What are the unique folk beliefs in ancient Jiangnan?

For example, most villages in ancient Jiangnan held a "seedling meeting" every June and July. The villagers carried Liu Meng and other village gods to patrol the fields. During the parade, gongs and drums were loud and colorful flags were inserted in the fields. This kind of activity will last for ten days and a half months. It seems that praying to the gods for a bumper harvest actually has another function-June and July are the time for rice heading and the high incidence of pests and diseases. Whether striding forward or planting colorful flags in the fields, the purpose is to deter pests and protect seedlings.

For traditional agriculture, it is very important to grasp and predict the climate. In Jiangnan, there are many folk customs and proverbs about climate. For example, Huangmeitian in the south of the Yangtze River usually falls in May of the lunar calendar. It is said that May 13th of each year is Guandi's birthday. On this day, Guan Gong went to the Fairy Cave to sharpen his knife with a dragon crescent moon blade, so the rain at this time was called "sharpening rain".

There is also a legend that May 20th is the day when dragons leave. On this day, the little dragon in the sky parted from his parents, and shed tears because he couldn't bear to be separated, and the tears turned into rain. People call this day's rain "Dragon Rain", which means that the weather is good in a year. The peasant proverb in the south of the Yangtze River is even more blunt: "It rained long on May 20, and there was rice in the crevices." Although similar proverbs link climate change with the activities of gods, they essentially reflect the observation and exploration of natural laws by workers in the south of the Yangtze River in their long-term production practice.

Every time I go to beginning of spring, many places will hold ceremonies to worship Ju Mang, the goddess of spring, commonly known as "beginning of spring". According to legend, Ju Mang is the descendant of Fuxi and an important agricultural god. He holds seeds in his left hand and compasses in his right hand, symbolizing measuring the land, sowing plants and bringing people hope for spring.

Today, there is also a Wutong ancestral temple in Ke Cheng, Quzhou, Zhejiang Province, where Ju Mang, the god of spring, is enshrined. In 20 16, the "Twenty-four Solar Terms" was listed as the world intangible cultural heritage, and the Ju Mang Festival in Quzhou was the representative of the beginning of the Spring Festival.

On the basis of folk customs and beliefs, people in the south of the Yangtze River have further summed up many laws of farming and climate. One of his representative works is Tian Wu Jia Xing, written in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties. This book collects a large number of agricultural proverbs popular in the south of the Yangtze River, paying special attention to divining the abundance and sorrow of agriculture through the appearance and movements of animals, including "frogs croak in times of flood and drought" and "local cattle occupy the age".

It contains a lot of scientific wisdom. For example, proverbs such as "crows bathe in the wind, magpies bathe in the rain, and starlings bathe in the wind and rain" show that our ancestors knew long ago to judge the weather changes by observing the living habits of birds. Interestingly, in some rural areas in the south of the Yangtze River, until the founding of New China, the Tianjia Five Elements still had a great influence on the development of agricultural production.