Blessing by the cradle
People in China have always loved biology and praised life, and people also sincerely praised and blessed the birth of new life. For thousands of years, Zhengzhou has also formed an ancient baby birth custom, which is interesting to say.
Rural people in Zhengzhou call giving birth to children "happiness", boys "great joy" and girls "little Xi". Pregnant women are going to give birth. In the old society, midwives were asked to get ready at home, so that the women could sit on a small bench, put a clay basin or wooden basin to pick up clothes, and put an egg and a lock in the basin. After the baby was born, the midwife washed the baby with warm water, let the mother eat the eggs in the basin, said that she could regenerate the baby, and took the lock out and hung it at the door, which meant to lock the baby's life. If a boy is born, the clothes lattice is buried at the gate, which means that the boy can support the portal in the future; If a girl is born, the clothes lattice is buried under the tree in the yard, which means a flower.
After the baby is born, the father will tell his mother-in-law and relatives and friends the next day, calling it "good news". Bring gifts when you report good news. Gifts contain information of good news. When the gift is sent to the mother-in-law's house, the mother-in-law knows at a glance that her daughter has been born and can realize whether it is a boy or a girl. Give birth to boys with sesame cakes as gifts, give birth to girls with sesame candy, some give birth to boys with cocks, and give birth to girls with hens. On the third day of the baby's birth, the parties will present happy noodles to their neighbors, while the mother-in-law will take eggs, dried noodles, brown sugar and rice to her daughter's house for "three days".
In the old delivery mode, because the midwife cut the umbilical cord with unsterilized scissors, it is very easy to get tetanus and the infant mortality rate is very high. On the ninth day of the baby's birth, because the time for tetanus infection has passed, it is necessary to make a "wish nine", and some people celebrate it on the twelfth day. On this day, relatives, friends and neighbors all came to congratulate, and the host family gave a banquet to entertain the guests. Midwives are especially respected. Please come and sit on the table. Grandma's family will send rice noodles, brown sugar, eggs, children's clothes and other gifts, and relatives and friends will send gifts to the baby. At the end of the banquet, a bowl of noodles is essential. When the guests leave, the host family will send some boiled and dyed eggs back to the basket, which is called "hi-eggs". This habit has been going on for many years.
In the suburbs and rural areas of Zhengzhou, before liberation, it was popular to name babies by touching their surnames. Some people called it "broken surnames". The morning before the baby was born, the baby's father met the first person after going out, whether male or female, and he had to kneel down and kowtow to ask him to name the baby. This is called touching the surname. Most people who like to meet Liu Hecheng think that they can save their children's lives, because Liu and Liu are homophonic, and Cheng and Cheng are homophonic, thinking that they can make their children grow up.
After the baby's full moon, grandma's family will come to "treat", and the mother and son will live together for a few days before sending them back, also called leaving the full moon. This custom has been circulating for a long time and is still very popular in Zhengzhou urban and rural areas. When leaving home, the mother wears a red cloth strip on her head and the baby wears a red cloth on her head, which is said to ward off evil spirits. The baby's face was smeared with a strange gray by her aunt, and was wiped off by her aunt at her grandmother's house. When I go back, my aunt should put a white sticker on the baby's face, which means that the baby will live longer.
Babies have the custom of shaving fetal hair after the full moon, also known as "wringing hair" and "shedding fetal hair", which is an important part of the full moon ceremony. "Tokyo Dream Record" records: "After the bath, the baby falls, so sit down." Shaving the full moon head should protect the fontanel, and it can't be shaved completely. This is called leaving fetal hair. There is a saying that "the skin of the body is influenced by parents", and the shaved fetal hair will not be thrown away. Some parents collect it, some sew it on the baby's pillow, and some make it into a fetal brush as a permanent memorial.
Since then, every year, parents will boil eggs for their children in the morning and dye them red. Because eggs are round, which means everything is perfect for children. In rural areas, there is a saying that children eat eggs on their birthdays. Make noodles for children at noon, called "longevity noodles", and don't eat corn porridge on birthdays, because Zhengzhou dialect calls corn porridge "confused", which means don't make children confused.
It is not easy to have children, and it is even more difficult to raise children. Every parent wants their children to grow up healthily and smoothly, but not every child can avoid disaster. In order to let children grow up safely, people think of various ways to eliminate disasters and pray.
