Folk customs in Changfeng county

After giving birth, the son-in-law went to her parents' house to tell them that the baby was born safely. When the son-in-law comes to report the good news, he will bring a basket of happy eggs (eggs dyed red with pigment after cooking), which will be distributed by the Yue family to the closest relatives in the family. The in-laws brought an old hen back to the son-in-law as the "root chicken" of the newborn grandson (granddaughter).

Bathe the baby on the third day after birth.

On the third day after the baby is born, the midwife or the grandmother of the child and other family elders bathe the baby with boiling water such as wormwood leaves and honeysuckle, commonly known as "washing three". Taking a bath with this kind of water can not only wash away the dirt on the baby, but also sterilize it. On that day, the host family will also buy food and drink, thank the midwife and give away happy eggs and money (delivery fee).

Give sb. a present

Generally, on the ninth day of the baby girl's birth and the twelfth day of the baby boy's birth, the maternal family and relatives and friends will come to celebrate with gifts. Hens, eggs, brown sugar, prickly heat, dried noodles, etc. Gifts are mainly used to comfort women. At the same time, grandparents prepared clothes, cradles, strollers and other children's daily necessities for their little grandchildren. In the northern part of Changfeng county, the gifts given to babies by relatives and friends are tied together with red wool and red silk thread, which is called "wearing a lock rope", meaning to protect children's safety. On this day, the host family will hold a rich banquet for all relatives and friends who come to congratulate. Before dinner, the host will serve each guest a bowl of poached egg noodles or poached egg jiaozi, which is called "eating happy noodles". When relatives and friends left, the host family sent back baskets of gifts such as zongzi and red eggs.

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On the hundredth day of the baby's birth, the child's aunt, aunt and other close relatives will also come to celebrate and have a good time. In the past, people with good economic conditions would ask craftsmen to make silver bracelets, silver anklets, long-life locks (silver locks), etc., and wear them on children on this day to show exquisiteness. Nowadays, children usually take pictures for one hundred days as a souvenir.

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The baby is one year old, commonly known as "Ying Zhou" locally. On this day, children's grandmothers and other relatives and friends bring their children's clothes, cakes, toys, etc. to celebrate their first birthday, commonly known as "grasping the week". The host family gave a banquet to entertain the guests. Before lunch, the family put books, pens, inkstones, abacus, ruler, toys, steamed bread, eggs, cakes and other items in a big sieve plaque for the children to grab, hoping that the children will have a good future in the future. The custom of celebrating birthdays in Changfeng County is generally once every five days, and the anniversary is once every ten days. The memorial day is "Ming Jiu", such as 59, 69, 79 and so on. As the saying goes, "Do nine and don't do ten". "Nine" and "long" are homophonic, meaning everlasting; "Ten" is a slam, which means the end, which is unlucky. Some people pay attention to "dark nine" in addition to "Ming nine". "Dark Nine" is a multiple of life rings, such as 54, 63, 72, etc. On the birthday of "Black Nine", friends, relatives and children came to celebrate their birthdays with joy, so as to resolve the ominous luck. There is also an old saying in the county that "mother is in the hall, no birthday", that is, even if future generations are 60 or 70 years old, as long as Gao Tang is still alive, no birthday will be celebrated. This custom regards one's birthday as a mother's difficult day, so as to add life to her mother and thank her for giving birth and raising.

There is a set of traditional etiquette for celebrating birthdays. First of all, we should set up a birthday hall, light birthday candles, hang birthday presents and decorate with lanterns. The birthday boy sat in the birthday hall, and relatives and friends offered birthday wishes in turn. Different generations have different manners. For the older generation, they just bow to each other, and the younger generation will kneel down and worship four times. When guests celebrate their birthdays, children and grandchildren should bring gifts with them. At this time, firecrackers should be set off as long as possible. The second is a birthday present. Some birthday gifts are money, noodles and cakes, while others are birthday screens, birthday paintings, birthday couplets, birthday gifts and birthday plaques. Provide shroud, shoes, etc. for children below the knee. The third is to hold a birthday party to entertain guests. When hosting a banquet, you should eat longevity noodles, which are slender and symbolize longevity. Before the banquet, the guests frequently propose toasts to the birthday girl, and the children and grandchildren should also reciprocate the guests. In the old society, it was rare for dignitaries to decorate the Palace of Eternal Life very luxuriously. But other birthday ceremonies and customs still survive. On the birthday, the whole family will try their best to create a peaceful and happy atmosphere and make the birthday party comfortable.

