Lantern Festival on the tenth day of the first lunar month

 

Lantern Festival on the tenth day of the first lunar month

On the tenth day of the first lunar month, some areas in the south have the custom of turning on lights and setting up banquets with lights on. On this day, the boy's father must buy an octagonal paper lantern and hang it in the center of the ancestral hall or temple, in order to let the ancestors know his descendants and bless them, or to ask the gods to protect them. The customs of the Lantern Festival include turning on lanterns, throwing lanterns, drinking lantern wine and a series of customary activities.

The eleventh day of the first lunar month is the son-in-law day. There is a saying in folk songs about "Inviting your son-in-law to the eleventh day", that is, the eleventh day of the first lunar month is the "son-in-law day", and father-in-laws invite their sons-in-law to a banquet on this day. According to legend, this is because the food to celebrate "Tian Gongsheng" on the ninth day of the lunar month will not be finished until the tenth day of the lunar month. Therefore, it is used to treat the son-in-law to a meal on the 11th day of the lunar month, so that the mother's family does not have to spend any more money.

On the twelfth day of the first lunar month, people begin to set up lamp sheds, make Jiaos, make fast food, and mark cannons. The etiquette of "making Zhaitou" is complicated. In the morning, you have to invite the god to go home from the temple, sit in the lobby, and offer candies and incense. The opportunity to "make Zhaitou" is rare and is a matter of honor, because people generally believe that "making Zhaitou" "You can get God's love, which will bring good luck. You will get rich in the coming year and all your wishes will come true, so it is done grandly; "Zhaitou" usually includes Zhaitou wine.

From now on, people begin to prepare to celebrate the Lantern Festival, buy lanterns and build lantern sheds. There is a nursery rhyme that goes: "Eleven is shouting and chattering, twelve is setting up the lamp shed, thirteen is turning on the lamp, fourteen is lighting up, fifteen is half a month, sixteen is lighting up."

On the 13th and 14th of the first lunar month, there are lion dances, floating colors, wandering gods, and temple fairs. There is also a legend that the 13th day of the first lunar month is the "Lamp Holder's Birthday". On this day, people will light lamps under the kitchen stove, which is called "lighting the stove lamp". In the old days, the lights started to be turned on on the 13th day of the first lunar month and turned off on the 18th day of the first lunar month.

On the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, try lanterns, visit the gods, have temple fairs, and send grubs. Chinese folk activities on this day include drinking bright soup, trying on lanterns, eating glutinous rice soup, paying homage to the Water Lady, etc. On the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, there is a traditional folk activity of "sending grubs" in Pengxi County, Sichuan. Participants can not only eat the authentic farmhouse "Baba Banquet", but also climb mountains with bamboo lanterns, set off fireworks and "send grubs" ”, greeting the Chinese New Year with good luck and good wishes.

During this period, it is a custom in Henan that every family pays tribute to stones and burns incense. On this day, all stone tools such as grinding and milling are not allowed to be moved, and even stones are set up as sacrifices for fear of damaging the crops. Also known as "Shi Fu Fu" and "Ten Fu Fu". In places such as Yuncheng, Shandong, there is an act of carrying stone gods. On the night of the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, people freeze an earthen jar on a large smooth stone, and ten young men or ten girls take turns carrying the earthen jar away. If the stone does not fall to the ground, it indicates a good harvest that year. Because this is the birthday of the stone, all stone products are not available for use.

It is also a special day during this period to congratulate a mouse on his daughter's marriage. Old folk belief: Rat sacrificial activities are held in the first month, also known as "rat marriage" and "rat marriage". The specific date varies from place to place, some are on the seventh day of the first lunar month, some are on the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month, and in many areas it is the tenth day of the first lunar month.

On the tenth day of the lunar month in Pingyao County, Shanxi Province, noodle cakes are placed on the wall, which is called "Congratulations to the Mouse on Marrying a Girl." In Ningyuan, Hunan, the 17th day is regarded as the "mouse marries a girl". On this day, it is forbidden to open boxes and cabinets for fear of disturbing the mice.

In some areas, people go to bed very early on the day when a rat marries his wife, in order not to disturb the rat. As the folk saying goes: "If you disturb the rat for one day, the rat will disturb you for a year."