Are there any customs in Chaoshan?

Some festivals are extremely grand, with sacrifices placed all over the table, and the "five bowls of head" must also be placed at the top, becoming the protagonist. During the wedding ceremony, the bride and groom eat the same four dishes, one soup and five bowls of food when they go out and when they come in. Some places serve six bowls of food, whichever is an even number. Why do sacrificial gifts have to be five, no more, no less? Trendy people have a sense of sacredness towards the word "five". This first comes from the ancient ancestors' interpretation of nature. "Five" is between the nine ordinal numbers from one to nine. It is called the middle number and is the most appropriate to deal with problems. Therefore, the food "rice, wheat, beans, beams, and bean sprouts" that people rely on for survival are called "five grains", and the land they live on is called "east, west, south, north, and middle" and is called "five directions" and "five soils." The five-way God of Wealth that people often say is also related to this concept. There are five seasons: spring, summer, long summer, autumn and winter. There are also five colors: red, yellow, cyan, white, and black. The five elements are gold, wood, fire, water and earth. The five sounds are Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng, and Yu. The five flavors are salty, sweet, sour, spicy and sweet. The human body has five sense organs, five internal organs, and five internal organs. When you admire someone, you say "I'm in awe". Praising someone for being knowledgeable is called "learning to be rich in five things". There are also five human emotions "happiness, anger, sadness, joy, and resentment" called "five emotions". All of these correspond to each other and arise from each other. "Huangdi Neijing·Suwen" also says: "Five grains are for nourishment, five fruits are for help, five animals are for benefit, and five vegetables are for supplementation." This is a basic human need. The ancients often used "five" to classify human society. "Yi" series of words: "The number of heaven is five, the number of earth is five." Therefore, the emperor of Zhou established five divisions, namely "Situ (in charge of household registration)", "Sima (in charge of soldiers and horses)", "Sikong (in charge of engineering)", "Sikou (in charge of punishment)", and "Sishi (in charge of officials)". Kings and ministers, father and son, husband and wife, brothers and friends are called the "Five Ethics". Heaven, earth, monarch, relatives and teachers are called the "five services". There are five levels of title: duke, marquis, uncle, son, and male. The position of honor can only be passed down to five generations, "the glory of a gentleman will be cut off in five generations". "Five etiquette" refers to the ancient auspicious etiquette, unlucky etiquette, military etiquette, guest etiquette, and honorable etiquette. The five moral qualities of human beings, "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness," are called the "Five Constants." In addition, the punishments are divided into five levels: Mo (tattooing), Kuan (cutting off the nose), cutting off the feet (cutting off the feet), Gong (cutting off the body for men), and Dapi (beheading), which are called the "Five Punishments". "Book of Rites" also has the theory of "Five Sacrifice", namely, daily, door, well, stove and Zhongling. The center spirit is the center of the room. The "Five Blessings" that people yearn for are longevity, wealth, peace of mind, cultivating good virtues, and studying for a long life. There are also the theories of "Five Emperors", "Five Hegemons" and "Five Insects" in history. With the development of human society, many things have continued to deepen. For example, officials have changed from the "five divisions" of the ancients to the "six ministries" and "nine ministers"... The understanding of the natural world is also constantly deepening, and the five colors have become "seven colors". Only Chaoshan people always adhere to the "five" division. All kinds of complicated people and affairs in society are often summed up in one word: "five colors and five numbers." Sending incense boats in Raoping Haishan is a ritual to send off the god of plague. This custom is found all over Chaoshan. The same is true across the country. "The paper boats are burning with candles shining in the sky" refers to this matter. Paper boats are also incense boats. This custom exists in Chaoshan, but the performance is similar in different counties and regions. However, in some places, they are called rural boats. In fact, rural boats are not accurate, but they are actually incense boats. Fulen Village and Gaotang Township in Haishan Town, Raoping County have the custom of traveling gods games, called incense boats. Sending incense boats means sending the god of plague away to the countryside. The "incense boat" is made of bamboo tied with paper. The one made in Furen Village is a puffer fish with an open mouth, sharp teeth and a swollen belly. The one made in Gaotang Township is directly tied into the shape of a boat. The time for "Fragrance Boat Tour" is on the 16th day of the first lunar month in Furen Village and on the 2nd day of February in Gaotang Township (it is said that it was originally also the 16th day of the first lunar month. Later, due to a military rebellion, it could not be carried out and was changed to the second day of February. , followed by the following), the form is basically the same. On the day of taking the incense boat, worship the wandering god first, and sending the incense boat is the last ceremony. The ceremony in Furen Village is: first, the "boss" (triad chief) of the village sprinkles red flowers and water around the Sanshan King Temple to express good luck and purity, and then asks for fortune-telling and answers until three holy fortunes (one yin and one yang are "holy"). "Lot"), the "boss" shouted "Holy!"! Everyone cheered and cheered. With three cannons, the incense boat parade started.

