First, the four etiquette of Tujia people
The so-called etiquette refers to the rituals formed in social life for everyone to abide by, such as weddings and funerals. Tujia people have many rituals in their life and social activities, but the most important ones are only four ceremonies, namely, birth ceremony, wedding ceremony, adult crowning ceremony, birthday ceremony and funeral. These four rites are the concentrated expression of Tujia etiquette, which have both social characteristics and belief characteristics. They interweave Tujia's outlook on life, values, good fortune and bad fortune, forming a complex and diverse folk style, and support Tujia's social life and spiritual life for a long time.
1. Birthday ceremony
Birthday ceremony is the beginning ceremony of life. Tujia people pay great attention to the birth ceremony for babies, which not only means to bless the new life and pray for a long life and wealth, but also means to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters for pregnant women, and has a certain mystery in etiquette. Although Tujia people value "playing three dynasties" and "full moon wine" in the birth ceremony, in fact, the birth ceremony of Tujia people involves a long process.
When a woman is pregnant, it is commonly known as "Happy". She should ask the local priest to perform rituals to "prevent miscarriage" and exorcise evil spirits, and pray for ancestors' blessing. She should hang a sieve and wormwood on the door of the hall, which is called "Golden Bell God Cover" to protect the pregnant woman's house. When giving birth, a midwife is usually invited. After the midwife enters the delivery room, she should pay homage to Bashan, the fertility goddess of Tujia nationality. When the baby goes to the ground, the midwife ties the umbilical cord with white thread, and if it is a boy, it is wrapped in his father's clothes; If it is a girl, it is wrapped in the mother's dress. It is strictly forbidden to splash the water for bathing babies at will, so as not to pollute the gods. After the baby is born, the father will go to his mother-in-law's house with a "good news chicken" in his arms, the boy will report the good news with a rooster, and the girl will report the good news with a hen. Mother-in-law's house offers "Three Dynasties Ceremony" and "Full Moon Wine" according to the baby's gender.
three days later, my mother-in-law's family and relatives and friends came to congratulate her with gifts, that is, "playing three dynasties." At the banquet, the maternal family should ask the baby's grandfather or uncle to name it, commonly known as the "naming ceremony". On the day of the full moon, the mother-in-law will come to "put feet" on the baby (because the baby's feet and hands are wrapped in the first month of birth, and only after the full moon will he unwrap the package and formally put on his clothes, commonly known as "putting feet") and bring all the clothes needed for putting feet. This day is commonly known as "full moon wine" or "toast rice wine". After the birth of the baby, the first person to come to the maternal home is commonly known as "stepping on the raw", "women stepping on men, live a long life" and "men stepping on women, want to win the lottery", so that the maternal home should warmly entertain the tramp and make him say more auspicious words. At present, the most important thing in Tujia's birthday ceremony is "playing three dynasties". In fact, Tujia people in many places combine "playing three dynasties" with "full moon wine" (toast rice wine), which is collectively called "playing three dynasties". With the improvement of medical conditions and the popularization of scientific knowledge, many superstitious bad habits in birth ceremonies have been consciously abandoned by Tujia people.
2. Wedding and adult crowning ceremony
In the long feudal era, Tujia people gradually formed a multi-level etiquette in the marriage system, which is very complicated and grand. It is a complete etiquette process, but in the whole etiquette process, the most important thing is the crowning ceremony for men and women held on the wedding day and a series of other etiquette activities. Such as "proofing", that is, the matchmaker matches men and women to meet for the first time, commonly known as "look at the appearance", and then formally propose marriage after both sides are satisfied. "Proposal", after proofing, the man formally invited the matchmaker to propose to the woman's house. "Begging for Red Geng", commonly known as "matching eight characters", is written on the "Red Geng Sticker" when the man entrusts the matchmaker to get the girl's date of birth, and asks the local teacher or fortune teller to infer according to the five elements of Yin and Yang to see if they are consistent or mutually gram. "betrothal", commonly known as "inserting incense", is a "harmony made in heaven". Both men and women choose an auspicious day to hold a banquet and invite relatives from both sides to be formally engaged. In fact, it is to make this marriage public and gain social recognition.
