The most interesting folklore

Chapter 14 The most interesting festive culture (2)
Mirror.In Xiaoshan, Zhejiang, before the wedding sedan chair departs, an elder should hold a mirror in his hand and light a candle to illuminate the surroundings and corners of the sedan chair. On the way to harm the bride, with light and a mirror, the hidden demon will definitely show its original shape and be driven away.

Dustpan, bucket of rice and grain beans (or seeds of money, apples, barley, fruit and other plants).Scattering grain beans is to avoid the three evil spirits, and its symbolic meaning is to feed the three evil spirits of sheep, chickens, and cattle, so that they are busy pecking at the grain beans that have been scattered and have no time to harm the bride.

bow and arrow.Manchurian Bannermen especially use bows and arrows when they marry.When the bride's sedan chair is approaching, as a rule, the groom must shoot three arrows at the sedan chair door before opening the sedan chair door and letting the bride get off the sedan chair.The intention is also considered to drive away evil spirits for the bride.

Cypress leaf, rue, grass.When the bride comes to the door, put some cypress leaves and rue to burn in the iron, and walk around the sedan chair three times before the bride agrees to get off the sedan chair.Cypress leaves and rue are two aromatic fuels that ward off evil spirits. When all evil spirits smell the fragrance, they can't stand still and dodge one after another, so that the bride can get off the sedan chair safely.

sieve.It is commonly known as "sieve basket", which refers to the net of heaven and earth.In many places, when the bride gets on and off the sedan chair, a sieve is used to cover the bride's head to prevent ghosts from invading.

Light gauze (or colored handkerchief, fan, hijab, etc.).In ancient times, a woman's marriage was regarded as a serious crisis. There were all kinds of monsters and ghosts around, trying to take advantage of the opportunity to harm the bride. The most difficult thing to guard against was the "evil eye" of the "witch". Look, it will ruin the happiness of the bride's life, and even cause her to die.In order to prevent the intrusion of demons and ghosts, to avoid the "evil eyes" of "witches" looking at the bride, to protect the safety of the bride and ensure the happiness and auspiciousness of her life, the bride has to wear light gauze or colored handkerchiefs from the moment she leaves the cabinet to the completion of the wedding. Wait to cover your face to prevent being attacked by evil spirits.Its meaning is not only to cover the face, but also to ward off evil spirits.

15. What are the main points of the layout of the new house?

According to Chinese traditional customs, the layout of the new house is also particular.

Main room:

① A pair of couplets in front of the door plus a horizontal batch.

②A square colored lantern hangs high in the middle of the main room, and the four sides of the colored lantern are painted with patterns of "Luanfeng Heming", "Guanyin Sending", "Zhuangyuan Jidi", and "Family Carnival".

③A pair of huge red candles on the incense table.

④ There is an accompanying picture posted on the "opposite seat" wall on both sides.

⑤ On the "golden wall" of the new house, paste the six characters "heaven, earth, monarch, relative and teacher" New house:
①Paste a pair of couplets on both sides of the door frame and add a horizontal batch, horizontal batch?
②Paste the double happiness characters in red on the door.

③ Hang lanterns in the middle of the new house.

Write straight from top to bottom.

Generally, the four characters "Luan Feng Heming" are written.

④ Paper-cut double happiness characters on the windows, and paper-cut butterfly patterns on the four corners.

⑤Paste couplets on both sides of the window.

⑥ Hang calligraphy and paintings around the walls.

In addition, a pair of couplets at the main entrance of the kitchen is added with a horizontal batch, and the word "Xi" is pasted in red on the door.Other details such as "Happy" are pasted on the doors of all rooms.

