On February 16, the seventh day of the first lunar month, this day is a grand day of the year for the villagers of Chentang Village, Shibi Town, Ninghua County. With firecrackers, fireworks, and drums, the villagers carried the "God of Grains" to parade around the village with the band and dragon dance team, bringing New Year's blessings to the villagers. People fight mud fights, and this custom known as "Nao Chun Tian" is unique to the Hakka people in Shibi, Ninghua County, and has been passed down for hundreds of years, and people hope to pray for a good harvest in the new year.
With the roar of several bells in the sky, firecrackers, fireworks, and drums rang out in unison, and the people in the village set off one after another along with the Bodhisattva who carried the "God of Grains", and the countryside was filled with a lively, joyful, and peaceful festival atmosphere. Everywhere they passed, the villagers set off firecrackers to welcome them, and the table of the Eight Immortals at home was filled with Hakka delicacies such as siu mai, chicken, duck, fish, meat and various cured meats, and candles and incense were lit to worship the gods. The village is filled with a joyful and peaceful festive atmosphere.
After visiting the village, the procession begins to "tour the fields". When they came to a newly ploughed square paddy field, someone shouted: "Respectfully the 'God of Grains' to go down to the field!" Immediately, gongs and drums rang out, firecrackers rang out, and ceremonial flowers bloomed, and the four Hakka men quickly lifted the "five grain gods", jumped off the ridge, rushed into the paddy field, and ran wildly in the mud field with the rhythm of the drums. Immediately afterwards, the villagers who participated in the event jumped into the paddy fields and chased the people carrying the "five grain gods" in the mud. They also grabbed handfuls of mud from the field and threw them at each other.
Throwing mud, splashing muddy water, wrestling and fighting, ......In the paddy field, someone fell, and the person next to him quickly stepped forward to relay, lifted the "five grain gods" and continued to run wildly. Some of them were covered in mud, some of them became mud figures, but despite this, they were elated and frolicking.
It is rumored that when the simple Hakka people moved south, they also brought the "five grain gods" to the south, built temples to worship forever, and held a temple fair every year to show the merits of the "five grain gods". One year at the temple fair, due to heavy rain, the road in the fields was small and slippery. The person carrying the "God of Grains" parade accidentally slipped and fell in the paddy field on the side of the road, causing dissatisfaction among others. Some people even took advantage of the topic to play, picked up the mud in the field and threw it at those who carried the "five grain gods", which led to a muddy water battle.
Strange to say, this year in other places floods and droughts, pests and pests are rampant, and there is no harvest, but this area has good weather and abundant grains. Since then, everyone believes that the "God of Grains" has cultivated the five grains, and the growth of the five grains is inseparable from muddy water, so the "God of Grains" accidentally fell into the muddy water field during the Spring Festival temple fair, not only is it not disrespectful to the gods, but let the "God of Grains" enjoy the joy of playing with the villagers in the rice fields. The joy of the "god of grains" blessed the local harvest.