February 15th of the lunar calendar is Laozi's birthday. Later generations held temple fairs in Laojuntai and Taiqing Palace in Luyi County to worship Laozi, which reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty and was once interrupted for historical reasons. However, spontaneous small-scale folk sacrificial activities have never stopped and continue to this day. In order to promote Laozi culture, expand foreign exchanges, promote investment attraction and provide convenience for tourists to seek roots and worship their ancestors, Luyi County Party Committee and government decided to resume Laozi Temple Fair in two scenic spots for one month from 2006. The theme of Laozi Temple Fair is "carrying forward Laozi culture, promoting scientific development and building a harmonious society". Temple fair activities are rich and colorful, with "increasing aura, gathering popularity and making money" as the core, and achieving "scale, scale, quality and effect are getting better year by year". Fully display the cultural charm of Laozi, establish the image of Laozi's hometown, and enhance the influence and appeal of Laozi's hometown. The area where Lao Zi lived and lived in his early days was basically the Chen Chu Cultural District. The local culture of this place should belong to Dongyi Cultural Zone, and one of the characteristics of this cultural zone is that it attaches great importance to sacrificial activities. "Chen Feng is a good wizard, and Chu people believe in ghosts." The Book of Songs Wanqiu is a poem that shows the typical sacrificial scene of Abatti Giresse Concorde. Zheng Xuan explained: "Daji has no children, and he is a good wizard. He prays for the joy of singing and dancing of ghosts and gods as a folk custom."
Lu Yi is the birthplace of Laozi. In the long historical development, various unique folk activities have been formed. Every year on February 15th of the lunar calendar, folklore is his birth day, and a climax of worship is formed around the Taiqing Palace to celebrate his birth. Every year, on the 15th day of the first month, folklore is the day when he became immortal, and a sacrificial climax is formed around Laojuntai (climbing to Sendai) to commemorate his enlightenment. During the period from the 15th day of the first month to the 16th day of February, the people of Lu Yi held a grand temple fair to express their love for this saint, forming colorful legends such as the old gentleman, Lao zi's iron dance, Lao zi's drama, Lao zi's hymn, Lao zi's fist, Lao zi's knife and Lao zi's stick. A variety of commercial products, such as Laojun Twist, LaoMa Jun Film, Li Er Stone Mill Sesame Oil, Laojun Hat, LaoMa Jun Paste, Laojun Clubs and Laojun Clubs, as well as various related rituals, taboos, ancestor worship and other concrete and vivid folk life contents. Entering the second month of the lunar calendar is particularly lively. By then, 20 provinces and cities around Shanxi, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu and Anhui, as well as millions of pilgrims at home and abroad will welcome the old one after another, forming a grand ancient temple fair.
There are many legends about the birth and longevity of Laozi in folk and temple fairs. The most widely known saying in the local area is that Lao Tzu's mother Shi Li was descended from the gods. When Shi Li came to the village to wash clothes with a small basket, she found a Huang Chengcheng plum. Shirley was hungry and thirsty, so she ate it. Unexpectedly, she was pregnant from now on. One day in the early spring after 8 1 year, Li Sheng got off Lao Zi, and then with a flash of lightning, nine blue dragons poured down in a downpour, washing themselves clean for Lao Zi, leaving nine sacred wells where he was born. The boy with white eyebrows and white hair after bathing was born with the appearance of a little old man, and Li named him "Lao Zi".
The legend of Laozi's immortality is a reflection of people's admiration for Laozi. It is said that after Confucius came to ask, Laozi soared in the northeast corner of the county. One gasification and three cleanses, soaring to the thirty-third floor, living in the palace of resentment and dominating the three realms, became the ancestor of Taoism and the teacher of emperors in previous dynasties. Every time my hometown is robbed, I come to Lu Yi to solve the problem.
"As soon as the temple fair opened, all directions came to worship, worship God and burn incense, and pray for returning home." This is the activity around Laozi temple fair, the theme of traditional temple fair. Among them, the activity of praying for children with witchcraft can best reflect the core of China traditional culture. This is determined by the nature of China's agricultural society. Thousands of years of feudal society, people's living environment has basically not changed, and the reproduction of future generations has become a top priority for thousands of years. Therefore, in the "doll hall" of Taiqing Palace, the temple fair of Laozi, there is an ancient form of witchcraft-praying for blessings. It tied the sex of the praying son with a rope and placed his infinite good wishes.
Laozi's iron dance is the most striking of the sacrificial activities in Laozi Temple Fair. Iron dancing originated in the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty. It is the product of the working people living and working in peace and contentment, which embodies the sacred position of Laozi in people's hearts. All those who strike while the iron is hot in Lu Yi have a special respect for Lao Zi. According to legend, this dance was formed when Laozi fought against foreign invasion. Later, the locals created this dance according to the action of striking the iron at that time. Through the continuous improvement of past dynasties, a complete folk dance has gradually formed. The main movement of the dance highlights "slapping", and both hands are slapping. "Strike while the iron is hot, two dozen steels, three dozen sickles and four dozen guns; Five fires, six screens of charcoal, seven hammers and eight arrows; Nine dozen are crescent axes and ten dozen are A Jin steel drills. " I sang a ballad while the iron was hot, which vividly showed the legendary scene of Lao Tzu's benefit to the people and the people's reverence. This kind of dance is rough and humorous, funny but not vulgar. At night, people light torches in the wilderness and carry out torch leisure activities. The leisurely circle represents a peaceful year and expresses people's good wishes for the old gentleman to bring peace to his hometown.
