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Symbolic Metaphor Features of Chaoshan Folk Custom and Its Cultural Significance

Symbolic and metaphorical features of Chaoshan folk customs and their cultural significance analysis [Abstract] Symbolic and metaphorical features are very rich in Chaoshan folk customs. The symbolic features in Chaoshan folk customs mainly include materialized symbols, symbolic symbols and ritual symbols. The characteristics of metaphor are mainly associative, homophonic and suggestive. Chaoshan people widely use symbols and metaphors in folk customs, mainly for exorcising evil spirits, pursuing wealth, praying for a happy marriage, having many children and grandchildren, showing their friendship and reverence for man and God, and showing a kind of human beauty and ideal beauty.

Folklore is the sum total of the phenomena inherited from folk culture such as habits, etiquette, beliefs and fashion formed in the long-term development of society. It is a popular and inherited folk culture model established by groups and society. Chaoshan people have created rich folk culture with distinctive local characteristics in their long-term social production and life practice. "Different winds in ten miles, different customs in a hundred miles". Although Chaoshan folk culture has its own characteristics, it has certain commonness with other folk cultures, but its performance is different. This paper attempts to make a superficial analysis of the performance and significance of object and metaphor in Chaoshan folk customs in order to deepen the understanding of Chaoshan folk customs. First, the symbolic characteristics of Chaoshan folk culture

Symbols generally refer to nonverbal symbol expression activities. The symbol [1] has two characteristics: one is the vivid object; Second, it has a representative role, that is, it represents or represents another thing. Symbolism is widely used in ancient myths, traditional stories and many other folk customs. The fundamental reason why many folk customs can be spread and preserved after thousands of years of historical changes lies in its vitality and inheritance significance, and the adoption of symbols gives and meets such a demand of folk customs.

Folk custom is a cultural phenomenon in the middle to a great extent. It is not only a spiritual phenomenon, but also a concrete material form, which plays a role in communication and infiltration between tradition and reality, and between spirit and material. Spirit is the soul and core of folklore, and complex folklore is the material shell of cultural tradition and national spirit, which accumulates in people's social life habits and people's psychology and affects society and people's behavior norms and ways of thinking. In this way, symbols become a very important feature of folk culture. Because in folk culture, people always express a special meaning through a large number of symbols or simple phenomena revealed by objects, appearances and images. In other words, every specific thing has its own characteristics, such as quantity, shape, color and so on. People give them some special meanings through association, comparison, homophonic and understanding. After a long period of inheritance and development, they have achieved people's psychological effects by established practices and become a symbolic folk culture. As Cassirer, a famous German scholar, pointed out, symbols represent the symbols in the inner spiritual world through the symbols in the external material world, or the symbols in the visible material world transition to the symbols in the invisible material world. [2] As far as the symbolic characteristics of Chaoshan folk customs are concerned, there are three main forms of expression.

Materialized symbol

Materialized symbols refer to expressing an image with the help of some specific things or objects. Materialized symbols in folk customs are not only cultural phenomena created by the people, but also artistic aesthetic forms created by the people, which are entrusted with people's beautiful association for the future and their longing for heaven, earth, people, history and reality. Chaoshan folk custom has rich and colorful materialized symbols.

1, annual order. On new year's eve, the whole family will eat meatballs or fish balls around the stove, symbolizing family reunion and having more than one year; Eating blood clams (called "clam shell money" by its shell hipsters) symbolizes making a fortune in the new year; Eating pig's trotters symbolizes running head every year; Farmhouse tanks should be filled with water, rice tanks should be filled with rice, and the lights can't go out, which symbolizes that the years have passed and cooking is done every year; Every household puts oranges, symbolizing good luck; Eating spinach (folk call it "flying dragon dish") and dried bean curd in the early morning of the first day of junior high school symbolizes the successful official career and making a fortune.

The seventh day of the first lunar month is a day. Chaoshan people have the custom of dieting "seven kinds of soups" every day, which evolved from the ancient custom of "cooking five spicy dishes on New Year's Day". [3] Seven kinds of soups in Chaozhou customs, generally celery, onion, garlic, spring vegetables, large (mustard) vegetables, wide-spread vegetables and thick (that is, "lily" produced in the field for pigs, not "lily" in Chinese medicine), are homophonic, meaning auspicious. Celery, homophonic and diligent, symbolizes hard work and wealth; Onion, homophonic, symbolizes intelligence; Garlic, homophonic calculation, symbolizes money calculation; Spring vegetables, homophonic spring wealth, symbolize making a fortune; Mustard, known as a big dish by hipsters, is homophonic and rich, and it is also a symbol of making a fortune; Wan Yu, homophonic, symbolizes the arrival of marriage; Lily, the symbol of all things, everything goes well. Together, it becomes an auspicious word: diligent, intelligent, calculating, predestined friends, making a fortune in the new year, thinking everything together and all the best. If you switch to leeks, it will be "making money for a long time."

