Characteristics of Dongying folk customs
Before the founding of the People's Republic of China (Dongying City was not established at that time, it only referred to local villages), local people mostly spun and weaved coarse cloth by themselves, using green, blue and white colors. Mainly, they are made into high-collared jackets, coats, robes, wide-waisted and fat-crotch trousers, etc. They are divided into single, quilted and cotton, and the belt is also a cloth belt. Men's jackets are mostly open-breasted, while women's jackets are on the right side. Young women mostly wear red and green printed cloth clothes and floral cloth clothes. In winter, it is customary to tie up the waist and trousers. When farmers work, they wear self-made light cloth shoes, double-faced shoes, cow-nosed shoes, etc. The soles of the shoes are multi-layered by hand. They wear cotton shoes in winter and "Pu Wo'er" (shoes woven with cattails or reed spikes) when they are at home. ). The socks are homespun white socks or blue socks, and mud socks with full Nabang soles are worn on rainy days. Wear hat pads in autumn, and hoods and oar hats in winter and spring. Young women often wear long braids before marriage, and after marriage they wear braids and hairpins. Wealthy people wear earrings, bracelets, rings, etc.; elderly women wear "brainband" hats with hat flowers on the front; children wear pull-up hats or tiger head hats. Middle-aged men mostly wear felt hats and three-fan hats.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the custom of women wearing jewelry gradually disappeared and disappeared during the "Cultural Revolution". People wear more fine cloth clothes and less coarse cloth clothes. Commonly used fabrics include khaki and corduroy. Young and middle-aged men wear Zhongshan uniforms, national defense uniforms, student uniforms, sneakers, five-eye shoes, round-top shoes, and Jiefang shoes. Young women wear blue jelly tops, and female cadres and female students mostly wear Lenin suits, Lux shoes, and elastic shoes. In winter, some wealthy men and women wear yellow, black and blue cotton coats. Men have parted or crew-cut hair, and wear Eighth Route Army caps and octagonal hats. In winter, wear a liberation hat or a three-fan hat and a long scarf. Middle-aged women mostly have short hair that reaches their ears, while young women wear two braids and square headscarves in red, green, yellow and other colors. The clothes of the elderly still follow the old customs. With the development and construction of Shengli Oilfield, new changes have also appeared in clothing. Oil workers mostly wear blue cotton work clothes, which are divided into single and cotton types. The shoes are cowhide work shoes, rubber rain boots, and raincoats. During the "Cultural Revolution", young people mostly wore military uniforms, military hats, and military shoes, all dressed in green grass, with Mao Zedong badges on their chests. In the late 1970s, polyester, polyester-cotton, and wool fabrics were fashionable, and gray, blue, and black were popular, and clothing styles did not change much. Both men and women wear plastic-soled shoes or leather shoes or cloth shoes. Fewer and fewer people wear homespun socks or thread socks, and more and more people wear artificial fiber socks. However, many rural housewives still sew a thick coarse cloth on the newly purchased fiber socks. Sock soles to make the socks wear-resistant.
Dongying Customs Memorial
To pay homage to the deceased, one has to visit the grave five times a year. A married daughter brings sacrifices back to her parents’ home to visit the grave. After the person dies, they also have to visit the grave five times. , Fu San, thirty-five days, ninety-nine days, three years.
Qingming Festival is commonly known as the Cold Food Festival. After adding soil to the ancestral graves in the first two days, we go to the graves in the afternoon. During this solar term, schools, government agencies and groups organize organized visits to the tombs of martyrs and lay wreaths to express their remembrance of the deceased.
On June 6th, new wheat is harvested, steamed buns are steamed, and dough cakes are rolled out to worship ancestors
July 15th is also known as the "Ghost Festival". On this afternoon, people go to graves to worship ancestors
In October, every family goes to the grave to worship their ancestors
There is also a memorial day, which is the day when the old man died.
Dongying custom is to celebrate the New Year
Drink Laba porridge, Pickled Laba Vinegar heralds the New Year message. Laba porridge originated from Buddhism. According to legend, Sakyamuni "enlightened" in Laba after receiving milk porridge from a shepherd girl. Later, the monk's family cooked porridge and offered it to the Buddha as a memorial. Laba porridge is made from millet, glutinous rice, red beans, yellow rice, etc. The beauty of Laba porridge is all in the porridge fruits, including red dates, chestnuts, walnuts, peanuts, longan meat, etc. In the middle of the night, we wash the rice, cook the beans, peel the shells and remove the kernels. In the morning, we cook it up and gather together as a family to feed the neighbors. On this day, you also need to soak the "Laba vinegar": soak the white and fat garlic cloves in a small jar for storing vinegar, seal it, and prepare it for dipping dumplings during the New Year. For more than twenty days from Laba to New Year's Eve, the garlic flavor melts into the vinegar, making the hot and sour taste moderate. Use Laba vinegar to dip hot water dumplings, the garlic is fragrant and appetizing. A family reclaiming wasteland at the mouth of the Yellow River has a new bride. On the eighth day of the Laba, they make a cake with yellow rice and red dates, which is called "eating bowl cake".
