"Snatching guns", "taking guns" and "returning guns" are popular custom activities in Xixiang area. This custom has entrusted the broad masses of people with their yearning for good luck and happiness. The so-called "cannon" is a double-sided glass mirror embedded in the mirror base. The mirror surface is painted with the icon of the Northern Emperor worshipped by Xixiang people, decorated with mascots such as dragons and phoenixes, and accompanied by auspicious words such as "Dragon and Phoenix are auspicious" and "Everything is harmonious". The design is exquisite and the workmanship is quite exquisite. Every year on the morning of the third day of the third lunar month, villagers from eight towns near Xixiang gather on the big beach of Xixiang River (now Xixiang Theater) to hold "gun grabbing" activities. At this time, the beach was crowded with people, shoulder to shoulder, colorful flags fluttering, overwhelming, drums and guns ringing, a hilarious atmosphere and a spectacular scene. Every time an arrow flies into the sky and a numbered fireworks falls from the sky, people flock to the place where the fireworks fall, and after competing for the numbered fireworks, they can "get fireworks" in the Beidi Temple, that is, they get a double-sided glass mirror with the same number as the fireworks and take it home to worship. People who carry mirrors are complacent because of their good luck, and they are even more humble and pious when offering sacrifices, in order to have good luck for a year. On February 28 of the following year, the "cannon" was carried back to the Beidi Temple and named "returning the cannon". In a few days, there will be a new round of "gun grabbing" activities.
Mazu birthday celebration
In Chiwan, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, there is a "Tianhou Palace", which is said to be built to commemorate the folk worship of the sea god Mazu. Mazu, formerly known as Molin (960-987), is a folk woman in Meizhou, Putian, Fujian. She is smart, brave and kind, and has the ability to predict weather changes, ward off evil spirits and cure diseases, and swim across the sea. She often rescues shipwrecked ships in stormy waves and is deeply respected and loved by people. According to legend, Mazu was born on March 23rd of the lunar calendar and ascended to heaven at the peak of Meizhou on September 9th. Every March, fishermen and farmers from all over the coastal areas will hold a grand celebration temple fair in Tin Hau Temple, offering sacrifices to Tin Hau, praying for safe navigation, prosperous fisheries and bumper crops. After the sacrifice, cultural performances and trade activities will be held. The official also offered sacrifices to Mazu in accordance with the emperor's ceremony, twice a year in the spring and autumn, knocking three times and worshiping nine times. Mazu's birthday celebration reflects the people's desire for a peaceful and happy life in Shenzhen.
Beidi birthday celebration
Under the dark rule of the old society, the broad masses of people were miserable, and they expected their spiritual shackles to be freed from all kinds of worship activities. In Xixiang before the founding of New China, a ritual custom called "Birthday of the Northern Emperor" prevailed around the third day of the third lunar month every year. This is the most festive day of the year for local people. Within a few days, all the villagers came to participate, which was very lively.
February 28th of the lunar calendar is the day when the Northern Emperor abdicated. On this day, the elders in the village first set the ceremony table to worship the Northern Emperor. After the ceremony, the faithful men and women carried the Northern Emperor Bodhisattva to the villages for a parade, and it was not until the second day of March that they were carried back to the Northern Emperor Temple to "reset" and worship again. It is said that the Northern Emperor has infinite magic power, which can eliminate disasters and diseases, exorcise evil spirits and ensure everyone's health, prosperity and permanent peace. Therefore, when the Northern Emperor "patrolled", the villagers worshipped and were extremely pious. The scene was very grand and lively, with drums and music ringing, firecrackers ringing, dragons and lions dancing and celebrating for several days. In the eyes of the villagers, the Northern Emperor is a god, and he is their food and clothing parents. Loyalty to the northern emperor will ensure the happiness of the family. Therefore, for Xixiang people, "the birthday of the Northern Emperor" is more important than "birthday", "Spring Festival" and "Mid-Autumn Festival". The celebration ceremony is naturally formal and grand, and the scene is extremely grand.
