Ganzhou folk customs pay special attention to the customs of the beginning of spring, beginning of summer, middle school and double ninth festival
Ganzhou's folk customs have a long history. In almost every field of social life, they inherit unique customs and habits, reflecting the excellent character characteristics of Ganzhou people such as hard work, intelligence, simplicity, hospitality, and hygiene.
Customs on New Year's Day
Due to the influence of Hakka customs, residents of Ganzhou City, in addition to following the general habit of Han people to hold celebrations, ceremonies, banquets, tours and other activities during traditional festivals such as the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival, they also pay special attention to several festivals such as the Beginning of Spring, Summer, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Double Ninth Festival.
The first day to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, commonly known as the "New Year", is the most solemn traditional festival of the year. On New Year's Eve, the elderly stay awake all night, which is called "keeping the New Year". At midnight on the first day of the lunar new year, every family will set off firecrackers to beat the New Year. When they get up in the morning, everyone will change their clothes. The younger generation will pay homage to their elders, and the elders will give their children lucky money. The old custom was not to visit doors and ban sweeping on this day, and avoid foul language in order to be auspicious throughout the year; some were vegetarian all day in order to ensure the safety of the old and the young throughout the year. After liberation, the customs of not going out and prohibiting sweeping were gradually eliminated. Urban residents traveled from house to house, relatives and friends visited each other, and leaders at all levels visited the front line of production in person to visit people who insisted on working. Starting from the second day of the old custom, we visit relatives and friends and visit our homes to pay New Year greetings. Saying auspicious words such as "health and longevity" and "everything goes well", the owner immediately entertained the guests with cured meat and candies, and accompanied the guests to drink and drink tea. Starting from the first day of the lunar new year, firecrackers and fireworks will be set off every day, and all kinds of lanterns will be played, such as dragon lanterns, carp lanterns, car lights, flea lanterns, dragon snatchers, and various colored lights will be played day and night until the Lantern Festival. On the 15th, the Lantern Festival was even more lively. Various lights, stilts, and lion dances danced in the streets and towns in various places. Fireworks roared and drum music resounded, making it extremely lively. In the old days, when playing with dragon lanterns, it was said that they could drive away evil spirits and bring blessings, bring good luck, peace and stability to the country and the people, and smooth weather. Therefore, when the lantern team came, no matter whether the government agencies or shops, they would rush to welcome them, shouting,"Dragon comes, happy to get rich","Dragon lanterns come to your house, we will maintain prosperity all year round","Dragon lanterns turn around, you will earn tens of thousands of gold this year", etc., to show good luck, and then the owner invited them to have tea and drink or present red envelopes. Rural lanterns travel through villages and houses, and lanterns and torches cut through the sky, making it even more lively.
On the day of the beginning of spring, when the time comes, even in the middle of the night, people will light incense sticks and set off firecrackers, which is called "welcoming the spring". Then they will set out spring wine, eat spring rolls, and in the old days, they will play with spring lanterns to celebrate. This custom has persisted since ancient times. It reflects Ganzhou people's yearning and love for spring.
Qingming Festival was used to be called "March Festival". In the Song and Yuan Dynasties, travel during the Qingming Festival was regarded as a "outing", so it was also called the "outing Festival". On this day, every household used three animals (pig, chicken, fish), rice wine, incense sticks, paper foil for the base sacrifice. There is also a custom in rural areas to insert willow techniques to persuade "three grass in March" in front of the door. After the liberation, every Qingming Festival, various agencies, organizations, and schools also organized young people to go to the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery to sweep the martyrs 'tombs and remember the martyrs' achievements; before and after this, there was also a period of time following the ancient custom of hiking and organizing young people to go to the suburbs. Visitors, Wei Zhi's "spring outing".
Both the Yao and She ethnic groups in southern Jiangxi regard dogs as their totem worship objects. It is said that the day of summer is the dog's birthday, and every family serves dogs with rice flour and meat. Influenced by this habit, Ganzhou people have inherited it. On the beginning of summer, every family has to eat rice flour meat and steamed buns.
Dragon Boat Festival Every year on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival, fresh grass such as mugwort, maple leaves, Shichangpu, and Yisaoguang are sold in farmers 'markets across Ganzhou. On the Dragon Boat Festival, every family uses these fresh grass to boil water to bathe. It is said that in addition to fitness, it can also exorcise evil spirits. On this day in the old days, calamus and mugwort leaves were planted at the door of every household, children wore sachets and silk mesh eggs, and realgar powder was sprinkled in front of and behind the house in the afternoon, and then a banquet was held for the family to drink realgar wine. Ganzhou faces the river on three sides. Every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, there are dragon boat races in Zhangjiang and Gongjiang. On both sides of the river, people eat rice dumplings and shout for the dragon boat race. For more than a thousand years, there has been no interruption.
People in Ganzhou call the Middle Yuan Festival "July and a half", also known as Ghost Festival. On this day, every family has to prepare some paper money for their deceased relatives, and some people also buy some daily necessities made of paper. In the evening, every family kills a duck, splatters the duck's blood on the paper money, and then lights a incense candle to burn the paper money and the ghost objects together. It is said to be given to relatives in the underworld to enjoy.
During the Double Ninth Festival, Ganzhou people celebrate the Double Ninth Festival, few people go to climb high, but every household has to eat their fill of "potato buns". Use the potatoes on the foot to make them into slurry, add flour or rice flour, and fry them to make fragrant potato buns. In recent years, a large number of potato buns have been put on the market every Double Ninth Festival, and many people no longer fry them themselves. This custom has been continued.