16. What are the customs of praying for children in the wedding ceremony?

There is a custom of "spreading tents" all over China. The "happy fruits" scattered are jujubes, chestnuts, pine nuts, longan, peanuts, walnuts, melon seeds, pomegranates, and cypresses. "Jujube" means "early"; "chestnut" means "establish a son" and "immediately give birth to a son"; "pine nut" means "send a son"; The combination of longan and "zao", "peanut" and "chestnut" is equivalent to a group of symbols, which fully expresses a blessing saying "be born early"; "" is homonymous with "baby"; "pomegranate" means "many children and blessings";However, the person who spreads the tent must be a "quanfu person", that is, a person with both children and parents. When the new couple enters the bridal chamber, the "quanfu person" will sprinkle "jujubes, chestnuts, peanuts, longan" on the bride's bed. In the bosom, sprinkle in the bridal chamber, sprinkle in the yard, attract the people who make trouble in the bridal chamber to snatch it, and while scatter, read: "A handful of chestnuts and a handful of dates, the small ones will follow the big ones; a handful of chestnuts and a handful of dates, next year's Give birth to a big fat baby."

"Passing the bag" is a homonym of "handing down from generation to generation". It is one of the folk wedding ceremonies, also called "transfer seat". Then lay it on the ground for the bride to walk, and walk to the courtyard like this. The homonym of "seat" is "xi", and the homonym of "bag" is "generation", which means "passing on the family line and multiplying". Chanting words: "From one generation to ten generations, from ten generations to a hundred generations, from a hundred generations to a thousand generations, from a thousand generations to ten thousand generations. "

Go together with rice.The wedding meal for the bride and groom, neither dumplings nor noodles can be cooked.After the bride and groom have a drink, they have to eat half-baked dumplings and noodles.The bridesmaids and roommates asked: "Is there a baby?" The bride and groom replied: "Birth." The bride should also affirmatively answer "birth" in the form of questions and answers, and use the "birth" of raw and familiar to imply the "birth" of giving birth to a child.

17. What are the main types of extramarital marriages?
Surrogate marriage, also known as "ruling into a surrogate", "recruiting a surrogate", "recruiting a surrogate son-in-law", commonly known as "daoqimen".Succult marriage is an old-style marriage in which a man marries a woman, and the husband lives with his wife.According to ancient documents: "The poor and strong sons of the Qin family will marry." In the marriage customs of the ancient Qin people, there was a custom of women marrying men. A member of the family, looks after the parents of the woman's family, inherits the property of the woman's family, and the children born to the woman's surname carry on the lineage and continue the incense for the woman's family.

The formation of the habit of extramarital marriage is due to different factors.Because of various difficulties and lack of care for the woman, her son-in-law was recruited to serve in the army.Some people have daughters and no children, fearing that the generations will be extinct, so they recruit sons-in-law to pass on the heirs.Most of them change their surnames when they enter the family, but there are also cases where they do not change their surnames.

The custom of extramarital marriage started in the Zhou Dynasty and has been passed down to the present, but there are several different forms.In the Qin and Han Dynasties, "the son-in-law serves in the military service", in the Song Dynasty "letting the son-in-law live", in the Yuan Dynasty, "the son-in-law takes care of the elderly", and today's so-called "recruiting a husband and adopting son" and "recruiting a son-in-law for the elderly". Yes, it can be called adoptive marriage; this is a formality.In the Song Dynasty, "the son-in-law supplements the generation", and today the so-called "the son-in-law inherits the peach", this kind of marriage is based on the motive of recruiting a son-in-law to seek an heir, which can be called marriage by heir, which is another form.Succult marriage is a general term for adoptive marriage and heir-invited marriage, one becomes two, two become one.

18. How did the vulgar customs of child-raising marriages come into being?

A family with heirs adopts the daughter of the family as an adopted daughter, and when the son and adopted daughter reach the appropriate age, even if they get married, this is called child adoption marriage.

Child support marriage originated earlier in China, and there was a similar prototype of marriage in the Zhou Dynasty.This style began in the Zhou Dynasty and prevailed in the Three Kingdoms. In the Yuan Dynasty, the custom of child marriage became more popular.

Child marriage is a product of the feudal poverty economy.It usually comes from impoverished families. The man's purpose is to reduce the future dowry, the woman's desire is to avoid the burden of support, and some are forced by livelihood and have to do it.There are generally three situations: one is to adopt or buy a young girl from another family as an adopted daughter after giving birth to a son, and then transfer the adopted daughter to be a daughter-in-law when she grows up; As a daughter-in-law, commonly known as "Waiting Langda"; the third is to adopt a boy from his family as a son, and when he grows up, he will be recruited as a son-in-law.

