasty, and was held on the sixth day of the first month. The Adult Temple was built in memory of Chen Hongmou, the prime minister of the Qing Dynasty, who exempted the people of Guangxi from paying grain. The temple fair is held on the 19th day of the first month. This female temple was built in memory of Sanjie Liu. The temple site is in a cave, and a temple fair is held on the 29th of the first month.

Hakka ancestor worship is a great event. In March in Tomb-Sweeping Day, the whole family got busy and went to the ancestral graves to do ancestor worship activities. Every year, Hakka surnames in Tomb-Sweeping Day and Liangjiang Township are concentrated in Binyang to worship their ancestors, and generally one person from each family is sent to attend. During the solar term or the end of the year, Hakkas always worship their ancestors with meat dishes before eating. In the first month, the sacrifice must be placed on the fifteenth day before it can be removed. Most of the sacrifices in the first month are zongzi, pork head (whole piece) and popcorn.

Huizhou folk traditional wedding etiquette and customs, based on feudal ethics and customs, are mostly red tape, which wastes people and money, and can be said to be quite vulgar. Confucian classic The Book of Rites? "Faint Instrument" said: "The husband's power begins with the crown, based on the faint (marriage), and is more important than the funeral sacrifice, specializing in recruiting the DPRK and shooting the hometown. This gift is not so bad. ..... surprise (marriage), also the gift of this. "It can be seen that Confucianism attaches importance to marriage customs. China's traditional culture has always attached importance to Confucianism, and under the influence of this thought, it has formed a rich and colorful wedding custom culture with many ceremonies. Huizhou's traditional marriage customs are generally the concrete expression of China's traditional culture in one place.

There are several forms of marriage in feudal society in Huizhou, such as arranged marriage, buying and selling marriage, employment marriage, referral marriage, child marriage, famine marriage, aristocratic marriage, power marriage and so on. Among them, engagement marriage is particularly popular, and both bride price and money are indispensable, and its legacy can still be seen in Huizhou.

Engagement marriage has a long history in Huizhou. Guangxu's "Huizhou Fuzhi" records: "In marriage, betel nut is a commonly used dowry, and the more it is, the more expensive it is ... its engagement ceremony and dowry are called family wealth." In the past, betel nuts were sold in Chinese medicine shops. In the engagement ceremony, it is symbolic, while the real engagement ceremony tradition is mainly about money and food. "Official History" says that bride price is "related to family wealth", but in fact, the number of bride price is also considerable.

The traditional wedding etiquette in Huizhou is very complicated, from the words of the matchmaker to the custom of returning to the door at the end of the Three Dynasties. During this period, it evolved from the "six rituals" of feudal wedding etiquette, such as buji, ceremony, newspaper, big gift, and grand wedding ceremonies such as paving the house, welcoming the bride, paying homage to the bride and prolonging life. "Six Rites" originated in the Zhou Dynasty. According to the Book of Rites, the wedding procedures that should be followed at that time were "receiving the bride" (the matchmaker proposed the marriage), "asking the name", "accepting oneself" (the man buji, the woman officially recognized the marriage), "obtaining the certificate" (the ceremony ended), "inviting the wedding date" and "welcoming the bride" (welcoming the bride). These six links are the so-called "Six Rites" and the earliest marriage etiquette in feudal ethics. After more than 2,000 years, although there are variations, the Six Rites remain the same, and they can still be seen in wedding ceremonies all over the world.

(1) proposal

At the beginning of Huizhou traditional marriage, the first thing was to propose marriage. Usually the man invites the matchmaker to the woman's house to make peace. Proposing marriage is a variation of "accepting gifts" in the Six Rites. "Yili? The book "World Wedding" says: "The wedding is issued and the goose is adopted. "That is to say, before the Qin and Han Dynasties, marriage proposals were generally to feed geese as gifts. This means that it is suitable for yin-yang communication. After the Qin and Han Dynasties, cake sheep, acacia, golden harvest, glue paint and other things were used as gifts. Later, it developed to more than 30 kinds, symbolizing the firm harmony between husband and wife. In Huizhou traditional weddings, most wedding gifts are made of live chickens or cloth, which is called "leading chicken" by the people, which means good luck.

