Old things in the south

Chapter 50 Taiwan Folklore Miscellaneous (1)
about plants

There are a few things that are not allowed to be placed on the altars of Taiwanese who "bye" all the year round.The most common Naba (commonly known as Bazai) among the fruits is one of them.Because it is easy to pluck and grow, its seeds can also grow in manure.People always eat the seeds together, and eat them whole. The excreted seeds can germinate in human feces. Because of their uncleanness, they are not eligible to be served on the altar.

Winter melons are also not allowed on the offering table. Taiwan’s winter melons are big and long and look like human bodies, and gourds (a kind of gourd that can be eaten and can be used as ladles when they get old) are also like human heads. Those who are not allowed to go to the altar.But taro is a necessary offering on the table, because the pronunciation of taro in Taiwan is similar to the sound of "Wang" for prosperity, whichever is auspicious.

For the "beauties under the moon" who have been in the limelight in the past two years, it is said that the ones planted in brothels are more luxuriant, while the ones raised by decent people are much worse.It seems that the beauties are so unlucky, because of the sympathy for each other.

There are two plants that are said to be unlucky to be planted in people's homes, namely the banyan tree and the lotus tree (a beautiful fruit).Lianwu is also wild, if it is transplanted at home, it will bring misfortune.

The author once wrote about chicken feet orchids in "Fragrant Flowers of Taiwan".Most of these flowers bloom in April, and women like to take off their hair.The common name of this kind of flower is "love sleepy flower", because it will wilt when inserted into the head, so it is named this way.

Winter lotus vegetable, the common name in Taiwan is called "beating a certain dish", which translates to "beating your wife's dish" in Mandarin.Because this kind of vegetable looks like a lot when it is raw, and there is a little bit left when it is cooked.It is said that there was a stingy husband who liked to eat winter lotus vegetables. Every time he came back to eat, he saw that there was a big basket of green vegetables, but they were fried in a little bit.Thinking that his wife stole it, he beat her repeatedly for it.So winter lotus has the nickname of "beating a certain dish".

winter girl
In the past, when girls in Taiwan reached their teens, they liked to make a kind of cloth figurine, which they called "Dongsheng Niangzi".The method is very simple. Use incense sticks to form a cross shape, which is the skeleton of Dongsheng Niangzi, who is as small as the palm of your hand.Put on shorts and trousers for it, make a head on it, and paint its facial features. The feet are bound feet, so bow shoes are made, but the "Dongsheng Niangzi" has only one foot. It is said that her sister-in-law is very powerful. broke her foot.Maybe because her feet are not easy to do, she was given a powerful sister-in-law.

"Dongsheng Niangzi" is also popular in Fujian folks. The myths and legends are: Once upon a time, there was a wealthy family who gave birth to a daughter. Because she was born in winter, she was named "Dongsheng". "Dongsheng Niangzi" is the reincarnation of the Goddess of Flowers. She committed a crime in the sky and was punished by the Jade Emperor to take a trip to the mortal world.Therefore, "Dongsheng Niangzi" is smart, beautiful, and especially good at embroidery. No wonder all the girls adore her.

"Dongsheng Niangzi" has been fond of embroidery since she was a child. She once swore to embroider a pattern of blooming flowers, but she succeeded in doing it.But there are only 99 species, and the one that is missing is bayberry.The bayberry blossoms only bloom at midnight, and they wither in a flash, so "Dongsheng Niangzi" will never encounter bayberry blossoms.One year, on Qixi Festival, the girls in every family were doing Qiqiao, but the "Dongsheng Niangzi" wandered alone under the bayberry tree, waiting for the flowers to bloom.But she didn't know when she fell asleep.When I woke up, twelve o'clock passed, and the bayberry blossoms bloomed again.Dongsheng Niangzi couldn't help regretting and hating.At that time, there were many fireflies flying around in front of her eyes. When she was bored, she picked up a small silk fan and beat the fireflies.The firefly flew higher and higher, and her fluttering body followed it up and down.After chasing after her, her body was too tired, she didn't know where she was going, and she couldn't recognize the road. She hurried back, three steps at a time, but fell down and died on the road. beside.

The festival of "Dongsheng Niangzi" is usually from the fifteenth to the seventeenth of the first lunar month.But in Fujian, the "Dongsheng Niangzi" is held every year on the 12th night.The reason is that bayberry blooms at midnight on December 29 every year, and if you see bayberry blooming, you will die.Because when it comes to "Dongsheng Niangzi", it is easy to catch up with the night when the bayberry blossoms bloom in a certain year. She is very happy. After carefully observing the shape of the bayberry blossoms, she is going to go back to the room to make embroidery samples, but unfortunately she stumbles and falls. died.

The offerings for "Dong Sheng Niang Zai" include wax gourd, mandarin mandarin, chicken legs and so on.After the offering, the "Dongsheng Niangzi" and "Bed Mother Clothes" (a kind of clothes depicting the god of childbirth depicted on paper) are burned together.Before burning, a sacrificial song is sung. The lyrics vary slightly depending on the region, and it is roughly like this:
Dongsheng Niangzi, Dongsisi.