"Happy New Year", after the engagement, the man always goes to his wife's house to pay a New Year call, but the first New Year is the most grand. "depending on the date", when the man and the woman reach the age of marriage, they will ask the native or fortune teller to choose an auspicious day to get married. Crown ceremony "and" wedding ",after the wedding day, both men and women hold a very grand crown ceremony and wedding, and the bride has to cry according to the wedding etiquette. The ceremony of coming of age and the wedding ceremony are held together by Tujia people, and they are the most grand. Both the male crown ceremony and the female crown ceremony are held on the day before marriage.
Volume III of Changyang County Records in Qing Dynasty records: "The ancient crown marriage is two things, and Changyi is one. One or two days before the wedding, the woman's family tied her hair together and said,' Above'. Set up seats for women, invite nine young girls, and make ten women, saying' accompany ten sisters'; When a man's family calls for a word, relatives and friends pay for a gold plaque, and drum music guides him. When he goes to the hall, he says' He Hao', which is not a word. There are two (banquet) seats on the day. First, there are nine children, which is ten for the groom, saying' accompany ten brothers' and' sit ten friends'. The parallel wedding ceremony and the "double escort" activities of "accompanying ten sisters" and "accompanying ten brothers" in etiquette have this custom in the whole Tujia area, and the legacy still exists today. The coronation ceremony means that men and women have entered adulthood and can communicate alone in society and start their own businesses independently.
"Send the sedan chair", that is, after the bride holds the crown ceremony and the wedding, she will open the sedan chair at the time chosen by the local company, and the local company will seal the sedan chair to avoid evil spirits. "To the toast king", in the toast era, the toast king enjoyed the "first night's right" (that is, the toast king had to sleep with the bride for one or three nights first), and was later killed while exercising the first night's right. It is said that he was haunted and often worshipped the newlyweds, so he should be worshipped.
"settling in bed" means that the man settles the bed for his wedding, while setting it, he performs rituals and prays for the newlyweds' happiness. "Stop the sedan chair", when the man's wedding procession came to the door of the women's village, the relatives and friends of the women's family stopped the wedding procession and pretended to stop it. The two sides of the wedding procession and the sedan chair stopped singing songs, making fun of each other and even fighting. In fact, this is the legacy of the early Tujia custom of "robbing the bride". "Looking for touch rice" or "touching rice" is the groom's agent, commonly known as "the sedan chair baby". The young men who went to sedan chair pretended to be "touching rice". The sisters of the bride could not tell whether it was true or not for a while, so they searched among the young men at will, played with each other and even smeared pot dust on the young men's faces. In fact, they took this opportunity to secretly choose the right person, obviously with the legacy of ancient Tujia people's pairing marriage. "Mao Banquet" and "Foot-catching Wine", after the sedan chair was sent to the road, the bride's relatives pretended to intercept it at some intersections. At this time, the man had set up a banquet in these places, and the people who stopped the sedan chair ate the "Mao Banquet", and some men directly sent the banquet to the women's hall, which was called "Foot-catching Wine". "Move the curtains", when the wedding procession is approaching the men's house, "touch the rice" to speed up the pace, first move the curtains to the men's house, hold a ceremony to hang the curtains, and sing while hanging, which is quite flavor. "Welcome sedan chair", that is, when the bride's sedan chair arrives at the man's house, the man's house will hold a series of welcoming sedan chair ceremonies until the bride visits the bride and enters the bridal chamber. On the day when the bride enters the man's house, the man's house will set up a sumptuous banquet in the middle of the room for the sister-in-law, the girl who is going to see her off and the bride's brother (uncle), and then open a seat for other relatives and friends. "Noisy bridal chamber", that is, the entertainment activities performed by the relatives and friends of the same generation of the bride and groom in the bridal chamber to bless their wedding, is often accompanied by the girl who is married and the boy who is accompanying the groom singing songs, and they take the opportunity to choose the right person. This is the reappearance of the ancient wedding custom of Tujia nationality with songs as the medium. "Going back to the door", the day after marriage, the bride will go back to her family with the groom, and go back on the same day, commonly known as "going back to the door". At this point, the whole wedding of Tujia people came to an end.
