Folk customs of Yuhang

Category: Culture/Art>> Folk Tradition

Analysis:

Silkworm Rolling Flowers

The "Silkworm Rolling Flowers" of Qingming Festival are from Yuhang It is a joyful and festive festival in Silkworm Township to pray for the prosperity of the sericulture industry. It is located in Linping and Tangqi areas, centered on Chaoshan, a scenic spot for exploring plum blossoms. On this day, men, women and children wear small flowers made of red paper or silk on their heads, called "silkworm flowers". Women put them on their temples or hair, and men put them in the brim of their hats. They walk in groups, or Rowing boats, one after another rushed to Chaoshan to "roll silkworm flowers". There is a local saying that "when you step on the mountainous terrain, you will bring silkworm flowers back to your door". On this day, businessmen, entertainers, food sellers, people who burn incense and worship Buddha gather in Chaoshan. There are people on the mountain and down the mountain. At the foot of the mountain, big and small boats collide with each other in Dingshan Lake. Incense is lingering in the temples and temples, and the bells ring. , men and women playing and jostling together without any scruples. When a girl's buttons are pulled off, her clothes are messy, her hair is disheveled, and her silkworm flowers are picked, her parents not only don't blame her, but are very happy, saying that there are a lot of silkworm cocoons this year.

Dragon Boat Racing

Dragon Boat Racing is an important folk event in our Dicangqian and Xianlin areas. It originated from the legend that the old dragon in Jinhua was beheaded when it rained and saved souls in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties more than 300 years ago. In order to thank this old dragon for saving lives, people formed the custom of sacrificing dragon heads and racing dragon boats. Every Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month (dragon boat rowing on the Yuhangtang River in front of Cangqian is called the Big Dragon Boat Festival) and May 13th (dragon boat rowing at the Xianlin Hehu Bridge is called the Small Dragon Boat Festival), dragon boats from every village in the area gather together. , held a dragon boat race. At that time, hundreds of dragons will race across the river, with tens of thousands of people on both sides watching, with flags flying and gongs and drums noisy. It can be called a major event in the water town. After the dragon boat race, a "Thanks to the Dragon King" ceremony will be held to remove the dragon head and place it on the table of the Eight Immortals. After worshiping the dragon head, it will be stored for next year.

Eating salty tea

Eating salty tea is a unique way of drinking tea, which is very interesting and has been popular in Tangqi, Dongtang and Zhangshan areas for a long time. Salty tea is made by brewing a small amount of tea leaves with a variety of condiments (mostly orange peels, roasted green beans, and wild sesame seeds) and drinking it. It smells fragrant and tastes delicious and salty. According to local customs, eating salty tea not only remains in folk rituals such as weddings and births, but also in the silkworm towns around Tangqi, it is also popular to open silkworm gates to eat salty tea. At the same time, eating salty tea is also a folk activity for local people (especially women) to make friends and relax in their daily life, which is called "tea party". It is usually organized and made by village housewives or girls. In the village, we usually go to neighbors' houses to have tea with each other three or five times a year. Make an appointment in advance and wait until the guests are seated before boiling water, brewing and serving tea. Everyone savored the flavor of tea, drank tea while doing household chores, chatting and laughing happily, and some even sang folk songs and hummed ditties. It was a lively affair for about two or three hours at a time. After many times of brewing, the salty taste of the salty tea gradually faded away. The village woman used the hairpin on her head to pick up the roasted green beans one by one and put them into her mouth. After finishing the condiments of the salty tea in the cup, everyone got up. , the "tea party" ended.

Water Dragon Festival

The 20th day of the fifth lunar month is a festival for fire dragon drills and competitions in Yuhang Town. It is called the "Water Dragon Festival", also known as the "Dragon Division Day". At dawn that day, incense and candles were burned in the water dragon houses of each neighborhood in Yuhang Town to perform dragon sacrifice ceremonies. The volunteer firefighters all wore bronze helmets or teng helmets, white shirts and black trousers, barefoot straw sandals, and a blue belly tied around their waists. With an oil lamp held high in the front, a water dragon draped in red and colorful colors in the middle, and dozens of buckets and poles behind, shouting slogans and ringing bells, they ran towards the lake and pond southwest of Saidi City. More than a dozen dragons are lined up on the embankment, pumping water from the South Lake and spraying it into the sky to see who has the highest water head, the longest range, and who can last long to determine the winner. The winner wears a red dragon and wears flowers to parade around the streets for a week. Crowds of onlookers lined both sides of the embankment. Various industries in the town paid for steamed white steamed buns and large pieces of braised pork (commonly known as "broken pig heads") to be delivered to the embankment to express their condolences to the contestants. A dinner was also held in the evening to celebrate.