Folk activities of the She ethnic group's "Recruitment Day"
The She Nationality Recruitment Festival is a religious festival for the She people to commemorate their ancestors. It is now only popular in the She nationality areas of eastern and northeastern Guangdong. It is a folk activity that combines totem worship and ancestor worship with the main forms of sacrifice and prayer. The religious belief of the She ethnic group is a polytheistic worship that combines clan gods and secular gods as the object of worship, but mainly believes in Taoist culture.
The legend of the She Nationality Recruitment Festival is said that in ancient times, when Panhu went to Fanbang to retrieve the head of the foreign king, he was chased by the foreign soldiers and went to the seaside. Only then did he return home safely with the help of the divine soldiers. In order to commemorate their ancestors and thank the divine soldiers, people hold "recruitment" every three to five years and sacrifice to them. They ask the master to choose an auspicious day three days before and after the winter solstice. The entire activity lasted for three days, with a total of 30 events, which were divided into seven paragraphs: (1) inviting God;(2) presenting documents;(3) opening roads to guide people;(4) recruiting soldiers;(5) rewarding soldiers 'food;(6) sitting on the balcony;(7) thanking God.
The specific details are as follows: 1 division; 2 Please God; 3. Submit documents; 4 Ask Buddha; 5 Open the Light Sutra; 6. Eliminate the disaster; 7 Please dragon; 8 Anlong; 9 An Kitchen Lord; 10 Kaigong Wang Qian; 11 Anjing; 12 worship Tianjun; 13 Make confession; 14 Take the road; 15 Give; 16 Recruitment; 17 Apply incense; 18 Qing Master; 19 Prescribing the Three Milk Sutra; 20 hulling grain and pounding rice; 21 Reward soldiers 'food; 22 Enjoy wine and meat; 23 An Bing; 24 lights thank the earth; 25 Recite the Mercy Sutra; 26 Recite the Guanyin Sutra; 27 Oil burns evil; 28 Withdraw evil spirits; 29 Send Buddha; 30 Thank you teacher. She Village, which has its own master, will finally add a troop dispatch ceremony.
Taoist performance during the Recruitment Festival
As the main manifestation of the She people's worship of Taoist culture, the Recruitment Festival can be confirmed by the atmosphere of the entire Recruitment Festival.
1. It is the recruitment altar set in the hall of the ancestral hall. The horizontal plaque is "Lushan Court", the left couplet: Lushan case is settled, and the right couplet: The Queen Mother exorcizes evil spirits and welcomes hundreds of blessings. The words in the left and right couplet are written in red, light yellow, dark yellow, dark blue, light blue, light red and yellow blue respectively. There are also other blessing god positions in the altar.
Second, nine directly connected statues are hung on the front and left and right sides of the ancestral hall. There are three statues at the top, middle and bottom of each frame. The order from left to right of the three frames on the front is: ① Tianzun, Li Lai (Third Sister), Yang Xianshi.② Zhang Tianzun, Chen Lai (Fourth Sister), Gong Xianshi.③ Liang Tianzun, Lin Milk (Ninth Sister), Liu Xianshi. The three frames on the left are from top to bottom: Wang Mumang, Dianshi, and Zutoutuo. The three frames on the right are from top to bottom: Lushan Hall, Tang Gezhou, and Youtoutuo.
Third, flags are made of paper of different colors to represent the soldiers and horses of each battalion to be invited: Dongying Jiuyi Soldiers (blue), South Camp Hundred Barbarian Soldiers (red), West Camp Six-Ring Soldiers (white), North Camp Wudi Soldiers (black), Middle Camp Sanqin Soldiers (yellow), Left Camp Tianxian Soldiers (light blue), Right Camp Immortal Soldiers (black), Local Buddha (i.e. Founding Fathers)(light red), Master Lei surnamed Fa Guang (dark blue). When it was held in She Village surnamed Lan, it should be Master Lan.
