The biggest celebration of the Dong people's lives: the customs and habits of "passing the three dynasties"
Like the distinctive death culture of the Dong people, the fertility culture of the Dong people is also very rich and interesting. For the Dong nationality, the biggest celebration is not the wedding, but the birth of the first child. On the third day after the birth of the first child, regardless of whether it is a boy or a girl, the Dong nationality celebrates with a banquet for guests. Therefore, it is called "Three Dynasties Wine", also known as "Passing Three Dynasties", and is generally held on the third day after the baby is born or on a single day within 10 days.
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"Three Dynasties" means three days, and the third day of the baby's birth is called "Three Dynasties." The Dong people's custom of "fighting three dynasties" mainly includes three contents: reporting good news, washing three dynasties, and fighting three dynasties. On the day after the newborn is born, you must give good news to the child's grandma's home (dialect calls her home [pronunciation: ga] grandma).
Good news is when the father or other elders of the newborn child goes to the child's grandmother's home to report the good news. When you go to report good news, you should bring a chicken (a rooster for a boy, and a hen for a girl), red eggs (the number of red eggs depends on how many relatives there are in grandma's house, but the red eggs given to each family must be in even numbers to show good luck), and a can of sweet wine (that is, glutinous rice, which is a must-have food for families who give birth to children in Dong Township, and it will produce milk). When grandma's family saw what Hao Xi had taken, she knew that her daughter had a boy and a girl. The red eggs they took were distributed to their relatives by their grandma's house, and the relatives who received the red eggs would know what to prepare. While reporting good news, we must also agree with our grandma's family on the date of the "three dynasties".
When the person who gave good news returns, his grandmother's family would return the favor. If the good news brought a rooster, the gift would be a hen; if the good news brought a hen, the gift would be a rooster. And the chickens that return the gift cannot be killed, so they must be raised well.
On the third day of the child's birth, grandma's family (including aunt, aunt's family, etc.) brought sweet wine, chicken, eggs, children's diapers, cotton pads, clothes, etc. to "wash the three dynasties" to celebrate. On this day, the child's grandmother, aunt or grandma, aunt, aunt and other elders have to take a special bath for the child, so it is called "washing three dynasties".
The water used for washing the three dynasties must be taken from the water from the rolling house and squeezing house water trucks or the male water rushing down from high places. Only after washing can the child be obedient, not timid, and withstand hardships. After taking a bath, wrap the child's hands and feet together with the body with cotton sheeting, and wrap it three times with a piece of cloth to restrict the hands and feet from moving around during the day. This is called "binding hands and feet" to show that you will abide by the rules in the future.
Later, the grandmother or aunt held the child and bowed to the ancestral throne three times, praying for the child to be safe in life. Moreover, according to Dong custom, clothes and hats cannot be prepared for babies before they are born; after they are born, they can only be wrapped in soft old dresses. Only after setting out the "Three Dynasties Wine" can you put on newly made children's clothes. Therefore, during the "Three Dynasties" period, the woman's relatives, especially aunts and aunts, are often extremely busy. During the banquet, in addition to making straps, clothes, skirts and other clothing for the baby, they had to make.
Within half a month of the child's birth, that is, when the date of "fighting three dynasties" agreed with the grandma's family, a "fighting three dynasties"(please treat porridge and rice wine) celebration will be held. Guests must bring gifts when eating the "Three Dynasties Wine", and the gift from their grandmother is the most generous. Customarily, they include pork, glutinous rice, eggs, Dong cloth, Dong cotton, sour grass carp, silver collar, silver lock, silver bracelet, two beds of new quilt, a pair of wooden boxes or dressing tables, etc.
In addition, my grandmother had to pay for half of the meat and staple grains for the "Three Dynasties Wine" operation. Therefore, her family's gifts often exceed dozens of loads, accompanied by the sound of firecrackers, lined up all the way, making the scene quite spectacular.
On the day of "Fighting Three Dynasties", the host family would send someone to greet her at her grandmother's house, commonly known as "picking up her mother-in-law"(that is, picking up her grandmother). The grandmother's family would invite close relatives of the family and bring rice, sweet wine, home-brewed liquor, chicken, ducks, eggs, meat, straps, clothes and other rich gifts (all covered with red paper) made for newborn babies to congratulate her. The host family placed the gifts from my grandma's family on the large table in the main room, showing that my grandma's family was virtuous and generous. All guests, except for the official (commonly called the official ga), must arrive before the dinner after sunset, and the rest should arrive before noon.
When guests from grandma's house and uncle's house come, the host's house will go to the gate to sing folk songs and set off portable cannons to welcome them to feel the feeling of wood.
Before the banquet of the Three Dynasties begins, guests must first eat sweet wine, eggs and Camellia oleifera. There is a saying in Dong Township that "men do not fight three dynasties, and women do not know the scene." Therefore, the guests who "fight three dynasties" are mainly female guests, and the main guests are guests from grandma and uncles 'in-laws. Therefore, when arranging the banquet, grandma and guests from her in-laws 'family should arrange for them to sit at the table.
Halfway through the "Three Dynasties Wine", the process of singing the "name song" will be carried out. Generally, the man's family first takes the initiative to invite the woman's family to name the baby by singing. After many rounds of singing and discussion, the grandmother finally decided and announced the baby's name. Except for the fixed tune, everything else is improvised.
The dinner party is a closed banquet, which means that four tables are put together. The guests and guests sit around the table and drink and sing to their heart's content. All guests also play pipa songs for the baby to show their blessings.
After the "Three Dynasties Wine" was dispersed, all female guests needed to bring one or three pieces of fat meat weighing about four taels and strung together with bamboo chips when they went home, symbolizing the richness of the "Three Dynasties Wine". After the meat skewers are taken home, they are generally used to make tea camellia and invited to taste them to convey the good news and share happiness. They are commonly known as the "meat skewers gift".
The day after "Three Dynasties Wine", the baby's mother will also prepare a dinner party for close friends to exchange parenting experiences.