Fuyong dragon and lion dance
Fuyong is a famous town with a long history, and its customs and activities are various, among which dragon boat rowing, dragon and lion dancing and singing opera are the main ones. From the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, these three main customs have been circulated and prevailed every year. After the 1980s, only the traditional customs of dragon and lion dancing have been passed down to this day and become the most important celebration, while dragon boat rowing and singing opera have become less popular. Every year, during the Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Double Ninth Festival and other major events such as weddings and business opening, dragon and lion dances should be performed with great fanfare to celebrate. Fuyong became the most famous lion dance town in Shenzhen because of its extremely popular lion dance activities. Now there are six lion dance teams in the town, each with 40 or 50 people and more than a dozen lion heads. The drums and music are complete, and each lion dance team has a large number of fans and fans. During the lion dance competition, cheers and applause shocked the world and the scene was extremely noisy. 1962, a lion dance hall was built in Tang Wei village, which provided complete facilities for the training and performance of the lion dance team. 1987 at the first Guangdong folk art "Happy Festival", the Tang Wei Village Lion Dance Team won the first total score with absolute superiority and won the championship. Its lion dance team is magnificent, vigorous and natural, fresh and unique in shape and colorful in scenes, which has left a deep impression on the people of the whole province.
Shajing Shangxiang
Incense and sacrificial activities are popular in all parts of Guangdong Province. Many families, hotels, hotels, shops, halls and companies have shrines on the walls, incense burners on the altars and colored lights on both sides. People light a incense stick every morning and worship it several times, hoping that the god they worship can bless their health, develop their business, be lucky and prosperous forever. This kind of incense burning activity is very common in Shajing Town, and the etiquette is very grand. The custom of burning incense in Shajing villagers began to spread in the Tang Dynasty. Every family has a shrine, and the elders in the family preside over the ceremony every day. Before the incense, the host cleaned up, straightened his appearance, lit three sticks of incense in a solemn and pious place, put them in the incense burner, and then performed the ceremony of three worships. Then the whole family bowed down one by one. On the first and fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, the ceremony is more grand, the worship is more pious, and the incense used is more exquisite, mainly sandalwood ground into fine powder. Tribute fruits should be placed before the incense burner, mainly seasonal fruits such as litchi, mango and longan, as well as meat dishes and rice. After worshipping God, the whole family will eat vegetarian food together instead of greasy and meat dishes. The villagers' custom of burning incense shows people's pursuit of a healthy and prosperous life.
Longhua Hakka custom
90% of the aborigines in Longhua Town, Shenzhen speak Hakka. The title of "Hakka" has a long history. Historically, in the Southern Song Dynasty and the late Ming Dynasty, due to the invasion of Mongolia and Manchu, the Han population in the Central Plains migrated to the mountainous areas at the junction of Hunan and Jiangxi, Meizhou in Chaoshan, Guangdong and Minnan, with Guangdong Province having the largest population. For aborigines, the immigrants are Hakkas. Influenced by the local area, their language gradually evolved into a new language with unique pronunciation, namely Hakka dialect. The Hakkas in Longhua, Shenzhen have a unique custom. They kill geese on New Year's Eve and have a reunion dinner after paying homage to their ancestors. Be a vegetarian in the New Year, don't be dirty and greasy. On the Dragon Boat Festival, people will kill dogs to sacrifice their ancestors. Different from other Hakkas, people named Peng in Longhua celebrate the New Year on the fifteenth day of the first month instead of the first day of the first month. The Spring Festival is the most important traditional festival for Hakkas, and every household makes rice cakes. In Tomb-Sweeping Day and the Double Ninth Festival, every family goes to their ancestors' graves to worship the mountains. In Tomb-Sweeping Day, everyone eats Paederia (a Chinese herbal medicine) and Ai Cake to avoid plague, eliminate diseases and keep their families healthy. In the past, in the natural economic society, Hakkas grazed and cultivated fields and liked to sing folk songs. Before the bride gets married, she has to spend three days and three nights to show her affection for her family, while the groom has to go through the customs before entering the village to greet her, and can formally marry the bride only after successfully entering the customs. Longhua Hakka custom is a wonderful flower among the colorful customs of all ethnic groups in China.