(2) gifts

The most grand and important ceremony before marriage is the "big gift" on the eve of the wedding. In the traditional engagement marriage, the bride price, dowry and dowry agreed by both families should be performed on this day. On this day, the man's family filled all kinds of boxes, boxes and reeds prepared in advance, pasted them with red cypress trees, or picked them or carried them, and the man's aunts and sisters sent them to the woman's house in a mighty way. It is common for a man to give a whole pig and a whole sheep in a "gift", so there are lyrics of "giving a gift to a pig" in folk songs. Cake food is also a must. Preparing "big cakes" is the custom in Huizhou. There are more than a dozen kinds of cakes, ranging from one to several according to the conditions and luxury of each family. However, it is not uncommon for ten kinds of cakes to be ready. In addition, there are necessary roast pork, chicken, goose, duck, fish and steamed cakes.

Upon receiving the bride price from the man, the woman immediately gave the original dowry to the man. The dowry in Huizhou traditional wedding customs is mainly daily necessities, such as clothes, quilts, pillows, mats, curtains, etc., as well as wardrobe, dressing table, suitcase, square table and other furniture. Nowadays, in addition to the main bedding, there are often sewing machines, refrigerators, televisions and rice cookers in dowry.

Generally, the day before the wedding ceremony, the festive atmosphere is very strong. Those aunts and sisters who give gifts are usually dressed up, dressed up and down, smeared with powder and oil, and paraded in the streets. Huizhou customs, gift-giving teams choose crowded roads and tell each other happy events along the way.

The custom of "giving big gifts" is close to the "receiving gifts" in the traditional "six gifts". "Yili" said: "levy, success, make the messenger pay money to get married." In other words, the bride price and dowry are paid before the woman can get married. In ancient times, the levy was also an important part, and the bride price used was also different from generation to generation. Qin used to use expensive Xuan Xun, silk binding and leather binding. Gold and silver were used in the Han Dynasty. Since then, customs have become more and more popular, and gifts have become more and more important. Most people of insight in the past dynasties regarded it as a drawback and wanted to put an end to it, but this trend has been prevalent throughout the ages. Among the "Six Rites", "levy" comes before "inviting Japan" and "reporting Japan", while "benefiting customs" comes after reporting Japan. They are somewhat different in time. Getting married immediately after the "big gift" is particularly lively, which is probably one reason why this custom is still popular in Huizhou.

(3) Pick up the bride

Receiving the bride is the "pro-welcoming" in the traditional "Six Rites". Kissing is the end and conclusion of "Six Rites". The wedding ceremony mentioned by modern people or the wedding ceremony mentioned by ancient people is marked by the ceremony of receiving the bride.

In ancient times, the wedding ceremony generally included three links: paving the room or warming the room, welcoming guests and returning to the door, which lasted for three days. Shop or warm the house on the first day, welcome guests on the second day and return to the door on the third day. The customs in Huizhou are different. Wedding basically refers to marrying the bride and delaying the bride. As for welcoming the bride (that is, receiving the bride), it mainly includes several main customs, such as paving the house, sitting in a sedan chair, sprinkling salt rice, crossing the fire and stepping on concave columns.

1. bunking: bunking is an ancient custom that has continued to this day. When a woman gives her husband a dowry, it is a custom for her sister-in-law to help decorate the new house. According to Huizhou custom, two points should be paid attention to when laying a room. First, pay attention to the orientation and feng shui of beds, cabinets and dressing tables. The most important thing is that the wardrobe mirror can't face the bed. In Huizhou custom, the mirror is synonymous with the magic mirror, but it is obviously unlucky to put the magic mirror on the bed. Second, people who buy houses should have a "good life". People think that the standard of a better life is mainly "many children and many blessings". Therefore, widows and infertile women are not allowed to participate in the store, and those who have many children are naturally the main participants in the store.

2. Flower Night: On the day before the bride's wedding, the sisters-in-law in the clan (who must choose the so-called lucky ones) should dress up for the bride, which is also called "flower arrangement" by the people. This night, also known as "Flower Night", is a very grand ceremony before the bride's wedding. During this ceremony, the bride is often accompanied by crying and singing. At this time, the bride is facing a major turning point in her life and is usually very emotional. But according to the old custom, after arranging flowers, the bride should sit in the pavilion and cry and sing until dawn. This is called "five o'clock vigil". On the night of flowers, the bride cried sadly and stayed up all night, showing a traditional wedding atmosphere of "mixed happiness and sorrow".