In addition, the Dragon Boat Festival also eats zongzi, which symbolizes strong body; Eating moon cakes in Mid-Autumn Festival and jiaozi in winter symbolizes family reunion. Wait a minute.

2. At the time of celebration. There is a custom in Puning Hongyang. After the woman is hired, in addition to returning the man's candy bag, she will also send two clumps of spring grass to symbolize the grass knot. A pig heart symbolizes concentricity; Five kinds of seeds (rice, mung bean, fermented cake, dried longan, sweet potato powder) symbolize five children in the family entering school; There are some bananas, symbolizing the recruitment of children; Sweet black bean ball, a symbol of less grams. [4]

In the old society, Chaoshan people's "birthday" activities generally didn't start until they were 60 years old. "Life is seventy years old and rare", and health and longevity are also a great blessing in life. Therefore, the birthday activities of Chaoshan people are also very grand. There must be a dish for your birthday-fried "long noodles". "Long noodles" homophonic longevity symbolizes longevity and longevity.

3. reading. On the day when children enter school, parents must arrange four dishes: fried celery with pork liver, a whole silver carp (commonly known as "arowana"), dried bean curd and a pair of red eggs. Eating pork liver and fried celery symbolizes cleverness and will be a big official in the future; Eating silver carp can turn into a dragon when you grow up; Ate the dried tofu symbolizing the golden seal; I ate a pair of red eggs, symbolizing winning two yuan in a row. [5]

The colorful materialized symbols in Chaoshan folk customs, such as fish balls, pig feet and celery, numbers, directions and names (including names of people, places, signs, things and events) are all related to people's psychological characteristics of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages and praying for peace, which has obvious symbolic significance.

Double symbol symbol

Symbol is the earliest cultural form created by human beings. Gertz, a famous American anthropologist, believes that "culture is a pattern of meaning passed down from generation to generation through symbols in history", and symbols are "things that remind us of this thing." [6] To a great extent, folklore is a general symbol system, which carries the spread of human culture and constitutes a dynamic symbol of culture.

The symbolic symbol of folk culture is to use symbols to symbolize the change of nature and the replacement of personnel, and to express some ideas or some thoughts and feelings through various objects, events and images as symbols. Typical examples of using patterns as symbols are various totems in ancient times. For example, the dog is the totem of the She nationality in Chaoshan, and the pattern of the dog has always been regarded as the symbol of this nation. In addition, symbolic meaning is expressed by simple symbols such as numbers, colors and directions. The reason why human beings create all kinds of symbols is mainly to express a complex thing in a simple form. Symbols have many forms in Chaoshan folk customs.

1, text. Characters are the most obvious form of symbols. As a symbol, Chinese characters are widely used in Chaoshan folk customs and have distinct symbolic significance. For example, during the Spring Festival, every household sticks the words "Spring" and "Blessing" to symbolize the happiness of the new year; When getting married, a red note of "Kirin delivers the child" should be posted on the sedan chair door, the wedding bed door and the bridal chamber door, symbolizing auspiciousness, good luck and early birth. ...

2. Numbers. Numbers are also an important symbol form, which is widely used in Chaoshan folk customs and has great symbolic significance. For example, red and white things should be given as gifts, and yes man should be a happy event. White things must be odd. There must be two eggs on the child's birthday and "out of the garden", which means yes-man; The paper feeder for the relatives of the deceased must be odd, indicating that only one person died; Relatives or friends who have recovered from a long illness should bring eleven eggs when they visit (red paper is not suitable), and the recipient will accept them, but it is not good to keep them. Eleven eggs symbolize that there is only one time in this life, and there is no second illness in the future. [7]

3. color. Color is also an important symbol form, and all kinds of colors have their rich symbolic meanings. In Chaoshan folk customs, color symbols are mainly concentrated in red, black and white.

① Red. Advocating red is a traditional folk custom of the Chinese nation with good wishes. Chaoshan people are also very "red" and have a strong red complex. Red is the first color in Chaoshan folk customs, including bright red, light red and purple red. Red is widely used in Chaoshan folk customs.