4. There are 24 scriptures and 9 volumes of tables including "Fengqin Recruitment Book","Fengqin Life Soul Book","Guangming Baozhen","Disaster Elimination Sutra","Pu 'an Fu Shi Guang Deng Xie Zhen Jing Jing","Zhu Pin Sutra","Anzaojun Sutra", the entire volume of "Anlong Zhenzhai Baozhen Zhai Bao Zhen Zhen Jing Jing Sutra","Anjing Sutra", and "Anjing Sutra", and "Sannai Lady Mother Sutra". When starting a teacher and asking God, first recite the scripture: "The sound of a dragon's horn resonates loudly, announcing the Three Qing God Jade Emperor, the Three Qing Jade Emperor, the Supreme Five Spirit God Lao Jun, the Queen Mother of the Seven Thousand Gods, the Three Palaces of Lushan God Jiulang... the East Hall of the East Palace, the South Hall of the Nangong, the West Hall of the North Palace, the North Hall of the Central Palace, the Imperial Palace... Celestial Venerable Zhang from the upper realm, Celestial Venerable Liang from the middle realm, Li Dizun from the lower realm, the Morality Star Lord of the North Pole, the six-character star of the Nandou, the Seven Yuanjun of the Big Dipper, the two stars of the sun and the moon, and the sons of Heaven, Wang Tiandou Mansion Manchu and Han Star Lords...".
Although the Recruitment Festival is mainly based on Taoist culture, it also integrates Buddhist culture. For example, in the altar of recruiting soldiers, the altar also enshrines the god of the Dragon King of the Wind Bo and the Rain Division of the Five Lakes and Four Seas. Please come to the god of the Goddess of Mercy, the blessing lord of the land of thousands of kings and thousands of ministers, the statue of Lord Star, and the statue of Sakyamuni. Master Master recited the words "Yoga Sea Gathering, the Three Treasures of Buddha Buddha, the Babi General of the Three Religions, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, Samantaban Patriarch, King Axiura" in the scriptures, the gods of the village, △△△ The master of Taipan, the master of the small dynasty, and the master of the fairy children, Shen Jiulang, and the master of hunting; Goddess Gao Kan of Mercy, Goddess of the Shuikou Dragon Palace Blessing the Lord King, Goddess of the Seven Saints of the Palace Corner, Goddess of Yang Taibo of Shuikou Aao, Goddess of Xuantian and Emperor Zhenwu in front of the Shiyan Rock of Celery Lake, Goddess of the Flying King of Jiaxigang Pass... △△△ Village, from the village to Xiyuan, down to Shuikou, and within the boundary, there are many gods such as the Lord King, the Earth God, and the Parents of Heaven and Earth. The Dragon God, Gate God, and Huwei worshipped by each household in the village, the Eafue, and the Five Emperors Smoke Master Si Ming Emperor...
Contents of the She Nationality Recruitment Festival
Among the She Nationality Recruitment Festival, the Fenghuangshan She Nationality Recruitment Festival is the most outstanding. It integrates the culture of the She Nationality in Fenghuangshan. It covers the religious beliefs, myths and legends, genealogy, language, folk songs, dances, martial arts, music, costumes, diet, migration and other content, showing the original form and culture of the She Nationality in Fenghuangshan from multiple aspects.
The She Nationality Recruitment Festival is held at different times due to different regions. The She people in Fengping Village, Fengshun County hold it on an auspicious day before December 24 of the lunar calendar every year. The She people in Shiguping, Chaozhou hold it twice a year: the first lunar calendar,"New Year's Eve","inviting gods to pay tribute, settling wells to thank the stove, pushing dragons to thank the soil, inviting soldiers to camp, and giving thanks", which is called the "Soldier Request Festival"; The second day, on the fourth day of the first month,"inviting gods, rewarding soldiers, offering sacrifices to talismans, and dispersing soldiers", which is called the "Soldier Send Festival".
The She people in the Fenghuang Mountains have merged the two festivals of "requesting soldiers" and "sending soldiers" into holding them every five years. They are collectively called the "Recruitment Festival". The event time is scheduled to be held on an auspicious day between the "heavy snow" and the "winter solstice" in the lunar calendar. The festival period is generally three days and three nights. The "recruitment" ceremony was held in the public hall. Please host the ceremony, praying for a bumper harvest and the people to live and work in peace and contentment. The whole village, men, women and children came to participate in the fun, which was very lively.
For the "Recruitment Festival" in the She ethnic area of Jiulian Mountain, the time of activities is generally determined through consultation among the ethnic groups during poor years and irregular times. The activity is divided into two parts: sacrifice and prayer. The content of the sacrifice is basically the same as the above-mentioned "Recruitment Festival" of the She people in Fenghuang Mountain, eastern Guangdong. However, the prayer part was created by the She people in Jiulianshan Mountain. It developed the totem belief religious ceremony of the original "Recruitment Day" into a traditional folk custom activity that pursues good fortune and blessings.