3. Welcome the New Year with a sedan chair: Huizhou traditionally uses a sedan chair to celebrate the wedding. In the 1950s, there was a sedan chair shop that rented sedan chairs. Carry two, four or eight large sedan chairs, embroider "phoenix peony" and "mandarin ducks with rich flowers", decorate with "four-color lanterns" and cover with "red silk", so it is called "sedan chair". When picking up the bride, the matchmaker leads the way, and the bride leads the sedan chair, drumming all the way. After arriving at the girl's home, the girls' sisters refused to go out, and the groom quickly sent "Lili". After passing the sisters, the bride can be taken out. The bride cried and refused to leave. The men used both hard and soft methods to coax her out of the boudoir and into the sedan chair. The groom must give the sedan chair bearer a "benefit" before he can get on the sedan chair. After several "struggles", the groom is often exhausted.

4. Sprinkle salt rice: When picking up the bride, there was a habit of sprinkling salt rice in some places in Huizhou in the old days. Put some salt, rice, black sesame seeds and other things in a container in advance, that is, sprinkle them along the road on the way to pick up the bride, which is called offering sacrifices to the bridge god; Scattered along the road is to worship the road god, which is the custom of sprinkling salt and rice in Huizhou traditional wedding customs. The custom of sprinkling salty rice is actually a variation of the traditional wedding custom of China. "Paving corn beans" appeared in the Western Han Dynasty and prevailed in the north of Song Dynasty. Its traditional view is "eliminating three evils", that is, exorcising ghosts and evil spirits, which is not much different from Huizhou folk "salted rice" It's just that "Sagu beans" are mostly relics in the north, which is not common in the south. In Huizhou, it can be seen that the origin of Huizhou customs is very long.

5. Cover your head, step on the sunken fence and cross the flourishing fire: when the bride gets home, she gets off the sedan chair with the sound of drums, and the groom fannes each other with fans. If the man's elder sister-in-law is in the same position, be sure to use a cover (bamboo braid, sieve, etc. ) to prevent them from seeing the bride directly. The bride is auspicious and murderous, and the groom uses a fan, which means "weakening her murderous look" and people avoid it means "avoiding her murderous look". In some places, when the bride gets off the sedan chair, the groom blocks the back of her head with a concave bar. This custom is also reflected in the crying wedding song circulating in Huizhou: "I (the bride) stepped on the sedan chair door to cover my head, and I thank you for your contribution." It seems that the bride is quite afraid of this "cover". According to the folk saying, every married woman should be filial, even if she gets into a sedan chair and goes to the man's house, she should turn back step by step, and the groom's concave column is famous for covering the bride's line of sight. This practice is to let the bride concentrate on marrying the man's family and not always think about her own family. In addition to the custom of covering your head, there is also the habit of stepping on the column. When the bride got off the sedan chair, the man's family quickly laid a concave column at the bride's feet. It is customary for the bride to cross the concave column and cross the fire when she is ready to enter the house. Even if there is no special brazier, the old man should grab a handful of grass to burn at the door and let the bride pass. This custom is called "misfire" in the north. The first is to take the word "Wang". After the bride crosses the handle of Wanghuo, she will bring Wanghuo to her husband's family in the future.

1. Birth etiquette

It marks the celebration and blessing of a person's birth and is the beginning etiquette in life.

Accelerate delivery

When a married daughter is about to give birth, usually one or two days before the baby is born, her family will come to her daughter's house with chicken, eggs, noodles and dry powder. To "live" is to wish her a safe birth. When my mother was gone, my sister-in-law was born and gave a banquet at noon.

After the baby is born, the son-in-law will bring chicken, eggs and rice wine (some of which have dozens of pounds) to Yue's house to report the good news, and the grandmother's house will invite guests, and relatives and friends will attend to congratulate him. Grandparents will give back chickens and red eggs.

Make three dynasties

When a child is born for three days, it has to be "three dynasties". Give the child a bath first and invite the midwife to eat. Grandma will send a rooster, eggs, noodles, glutinous rice flour and so on. To make "three dynasties wine" and entertain grandma and in-laws. Some places will also send red eggs to relatives and friends, and relatives and friends will send back chicken, eggs, noodles and other things before the full moon.

Celebrate the birth of a baby when he is one month old.

One month after a baby is born, it is a "full moon". Grandma will send a rooster (a big capon in many places) and eggs, and also send clothes, quilts, hats, collars, windbreakers, skirts, silver bracelets and braces to the baby. Female relatives, such as uncles and aunts, usually send chicks, eggs, clothes, cloth and so on. And aunts and aunts.

One hundred days.

Children born 100 days, also want to celebrate. On this day, the grandfather and uncle of the woman's family will celebrate with the rooster, and other relatives will generally give red envelopes to the baby.

One year old.

When the child is one year old, he should be a "week" to celebrate the child's "week". The first birthday is more grand than the full moon, and more guests come to celebrate.