During the Chinese New Year, every household decorated with lanterns, put "Daji" (citrus) on red plates, put up red couplets, hang red lanterns, give red envelopes (lucky money) and set off firecrackers (red). Marriage is the greatest joy in life. Chaoshan people always decorate the festive atmosphere with red to win the "first prize"-the bride should wear red clothes or skirts and red boots (or red clogs); The dowry box is red; Lamps, bowls, chopsticks, pillows, blankets, etc. They are all red, with double happiness, red couplets and red lanterns. Giving birth to a child is a great pleasure in life. Celebrations will be held when children are born at home, such as drinking wedding banquets, eating red eggs and setting off firecrackers (red). Four relatives and two relatives will come to congratulate and give red envelopes to the newborn. When moving to a new home (commonly known as "moving to a new house"), you should also put up red couplets, smoke double happiness cigarettes and set off firecrackers (red). Going out of the garden is an "adult festival" for Chaoshan people in the old days, and it is also a major event in life. When boys and girls leave the garden at the age of fifteen, they should take a shower, wear red shoes and eat red eggs to pray for adults. Offerings for worshipping God and entering the temple should be dyed red and inserted with safflower (pomegranate flower). When building a house on the girder, the two ends of the girder should be wrapped with red scarves to show auspiciousness ... The reason why Chaoshan people like "dyeing red" so much is because red can ward off evil spirits and symbolize joy, auspiciousness and happiness.

(2) black and white. Black and white are fierce colors, which are related to the dead or can remind people of ghosts in the underworld, symbolizing fear and murder. Therefore, Chaoshan folk often use black and white when holding funerals, but on festive days such as weddings, childbirth and Chinese New Year, it is forbidden to wear pure white and black clothes to avoid bad luck.

In short, Chaoshan people use a lot of symbols in their customs, including words, numbers, colors, etc., mainly to express a complex thing in a simple form and give it an exorcism and auspicious cultural significance.

Three ritual symbols

Ceremony is the oldest and most common social and cultural phenomenon in the long river of human history, and is usually defined as a set of symbolic and performative behaviors stipulated by cultural traditions. Gertz called the ceremony a "cultural performance". [8]

A complete and open group ceremony is always a comprehensive display of a series of behaviors in a specific time, a specific environment and a specific scene.

Ceremonies include etiquette, etiquette and gifts. Ritual symbol is to express human feelings and expectations through certain activities, to show respect, friendship, respect and wishes for people and God, and to show a kind of human beauty and ideal beauty. In fact, for ritual actors, ritual behavior is because of its "meaning". It is through actions, postures, dancing, singing and other performance activities, as well as the physical arrangement of objects and scenes, that ritual actors construct a meaningful ritual scene, and relive and experience the spiritual comfort and spiritual needs brought by these meanings from such a scene. Throughout the ceremony, performances, scenes and objects are all means to express or express meaning. Ceremony is a meaningful world and a meaningful symbolic system.

In Chaoshan wedding custom, there is a ceremony of "the bride walks through the fire and smoke". On the wedding day, before the bride arrives at her husband's house, the husband's family should prepare a bundle of straw and put it on the threshold. When the bride walks to the door, the mother will light the straw and burn thick smoke, and then accompany the bride to recite "The bride will have thousands of children and grandchildren in Qian Qian" or "Smoking, smoking, giving birth to beans and grandchildren (that is, boys) next year". After reading, the bride crossed the threshold into her husband's house and entered the bridal chamber. The significance of this ceremony lies in expecting the newlyweds to have children early. [9]

In Chaoshan funeral, after attending the funeral, you should wash your face in the washbasin water with "safflower" (pomegranate flower) or "grass" (also known as fairy grass and Swiss grass), and then pour it on the road outside with the washing water; After attending the funeral, the host must give the guests red candy and red tape, which is to drive away evil spirits and filth and to "purify the air" (that is, clean).

In Chaoshan custom, gift-giving itself is a ceremony. Gifts should be material, but what is important in folk culture is its symbolic meaning. Lucky money is usually wrapped in red paper, giving it a beautiful appearance and symbolizing good wishes-the lucky money for children is a red envelope, expecting children to grow up safely, and the birthday gift for the elderly is also wrapped in red paper, wishing the elderly good health and all the best; Relatives and friends have happy events, and the pork, candy and eggs sent must also be red, symbolizing auspiciousness and happiness.

In addition, Chaoshan folk activities, such as production, eating, vagrancy, sacrifice and entertainment, all have a complete set of ceremonies, each with its own symbolic significance-good luck, peace, wealth and happiness.

Second, the metaphorical characteristics of Chaoshan folk culture

Metaphor is an important folk feature. The so-called metaphor is to hide the original meaning behind some mark, or to embody some faithful symbol through some metaphor. [10] Before the language enters the advanced stage, people only communicate directly with products of sign language with certain agreed meaning, thus transmitting information to each other. More metaphors have been found in ancient poetry and literature and folk etiquette.