The last day of the twelfth lunar month is New Year's Eve, and the next day, the first day of the first lunar month, is the Spring Festival, commonly known as "Chinese New Year", which is the most solemn traditional festival among the people. Strictly speaking, the New Year is the first day of the Lunar New Year, but in fact, from the first day of the Lunar New Year, people are already full of strong "New Year flavor", and the New Year is not celebrated until the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month. over.
The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is often referred to as the "Little New Year". From this day on, every household in rural areas begins to prepare New Year's goods. In Dongying District, Lijin and Guangrao areas, there has been a custom of offering sacrifices to the stove on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month since ancient times. In addition, during the days around the 23rd, every household has to do a general cleaning. Dongying District is called "house sweeping". When cleaning the house, all the things in the house have to be moved to the yard. , sweep every nook and cranny in the house, and make it clean to welcome the New Year.
Every household in Dongying has the custom of preparing New Year’s goods and making pasta by hand. Because there are many types of pasta, it takes a long time. Generally, there are steamed buns, flower rolls, mung bean buns similar to Shoudao, and mung bean buns. Some make rice cakes.
Then, every household started frying fish, fried meat, fried meatballs, fried lotus root and other things.
After Laba Festival, every household begins to clean the courtyard, buy new clothes, prepare new year's goods, and is busy in the festive atmosphere, which is called "Busy Year". The busiest two or three days before the Spring Festival are when every household buys new bowls and chopsticks; they go to the New Year’s Market (the last market before the Spring Festival, which is the most bustling and bustling) to buy meat, fish, firecrackers, and New Year pictures; they prepare food, steam rice cakes, steam rice cakes, etc. Steamed buns, croquettes, chopped stuffing (dumpling stuffing). During this period, all private loans were repaid. In the old days, many poor people ran away to avoid debts, and celebrating the New Year was like passing the customs. Therefore, the Spring Festival is also known as the "New Year's Eve". On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, the busy year reaches its climax. People cook meat and fry fish while giving New Year gifts to relatives and friends, posting New Year pictures and couplets. There is a folk saying that "on the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, every family posts Daoyou (couplets)." < /p>
During the Chinese New Year, there are some prohibitions in various places in Dongying. Cleaning the house is not allowed on the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, because it has been rumored that this day is the birthday of the house and cannot be cleaned casually. However, now these are just a matter of personal preference. , the year is not the past year, but the year is still the Chinese year...
On the 30th of the twelfth lunar month, which is New Year's Eve, commonly known as "New Year's Eve" (sometimes it is the 29th), people sweep the courtyard, store Fill the water jar, prepare enough firewood, hang the family tree, set up the incense table, and light the incense.
On the morning of New Year’s Eve, people begin to hang up family trees on the main door and place offerings to the gods and ancestors. The offerings include fish, meat, melons and fruits. If conditions permit, they also go to the graves in person to burn paper. Ask for blessings from ancestors. In the afternoon, New Year pictures and Spring Festival couplets began to be posted. The contents of the Spring Festival couplets are rich and colorful, such as "The sound picture of the bamboo shadows swaying in the wind, the wordless poem about the winter plum blossoms in the rain", "The clothes are wet with the rain of apricot flowers, and the willows are not cold when the wind blows on the face" and so on. , business houses will usually post content such as "Business is booming all over the world, and wealth is abundant reaching Sanjiang". In addition, there are also some such as "Spring is always there in Xiangyangmen, and people who have accumulated good deeds will have more than enough to celebrate", "A winter without snow" Spring couplets such as "Hidden Jade, Three Spring Rains and Ground Produce Gold" all reflect the simplest wishes of the people in our hometown throughout the year. These Spring Festival couplets are mostly written for family members to entertain themselves, and sometimes they are written by others. Therefore, those who like calligraphy are often inundated with calligraphers. However, this situation has gradually declined in recent years, probably because people's pace of life has become too fast, so fast that they no longer even have the time to write Spring Festival couplets. Therefore, every door has been replaced by the market-made couplets. Bought and unified Spring Festival couplets.
Every family makes dumplings in the afternoon. In the evening, after the dumplings are cooked, the men from each family go to the cemetery to visit the graves (some also invite the elderly and grandma) to invite their ancestors to go home for the New Year. Then the whole family sets off firecrackers and eats dumplings. As the sun sets in the west, people in Lijin begin to "call out." Each family lights sesame straw or grain straw at the gate or at the end of the alley, and the whole family stands around the fire. The old man was stirring the fire while shouting "Ming! Ming!" When the fire was at its strongest, each person would hold a handful of grain and grass and chant constantly, "Big gourd head, small gourd head, money flows home", "Black boys and white boys all come to my house to wear coats" "Waiting for a while, he ran home, put the torch behind the kitchen door, and put on the "door stick", hoping that the gold and silver would not leak out, and that he would have hope for food and clothing in the new year. As soon as night falls, people start to watch the New Year, and avoid saying unlucky words. Male parents usually sit next to the "family hall" (the ancestor's spiritual place) to burn incense, offer tea, and drink alcohol to show that they celebrate the New Year with their deceased ancestors; women usually make dumplings and tell stories. , telling jokes; young men and women also play cards, play small games, drink wine and eat candies; the whole family is reunited, talking and laughing, and having fun. Since the 1980s, with the popularity of televisions, watching TV on New Year's Eve, especially CCTV's Spring Festival Gala, has become the main part of people's observance of the year.