2. Adult etiquette

Hakka rite of passage can be divided into two types: male and female. The adult ceremony for men is called "crown ceremony" and the adult ceremony for women is called "ceremony". There seems to be no such etiquette now, at least in my place (Meizhou, the world's guest capital). )

3. Birthday etiquette

Celebrate sb's birthday

Like other customs, Hakkas have a small birthday every year and a big birthday every ten years, but big birthdays are more common. From the age of ten, it can be called a birthday, and it lasts until you are in your forties and fifties and sixties. Eating noodles and poached eggs on your birthday means that you will live to be 100 years old. (This custom has also been simplified, only birthdays: over 60 years old)

Congratulate (the old man) on his birthday.

On her birthday, the married daughter will give a rooster, as well as a shroud, hat, cake, shoes and socks, from head to toe. Father's birthday, will also send a whole set to mother, in addition to birthday axe, firecrackers, candles, roosters, peaches, noodles, cakes, wine and meat. Others come to celebrate their birthdays. Generally, relatives and friends send birthday wishes, birthday couplets, or gifts.

In many places, birthday ceremonies are held for elderly people over 70 years old, with many descendants and good family circumstances.

Hakkas' birthdays and birthdays are all gifts from insiders themselves, and congratulations from home are given first, then invited; Except in-laws and close friends, send invitations, not invitations.

4. Build a house and move to a new house

Building a house and moving to a new house is also one of the major celebrations, which should be celebrated solemnly.

When building a house, please ask Teacher Kan Yu to determine the location of the house and the orientation of the door. When the column is on the beam, it should be decorated with lanterns and pasted with red couplets. After the completion of the new house, you should "exorcise evil spirits" and "eliminate evil spirits" the night before you move in.

When moving into a new house, you should bring lanterns (or oil lamps), fire cages, scales, etc. When you enter the house, you should also bring a nest of chickens and steam them into the new house to show that the new couple is prosperous and beaming. When you move to a new house, you should hold a "house wine" to entertain relatives and friends, builders and helpers. There should be leeks, tofu, pig intestines, pig blood and rice cakes in the dishes, which means long time and high fortune.

Wine custom

Very hospitable, whenever relatives and friends come, they like to treat guests with homemade rice wine, also called "water wine" If it is distilled from the first altar, it is called "nine niang". This kind of "wine girl" is delicious, although the degree is not high, but it has great stamina and is easy to intoxicate. When they drink, they pay great attention to etiquette.

Traditionally, I like to use the square table, commonly known as the "square table", a wooden table where eight people sit together. When seated, they attach great importance to the arrangement of seats, and generally sit in the order of precedence of relatives and friends. The size of the banquet hall is arranged in this way. For example, there is only one table in the main hall. At this time, the left side facing the gate is the first, and the right side is the second. Then from left to right, the preface is interspersed, and the right side facing the main hall is the smallest. If two tables are arranged, the table on the left is big, the table on the right is small and the seats are staggered. If three tables are arranged, it is called "first class". In this case, the chief is respected. If five tables are arranged, the general arrangement is "plum blossom seats".

When you pour wine for the first time between banquets (also called wine screening), you should pour wine first in the order of generations, and then pour wine for yourself. After pouring wine, don't point the hip flask at the guests, but at yourself, otherwise it's impolite. When toasting, the toaster should stand up, press his chest with his left hand (showing respect and sincerity), raise his glass with his right hand and say a few auspicious words, and take a sip first to show respect. If someone is late, they will be fined 1-3 drinks, and half a cup for ladies. If you leave halfway, you have to drink 1-3 cups to leave.

Traditional customs of the times

Celebrate the Spring Festival

Like most parts of the province, Hakkas regard the Spring Festival as the biggest and happiest festival of the year. People began to prepare for the Spring Festival very early. 9. Sweet potato slices and rice cake slices will be dried in 10 for frying and frying in the New Year. As soon as the "winter solstice" arrives, we will start steaming wine. Nearly 30 days ago, every household would steam sugar cakes, make rice fruits, kill pigs, make tofu, kill chickens and so on. Welcome the New Year with great joy.

Sacrifice to the kitchen god

1February 23rd, after the evening of 23rd, the kitchen stove should be cleaned, and the old kitchen stove should be removed and burned. New pictures will be posted on the morning of the 30th, as well as wine, meat, candy, sugar cane, rice fruit and so on. It should be placed, and incense, candles and paper cannons should be lit in front of the kitchen stove.

Enter the year limit.

