After the Lantern Festival, the heavens are coming. When workers from all over the country at the beginning of the first month.
7. When they returned to work on the eighth day of the new year, the people of Fujian Minnan were still immersed in the preparations for the lively Tiangong Festival (also known as Tiangongsheng).
Heavenly Father"Originated from the ancients' concept of reverence for heaven and earth, think"days"It is the supreme ruler and has an important impact on the smooth wind and rain, the peace and security of the country and the people.
Therefore, the ancients would have held a grand event on this day"Sacrifice to the heavens", to express admiration and awe for heaven and earth, and pray for the protection of heaven. This traditional festival has a long history and carries people's reverence for nature and the universe.
The Jade Emperor, the supreme god of the heavenly realm, also known as the Heavenly Gong, the Jade Emperor, and the Jade Emperor, is the result of the concretization of people in order to worship the heavens more accurately.
The ancients believed that "nine" was the largest number of solstice yang among many numbers, which matched "heaven is yang", so the first day of the first month of the first month was regarded as "heavenly day", that is, the birthday of Tiangong.
On the ninth birthday of the Jade Emperor at the first month of the first month, not only the gods in the sky, but also people from all walks of life in the world will return to heaven to celebrate the birthday of the Jade Emperor together.
And our people will also hold a sacrifice to worship God, praying that God can be happy and satisfied, bless the world in the new year, and bless the wind and rain, and the harvest of grains.
This traditional custom of southern Fujian worships Tiangong and is deeply loved by the people in Fujian, Taiwan and other regions, especially the people of southern Fujian, who attach great importance to the day of Tiangongsheng.
There is a joke: "If you let a Hokkien person go to work on the ninth day of the new year, he may not be able to get up; But if he gets up in the middle of the night to pray to God, he will definitely stay up all night and wait! ”
Fujian people have a tradition that on the eighth day of the first lunar month, the whole family will act together to prepare to worship God. On the ninth day of the new year, the scene was even grander, and the scene of gathering together to worship the Heavenly Lord was amazing, and even outsiders would be shocked when they saw it.
There are many exquisiteness in worshipping God, which makes people sigh at the folk culture that has been passed down from generation to generation of the Chinese nation. Before the official worship of the Father on the ninth day of the first lunar month, the hygiene of the home should be cleaned first, and every corner should be carefully wiped to avoid dust accumulation.
The items should also be placed neatly, because it is said that in this way the Jade Emperor will think that the family is hardworking and willing to work, not sloppy people, and will bless the family more in the new year.
While maintaining hygiene at home, don't forget personal hygiene, and take a fast bath as a family to wash off the dust on your body, and then change into clean and tidy clothes to participate in the sacred ceremony of worshipping God.
When cleaning, make sure to dispose of the garbage before the 9th day of the first lunar month, and wash and dry dirty clothes after the 9th day of the lunar month as much as possible.
This is out of respect for the old man's statement that it is forbidden to take out garbage and dry clothes on the ninth day of the first lunar month, in order to show respect for the Jade Emperor.
Preparing the offering table before the Celestial Shrine is a time-consuming and laborious task. In general, we will start to set up an altar under the heavenly furnace in the main hall of the home, or place the offering table directly outside the door of the house, in the inner courtyard where the heaven can be reached.
In the past, the Eight Immortals Table was mostly made of long and short stools layered and spliced, but now it has changed to a high-quality mahogany table as the main material, and the front of the table needs to be equipped with a table circumference printed with auspicious patterns, and it is also necessary to enshrine the throne of the Heavenly Prince, which is made of colored paper, as well as incense burners and candlesticks.
Offerings on the table need to be very delicate, and a few simple fruits and meals are not enough to pay respect. In front of the incense burner, three to five wushou must be placed, which are delicate foods such as the Linglong Pagoda, the Dragon Pagoda or the Ruishi Rui Beast made with red sugar.
Placing red eggs, noodles, shou peach buns, and at least three cups of clear tea, three cups of white wine, or rice wine on the altar, wine is essential because"Nine"Echo it.
