1, Dongjie Pill
The winter solstice is one of the 24 seasons and climates in China lunar calendar every year. China, located in the northern hemisphere of the earth, has the shortest day and the longest night.
After this day, the days will get longer and shorter from next summer to the future. Later, the first day of the first lunar month is the first day of the year, and the winter solstice is called the sub-year.
Chaoshan people say that the Winter Festival is a small Chinese New Year, which means the Asian New Year. He also said: "I am one year older after taking Dongjie Pill." It's been a year. According to folklore, all death row inmates in ancient times were executed before the winter solstice. After this day, it will be postponed for another year. The prisoner's family sent soup to celebrate.
It is not enough to say that folk customs are passed down from generation to generation, but "the solstice of winter brings spring" is the root of folk customs. Because it is the "winter solstice", it is an important festival in a year and must be celebrated. On this day, in addition to ancestor worship, some people will eat winter festival pills in the morning.
Early this morning, housewives got up to rub dumplings, big and small. The more people, the better luck. Everyone gathered around the wide and flat bamboo basket, beaming, and cooked the soup and medicine after rubbing.
Besides eating soup, we also feed cows, dogs and pigs, and stick pills on the tails of cows' heads and horns, as well as on the tops of doors, mortars, stoves, rice jars, chaff, plows, waterwheels and huts for pigs, chickens, geese, ducks and cows, wishing them a safe winter and a healthy and prosperous new year.
Dongjie Pill is a pointed pill made of japonica rice powder (commonly known as pointed rice pill), but it is more a glutinous rice dumpling. Part of the rice noodles made into meatballs should be kept for relatives to eat when they go out for reunion.
2, Chaoshan "out of the garden"
When a person reaches the age of 20, he should choose an auspicious day, choose a distinguished guest to crown him, and then hold a coronation ceremony. This is an ancient rite of passage.
By the Qing Dynasty, the crown ceremony in Chaoshan was only "named" in the families of officials, and it had long been abolished among ordinary people. However, in Chaoshan, there is a kind of etiquette similar to bar mitzvah "going out of the garden", which is still quite popular, but it does not distinguish between men and women.
Chaoshan people think that underage children have been living in the garden. When children reach the age of fifteen, they should choose an auspicious day to hold the ceremony of "leaving the garden".
On this day, twelve different flowers should be collected and soaked in water to bathe the children, so that the fragrance can wash away their childishness; Tie a new waist pocket sewn by my mother, which contains twelve longan and two Shunzhi copper coins.
Put on the new clothes and a pair of red clogs sent by grandma, and let the children walk out of the garden smoothly. And worship God's in-laws in bed. At this time, you should put a big basket with shallow edges in the center of the bed, fill the rice tube with rice and insert three incense sticks.
Twelve bowls of sweet potato dumplings, twelve cups of black bean wine, red peach (peach-shaped fruit), fat fruit (fat cake) and three animals (fish, pig head and three birds) are placed in front of us. The three birds presented by the boy are a rooster, symbolizing vigor and vitality, and the girl is a hen, praying for having children in the future.
Worship "in-laws" has a history. In the Yuan Dynasty, after the Yuan soldiers captured Chaozhou, they forced three families to support a Yuan soldier. Yuan soldiers are evil and take the people as their wives. People can't stand it. On a Mid-Autumn Festival night, they acted together and killed Yuan soldiers at home.
According to legend, Yuan Bing's ghost lingers, often causing trouble and retaliating against young children. Later, for the sake of children's safety, we had to recognize these ghosts as ancestors, offer their spirits and worship them.
Mothers should also bring offerings on behalf of their children, and go to temples in the streets and alleys to offer sacrifices to the "flowers" who are "together" with their children, thanking them for their care and protection.
On this day, the children who leave the garden can't run under the sun, but can only hide in the house. This is actually asking him to stop playing and be a good boy from this day on.
On this day, relatives and friends also celebrate with fruit offerings and three offerings. Children who leave the garden should be treated like adults, making an exception and letting him sit in a big position, which symbolizes that children have become the pillar of the family. During the dinner, relatives should bless their children and send them good expectations.
From then on, even if the child jumped out of the garden wall and bid farewell to his innocent, carefree and ignorant childhood, it also marked that he or she entered adulthood and really embarked on the road of life.
3. Children eat "smart eggs" as soon as they enter school
In the first semester of children's school (that is, the first time they go to school), grandma's family will cook "smart meals", buy schoolbags for nephews or nieces, and parents will make "smart eggs" for their only daughter.
The color of "smart egg" is pink, including onion (cluster), garlic (number) and pork. Eggs whose eggshells are cooked and dyed red are called "smart eggs". Take even numbers. "Smart rice" and "smart egg" are what parents want their children to be smart.
4. Good gifts should be paired, and bad gifts can be odd.
Gifts are usually given in even numbers. Commonly known as "yes man". For example, lucky money will be given to elders and children during the Chinese New Year, gifts will be given to farmers' relatives and friends, fruits will be given to friends, and pork and eggs will be given to pregnant women, no matter how many, the number must be even, not odd.
But if it is to congratulate you on your apology and happiness, you can send a piece of pork and an egg to express your condolences to the patient who has just recovered. An egg symbolizes the bad luck and good luck of the comforted friend.
Send odd gifts to congratulate you, sorry, happy, but there can be no "nine". Chaoshan sound "nine" is homophonic with "dog". So it's a no-no.
5. Taboo of Chaoshan children
Children in Chaoshan area have many taboos in their daily life.
Forget the mouse tail. Chaoshan people think that children are minors before 15 years old, and they can't lift the mouse tail, otherwise their hands will tremble and they can't write well when they grow up. Don't eat chicken feet either, saying that when you grow up, you will catch books.
Don't eat fish eggs before, because fish eggs are like fish scales. If you eat them, you won't know the scales clearly, and you won't make scales.
Children should avoid urinating on the fire, otherwise it will defile Vulcan, and after Vulcan is offended, the genitals will be red and swollen.
After the child avoids defecation, wipe his ass with paper, book paper and writing paper. Otherwise, it is disrespectful to Confucius, and when he grows up, he will be clumsy and unable to read well.
Children are not allowed to eat with bowls, or they will be distracted when they grow up. This is called "emotionalization". Don't take off your clothes when eating, or you will have poor memory and forget things when you grow up.
Children should not use plates and saucers as bowls to fill their meals, otherwise they will grow up to be "shallow-minded" and narrow-minded and unable to hold people, and they will not be able to achieve great things.
Children should not hold chopsticks at the end of chopsticks when eating, saying that the chopsticks are held low, and the wife is near the house. If the chopsticks are held high or at the end of chopsticks, the wife is in a distant foreign land.
Children should avoid putting chopsticks in their rice bowls when eating, because it is unlucky to burn incense and worship God.
Children should not touch the edge of the bowl with chopsticks when eating. This is a poor gesture, because beggars only touch the edge of the bowl with chopsticks when begging.
Children should avoid "swimming chopsticks" when eating, that is, they can't make up their minds when eating, which means they are uneasy at the upper reaches of the table. When they grow up, they can't do things seriously and become useful.