Longgang woman crying and marrying
In the past, the Hakka people in Longgang maintained the traditional customs of Hakka, and "women crying for marriage" was one of the most distinctive examples. Before getting married, every woman has a "crying marriage period" of more than seven days. Crying for so long, a lot of tears, eyes slightly red and swollen, makes the bride more lovely, which may be in line with the saying that "frequent tears help beauty" and "girls look the most beautiful before marriage" On the wedding day, when the wedding procession approaches the village where the girl to be married is located, the men in the village will make a fire on the road to "ward off evil spirits", and the groom will lead the wedding procession through the fire to "ward off evil spirits", and then formally enter the village to welcome the wedding. After meeting the parents-in-law, the elders in the village announced that their time had come. At this time, the bride said goodbye to her parents in a charming and touching way, gently moved the lotus step, went out leisurely, turned around frequently, and then boarded the sedan chair and set off. The accompanying daughter also sent her to her husband's house with the sedan chair. The wedding procession sang all the way, and firecrackers and fireworks kept setting off. The bridesmaid accompanying the bride scatters an inch-long red rope on the roadside every ten steps, which means that the bride will go to her mother's house to "lead the way" for the first time after marriage. With the changes of the times, the custom of women crying for marriage in Longgang is not very popular now.
Ping di Wei long Wu
In the past, the living style of Pingdi people retained the traditional customs of Hakkas, and their previous residences were also quite distinctive. They built a cylindrical cage house with concrete, bamboo, bricks, reeds and straw, and the whole family lived in it. This kind of cage house generally covers an area of 30 to 40 square meters, and some of them are made into two floors. The cage house looks like an ancient castle, with high walls and eaves. The enclosure of the big landlord occupies a large area, and there are pavilions at the four corners of the house for observation and sentry duty. Because they are built quite firmly, and there is usually only one door to enter, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and it is easy to protect others from attacks. The biggest feature of cage houses is that they are warm in winter and cool in summer. When it is hot in summer, you can go to the ventilated place in the museum to feel cool, and when it is cold in winter, you can keep warm because it is airtight. And durability is also a big advantage. Generally, the paddock can live for several generations continuously, and can resist the typhoon attack of 8- 10. The cage houses in Pingdi reflect the peculiar style of Hakka architecture.
Pingshan station
The residents of Pingshan Town are mainly Hakkas, who have retained their unique traditional customs. Pingshan people used to pay special attention to sacrificial activities and pray to God and Buddha. One of the most solemn ceremonies is a dip every eight years (collective sacrifice to God). The place gathered in the square in front of Guandi Temple, which was noisy and lively. Nearby vendors gathered here to take this opportunity to do big business. First of all, the person in charge of Pingshan Expo presided over the ceremony. The table is filled with exquisite preserved fruit and wine, the incense burner is filled with sandalwood, and the air is filled with a fragrant mist. Behind the head, all the residents around. When the leader saluted, the villagers also bowed down. After nine times, residents began to play in the square for seven days and eight nights, eating, drinking and gambling all night, and the atmosphere was noisy. People who dip in the period are extremely extravagant, spending a lot of money and enjoying it for eight days, which also delays farming. Some poor residents have to borrow money or beg for a dip after a day. This was abolished on 1943.
A cool hat to hide shame.
Dapeng people speak Hakka dialect and maintain Hakka customs. Dapeng women have the custom of wearing cool hats, whether in winter or summer. The cool hat is made of bamboo strips and cloth. First, burning bamboo strips can make them more elastic. Then, use a cleaver to divide the bamboo strips into bamboo strips, weave them into a circle, punch holes in the middle and hang cloth strips around them. Other Hakka women's cool hats are sewn and hung with black cloth, while Dapeng women's cool hats are made of Lan Shilin cloth, so they are more charming to wear. The custom of wearing a cool hat has a long history. It is said that in the past, women should strictly observe "women's morality" and "women's appearance" and could not appear in public. After the Hakka women moved south, they were forced by the environment to go out to work like men, but also to collect firewood in the mountains, plant seedlings in the fields, catch up with the market, and visit relatives. In order to hide their shame, they put on this cool hat. When women wear cool hats, they can see others clearly, but others can't see themselves clearly, and they feel a little veiled, which adds hazy beauty and charm to themselves. At the same time, wearing a cool hat is light, can prevent solar radiation and cool, so it has been passed down from generation to generation and has been popular ever since.