With the improvement of living conditions, the average life expectancy in the county has been increasing, and 60 years old is no longer a high life. Therefore, people's birthday celebrations are generally postponed, and people usually celebrate their birthdays in their seventies and eighties. In the grand degree of birthday celebration, ordinary families are relatively simple and hold rich banquets to celebrate family reunion, while some families with better economic conditions still pay attention to scenes, do big things and waste money. In Changfeng area, residents regard building a house as a top priority in their lives and spare no effort to pour all their savings. Many people scrimped and saved for years in order to save money to build a new house. In the past, most of the houses in the county were thatched earth walls, with low and narrow houses and poor ventilation and light transmission conditions. Since 1980s, with the development of urban and rural economy, great changes have taken place in the housing structure. From the initial straw house, it gradually developed into tile houses, bungalows and buildings. For families with affluent economic conditions, the newly-built houses are tall and spacious, with unique shapes and exquisite decoration.

In the past, when farmers built houses, they usually started planning and preparing building materials two or three years ago. The process of building a house, including foundation selection, construction, beam erection and relocation, is very particular.

Base selection

Before building a house, farmers usually ask Yin and Yang teachers to open a compass, look at Feng Shui and choose a homestead. New houses are generally built in high-lying, flat and open places. The door faces south, which is warm in winter and cool in summer. There must be water nearby, so it's convenient for domestic use. There should be an open space in front of the house, which means that it has a good appearance and enough space to build ancillary buildings. There is a custom in the north of the county to "avoid three arrows and talk about him from left to right". The so-called three arrows, that is, dodge arrows, rocket arrows and wooden arrows, should not be directed at roads, chimneys or gables, otherwise it will be considered unlucky. Some people think that the house has a green dragon on the left and a white tiger on the right. There is a folk saying that "it is better for a white tiger to raise its head than a green dragon", that is, the house on the left can be taller than that on the right, but the height of the house on the right must not exceed that on the left. People also think that residential feng shui is good, it can attract wealth and ward off evil spirits, and the family is prosperous. Now, no matter in rural areas or towns, all new land for building must be approved by relevant government departments, and it is not allowed to move at will. Changfeng County implemented the transformation of old villages and the construction of central villages, and farmers gradually concentrated in central villages with complete facilities such as water, electricity, roads and communications. When building houses, people are no longer superstitious and value geomantic omen as in the past, but pay more attention to planning, living environment and harmony between man and nature. There are also some farmers with good economic conditions who buy commercial houses in county towns and market towns to live and do business.

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In the past, when farmers built houses with civil structures, they usually asked masons and their neighbors to help them, just paying for their meals. Brick roofs and buildings have been built in villages and market towns, and the technical requirements are getting higher and higher. Generally, it is contracted to the local bricklayer's team, and the contractor pays a certain amount of money and has no materials. Cheerfulness is an important part of building a house. When the roof beam is to be erected in construction, a beam setting ceremony should be held. The time should be chosen on an auspicious day, usually two days or noon. On this day, relatives and friends come to congratulate each other and drink Liang wine. The landlord posted couplets on both sides of the gate, and posted red couplets on the beams, which read auspicious words such as "Auspicious photos, auspicious wishes", "Auspicious light helps auspicious spirits, and Liang Fengzi". Red cloth strips are hung on the beams, and several strings of copper coins and nickel coins are nailed to show good luck and prosperity. Firecrackers and fireworks will be set off when the lights are turned on. Woodworking leaders either rode on beams or stood on gables, saying "Yes" and singing the songs of beams, while sprinkling candy and cakes and "throwing beams of buns", which attracted many people to watch the fun and grab buns and sweets. On this day in Shangliang, the family mainly prepared a sumptuous banquet for masons and all relatives and friends who came to congratulate.

Move to a better place or get a promotion

When the new house is completed, the house mainly chooses a good date to move to the new house, and generally chooses two days in the lunar calendar. The folk proverb says, "On February 2nd, the dragon looks up". People in the county generally believe that the best date to move is the second day of the second lunar month. Some areas in the county have the custom of not moving from winter to the future. In the choice of time, it is usually 6 o'clock in the morning, when the sun rises, carrying an iron pot into the house, indicating that "the days are getting smoother and smoother" and "the days are getting brighter and brighter". On the day of housewarming, firecrackers are mainly set off in the house to show good luck. Relatives and friends also came to congratulate the housewarming and help move furniture. At noon, the room mainly hosts banquets for friends and relatives. 2065438+On July 3, 2004/KLOC-0, the symposium on external evaluation and inspection of the seventh cycle of China/UNFPA gender equality project was held in Changfeng County, Hefei City, Anhui Province. Changfeng county, as a pilot county determined by the state, set off a "surname revolution" of gender equality. In the pilot towns and villages, if the children take their mother's surname, the reward will be 1000 yuan. In Xiatang Town, Zuodian Township and Zhuxiang Town of the county, 30 newborn families have taken the initiative to apply for their newborns to take their mother's surname.