There is a custom of recognizing godmother in both urban and rural areas in Zhengzhou, which is called "recognizing michel platini's godmother". Some rural babies recognize relatives who have touched their surnames, some recognize relatives of many children, and most city people find relatives and friends to recognize relatives. When you get married, you should send noodles and snacks to the wedding, and make a pair of waist pants for the foster mother without sewing the crotch. When adopting a mother, put the baby in big pants and leak out from the crotch, which means it was born by the adoptive mother. The foster mother wants to hang a long-life lock engraved with "Long Life" around the baby's neck, which will be opened by the foster mother when 12 years old.
In addition to recognizing kinship, there is also the custom of giving children "hundreds of meals" and "hundreds of clothes", which means that children eat hundreds of meals and wear hundreds of clothes like humble beggars to support themselves.
After the baby is born, especially in families with several generations living under the same roof, when the children's grandmothers and grandfathers report good news to their neighbors, they will ask for a piece of cloth and make a hundred clothes. Especially those whose surnames are "Liu", "Chen" and "Cheng", the homonyms of these surnames are auspicious words, so the old people will happily accept an old piece of cloth sent by these families. The size and color of this cloth are not particular, but blue is better. Because the homonym of "blue" means that with blue cloth, monsters can't take away children.
Sewing hundreds of clothes also has a lot of attention, such as the direction of cloth patterns and puzzles, and there are established rules. Clothes should not be opened on the chest, but should be made into a large-breasted shirt with partial openings, also called a robe. This kind of clothes often leave a hole at the bottom, which is called the soul hiding place. After the child's full moon, it is sewn by the mother, which means that the child's soul always stays with the mother.
Zhengzhou folks also have the custom of cooking hundreds of meals for their children. On the first day of the first lunar month, elders hold babies and hold broken bowls in their hands, pretending to be beggars begging along the street. The number of beggars is 100, and then steamed bread, vegetables and rice are stewed into porridge for children to eat, which means that children will be sheltered by hundreds of families and avoid disaster. After eating a hundred meals, the elders should steam 100 copper coin-sized wheat flour buns, carry them in baskets, walk along villages or streets, and give a bun to children when they meet them. When the bun is finished, the disaster will be chewed by others, and your children will grow up safely, commonly known as "chewing disaster".
The custom of celebrating the birthday of the elderly has a long history. According to the age of the old people, the names of birthdays are different.
In ancient times, according to Jia Zi, Yi Chou and Bing Yin, 60 years is a flower, and people live to 60 years old, which is called the year of the flower. People in Henan are used to starting their official birthdays at 60. There is a folk saying that "you don't celebrate your birthday until you get a flower." After the age of 60, it is called "Little Beast" every five years and "Birthday" every ten years.
Birthdays are generally one year earlier than nominal years, 59-60 years old and 69-70 years old. After your birthday, you can't stop. It's usually to celebrate and turn to the tenth anniversary. In the old custom, some people who celebrate their 99th birthday are called "Bai" birthday, which means 100 is short of one. Centenarians often don't say centenarians, but only 99 years old, which means "ninety-nine, not enough to live".
The average family celebrates the birthday of the elderly every year, but the scale is relatively small. Usually, the younger generation will get together and hold a banquet to celebrate. Married daughters buy birthday cakes, and steamed buns are made into peach-shaped birthday peaches to honor the elderly. Now the countryside has also accepted a new form of birthday celebration, giving birthday cakes to the elderly, but many people avoid the unlucky words of "blowing out the lights and pulling out the wax" and don't light candles on the birthday cakes. But "longevity noodles" have always been an indispensable food to celebrate the birthday of the elderly. Children should add some noodles to the old man's bowl from their own bowls, which is called "longevity".
From the age of 60, some families will hold a large-scale celebration called "anniversary". In Daqing, some children also invite professional troupes to sing, show movies and ask people to tell stories to entertain them.
In some places, birthday ceremonies are held in the morning, while in others, they are held at noon. On this day, relatives and friends will come to congratulate, and the host will hold a banquet to entertain the guests. When the elderly celebrate their birthdays, guests, relatives and friends should give gifts, which is called "birthday present". If dried noodles are called "birthday noodles", eggs are called "birthday eggs" and brown sugar is called "birthday candy". Some people send birthday wishes and birthday plaques, but don't send clocks, because sending clocks is homophonic with "farewell".