Metaphors in folk culture are often compound. That is, the blending and overlapping of matter and spirit, subject and object is a double intersection. For example, fire is something we are familiar with. It plays a very important role in weddings, funerals and festivals. In people's minds, the fire at this time is no longer a physical fire, but a synonym for brightness, auspiciousness and prosperity. It is the embodiment and condensation of a belief and the concretization of abstract meaning. In other words, concrete things become a special language, a special concept and a special system through people's use of special ways of thinking. Although there is only one word difference between metaphor and metaphor, their meanings are different. Metaphor is a kind of rhetoric, which uses familiar things to describe another thing. For example, "anxious to return" is a metaphor, a metaphor between "homing" and "arrow". Metaphor is used to compare two images to highlight the characteristics of one. Metaphor, on the other hand, describes abstract concepts with concrete things, thus realizing the transformation of meaning. Through metaphor, the abstract meaning is more clearly and accurately highlighted. As far as the metaphorical features of Chaoshan folk culture are concerned, there are three main forms of expression.

Associative metaphor

Associative metaphor is to guide people to associate from a certain attribute of things to the corresponding meaning of allegorized things, as a "comparison", from "concealment" to "metaphor"

In the old days, it was a common custom for children to eat two red eggs on their birthdays, "leaving the garden" and going to school for the first time. There are two meanings: one is two eggs, which means men; Second, the red egg is entrusted with people's spiritual life and hope for the future. In people's minds, children eat more than eggs. An egg represents a chicken, but people's imagination will naturally not stop there. Because a child who can eat a chicken will be strong and live a long life in the future; On the other hand, "chicken and duck" is followed by "fish" and "delicacies and delicacies", so it goes without saying that people who can eat chicken, duck, fish, delicacies and delicacies are self-evident. "Long life" and "splendor" almost became the birthday mantra of ordinary people in the old society, but in folk customs, these wishes are enough for children.

Homophonic metaphor

Homophonic metaphor can be seen everywhere in folk activities, which is very common and can be said to be the most widely used metaphor. Homophonic metaphor is an important way of cultural creation and development. It realizes the transmission, transformation and expansion of meaning based on homophonic and borrowing principles, and establishes the connection between two unrelated things. The so-called "homophonic is a humorous ride, but it is the beginning of higher civilization", [1 1] exactly means this. Homophonic metaphor has become an important branch of auspicious language, widely active in people's social life and oral language, appearing in various folk customs, especially in weddings, auspicious occasions and festive atmosphere in the New Year. In Chaoshan folk customs, homophonic metaphors can be seen everywhere, especially in life etiquette, which can be said to run through people's lives.

China's traditional concept of marriage is mainly to carry on the family line, which has a long history. The Book of Changes says: "Heaven and earth follow the world, everything turns into wine, men and women are refined, and everything turns into women." People inherit heaven and earth, rotating yin and yang, so those who are engaged to marriage value human relations and are broad-minded. "Chaoshan people also have a strong sense of' spreading' and' seeking children'. The consciousness of "seeking children" produced by homophonic metaphor has existed in large numbers since the first step of giving birth to children-marriage. For example, there must be a lamp in the bride's dowry, because the lamp is homophonic with "Ding", which means adding Ding and having children after marriage; Some dowries have a picture of a lotus blowing sheng boy, which is a metaphor for "giving birth to a noble child"; The "Lantern Festival Camp" held in Chaoshan during the Lantern Festival is a metaphor for people's desire to have children.

Fish has a strong reproductive ability, so ancient people regard fish as a symbol of harvest, reproduction and life, and fish is a metaphor for courtship and fertility. From ancient folk songs to modern customs, fish has been preserved as a typical form of auspicious words. Chaoshan is close to the sea, with many rivers. Chaoshan people like to eat seafood, and fish plays a very active role in Chaoshan folk customs. Fish should be eaten during the Chinese New Year holiday, the wedding banquet can't be separated from eating fish, the birthday party can't be without fish, and the children should eat fish on the first day of school ... The reason is that fish is homophonic "fish", which means they are much older; Folk like carp dance because there are more roes in spring, which means more children and more happiness.

In addition, the homophony of seven kinds of soup and the homophony of "long noodles" also belong to the category of homophonic metaphor to some extent.

Three-hint metaphor

Suggestive metaphor is the synthesis of associative metaphor and homophonic metaphor. There are many aspects in Chaoshan folk customs that show the metaphorical meaning of association, homophonic and suggestion.