Child marriage is extremely coercive and has brought great pain to many couples, especially child brides who are double dominated by their husbands and parents-in-law, and suffer unspeakably.In modern society, the custom of child brides-in-law is rarely seen.

19. Can old wives also pawn
It is not surprising that wives in ancient times can be rented or purchased.Both men and women determine the temporary relationship between husband and wife by way of pawning, which is called pawning wife or pawning marriage.

Most of the forms of pawning wives are that the pawner is unable to support them due to economic reasons, and is willing to pawn his wife to others as a wife; while the pawn bearer is difficult to marry, and pawns the wife of another person as his wife in order to seek heirs. Obtain a son to pass on to the old age, or want to borrow a pawned wife to obtain a son, so as to enjoy the same status as the concubine and inherit his property.This relationship between men and women is completely a mechanical combination.In the Song Dynasty, there was an example of Chen Liaoweng's father and Pan Lianggui borrowing their wives to have children.

In the Yuan Dynasty, the custom of praising wives was quite popular, as can be seen from reading the Yuan Dynasty regulations.The Ming and Qing Dynasties also became common customs.But the Yuan and Ming were interfered by the law, and the Qing Dynasty was not bound by the law.

20. Why do we have to share dividends when we get married?

It is said that there is a long history in the south of the Yangtze River about the custom of giving bonuses to wedding eggs.In Zhejiang, it was not only like this before liberation, but it is still very popular now.Although many people now use wedding candy instead when they get married, the name is still called: "Red Wedding Egg".Regardless of relatives, friends or strangers, they can ask the bride, let alone children, and sometimes the elderly will come to join in the fun.As a newlywed family, of course they are greeted with a smile, and no one is rejected.

Why do you have to get a bonus when you get married?There is an interesting legend in the folk.

"Liu Bei recruits relatives" is a strategy used by Zhou Yu, the governor of the Eastern Wu Dynasty.Zhou Yu wanted to take Liu Bei as a hostage by pretending to recruit relatives but actually detaining them, and asked him to return him to Jingzhou.Unexpectedly, this strategy was seen through by Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei's military adviser.Zhuge Liang set up "tricks and tricks", one of which is the "red wedding egg trick".It turned out that when Zhuge Liang asked Liu Bei to go to Soochow, he brought a large number of eggs dyed red. Once he arrived in Soochow, no matter whether he was inside or outside the court, officials and soldiers, big or small, he would share them with everyone.So those who were assigned red wedding eggs felt honored by it, and those who were not assigned went to the hotel where Liu Bei lived to ask for it.Liu Bei never refused to come, and the general visitors were divided by his subordinates, and the top figures even divided them by themselves, creating a big public opinion about recruiting relatives.Soochow didn't have this kind of custom at first, and everyone thought it was new, so they spread it to ten, ten, and hundreds, so that every family knew that Sun Shangxiang, the princess of Soochow, and the emperor's uncle Liu Bei were about to get married.As a result, the fake show was real, Liu Bei got a good wife, and was very happy, but Zhou Yu only ended up "losing his wife and losing his army".Since then, a marriage custom has been added in the south of the Yangtze River. Every time you get married, you will be given a red wedding egg. Everyone can ask for a red wedding egg, which symbolizes the newlyweds' "dragon and wind show their appearance".

21. Why do you want to "not marry with the same surname"

According to "Wei Shu·Gao Zu Ji": "Xia Yin did not dislike the marriage of the same surname, and the Zhou system began to abolish the marriage of the same surname." Marriage with the same surname existed, but from the Zhou Dynasty, marriage with the same surname was strictly prohibited from the system.

Why is it forbidden to marry with the same surname?There seem to be many views on this issue.

First, unfavorable genetics.Marriage with the same surname will largely cause inbreeding, which is closely related to genetics.It is said that in the Zhou Dynasty, people already understood this truth and realized the dangers of inbreeding. "Zuo Zhuan·Xi Gong 20 Years" stated: "Men and women with the same surname, their birth is not a fan." Not a fan means unhealthy and congenitally deficient. "Mandarin · Jinyu" also said: "If the same surname does not marry, evil will not breed." This sentence is also very pertinent. The same surname does not marry, which aims to avoid infertility after marriage.