On my birthday, the room was full of lanterns and there was a square table in the middle. There are two red candles on the table, which are filled with fruit, wine, fish and so on. On the wall, there is Shou Xingtu, a red birthday girl and a pair of birthday couplets, "Happiness is like flowing water in the East China Sea, and longevity is better than Nanshan". Fireworks should be set off before the birthday, and the old people should be dressed up and sit on it. The younger generation dressed neatly, kowtowed to the old people in turn, and respectfully presented birthday fruits and eggs to the old people. The old people share these foods with everyone, and eating them at the birthday party is said to be the "chewing disaster" of the old people. Then people raise their glasses and drink, taste delicious food, * * * enjoy family happiness, and laughter overflows the hall of eternal life.
When the old people reach the age of 66, 73 and 84, it is more special for the younger generation to celebrate their parents' birthdays.
According to the old custom, some people don't celebrate their birthdays at 60, but at 66. Celebrating the 66th birthday is the most solemn birthday custom, because this age takes up two 6 characters, symbolizing "Great Harmony on June 6th", which is highly valued by the general elderly and younger generations.
"Sixty-six, a mother eats a piece of meat from her daughter" has a long history. On the parents' 66th birthday, the married daughter goes back to her parents' home to pay New Year greetings, and a piece of meat is indispensable as a birthday present. This piece of meat means that the daughter is a piece of meat on her parents. When she grew up, she bought meat to repay her parents' kindness. Although it is bought meat, it also symbolizes cutting your own meat. When buying meat, you can't care about the amount of meat. Be sure to cut it with a knife to show children's respect for the elderly. Some children buy six catties and six taels of meat for their parents' birthdays, and steam six or six steamed buns for the elderly to eat. Others are not allowed to share them, otherwise it is called "grabbing happiness".
There is a folk saying that "seventy-three, eighty-four, the ghost king doesn't ask himself to go", and some old people are more nervous at this age. On parents' birthdays, children buy a live carp for the elderly. Carp is good at jumping, which shows that the old man has passed through a difficult period. This day's breakfast, the old man must eat eggs. After the eggs are ready, my daughter takes them to the wheat field before dawn, runs a few laps and goes home, leaving her parents to eat behind the door. Call it "bone luck", saying that eating this egg can bring good luck.
Birthday, as an ancient custom, expresses people's good wishes, enhances the feelings between the elders and the younger generation, and embodies the deep friendship and traditional virtues of the Chinese nation.
The etiquette and customs in Zhengzhou area are generally similar or the same as those in other parts of the Central Plains, but there are obvious differences in many details. Even in the same place, even in the same village, the habits, methods and procedures of doing similar things are different, forming an interesting phenomenon of "five miles are different from customs, and ten miles are different from rules".
Suppose China New Year is the most important festival in China. Chinese New Year is a big concept in Zhengzhou. Some places refer to the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, and some places refer to the first day of the first month. In rural areas, the Lunar New Year refers to the period from the end of the twelfth lunar month to the beginning of the first month.
In this way, an obvious "watershed" has been formed in the time of Chinese New Year-on New Year's Eve, most rural people are busy with Chinese New Year. The rule in many places is that the sooner you eat New Year's Eve, the better. However, people in the city still go to work normally, and the New Year officially begins on the first day of the first month.
"Have a meal in the kitchen and cook it next year", a rural tradition. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, we set out to prepare for the Spring Festival. How to arrange the schedule during this period before the Chinese New Year has also formed an ancient custom for many years. There are many versions of this custom's jingle circulating in various places. For example, some places are: "Twenty-four, sweeping the house; Twenty-five, kill fat pigs; Twenty-six, steamed bread; Twenty-seven, buy tofu, twenty-eight, shave a fool (referring to a haircut); Twenty-nine, suitable (referring to Spring Festival couplets); Eat a flat food at the age of 30 (referring to jiaozi); On New Year's Day, I pursed my ass and looked at each other. In some places, the jingle is: "Twenty-three, offering sacrifices to kitchen officials; Twenty-four, sweeping the house; Twenty-five, grinding bean curd; 26, cut a piece of meat; Twenty-seven, kill a chicken; 28. Slay a duck; Twenty-nine, buy altar wine; Thirty years old, with the door. " ...