3. Birthday ceremony
Birthday ceremony is one of the important rituals of Tujia people. Birthday of Tujia people is called "long tail" for children, "birthday" for adults and "birthday" after 5 years old. However, if parents are still alive, even if they are old, they can't be called "birthday", and "respecting relatives is afraid to say old". Tujia people want to offer fish, serve longevity noodles and respect longevity peaches for the birthday of the elderly. The birthday gift of 6 flowers is the most grand. Tujia people wish the elderly a long and healthy life, which is a national virtue.
4. Funeral
Funeral is a mourning ceremony and sacrificial activity that almost any nation has. Tujia people commonly call funerals "Bai Xi", "Bai Hui" and "Lao Long Gui Shan", etc. Generally, they dance and sing funeral drum songs. When the Tujia people in the Qingjiang River valley of Hubei Province hold a funeral, their main activity is to jump into mourning, that is, to dance and sing a very magical and grand "Salho". This is a sacrificial song and dance for Tujia people to mourn the dead. It is like a drama, and its style is extremely simple and chic. The dance is very beautiful, sometimes around the arm and elbow, shaped like a phoenix spreading its wings; Sometimes high-five, just like a aunt screening gongs; Sometimes twisting your shoulders and rubbing your back is like a buffalo scratching; Sometimes the lips touch the ground, just like the mud in the spring; Sometimes they play with each other, just like a shepherd boy playing in the water and so on. Why do Tujia people call it "Salho" when they jump into mourning? In fact, this is named after the use of the lining word "Salho" when dancing.
The Ming Dynasty's Badong County Chronicle says: "In the old customs, on the day of death, his family bought wine and food, invited relatives and friends, sounded gold and cut drums, and sang and danced for one night, or three or five nights." After death, the neighbors heard the sound of firecrackers, and they all rushed to the home of the deceased to dance for the deceased. Tujia people often say: "People are sad when they die, so they don't invite themselves", "When people die, many families are mourned, a beating of the funeral drums will help them", and "Hearing the funeral drums in the middle of the night makes my feet itch". At night, only a few gunshots were heard outside the mourning hall, and the mourners heard the sound. A venerable man clapped his hands on the drum conductor, thumped the drum three times, and sang, "I'll beat the drum, and you come out, Salley!" " Everyone answered in unison. The mourners, either in pairs or in groups of three, quickly step on the drums and dance, pedal the drums, and the drums follow their feet. The mourners' heads, hands, shoulders, waist and buttocks twist together, and their dances are varied. Singing simple, rough, humorous and interesting songs with strong mountain flavor, from the night to the crow, or one night, or two nights, or three nights, etc.
Salho has a certain program, which generally consists of waiting for the teacher, jumping into mourning, crying and so on. Or it is called opening a singing venue, offering libations, and collecting singing venues. Salho's lyrics are varied, with four words, five words and seven words changing with the situation. Except for those young people who died young, no matter whether they are male or female, regardless of high or low, as long as people die, the neighbors always sing "Salho". In fact, as early as the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, Salho was fully mature in the mourning of Tujia people in Qingjiang River basin. As for the historical origin of Salho, it is impossible to accurately check it today. Some people say that it originated from Zhuang Zhou's "drum basin and song", and some people say that it originated from the killing of Tartars on August 15th. Although different people have different opinions, there is no doubt that Salxie is the product of the organic combination of Tujia ancestors' witchcraft, ritual and song and dance art.
second, the humanistic value of the four etiquette of Tujia nationality
The four etiquette of Tujia nationality is the concentrated expression of the etiquette culture of Tujia people. At the same time, these four etiquette also fully show the optimistic and broad-minded outlook on life and death of Tujia people, the traditional virtue of Tujia people's filial piety to their parents, and the Tujia people's lofty sense of social responsibility.