Lunar calendar1February 25th, people will enter the "Year Pass" and step up preparations for the new year. Everyone who goes out will rush home for the New Year. After entering the fixed number of years, we should educate our children not to scold each other and not to say unlucky things. Before and after entering the new year, we should choose an auspicious day to clean the dust and clean the house. We should clean the tables and benches in the kitchen, clean the bedding and mosquito nets, and celebrate the New Year cleanly.

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve, that is, New Year's Eve, is the warmest and happiest day of Chinese New Year. On this morning, every family should worship bodhisattva and god. On New Year's Eve, portraits of ancestors should be hung in each hall, and red Spring Festival couplets should be posted at the gate. Red notes should be posted on barn doors, in front of livestock fences, on furniture beds and beside water tanks, which are called "sealing the year" or "becoming popular". Adults and children should take a bath, put on new clothes and celebrate the New Year cleanly. Each hall will also be decorated with tables, incense tables, chickens, fish, meat, fruits and so on. To worship their ancestors.

On New Year's Eve, we have a family reunion dinner with rich dishes. Put more bowls and chopsticks on the table to invite our ancestors back for the New Year. Before meals, sift the wine for your ancestors, sprinkle it on the ground, and then start eating. During the dinner, the old people and children eat chicken legs to show respect for the old people and young people.

stay up late or all night on New Year's Eve

After the reunion dinner, the cooker should be cleaned to prevent vegetarianism on the first day of the first month or all day. At night, we should keep the old year, say goodbye to the old and welcome the new. Every room should be brightly lit all night. This is called "lighting the old fire". In some places, cowshed and pigsty should also be illuminated. Parents should give their children lucky money, and some places give old people lucky money.

Open the gate

On the first day of the first month, the city gate was opened at the auspicious moment stipulated in the general book, and firecrackers exploded one after another.

Pay new year's call

I am a vegetarian on the morning of the first day of the first month. After dinner, people greet each other with auspicious words. The children are wearing new clothes. They are very happy and love to play. Some of them are vying to pay New Year greetings to the elderly: "My grandparents and uncles have money, and all the candied fruit is given to ya (me)."

On the second day of the first month, visit relatives to celebrate the New Year. In particular, the newly-married son-in-law (the Yue family will post an invitation with a book) will go to her parents' house to pay a New Year call. Generally, young couples go together, and a son-in-law goes alone; Some came back the same day, and some stayed for five or six days. When you go, you should bring little hens, rice fruits, candy, incense sticks and firecrackers, and then burn incense, light candles and set off firecrackers in front of the ancestors of the Yue family. At noon, the Yues treat, and the son-in-law should be drunk, not drunk or enthusiastic.

Eat old rice.

Eat "New Year's Rice" in the morning of the third day (some steamed on the 29th night of the year before last, some steamed on the 2nd night of the first month), put chopsticks on the rice, put a few pairs in the family, then insert a leafy branch, and then put some fruits such as oranges and grapefruit. Before eating the New Year's Eve, you should put the rice on the "Sun" shrine to worship the gods and ancestors. There are many dishes to prepare for the New Year's Eve, including chicken and meat, which is similar to having a reunion dinner on New Year's Eve. You can't kill animals in the third grade, but chickens should be killed in the second grade or kept during the Chinese New Year.

Exceed the annual limit

The fifth day of the first month of the year. The portraits of ancestors in the hall should be put away, the paper curtains should be taken down and burned, and those who go out on business can start.

the Lantern Festival

On the fifteenth day of the first month, Lantern Festival, also known as "Shangyuan Festival", every household should prepare dishes and wine for the New Year. To celebrate the Lantern Festival, the Spring Festival amusement activities will reach a climax.

From the beginning of the Lunar New Year to the fifteenth day of the first month, entertainment activities are constantly going on in various places, mainly Youlong lanterns and lion dances, and some activities begin on the first and second days of the first month. Dragon lanterns and lions will be posted in advance before they arrive, and red envelopes and snacks will be given when they arrive. Dragon lanterns, lions, etc. It will not only perform in every household, but also pay New Year greetings to gods and ancestors in various temples and ancestral halls in the village. During the first market after the Spring Festival, all kinds of dragon lanterns, boat lanterns and lion lanterns will be performed at the party, which is called "opening the market". During the Spring Festival to the Lantern Festival, there are also some recreational activities in various places:

Generally, on the first day of New Year's Day, teams of three or five people will send pictures of spring cows to all households, including those who play suona, drums and cymbals. They will play at the door of each household and send red stickers of "Happy New Year", and the host will give them red envelopes.

