space fisherman

Chapter 66 "Sacrificing the Sea"

At the pier of Yuwan Island, a sea offering ceremony is being held.

Today is the first day after the fishing moratorium, Ye Yuan also made all the preparations for going out to sea in advance, he thought it would be enough to set off like this.

Who knows, what my father said was that he would create a sea sacrifice ceremony for the new ship to go to sea for the first time.

"Sacrificing to the sea" is a way of offering sacrifices to fishermen to thank and believe in the Dragon King of the Sea and the gods of the sea. This has been a unique folk culture in Pinghai County for hundreds of years.

Not only Pinghai County, but also many coastal areas have similar ceremonies, but in different forms.

The host of the "Sacrifice to the Sea" was an experienced old fisherman specially invited by Father Ye from the county.

I saw the host throwing the dumplings into the sea, facing the sea, and bowed three times.

This is because fishermen specially use squid as fillings and dumplings in order to thank the gift of the sea.

The thrown dumplings were brought to the bottom of the sea by the tide, taking away the long-cherished wish of the fishermen.

Immediately afterwards the host shouted loudly:
"Xie Dragon King etiquette begins.

Amidst bursts of firecrackers and gongs and drums, the host shouted again:
"Fishing in the ocean, the sea is calm, good luck, the flag is triumphant, and the return is full..."

The firecrackers stopped.

Ye Yuan and all the crew members who went to sea this time worshiped and prayed before the incense table.

Then each person holds a bowl of wine, and after three toasts, they pick various offerings and wine, pour them into dry teacups, and pour them into the sky.

At the same time the host shouted:
"Thank you, thank you, thank you Dragon King for your protection!"

Many fish farm workers came to watch and pray for blessings when they knew that the "Sea Festival" was held here.

Fishermen's "sacrifice to the sea" is not only a folk belief ceremony, but also an expression of fishermen's long-cherished wishes for safety and a good harvest.

For so many years, Yejia Village has held a blessing ceremony every year when they go to sea.

In the old days, due to backward production tools, the personal safety of fishermen at sea was greatly threatened every time there was a storm.

Therefore, the legendary sea gods are regarded as the gods of protection of life and blessings of harvest, forming an atmosphere of dragon worship and dragon belief of "going out to sea to sacrifice to the Dragon King, thanking the Dragon King for a good harvest, and relying on the Dragon King for rain".

There are Kaicatch Festival, Xieyang Festival, Qingfeng Festival, New Boat Festival and so on.The ceremony of offering sacrifices to the sea will be held every time the fishing season opens the sea and the season of thanking the sea.

Fishermen call it "Xielong Shuijiu" or "Xingwenshu".

At first, the form of sea worship activities was simple. Most of the households selected an auspicious day to worship the "Dragon King" of the four seas after the production preparations such as repairing boats and purchasing fishing gear were ready, praying for good weather and a fruitful return.

In recent years, with the rise of tourism, "worshiping the sea" in many places has gradually evolved into a formal folk activity.

The specific process can be summed up as "offering, inviting, offering sacrifices, and thanking".

Before the fishing season begins, sacrifices such as fish and meat are first offered in the Dragon King Temple. When the fishing boat goes out to sea, the statue of the "Dragon King" or the ship flag enshrined in the temple, also known as the Dragon King Banner (to cover the dragon king's royal flag), is played with drums and gongs. Afterwards, the fishermen offer sacrifices to the "Dragon King" on the bow of the boat with fruits, pig heads, etc., and the boat boss or owner will hold candle-burning, toasting, kneeling, praying and other sacrificial ceremonies to pray for the "Dragon King" to bless the fishing boat to go out to sea. Good harvest, safe people and boats.

In recent years, due to the destruction of marine fishery resources and the ecological environment of the waters, fishermen have not only prayed for a safe and bumper harvest through "sea sacrifices", but also released various fish fry into the sea, calling on the whole society to protect fishery resources and the marine ecological environment.

The "Sacrifice to the Sea" ended, and all the crew members of the "Yushui" boarded the ship.

The fishing boat started slowly amidst the sound of firecrackers, gongs and drums on the pier.

In the sky, Xiaojin hovered high in the sky, and Rhubarb's "Wow~Wow!" came from the shore.

Ye Yuan stood at the stern of the boat and waved goodbye to his parents, while Niu Niu followed the boat and ran into the sea. Father Ye grabbed the little girl and hugged her in his arms.

The little girl struggled hard, trying to chase the fishing boat.

. . . . . .

Li Hui did not participate in the "Sacrifice to the Sea" ceremony of Ye Yuan's voyage. He has been running between several major baijiu sales and wholesalers these days in order to "reminisce" about the wine sales.

Although the taste of the wine is good, the popularity is still not enough. These days Li Hui has visited many people because of this incident, and finally purchased very few.

After all, such an unknown wine with a retail price of 888 yuan is difficult to be recognized by dealers.

Li Hui had no choice but to find another way. Fortunately, Ye Yuan's usual friends were very supportive.

Among them, "Fuxiangju" in Sumei ordered a batch, and then through Wang Yueshan's relationship, all the hotel chains of the Wang family purchased some.Although baijiu was not as popular as red wine on Hong Kong Island, Ma Mingyuan still helped to contact several large hotels.

The boss, Zhao Chuan, helped to contact some high-end clubs in Shangjing. Although they all bought some for Zhao Chuan's sake, it was still not ideal.

Today is the first day of national unified sales of "Aftertaste" wine.Li Hui has done his best in all online and offline preparations, and it depends on today whether he can become a hit.

Although there is a great demand for liquor in China, there are also many brands. Not only are there big brands occupying the high-end market, but there are also many local brands occupying the middle and low-end markets. Whether "aftertaste" can stand out among these brands remains to be seen an unknown.

Every purchase is a large-scale comprehensive life shopping plaza in Landao City. Many Landao citizens like to shop here.

Wang Mei's parents divorced when she was ten years old, her mother went abroad directly, and her father raised her all by herself.Today is her first month's payday. After receiving her first salary in her life, she wants to sell a gift to her father.

My father likes to drink a few sips by himself at home. Wang Mei plans to give his father a good bottle of liquor today. When she comes to the wine counter, she looks at the dazzling variety of brands and carefully selects them.

For a girl who doesn't usually drink, she also knows that Maotai, Wuliangye and other big brands of liquor, but when Su Mei saw a bottle of wine in an inconspicuous place, she was deeply attracted by the shape of the liquor .

The wine bottle is a beautiful fishing boat with the word "aftertaste" written on the front of the boat.On the back, there is a poem "Drink a glass of wine, and your teeth will stay fragrant the next day".

This wine bottle alone can be regarded as an exquisite decoration, and remembering that my father was a sailor, I will definitely like it.

After looking at the price of liquor, 888 yuan was a bit expensive, but Wang Mei decided to buy it as a gift to her father.

. . . . . .

In Shangjing City, in a private club.

Zhao Bin's family is also well-known in Shanghai, but a few days ago, Zhao Bin was caught on the spot because he was drinking and driving outside.

But when the old man found out about this, he was furious and locked Zhao Bin for three days. He was finally released today, and immediately found some friends to come out to play.

"Young Master Zhao, we have a new kind of wine here today. It tastes good. Do you want a bottle?"

The waiter respectfully introduced today's new liquor to the young people in front of him.

"Where is one bottle enough? One bottle per person"

(End of this chapter)