The custom of posting Spring Festival couplets in the New Year is different. In some places, Spring Festival couplets are posted on the 28th or 29th of the twelfth lunar month, some on New Year's Eve, and some on the first day of the first month. In many places, Spring Festival couplets are usually posted only on doors and windows, kitchens, pigsty and sheepfold, but in some rural areas, besides doors and windows, Spring Festival couplets are also posted on water tanks, suitcases, wardrobes, vehicles and even looms, tables and chairs.
There are also differences in the custom of visiting New Year in Zhengzhou. In most places, people verbally exchange greetings and congratulations. In some places, they bow to express their New Year wishes. In some places that pay attention to traditional customs, they adopt the etiquette of kowtowing and bowing. When greeting elders, boys kowtow and girls bow, which is called "kowtowing ceremony".
In addition to traditional festivals such as Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, some rural areas in Zhengzhou once had some unusual customs, such as Qinglong Festival, Jojo Festival, Animal Festival and celebrating the New Year in June.
On the second day of the second lunar month, folklore is the day when dragons look up, commonly known as "Qinglong Festival". On this day, farmers should have a rest, and they are not allowed to carry water or break ground. Women don't do needlework for fear of cutting the dragon with a knife. Before the sun came out, farmers scattered plant ash around the grain depot, with wheat, soybeans, peanuts and sesame in the middle. They chanted "big storage full, small storage flow" and prayed for a bumper harvest and increased production that year. They also hold tiles in their hands, chanting "tiles, tiles, scorpions and dragonflies have no claws" while colliding, praying for the gods to bless scorpions and dragonflies. Lunch is all noodles, called Longxu Noodles, to pray for wealth and health. On this day, people also make some fried foods, such as fried peanuts, fried soybeans, popcorn and so on. And there is a saying "February 2nd, eat fried beans". People believe that this day is the birthday of the Dragon King in the East China Sea, and pancakes are the dragon king's afterbirth. Eating pancakes is to chew the disaster for the dragon king, and throwing pancakes is to bury the dragon king's afterbirth.
Every year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, it is "Jojo Day". On the night of the sixth day of the seventh lunar month, seven unmarried local girls get together to prepare offerings for the Weaver Girl. Some people buy seven kinds of melons and fruits, such as grapes, pomegranates, watermelons, dates and peaches, bake seven oil steamed buns or sugar steamed buns, pack seven bowls of small jiaozi, and make seven bowls of noodle soup, and pack seven big jiaozi respectively. Jiaozi is made of seven kinds of vegetables, which are wrapped with seven kinds of noodles, such as needles, looms, flower hammers, spindles, scissors, garlic cloves or abacus. These seven things should represent the wishes of seven girls. In the evening, seven girls put their offerings under the melon shed or in a secluded place, burned incense and lit some paper, and knelt down under the moon to pray to the Weaver Girl. After the prayer, the girls shared fruits and jiaozi, and then put the oil cake and jiaozi in a bamboo basket and hung them on the tree. In the evening, seven girls keep vigil together, guarding bamboo baskets, called "Shouqiao". The purpose is to prevent joking boys from stealing Joe. On the morning of July 7th, at dawn, seven girls closed their eyes and touched a big jiaozi in a bamboo basket. Whoever finds needles and scissors in jiaozi will be a dab hand in the future.
On the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, farmers call it "Cow Festival", and there are many activities to sacrifice cows on this day. Every household should steam mutton-shaped white flour buns, put them on the table at noon, and set off firecrackers to celebrate the prosperity of the valley. On this day, farmers should stop serving food to animals, give them mutton buns after the sacrifice, and feed them with concentrated feed, make a pot of rice soup and give them to drink at night. The folk song says, "Beat 1000 and scold 10000, and eat a little on July 15th."
On the first day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar, there is a folk saying that the year is over. At this time, shortly after wheat sowing, people put tables in houses, courtyards and wheat fields, put fruits such as steamed buns, peaches and plums, fill buckets with newly harvested wheat, write the word "Fu" on the buckets, and then burn incense and set off firecrackers, praying for good weather in autumn and bumper harvests. After that, people happily ate "chop suey" made of meat, vegetables, vermicelli and kelp, adults played games in the wheat field, children played around, and people enjoyed the harvest.