We pay our respects by toasting tea to the Heavenly Father.
For the flowers on the table, it is best to scatter the flowers on the plate, which can be colorful, but do not use white flowers. The choice of fruit is also very important, you can put three or five fruits with good meanings, such as oranges, bananas, apples, pineapples and citrus, but it must be accompanied by a pair of sugar cane with leaves and roots, symbolizing the beginning and the end.
During the worship, we will hang a pair of long strings on the sugar cane, symbolizing the sweetness of life and the rise of the new year.
In order to worship the Jade Emperor, we need to prepare the six fasts and the five fruits. Qingsu Liuzhai is usually composed of six kinds of food, including fungus, shiitake mushrooms, peanuts, bean curd, goldenrod, seaweed, and winter noodles.
Whereas, the five fruits are five types of fruits, such as apples, bananas, grapes, oranges, and grapefruits. In addition, we also need to prepare three or five animals, such as roast pig, roast chicken, roast duck, roast pig and crab, as well as candied fruit, red turtle kueh, fat kueh, vegetarian cake and other offerings to the gods around the Jade Emperor.
Offerings are required to be prepared to worship the gods at home, and in some areas there will be large-scale whole-community or urban worship. For example, in Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province, hundreds of offering tables will be placed in front of the Tianbao Jade Palace every year when worshipping the Heavenly Father, and all kinds of offerings will be placed.
Dozens of whole sheep and whole pigs will also be placed on the main offering table as offerings, and citrus fruits will be placed in the mouths of pigs and sheep to symbolize good luck. The scene was very shocking.
On the ninth day of the first month (11 a.m. to 1 o'clock in the morning), it is an auspicious time to worship the gods. The door of the house is open, the cannon is rumbling, the hall is bright with red candles, and the man in charge holds a big incense, incense to celebrate his birthday, and performs three kneels and nine knocks.
Then, the whole family in order of eldest and youngest, in turn, offered incense and saluted. Some people also chant sutras at the same time as worshipping.
Regardless of whether there is a newborn baby in the family, the worship ceremony still involves the mother holding the child in her arms, holding the incense and bowing. If you are unable to go home in time to participate in the worship for some reason, you need to have your relatives pay incense and pay tribute on your behalf, and explain the situation to the Jade Emperor in detail, and ask for his understanding.
After the worship service, don't rush back to your bedroom to rest, and don't forget to perform an important ritual – burning gold paper. In preparation for the worship, every household buys a large amount of gold paper dedicated to the Heavenly Father.
Traditionally, these pieces of paper are usually folded into the shape of large gold ingots or lotus flowers, or they can be folded in a pile and then burned together for the celestial lord as a birthday gift after the worship.
This is to express the devotion and respect of the whole family, and hope that in the new year, God will bless our whole family, give us good luck and wealth, and make our lives smooth and prosperous, and our families happy and healthy.
In order to pray for more good fortune and peace, some families will burn an extra piece of red paper to record the date of birth of the whole family. They hope that Heavenly Father will remember every family member deeply and give more blessings and protection.
It is only when these offerings and the red paper have been burned that the removal of the offering table can begin.
Fujian's birthday celebrations on the ninth day of the first lunar month continue until the early hours of the morning, after which people will continue to set off firecrackers and fireworks to celebrate, even more lively than Chinese New Year's Eve.
In Fujian and Chaoshan in Guangdong, the inheritance of traditional Chinese folk customs is very significant, which also makes the New Year festival here lively and festive, full of New Year's flavor.
For example, after the ninth day of the lunar month, they celebrate the first lunar month.
Ten. Four, ten.
Fifth, the annual sealing and other festivals, carry out activities such as carrying gods, jumping over the fire, and burning fire dragons. These activities may be regarded as feudal superstitions, but in fact, they embody the spiritual beliefs and expectations of the Chinese people for a better life.
These traditions and practices should not be forgotten, but should be respected and passed on. Let's share the Spring Festival customs of our hometown!