Every New Year's Eve, when families sit around and eat "New Year's Eve", there are usually fish on the table. This example fully shows the combination of association, homophonic and suggestive metaphor-the fish homophonic "Yu" means more than one year; However, being over one year old will remind people of a house full of children and grandchildren, suggesting the richness of life.

When fishermen in Chaoshan coastal areas eat fish, if they want to eat the bottom surface after eating the top surface, the whole fish bone will be torn open or the fish on the bottom surface will be picked out, and the whole fish will not turn over. If you really want to eat the bottom, it should be said that it is smooth, not backwards, because people are often associated with capsizing, which is the most taboo for fishermen. Turning fish reminds people of capsizing, suggesting that it is necessary to ward off evil spirits in order to make money.

Many banyan trees and bamboos are planted in Chaoshan villages, which is called "banyan before bamboo". In other words, banyan trees should be planted in front of the house and bamboo should be planted behind the house. In Chaozhou, the banyan tree is called "Cheng" and "Qian Rong" means achievement. Bamboo is homophonic with "foot", that is, the meaning of wealth, which means that you can be rich after suggesting. [12] This is also the embodiment of implied metaphor.

As the form of compound metaphor is stylized, standardized and fixed, its content is gradually known, and the "hidden" component naturally decreases, thus becoming a relatively implicit formatted auspicious language. Auspicious words, also known as "auspicious words" and "mouth color", are used in festivals or important occasions, such as holidays, wedding birthdays, housewarming and opening businesses, and are considered to bring people good luck. [13] Auspicious words express people's hopes and prayers for a better and richer life, adding a festive atmosphere to festival celebrations.

First, from language form to intuitive form, a large number of stylized decorative patterns are formed, which are called "decorative patterns" or "auspicious patterns".

In the past, Chaoshan people, especially children, had the custom of wearing Chinese corsets. Although the Chinese-style chest covering is small, people make full use of this small Chinese-style chest covering to embroider various patterns, and at the same time, express their beautiful expectations and wishes, such as embroidering cocks, longevity peaches and Chinese Pulsatilla. , respectively, metaphor "fame and fortune", "longevity and wealth", "longevity and wealth"; When a woman gets married, she often embroiders magpie, pomegranate, lotus, unicorn and other patterns on her belly pocket, which means happiness, and she will have a baby after marriage.

In Shen 'ao, an ancient town in South Australia rich in pomegranate, people like to decorate their wedding beds and new houses with pomegranate flowers and pomegranate patterns, which means "pomegranate has many children".

The dowry of various Chaoshan people listed above is often painted with children playing with carp, which means having more children; A boy with lotus flowers and blowing sheng is a metaphor for the birth of your son. Painting magpies is a metaphor for jubilation; They are all manifestations of the transformation from Kyrgyz to "auspicious patterns".

Secondly, the frequent application of auspicious words in social life and people's daily communication has gradually developed into a way of blessing in line with etiquette. Because there are festive and auspicious words among the people, they are simple, vivid and catchy. As a conventional form, they are welcomed by the people and passed down from generation to generation.

The custom of taking the colorful bridge is widely spread in Jieyang and Puning. People often say auspicious words full of expectations and good wishes at activities. Children who study touch the lion's nose, which means "touch the lion's nose and write elegant words"; The girl touches the lion's head, which is a metaphor for "touching the lion's head makes everything virtuous"; Unmarried young men touch the lion's belly, which is a metaphor for "touching the lion's belly to find Yamu"; A pregnant woman touching a lion's ear is a metaphor for "touching a lion's ear gives birth to a brother". [ 14]

During the Spring Festival, people like to say "Happy New Year" and "Good luck". When I get married, I like to say "grow old together" and "have children early"; I like to say "long life, wealth and splendor", "longevity is better than Nanshan" and "happiness is like the East China Sea" on my birthday. When moving to a new house, I like to say "live and work in peace" and "safe access"; The activity flags of wandering gods like to say "good weather", "prosperity of six animals" and "prosperity of wealth"; When opening a shop, I like to write "Open the door" and "Goods are like wheels". Wait, they are all very popular folk auspicious words. To sum up, symbol and metaphor, two major folk characteristics, have colorful expressions in Chaoshan folk customs. Chaoshan people widely use symbols and metaphors in folk customs, mainly for exorcising evil spirits, praying for a happy marriage and expecting a rich life, thus showing respect, love and admiration for people and God, and showing a kind of human beauty and ideal beauty. The symbols and metaphors in Chaoshan folk customs reflect the traditional consciousness of Chaoshan agricultural society to pray for more children and more happiness, and to value sons over daughters. It embodies the ocean, delicacy and antiquity of Chaoshan culture.