New Year’s Eve is what people call New Year’s Eve. The time is slightly different in different places in Dongying, but it is always on this day. The elders lead the family, old and young, with steamed various kinds of food. Various kinds of pasta, wine and firecrackers are brought to the ancestors' graves. In this way, they pay New Year's greetings to their deceased ancestors in advance and tell them that the new year has begun again. Next, the family begins to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner to keep the New Year's Eve. This New Year's Eve dinner should be eaten slowly, starting from the time when the lanterns are turned on. Some families have to eat until late at night. When the New Year's bell rings, each family will sit in the yard. Set off firecrackers. However, some counties, districts and rural areas in Dongying still follow the old customs. They believe that to worship the God of Wealth, one must go first and set off firecrackers in the rear. This means that if one wants to make a fortune, the firecrackers must be fired at the end to be considered sincere. Therefore, when the New Year bell rings, firecrackers, lasting about half an hour.
There is a custom in Huaguan and Chenguan areas of Guangrao. After the New Year's Eve dinner, every family goes out of the house, lights a fire at the door of their house, reunites around the blazing fire, prays for blessings, and the children set off firecrackers. The lively atmosphere of New Year's Eve reaches its climax, and this event lasts about an hour.
The immigrants from southwestern Shandong in the Kenli area still maintain the customs of their hometown. Starting from New Year's Eve, the Chinese New Year gradually reaches its climax. At this time, a long "door stick" will be placed in front of every house to prevent ghosts from entering the house, and on the other hand, to prevent wealth and luck at home. Two steamed buns should be placed in the pot to "press the pot" so that there will be food throughout the year.
On the first day of the first lunar month, neighbors compete with each other to see who wakes up the earliest, because getting up earlier means a better new year. Therefore, before dawn, people will come to pay New Year's greetings to each other, and the host will take out Guests are welcomed with the best sweets and cigarettes in the house. When paying New Year greetings, you must first pay homage to the old man, but what you need to ask at this time is not the usual polite words, but: "Did the old man get up early? How many bowls of dumplings did you eat?" The old man will happily tell you that he got up very early. Eat early and eat a lot to show that your body is strong.
Among immigrants from southwestern Shandong, there is a custom of "begging for elders at the fifth watch of the Spring Festival". After getting up, the children kept silent, hugged the chun tree tightly, and sang at the same time, "Chun tree king, when you grow thick, I will grow taller. When you grow thick, I will make materials, and when I grow thick, I will wear clothes."
According to the old custom, the Spring Festival starts at midnight on the first day of the Lunar New Year. When the New Year arrives at the end of the night, male parents "distribute paper horses". There is a folk saying that the earlier the "paper horses" are distributed, the more auspicious and the more dumplings eaten, the healthier. Some people "distribute paper horses" before midnight, which is called "grabbing the New Year." The matriarch cooks dumplings, the children and grandchildren set off firecrackers, the whole family burns paper and incense in front of the shrine, bows to the "family hall", and then has the New Year's Eve dinner. Put a fire whip before opening the door, and then you can speak. Men, led by their parents, worship the gods of heaven and earth. [Page]
Before dawn, each family cooks dumplings and sets off firecrackers. Housewives distribute money and food to pray for peace and prosperity in the year. The first meal of the Spring Festival is dumplings. When cooking dumplings, firecrackers should be set off. In order to drive away evil and seek good luck, sesame straw is used to cook dumplings in some areas, which means that the new year is like sesame seeds blooming steadily, and the days are getting better and better. The dumplings need to be cooked a lot, so there must be more than enough, and steamed buns should be placed in the pot after the meal to have more than enough. After the dumplings are cooked, first serve a bowl to honor heaven and earth, and then serve a bowl to honor Kitchen God. When dining, in addition to one bowl per person, one or two more bowls are served in order to hope that the population will flourish. Eating dumplings is full of festive joy. Dumplings during the Spring Festival are often filled with money, dates, chestnuts, etc. Eating red dates means that you can get up early to work in the new year and get rich through hard work; eating chestnuts means that you can work hard and sweat profusely in the new year; If you eat peanuts, you will live a long life; if you eat money, you will get rich. No matter who eats which one, everyone sincerely congratulates them. If the child gets money, the parents will be very happy and think that the child has potential. In addition to encouragement, they will also reward the child with money as a way of congratulations. In many places, vegetarian dumplings are eaten on the first day of the Lunar New Year, which means "a year of vegetarian peace".