1. The birth ceremony of Tujia nationality not only wishes new life, but also reviews and commemorates the history of the nation's creation, birth and reproduction, and fully embodies the positive outlook on life.
According to Tujia legend, the distant ancestor was laid by an egg. In ancient times, the world was in chaos, with black smoke, lawlessness and no land, day and night. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew away the black smoke, followed by a white cloud wrapped in a huge egg, which was as white as the sky and yolk. With the sudden crash of the sky, the egg cracked and a slim girl jumped out. Her name was Egg Jade, and she was the ancestor of Tujia nationality. Egg jade drinks tiger milk and eats iron thallium. When she sees the adhesion between heaven and earth, she shoots with an arrow, and the world begins. Therefore, Tujia people revere eggs and think that eggs are a kind of human beings. When Tujia people hold the birth ceremony of "Playing Three Dynasties" and "Full Moon Wine", the most important food is poached eggs with mash. Anyone who comes to congratulate them will have to eat a bowl of poached eggs with mash, which actually contains the meaning of commemorating the creation, birth and reproduction of Tujia ancestors. When a Tujia girl gets married, the man always gives her two boiled red eggs. On the eve of her marriage, the girl rolls the eggs on her face three times, which is called "opening her face", symbolizing the birth of eggs, indicating the reproduction of future generations and the endless life of the nation. It can be seen that Tujia people believe that human life is hard-won, and everyone who comes to the world must be worthy of his own life, and he must make a difference and not idle away his time. In Tujia birth ceremony, there is also the custom of "grasping the week", that is, when a baby reaches the age of one, books, pens, abacus, paper and other objects are placed on the table for the baby to grasp by himself. What Tujia people think the baby will grasp first indicates what the child will do in the future. Tujia people always want their children to be successful. They want their children to make contributions to the country and become the pillars of the country. They also want to honor their ancestors and win glory for their families. This positive outlook on life is worthy of recognition.
2. Tujia's wedding ceremony and adult ceremony indicate that Tujia is a nation with a high sense of national consciousness and social responsibility.
The wedding ceremony of Tujia nationality is held together with the ceremony of adult hairpin crown, which actually shows that this is a sign that Tujia young men and women are coming of age, that is, they have finished their childhood, which means "the second weaning of life". Therefore, they should shoulder social and family responsibilities and have individual consciousness. First of all, there are strict etiquette procedures for Tujia wedding and adult hairpin crown ceremony. Through the exercise of this strict etiquette procedure, young Tujia men and women are taught the first lesson in life. After marriage, the bride should leave her parents, bid farewell to her hometown, start an independent life trip, and creatively design her future. In Tujia nationality, after getting married, boys often have to live apart from their parents. "Trees should be separated, and children should be separated." "Trees don't grow long, and families don't grow." This is undoubtedly a painful and necessary process for young people who rely on their parents for a long time.
However, it is in this process that young Tujia men and women will learn to stand on their own feet, take responsibility and become mature. The responsibility of young men and women, from a macro point of view, is social responsibility, to make contributions to the country and society; From the microscopic point of view, it is a family responsibility to make one's family happy. After the wedding and the adult ceremony, Tujia young men and women will consciously assume these social and family responsibilities. Secondly, Tujia's adult hairpin ceremony is held collectively by the method of "accompanying ten brothers" and "accompanying ten sisters". Therefore, it can not only enhance the self-esteem and self-confidence of the groom and bride, but also educate other unmarried Tujia young men and women.