Teach Ruan embroidery, good needlework;

Embroidered boy, good eyes and nose;
Embroidered hands embroidered feet, pointy;

Embroidered bow shoes, good nose.

Teach Ruan to comb his hair, so he can do the rest.

Teach Ruan to tie his feet and drop rice to rise.

He taught Ruan the arrangement of flowers and embroidery.

Teach Ruan to be sensitive and to be able to slip.

Teach Ruan Pan horse teeth, sharp and beautiful.

Teach Ruan to paint flowers, and the flowers and branches are clear.

Teach Ruan to paint willows, and willow branches are bright.

Teach Ruan to marry her husband, and her husband and son-in-law will be reconciled for a hundred years.

(In the lyrics above, "Ruan" is my meaning: "■Zai" is a villain; Dong Sisi, sharp and smooth, are all good descriptions.)
The customs in southern Fujian are slightly different. On the eve of offering sacrifices, they dress up the "Dongsheng Niangzai" and put them in the toilet overnight, because it is said that the "Dongsheng Niangzai" fell into the toilet and died.Their lyric goes something like this:
Dongsheng Niangzi, with a small face, protects Ruan, can pick and embroider.

Dongsheng Niangzi, Dongxinxin, protect Ruan, lucky, and meet nobles.

Dongsheng Niangzi, Dong's mother, protects Ruan, and can also plow and cut.

Dongsheng Niangzi, Dong Xixi, protect Ruan, marry a good man, and accompany a good son-in-law.

Dongsheng Niangzi, Dong Xinxin, Bao Bi Ruan, parents and brothers are all safe.

After silent prayer like this, put the Dongsheng Niangzi in the toilet and put the chicken legs at the same time.In the middle of the night, you have to sit on the peg (a utensil for pounding rice) and recite the following words silently:

Sit on the head of a pestle and comb your hair well.

Sitting in the pestle, husband and wife do not clash.

Sitting on the end of the tui, good at cooking Kueh.

Then go to the vegetable garden and read the following words while picking vegetables:
Fold vegetables and marry a good son-in-law;

Fold cabbage heart, get ten thousand gold.

Pull the onion and marry a good man;

Pull the onion root, a hundred sons and thousands of grandchildren.

Finally, when you come back home, when you pass someone’s door, tear off the pair of doors and read the following words:
Tearing the door couplet, thousands of gold;

Tear the door right, thousands of riches and honor.

Listening to the lyrics, you can know the meaning of "Dongsheng Niangzi", which is nothing more than cultivating girls to be good wives and mothers, and teaching them to be more interested in housework.

Yi Zi Yi Sun
Tropical plants reproduce, but animals are not the same?An old classmate failed to give birth after several pregnancies after getting married. The doctor had no choice but to give him a disease name of "habitual tire slippage".Unexpectedly, she came to Taiwan and gave birth to two babies in a row.Her husband highly praised Taiwan as a place "befitting sons and grandchildren".

Taiwan is indeed a place suitable for production. On the streets and alleys, there are many women walking with big bellies all year round.It's a pity that girls in Taiwan are not worth much. Midwives have a habit in Taiwan. If they pick up a girl, they will get a [-]% discount on the midwifery fee.There is also a saying:
"Take the younger brother to eat chicken legs, and the younger sister to eat chicken shit."

It means that if you give birth to a boy, you will eat chicken legs, and if you give birth to a girl, you will eat chicken feces.This shows the depth of the idea that men are superior to women.Although giving birth to a girl may not really eat chicken feces, the treatment for pregnant women is indeed different.

Maternal diet is also different in Taiwan.They don't necessarily eat liquid food. After the child is born, the mother can eat dry rice, at least boiled "chicken wine".The practice of chicken wine is to chop chicken into pieces, stir-fry with sesame oil and ginger, and then add rice wine to cook together. It is fragrant and delicious, and pregnant women eat it every day.There is a slang saying: "If you give birth to hands with sesame oil, you can't give birth to three boards." It means that after a smooth delivery, you will always eat chicken boiled in sesame oil. Let's go to see Lord Yan.There is also a common saying in Beiping to describe pregnant women: "There is a layer of window paper between you and the Lord of the Underworld." Although the customs are different everywhere, the pain of childbirth is the same for women everywhere.

烧金
A provincial man, in honor of his recently deceased mother, burns something like tinfoil for the deceased according to the old custom.He went to the store to buy it, because he could not understand the language, and that day was the day when Taiwanese worshiped the Lord of the Earth, so the clerk gave him a stack of gold paper called "Fu Jin".He returned home and burned it respectfully. It was only later that he learned that his mother would not get the money, because "Fu Jin" was a designated special fund for burning to the Land Lord.

In Taiwan people's sacrifices, whether they worship the sky, gods, ghosts, or ancestors, they must burn paper, even if they go to temples for small worship, they also need to "burn gold".Although Taiwan's tin foil is simple, there is only a piece of gold or silver foil attached to a rough, small square of bamboo paper.But there are many types and differences.Generally speaking, gold paper is for gods, while silver paper is for ancestors, ghosts and funerals.There are many kinds of gold paper, which kind of money is used by the gods, unlike our world, where the rich and the poor use NT dollars.They are as follows.