Second, out of political needs.Prohibiting marriage with the same surname will objectively promote marriages with states of different surnames, thereby expanding and strengthening political cooperation and military alliances with groups of different surnames.Its purpose is to expand the sphere of influence and move towards the unification of the world.

Third, advocating ethics and morality.In ancient times, most of the people with the same surname were regarded as blood relatives, so marriage with the same surname was treated as the same as intermarriage of close relatives and direct brothers and sisters. In the book "Tong Dian", marriage with the same surname is regarded as a beast, so it should be extinct.In addition, "Bai Hu Tong · Marriage" also said: "Why don't you marry someone with the same surname, respect human relations, prevent obscenity, and have the same shame as animals." What is said here seems to be more serious, because it regards marriage with the same surname as incest.

22. What is a wedding? "No Joy"

"No joy" at the wedding means that when the wedding is held, it is strictly forbidden to play gongs and music, and there is no celebration.Of course, this happened in ancient times. "Book of Rites Zeng Ziwen" stated: "Confucius said: 'In a married woman's house, candles are kept burning for three nights, thinking about separation. In a married woman's house, if you don't have fun for three days, you think about your relatives'." This paragraph That is to say, when a daughter gets married, she burns candles for three days, thinking about parting.

Why did ancient marriage customs have such a system?
According to the traditional concept, the wedding "not joyful" is intended to express the concept of "re-handing down the world" and the affection for parents.The ancients said: Marriage is the inheritance of "the heir of all things". When you get married, you should think about your heirs, and "when you think about your heirs, there is no sentimentality, so you don't have joy."This statement sounds, in fact, quite reasonable.For young men and women, marriage is the greatest joy in life, but it is not always the case for their parents.The son has grown into an adult and can set up his own family. The parents are inevitably a little worried. What are they worried about? Maybe they are worried that he will "marry a wife and forget his mother".

23. How did the custom of "Virgin Taboo" come about?

The so-called "virgin taboo" shows a human marriage phenomenon.The phenomenon of fading is: before a newly married woman shares a room with her husband, others first break the hymen with a harder utensil, and then show the public something stained with virgin blood, which shows that the woman's virginity has been broken. Career is over.

Most of the "virgin taboo" ceremonies are carried out on the wedding night, and the virginity of the bride is broken. Due to different regions and ethnic groups, the operators are also different.Some are played by the bride's father, some by old women, some by elders in the clan, some by wizards, and some by friends of their future husbands, but there is one thing in common, that is, the refusal of the husband's personal participation.

Why do human beings have such an extremely cruel custom?
Some studies believe that the free group marriage life of the sexes in primitive society is the basis for the "virgin taboo" custom.When mankind has entered a relatively civilized era, monogamy has matured from its infancy.Therefore, using the "virgin taboo" ritual to change the state of human marriage from old to new is not only a memory of the original group marriage, but also a farewell to sexual freedom.

There are many explanations for the formation of the "virgin taboo", but no matter from any angle, it can be determined that the mutilation of women is serious.

24. Why is it said that the second day of the Lunar New Year is the "Welcome Son-in-law Day"

There is a folk saying that all married daughters are not allowed to return to their natal homes after the New Year.If you spend the New Year at your natal family, you will eat poor natal family, which means that she hopes that your natal family will be poor.Some also said that a married daughter is someone else's family. Since she is married, she can't eat back, especially on the first day of the new year.

Since you can't go back to your natal family for the New Year on the first day of the new year, there should be an institutionalized and formalized arrangement to allow a day to visit your natal family during the Spring Festival, right?In some places, after the second or third year of junior high school, a married daughter can return to her natal home without restraint.

