Collection of China Folk Customs IV

Sending to the Kitchen God: Also called the New Year, thank the stove, sacrifice to the stove festival, stove king festival, stove king festival, and sacrifice to the stove. On the 23rd (or 24th) of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God will be sent back to heaven. After sending off the Kitchen God, every household can clean up in order to welcome the New Year. On the fourth day of the first month, the Kitchen God has to be invited home to continue to perform his priesthood. It expresses the good wish of the Han working people to ward off evil spirits, eliminate disasters, and welcome blessings.

Nuo Dance to Fight Epidemic: It is a folk dance widely spread in various places that has the functions of exorcising ghosts, expelling epidemic diseases, and offering sacrifices. It is generally performed from the first day of the New Year to the 16th day of the first month. The existing Nuo dance is mainly distributed in Jiangxi, Anhui, Guizhou, Guangxi, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi, Hubei, Fujian, Yunnan, Guangdong and other places. There are local titles such as "Nuo Dance","Ghost Dance", and "Wanxi".

Picking up the God of Wealth: Han folk legends have it that the fifth day of the first month is the birthday of the God of Wealth, so after the first day of the New Year, the next most important activity is to pick up the wealth. On the night before the birthday of the God of Wealth, each family holds a banquet to celebrate the God of Wealth. Ancient Han festival customs.

Guan Gong's Birthday: The 13th of the fifth month of the lunar calendar is said to be the birthday of Guan Yu, a famous general of Shu and Han Dynasties in the Three Kingdoms, so it is called "Guan Gong's Birthday". Guan Yu established the world with loyalty and loyalty when he was born. After his death, he was revered as Guan Gong and Guan Di in Buddhist mythology and listed as one of the Ghalan gods.

Zodiac: Also known as the twelve zodiac signs, are the twelve zodiac signs in China that match the twelve local branches with the birth year of a person. They include rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig. The twelve zodiac signs are visual representatives of the twelve local branches, namely Zi (mouse), Chou (ox), Yin (tiger), Mao (rabbit), Chen (dragon), Si (snake), Wu (horse), Wei (sheep), Shen (monkey), You (chicken), Xu (dog), and Hai (pig). With the development of history, they have gradually integrated into the folk beliefs of mutual growth and mutual suppression, manifested in marriage, life, annual luck, etc. Each zodiac sign has rich legends, and this forms a conceptual interpretation system. It has become an image philosophy in folk culture, such as zodiac signs in marriage, temple prayers, birth year, etc. In modern times, more people regard the zodiac animals as the mascot of the Spring Festival and have become an entertainment and cultural activity.

Sheyuan beans: A custom in old Beijing. Give out beans and make a bond.

Xiangtang Bathing Buddha: Also known as Buddha's Birthday, Buddha's Birthday, etc. It is the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar every year and the birthday of Buddha Sakyamuni.

Praying for rain: Also called praying for rain, it is a witchcraft activity around agricultural production and praying for a good harvest.

Xiangshi: In the twenty days from the Qingming Festival to the Grain Rain, the wind and the sun are warm and the time is for "fun" and the "carnival" in rural areas of China.

Sweeping Mother stops the rain: Also known as Sweeping Mother, Sweeping Mother, Sunny Monk. Popular in rural China and Japan, it is a puppet hanging from the eaves and praying for sunny days.

Peach wood driving teeth: It is the custom of hanging mugwort and calamus to drive away the five poisons during the Dragon Boat Festival in early summer, and the custom of dusting off the dust during the winter solstice at the end of the year.

Turn the scriptures and turn the man's body: On the sixth day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar every year, Suzhou has the custom of drying books. On this day, picture books are dried in the courtyard to prevent insects and corrode, and the effect is particularly great. Various temples and temples took out the scriptures they had collected and dried them in the sun. The monks took the opportunity to convene rural elderly women to hold a "scripture turning meeting", where they would read the scriptures under the scorching sun and declare that "if you turn the scriptures ten times, you can turn into a man again." There is also a folk proverb: "On June 6, dogs take a rotten bath." (Suzhou dialect calls bathing rot bathing.) Dogs and cats are brought into the river to bathe every day to avoid lice and fleas.

Shigandan, also known as Taishan Shigandan, was a small stone tablet built outside the Han people's houses or at the entrances of streets and alleys in the old days. It is named because the words Shi Gan Dang 'an are engraved on the stele. It is one of the methods of dispelling evil spirits and dispelling evil among Han people. This custom began to flourish in the Tang Dynasty.

Sneeze omen: Sneeze prediction is a kind of folk prediction.

Eating fasting: refers to the rules of religious people, prohibiting eating meat and fishy food and five spices (onions, onions, garlic, leek). It is a ritual that values piety and purity of the soul.