Collection of folk customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival among Chaozhou people. Through the ages, Chaoshan people have passed down from generation to generation that on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, families get together, the moon is full, and people are also round. They raise their glasses to invite the bright moon, and joy comes at this time. On this beautiful occasion, the folk custom of watching, appreciating, worshiping and inviting the moon to the moon has been around for a long time. Everywhere in urban and rural areas, every household is illuminated by the night light. There are large balconies or patios on the balconies of buildings or courtyards. The square table Cai altar is covered with a brocade sacrificial skirt woven with silk and satin. On the table of the altar are full moon cakes, moon cakes, black sesame cakes, peanut towers, peanut peaches and taro (taro), mandarins, tangerines, oranges, pomeloes, pomegranates and other seasonal items. Famous fruit offerings. On both sides of the altar (table), sugar cane trees are tightly tied with "red-headed ropes", and the cane leaves are pulled and tied into a shaft gate. A golden basin rises to the east, and incense and candles are lit. They kneel to the moon in the sky and pray, expressing their feelings to the moon and expressing their hope for a better future. The longing of the moon symbolizes the full moon and the full moon. After the prayers and blessings, the whole family, young and old, gathered together and sat in front of the court (balcony), eating moon cakes and admiring the moon, sipping tea, enjoying the fragrance of tea, riddles, poems, and string music. It was endless fun. Ancient poems and prose that have been popular for thousands of years, such as "Looking up at the bright moon, bowing down to miss my hometown" and "May people live forever, thousands of miles away from the beauty of the moon" are the most popular among fashionable people to recite. "Tonight the moon shines brightly and everyone looks forward to it", "The moon shines brightly in the sky and we are reunited". There are also those who stay up all night just to be able to watch the colorful halo of the "Moonlight". In the past, women, children, old and young, knelt down and prayed, and begged the "Moon Flower Fairy" for "elixir" (incense ash), which they could drink with water or wear as a "sachet" to pray for peace, health and happiness. Farmers like to use the moon to divine the winter conditions in farming, hoping for good weather and a good harvest. There is a common proverb: "The clouds cover the Mid-Autumn Moon, and the rain drenches the Lantern Festival lanterns." It depends on the darkness of the moonlight on the Mid-Autumn Festival night to predict the cloudy and sunny weather and good fortune during the Lantern Festival in the coming year. Men and women often like to pray to the "Old Man under the Moon" to predict happy marriages and events in the coming year. In addition, the Mid-Autumn Festival folk custom also includes "burning towers". The tower is built in the open area of ??the square, usually made of temporary bricks or tiles. There is firewood in the center of the tower. When the fire is lit, salt is added to make a loud crackling sound, which is extremely spectacular and fascinating. Legend has it that the folk custom of "burning towers" arose in the late Yuan Dynasty when the Han people resisted the feudal rule of the Yuan Dynasty. Inviting "Basket Girl": Inviting "Basket Girl" is a myth and legend played by women during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Women choose a piece of clothing worn by women, drape it around a "basket" woven with bamboo strips, and then dot it on the front. With three sticks of incense, women sat cross-legged on the ground, singing in unison the song "Invite the Basket Girl, please the Basket Girl...". It has always been said that the Basket Girl kowtows and pecks her head when she descends from the gods, kneels down and prays for divination, and each of them judges the number of times she speaks to predict good luck.