According to the long-standing customs of the New Year, the second day of the Lunar New Year is "Welcoming Son-in-law Day", and some people say it is "Girl's Day".In other words, all married daughters will return to their natal families on this day.If it is a newly married woman, she must take the bridegroom back with her.People call it "Huimen" or "Guining" when young daughter-in-laws take their husbands back to their natal homes to visit their parents and family members on the second day of the Lunar New Year.According to the custom, on the morning of the second day of junior high school, the natal family will send someone to bring some gifts to the son-in-law's house, usually the younger brother of the bride to invite the bride home as a guest.At this time, as a newly married daughter-in-law, "Chenglong Kuaishou" must buy large and small gifts on behalf of her husband's family, and also prepare some red envelopes of varying amounts to give to the bride's younger brothers and sisters.

On this day, the father-in-law and the mother-in-law entertained the son-in-law with good cigarettes and wine, and sometimes invited neighbors who were eloquent and drinkable to accompany them to eat and drink.Every family with a newly married daughter spent this unforgettable day in the same lively way.If the parents of the married daughter have passed away, her brother must also send someone to invite her back to her natal home for the New Year's Eve.Generally speaking, you have to eat, drink, play and laugh at your natal family until it is almost dark, and then reluctantly bid farewell to your natal family and return to your mother-in-law's house.Therefore, in some places, the second day of the new year is called "double return".

25. What are the main titles of matchmakers?

The titles of matchmakers mainly include:

① matchmaker, also known as matchmaker.Matchmaker means to conspire with two surnames; concubine means to consider two surnames.When people realize that they owe the same surname, they will not be born "("Zuo Zhuan·Xi Gong 23 years"), which produced a matchmaker. "Mencius Teng Wengong" said: "Don't wait for the orders of your parents, the words of the matchmaker, drill holes If you peep through the gaps and follow each other over the wall, your parents and the people of the country will be despised. "Therefore, in ancient times, the union of a man and a woman must abide by "the orders of the parents and the words of the matchmaker."

② Iceman, the matchmaker. "Book of Jin Suojiu Biography": "Xiaolian Linghu dreamed to stand on the ice and talk to people under the ice. Dan said: 'On the ice is yang, and under the ice is yin; yin and yang are also things. A scholar is like returning to his wife, and he is on the ice. Marriage is also a matter of marriage. You talk to people on the ice and under the ice. It is a matter of mediation. You should be a matchmaker, and you will get married in ice." Later, the matchmaker was called an iceman.Ming Xiezhen's "Four Happiness Records Recalling Parents": "This song "Partridge" is my child's ice man and old man." It is also called "ice" in provinces.

③Moon old.According to Tang Dynasty novels, a man named Wei Gu lived in Songcheng on a trip away from home.That night, he met an old man looking through letters under the moonlight, with a lot of red strings in a cloth bag beside him.Feeling strange, Wei Gu stepped forward and asked, "What is the function of this red string?" The old man replied, "It is used to tie the feet of husband and wife. Tie it on and you will be married.” Legend has it that this old man is the god in charge of marriage, so he used “Yuelao, Yuexialao, Yuexialao” as nicknames for matchmakers.

④ matchmaker.It comes from "The Story of Yingying" written by Yuan Zhen in the Tang Dynasty.It is written that Zhang Sheng fell in love with Cui Yingying because Yingying's maid, the matchmaker, arranged a matchmaking, so that the couple finally got married. Since then, "Matchmaker" has become another name for matchmaker.

When folk young men and women get married, they must be matched by a matchmaker.When it comes to matchmakers, there are also interesting stories!

Very early on, there were two villages, one called Dongshanzhuang and the other called Xishanzhuang.The two villages are far apart, and people in the village rarely come and go.There is a smart and handsome young man named Zhao Jing in the East Villa, and a virtuous girl named A Cai in the West Villa.

One year, the two got married through a kind old man.After marriage, the young couple fell in love with each other. They were really a natural couple. Later, the young couple wanted to find that kind old man to repay him, but when he left, where could they find him?Later, the young couple finally figured out a way to make a statue of him and put it at home to commemorate him. So the next day A Cai made a statue of him out of rice flour and put him on the stage, but he was afraid of being seen by others. After arriving, he laughed and said, so he hid the rice noodle man in the cabinet.

After a long time, one day, the young couple missed the kind old man again, so they went to take out the hidden rice noodle man, but the rice noodle man was covered with mold, so the couple lamented Breathe out the word "mildew".

(End of this chapter)