Fishermen get married
Nan 'ao Town, located in the southeast coast of Longgang District, has simple folk customs and has preserved many folk customs. In the past, most residents in South Australia lived by fishing, so "fishermen's marriage" became one of the most distinctive customs in this town. On the day when the women in the fishing village get married, the bride and groom are surrounded by many fishermen's sisters. Behind them, there are gongs and drums bands and groups of dragon and lion dancers singing and dancing. Behind them, a fisherman disguised as a man led a group of fishermen's women wearing fishermen's hats and holding paddles, marching in line, supporting the paddles all the way and welcoming them home. The wedding procession is huge, the audience is numerous and jubilant. The road was noisy with gongs and drums and salutes. On the day of the "fisherman's wedding", the whole village, regardless of men, women and children, did not go to the sea and came to celebrate the couple. The best gift is a pair of big fish cut with colored paper. I wish the couple a hundred years of harmony and prosperity.
Dancing grass dragon
Dancing grass dragons is a unique custom in Nan 'ao Town. On the night of the second day of the first month of every year, fishermen's boys tie grass into a "dragon", each of which adds up to 200 to 300 meters long, and then fill this "dragon" with incense. As the "Dragon" swam, the band beat gongs and drums and crossed the streets, imposing. Dragons shine up and down when dancing, just like a dragon rolling down. Where the grass dragon passed by, there were many onlookers, orderly, setting off fireworks and firecrackers, praying for purple gas to come often, good luck and prosperity, and a festive scene. Dancing grass dragons is the favorite activity of fishermen in South Australia. The heroism of the dragon dancers and the enthusiasm of the dancers constitute a grand, lively and jubilant picture. Dancing grass dragon is not only the psychological expression of fishermen's hope for smooth sailing and rich life, but also a fitness exercise that the public is willing to participate in, so it is more popular and lively every year.
Folk festivals
The folk festivals in Shenzhen mainly include New Year's Eve, Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival and Litchi Festival, which are common festivals for residents in all towns. But some festivals are celebrated in different ways in different places. For example, on New Year's Eve, Gong Mingren will post Spring Festival couplets, and every household will set off fireworks and firecrackers from midnight. People in Longgang and Dapeng should bathe in "perfume of the year" made of citronella and grapefruit leaves for good luck in the coming year. Longhua people will kill geese to worship their ancestors on this day. Another example is the Spring Festival. Longhua people are vegetarian on the first day of the lunar calendar. People surnamed Peng in this town celebrate the New Year on the fifteenth day of the first month instead of the first day of the first month. Besides these festivals, some towns have their own unique festivals. Pingshan has the Bagong Festival on the second day of February, the Rice and Noodle Festival on the eighth day of April, the mung bean porridge on the sixth day of June, the festival of offering sacrifices to immortals on the fourteenth day of July, the tea and fruit cake festival on the first day of October, and the "Northern Emperor's Birthday" popular in Xixiang from February 28th to March 2nd in Nan 'ao Town from November winter to Sunday. Since the first folk art "Happy Festival" was held in Guangdong Province from 65438 to 0987, many festivals with local characteristics have been presented in colorful ways.
Folk taboo
In contrast to the rich folk festivals, Shenzhen people also have many taboos. The formation of folk taboos is the result of mysterious feelings caused by people's inability to understand and change many objective phenomena in nature.
On the first and fifteenth days of the lunar calendar, residents in Shajing and Gong Ming must burn incense for God and fast to show their sincerity, and pray that God can drive away evil spirits and protect their homes. Longhua National People's Congress should be a vegetarian for one day on the first day, and avoid meat and greasy food. Tomb-Sweeping Day ate chicken excrement rattan (Chinese herbal medicine) and moxa cake to ward off evil spirits and plague. People in Longgang and Dapeng get married. When the wedding procession approaches the woman's village, the men in the village make a fire on the road to ward off evil spirits. Only after the wedding guests "ward off evil spirits" can they enter the village to celebrate their marriage. On New Year's Eve, they will bathe themselves with the "perfume of the year" made of citronella, grapefruit leaves, calamus and pomegranate leaves to wash away the "bad smell" of the old year, and pray that children will grow sturdily and adults will be full of energy in the new year.
Customs, legends and feelings are mixed together. I hope you can adopt them.