The rice straw dragon was cut into pieces and filled with incense, and the children danced in front of the stove and cowshed in the pigsty on their backs to congratulate the family safety and the prosperity of the six animals. The family should give red envelopes, the children will be happy, and the owner will ask for good luck.

Bat lights are also danced by children from door to door. "The fire dragon came into the house and asked you for candles." "Congratulations on getting rich, buying land and building a house." Bat lights don't accept red envelopes, only candles.

Ship lights are like boats, performing and singing on land. Rehearsal before the Spring Festival, gongs and drums team, playing ten times to cooperate. When we arrive at the village, we will have some snacks and then perform in the open space. The boatman and the boatman can sing tunes such as Pregnant in October, Ancient People in December, Guazi Ren, and A Flower. The boatman just rows a boat and can't sing. In the evening, I will "open the heavenly officials" in the ancestral hall, sing "God bless the people" and so on, and finally have a drink and dinner.

There are Nuo people on the lion lantern, including a lion head, a lion tail, a monkey, a sand monk and a gongs and drums team. After the lion, monkey and sand monk sing, they will perform martial arts, boxing, knife dancing, playing with sticks and jumping on the table. Lions will hire a master to coach martial arts before the Chinese New Year.

The spring equinox in February begins to sweep graves to worship ancestors, which is also called "Spring Festival". Before sweeping the grave, a grand ancestor worship ceremony should be held in the ancestral hall, pigs and sheep should be slaughtered, drummers should be invited to play, and the ritual students should read the eulogy and quote three praises. At the beginning of the spring equinox grave sweeping, the first thing is to sweep the graves of ancestors and distant ancestors. The whole family and the whole village have to be dispatched on a large scale, and the team often reaches hundreds or even thousands. After the ancestral graves of Kaiji and Yuanzu were swept, they were divided into rooms to sweep the graves of ancestors in each room, and finally each family swept the graves privately. In most Hakka areas, ancestor worship and grave sweeping in spring begin at the vernal equinox or earlier, and must end in Tomb-Sweeping Day at the latest. There is a saying everywhere that after the Qingming Festival, the tomb door is closed, and the ancestors' spirits are not needed.

Qingming March Qingming, ancestor worship. In addition to the vernal equinox, most Hakka areas sweep graves to worship their ancestors, and some places are also sweeping graves in Qingming. On this day in Tomb-Sweeping Day, there are places for offering sacrifices to altars, such as the roadside land Bogong.

Dragon Boat Festival is the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of May. Every household buys meat, kills ducks, makes zongzi and makes rice fruit for the holidays. Dragon Boat Festival is a big festival. In many places, people who work outside will go home for the New Year.

On Mid-Autumn Festival, July 15 is usually regarded as "Ghost Festival" in Hakka area. In some places, it is necessary to celebrate the festival one day in advance, which is called "14 people on July, and ghosts on July 15". In some places, Hakkas also worship their ancestors in July and a half.

Mid-Autumn Festival August 15 Mid-Autumn Festival, commonly known as "August Festival", is also a big festival. Eat moon cakes, enjoy the moon and celebrate the reunion. Every household has to buy a dining table, buy pork, kill chickens and ducks, and cook rice and fruit for the holidays. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, families get together for the holidays, eat moon cakes and enjoy the moon after dinner.

Double Ninth Festival The ninth day of September is the Double Ninth Festival, also known as the Double Ninth Festival, commonly known as the "September Festival", which is a big festival at the end of the year. There is a saying that "there is no big festival after the Double Ninth Festival", and many people who go out have to rush home for the New Year. On this day, people in many places will take their children to climb mountains. Some people fly kites on the mountains, which means they can avoid evil spirits and plagues. Many old people say that this custom was brought by ancestors from the northern Central Plains and passed down from generation to generation. On this day, some old people and women go to temples to burn incense and worship Buddha.

The winter solstice is in November of the lunar calendar, also known as the "winter solstice". On the solstice of winter, we should eat pork and beef, make rice fruit and soup pills, and the rich should eat pilose antler and ginseng to make up for the winter.

Folk Entertainment Hakka folk entertainment is very rich in content. The main festivals are yangko, dragon boat race, boating, dragon dance, lion dance, teacher walking on stilts, greeting lanterns, riding lanterns, playing flower drums, musical instruments, performances and fireworks. There are usually folk songs, ditty singing, piano playing, guzheng playing, erhu playing, flute playing, chess playing and gobang playing.