Gold paper is divided into:

Basin gold: This kind of gold paper is one foot three inches long and one foot two inches wide. It is specially made for the Jade Emperor and the Three Officials.

Dingji (also divided into two types: big Dingji and small Dingji): it is burned for general gods.

Tianjin (divided into four types: Dingjitianjin, Zhongtianjin, and Xiaotianjin): It is specially used for the Jade Emperor and the Three Officials.

Shoujin: generally used by gods.

Fu Jin: Mainly for the Lord of the Land, but general gods can also use it.

Zhongjin: It must be used for offering sacrifices to Zhongtan Marshal (the god who suppresses evil spirits), and the Jade Emperor and Sanguan Dadi can also be used.

As for the silver paper, there are two kinds of big silver and small silver, which can be used for funerals, tomb worship, ancestor worship, and sacrifices to all ghosts and evil spirits.

In addition, there are yellow bamboo paper without tin foil attached, and there are many types, such as high money, white high money, treasury money, foreign treasury money, gold white money and so on.Some are used to reward the gods, and some are used to send off the subordinates of the gods.

Ma Zusheng

The [-]rd of March in the lunar calendar is the birthday of the Holy Mother of Heaven, known as Mazu in Taiwan.On this day, grand ceremonies are held in all parts of Taiwan, and the so-called "border detours" are held on different days in different regions.At that time, all households along the street will set up altars at the door, the firecrackers will continue to blare, and it is unknown how much incense sticks and gold paper will be burned.

Mazu is one of the worship gods of Taiwanese families. In addition to the god of the universe "Tiangong" (the Jade Emperor), there are Guanyin Buddha (goddess of mercy), Fuzheng God (god of land, god of wealth), Heavenly Virgin (god of navigation) Guardian Goddess) and Siming Kitchen God (Kitchen God), these gods are most commonly worshiped by Taiwanese families, and Mazu's festival is one of the most exciting for Taiwanese.

There are many legends about Mazu, and the more common one is this: the temple of the Heavenly Virgin is the Tianhou Temple in Meizhou Island, Xinghua, Fujian.Almost 1000 years ago, on March [-]rd, the first year of Song Taizu's Jianlong reign, the wife of Lin Yi, the capital inspector of Fujian Province, gave birth to a daughter, who later became the Heavenly Virgin.She was never heard crying from birth to full moon, so her parents named her "Mo".

At the age of eight, Mo started studying with his tutor. When he was ten, he liked to chant scriptures and pay respects to the Buddha. When she was 13 years old, an old Taoist priest came to her home, looked at Mo Mo carefully and said, "This child is very intelligent, you can teach her." So he taught her the mysterious and mysterious methods, and at the age of 16, she really showed supernatural powers. She changes freely and has done a lot of things to exorcise evil spirits and save the world. Everyone calls her Tongxian Lingnv.When Daocheng was twenty-eight years old, it is said that he said goodbye to his family and flew to the sky in the daytime.After having such a legend, successive dynasties have praised and sealed her for her experience of manifesting the Holy Spirit, for example:

In the fourth year of Xuanhe in the Song Dynasty, one time she was saved from disaster on the sea to Koryo because of her magical skills, so a "Shunji" temple was built at that time.

During Song Gaozong's time, there was a period when a plague was prevalent, and people prayed to her at the location of a clear spring used as medicine. Later, the plague was eliminated, so she was named "Mrs. Zongfu" and "Mrs. Linghui".

Song Ningzong Qingyuan was catching up with bandits in the sixth year, and the officers and soldiers made great achievements in suppressing the rebellion. It was because of the inspiration of her father, Ji Qinghou, that her mother was named Mrs. Xianqing.

In the second year of the Tianli calendar of Emperor Mingzong of the Yuan Dynasty, she was once named "the concubine who protects the country, assists the saints, protects the people, Xianyou, Guangji, inspires, assists Shunfu Huihuilie Mingzhu" because of her protection of navigation.There are eighteen temples in Zhejiang and Fujian to worship her.

In the 23rd year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, Wang Yi was ordered to go to Ryukyu, relying on her divine help to avoid shipwreck, so he invited the Spring and Autumn Festival.

The above is her true story, as there are other legends, such as Mazu is the daughter of a fisherman and so on.In short, she is generally considered to be the patron saint of navigation.Immigrants from Taiwan crossed the turbulent Taiwan Strait. In an era of underdeveloped science, how could they not entrust their lives to the blessing of the gods!

Mazu and the Gods of Taiwan

On the day of welcoming Mazu, my relatives who live in Keelung invited me to watch the excitement.I imagined the hustle and bustle of Keelung that day, but I didn't expect that the train to Keelung was so crowded that there was almost no place to stand.After getting off the train, it took [-] minutes to walk across the overpass to get out of the train station.A notice was posted on the station saying that in order to prevent the crowds of passengers going south tonight, train tickets can be sold in advance (ordinary tickets are always sold only ten minutes before driving).

(End of this chapter)