What are the folk customs in Liling?

Liling is an immigrant area. Immigrants from different regions have different customs and habits, and the etiquette for red and white weddings is also different, but most towns follow Confucian customs. The person who presided over the funeral ceremony was Di Sheng. The sign was a red letter posted in the middle of the door with the words "It's a big event" written on it. If it is a wedding, construction or other happy event, it will be written as "Xing Wen Gong etiquette". This Wen Gong refers to the Zhou rites, which is the root of Confucianism. In the funeral ceremony of Confucian theory, death is as important as life. The dinner party on the first day of burial is the climax of the whole ceremony, which is called "eating rotten meat". The deceased ancestor will be carried out of the house the next morning, so all relatives will be gathered for dinner the day before to have the last reunion dinner together on the table in front of the mourning hall. This banquet will be meticulous, but there are only nine bowls, which is called the "neighboring coffin banquet", so nine bowls cannot appear at the wedding scene.

Liling people like to make wine. When a child is born, a family member celebrates a birthday, wine is made when an old man dies; when a child marries a wife, when a daughter gets married, wine is made; when a mansion is completed, when a child goes to school, wine is made; even when a valuable item is purchased, wine is made to celebrate it. Marriage and house building are called red wedding events, and guests wrap the gifts in red paper; funerals are called white wedding events, and the gifts are wrapped in white paper. When making wine, of course you need to prepare a banquet with drinks to entertain guests. There are many rules for this banquet, and the whole process is very particular. It is even necessary to hire a storekeeper to take charge of the arrangements to avoid being rude and causing dissatisfaction among relatives and friends.

At the banquet, the seats of the guests are strictly arranged. According to the degree of intimacy with the host, the guests are roughly divided into three levels. The first-class guests are distinguished guests, usually distinguished relatives and close friends. The host needs to write a red invitation and have someone come to invite them, which is called a treat. The second-class guests are also treated as guests, but they do not use invitation cards, but verbal invitations. Most of them are ordinary friends, who are used to accompany the guests and accompany the distinguished guests on behalf of the host. The third class is those who know how to cook and hold banquets and take the initiative to participate. They are mainly neighbors and are called local guests. Treat guests are invited to arrive early, and rush to the host's house to stay before the official time for making wine. However, local guests can calmly drop what they are doing and rush over even if they wait until the banquet is about to begin and the firecrackers go off to urge them to eat. seat.

The Liling banquet has a fixed number of dishes, no more, no less. Usually there are ten bowls, but now there is some development and it becomes four pots and six bowls or four pots and eight bowls. But it must not be three bowls, six bowls and nine bowls.

According to legend, the beggar gang has this rule: when you go to other people’s homes to beg, you usually don’t eat at the table, you just stand at the door, waiting for others to give alms. If you happen to meet a wealthy family having a happy event, the host will naturally be more generous than usual, but if you meet someone who has a flowing banquet, they can sit together. In fact, beggars are at most a means of making a living or a profession. When encountering this situation, they will often take the initiative to set off a short firecracker to express their congratulations or condolences. Of course, he also begged for these firecrackers. As usual, the host should light firecrackers according to etiquette and treat guests as guests. Especially in funeral etiquette, filial sons are required to come forward and kowtow to express gratitude as usual. When the banquet begins, seats must be arranged. However, even in this situation, after three bowls of food are served, they will get up and leave the table. This kind of banquet specially used to entertain beggars not only does not require a formal banquet, but also does not need to comply with the rule of ten bowls. Only three or six bowls are enough. In the local area, a banquet with only six bowls of food is called a "beggar's banquet". Therefore, people who know this custom will consider it disrespectful to treat guests to a meal with three or six bowls.

The Baitutan, Nanqiao and Fuli areas of Liling Dongxiang are located at the junction of eastern Hunan and western Jiangxi. They have been an important production area of ??fireworks and firecrackers since ancient times, and the local economy is relatively developed. The Luoxiao Mountains that straddle the border between the two provinces left a gap here, which is the hub of east-west transportation and the only channel for the spread of various religions. In addition, the surrounding mountains are stacked with mountains and the scenery is beautiful, so various temples are lined up one after another. The custom of setting up temples gradually matured and formed some agreed procedures, which are still spread in this land.

There is a folk song in Liling called "Song of the Ghostly Lovers". Liling's fried noodles and stir-fried pork are more popular. Firecrackers are set off during the New Year and holidays.

The more popular and respected folk customs in Liling mainly include: pioneering and enterprising, advocating profits and commerce, leaving home and leaving the country, starting a business through hard work, getting rich through hard work, advocating science, respecting discipline and law, acting bravely when it comes to justice, respecting the elderly and loving the young. , respecting knowledge, helping the poor, donating money for education, being polite to others, being dedicated and loving the job, etc. Traditional folk customs have been inherited and preserved to a certain extent. At the same time, some new fashions have also been formed, which are mainly reflected in aspects such as production, life, age, etiquette, and communication.