In the early days, Laozi Temple Fair was just a grand ritual activity. With the development of economy and the need of people's communication, Laozi temple fair has gradually integrated into market trading activities while maintaining sacrificial activities, and at the same time increased entertainment activities. There are businessmen, hong merchants and mobile vendors in the city, which are open during the day and do not do night market business. Corresponding to the sale, there are cultural and entertainment performances. The temple fair planning includes program performance area, special snack area, product display area, sacrificial supplies area, small commodity area, children's toy commodity area, senior school research area, children's play area, commodity cutting area, agricultural products area, native products area and poultry trading area. Four major plays are sung at the four ends of the temple fair, and pavilions, lotteries, flying cars, animal training, acrobatics, magic and other folk skills are arranged; There are folk customs such as observing the face, shaking divination, leading camels, playing divination with birds, and persuading the world; Folk art performances, such as drums, waist drums, dragon dances, lion dances, Erxiandao dances, iron dances, classics-carrying, stilts, operas, piano books, and falling books, have pushed the momentum of the temple fair to one wave after another. The local snacks have a fragrant smell, including steamed stuffed bun, sesame seed cake, braised soup, Chili soup, meat dumplings, bean foam, pea stuffing, meat steamed bun, bad fish, spiced chicken, braised chicken, braised pork, duck eggs, fried dough sticks, oil tea, melon seeds, bean jelly, cold rice noodles and so on. They all have different flavors and are very attractive.
The announcement of Tianjing Palace (Laozi Temple) Temple Fair in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 aims at inheriting Chinese culture, displaying Yang Guo folk customs, reappearing the former elegant demeanour of Daoyuan Holy Land, and making contributions to the prosperity, harmony and well-being of Yang Guo. Tianjing Palace will hold an annual traditional temple fair from March 1 1 to March 16 (February 1 1 6) to commemorate Laozi's birthday. The fare is per ticket 10 yuan. Taoist converted disciples and elderly people over 70 years old are free of charge, and Taoist Christmas is free of charge on February 15 of the lunar calendar (March 15 of the Gregorian calendar). Activities: Blessing in Tianjing Palace, ancestor worship by overseas pilgrimages, Falun Gong Temple Dharma Meeting, opening the light, worshipping Tai-sui in Chenyuan Temple, wishing pool, ringing bells to welcome good luck, and making spiritual cards to indicate good luck. Exhibition of intangible cultural heritage such as dragon dance, bamboo horse, dry boat and stilts. Trade, snacks, tourism handicrafts exhibition, clothing exhibition, children's drama, acrobatics, magic, folk art, etc. I wish Tianjing Palace (Laozi Temple) Temple Fair 20 14 a complete success. Organizer: Yang Guo Laozi Cultural Office, Yang Guo Laozi Cultural Health Center Guoyang County Cultural Center and Library Purpose: In response to the call of the county party committee and county government to build a famous cultural city of Laozi, we actively carry out the "six-entry" activities of Laozi culture, publicize and popularize moral classics, and decided to hold the lecture hall of Laozi culture weekend all the year round through research. Time: 9: 00-1: 00 every Sunday. Location: Multifunctional Hall on the first floor of Cultural Activity Center of County Cultural Center. Nature: public welfare. Free target: Laozi cultural lovers from all walks of life. Content:1. A series of lectures on Tao Te Ching (including the way to treat others, the way to maintain health, the way to run the country, the way to run the army, the way to heaven and earth, etc. ) 2. Jia Ziyin, Wang, Hu, Liu, Niu Jiadong, and other honorary citizens of Guoyang County, a famous expert on aging, Wang Zhenchuan, improvised a poem: It rained in early spring in Wu Jia, sweeping away the poison and quenching thirst, and the land of Jianghuai was covered with silver makeup. There are many happy events in Laozi's hometown, and it is more fun to see the legacy of Mengzhuang. I always closed my doors openly, respected morality, flourished, promoted Taoism, and sang thousands of years ago. Laozi, director of Yang Guo Laozi Culture Construction Office, held the third lecture of Guangming Daily Laozi Open Class, which will be held in Guoyang County on March 26th. Mr. Chen, a researcher and director of the Institute of History of the Hui Academy of Social Sciences, will give a speech at the Laozi Temple Fair in Guoyang County: Laozi Temple Fair is to commemorate Laozi, a great philosopher, thinker, founder of Taoist school and originator of Taoism in ancient China. Laozi Temple Fair originated in Han Dynasty. According to the Records of the Later Han Dynasty, in eight years, Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty sent ministers to the Laozi Temple to worship Laozi, built the Laozi Temple, and formed a temple fair centered on offering sacrifices to Laozi. Laozi Temple Fair flourished in the Tang Dynasty. In the fifth year of Tang Wenzong (840), Laozi's birthday (February 15th of the lunar calendar) was taken as the holy day. Since then, believers have gathered and temple fairs have been formed for a long time. Since its origin, Laozi Temple Fair has retained the original ecology of ethnic, folk and folk cultural activities. With its unique content, basic characteristics and inheritance history, it is unique in China temple fair culture. Excavating, rescuing and protecting the temple fair of Laozi plays an important role in expanding the influence of Laozi culture among the people, inheriting Laozi culture, enriching and perfecting the cultural connotation of China temple fair, and studying and promoting the cultural inheritance of China temple fair and the development of China traditional culture. Take root in Laozi's hometown and serve the moral hometown!