Who has been to Wuzhen, Jiangsu? So what?

The custom of twelve solar terms in Wuzhen

First of all, New Year greetings.

The first day of the first lunar month is the Spring Festival, formerly known as "Chinese New Year", which is the most solemn traditional festival. The day before was called New Year's Eve, commonly known as "New Year's Eve", and the whole family got together to eat "New Year's Eve". The bride presented shoes to her well-dressed elders and named them "Ci". The elders gave the bride and children lucky money and named it "Lucky Money". That night, there were activities, such as Bailly and meeting with Kitchen God. From the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, people open doors to set off firecrackers and burn incense to worship the gods, which is called "receiving heaven". Then they worship their ancestors, the Hall of Advanced Learning, relatives and friends, and celebrate the New Year, which is collectively called "New Year". Modern times have been gradually simplified, and they no longer bow down. On the first day, I didn't have any guests, so I went out to "be happy with God". The next day, relatives and friends exchanged visits until the Lantern Festival.

Second, Yuanxiao takes the bridge

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival, commonly known as "the fifth day of the first month". Wuzhen people have the custom of walking the bridge. They travel in groups at night, crossing at least ten bridges on the way.

Repeat, this custom originated from a popular activity in the old society with women as the main body to avoid disasters and solve problems. At that time, it was called "Walking Ten Bridges" or "Eliminating All Diseases". After wearing it, women walked in groups with a crock for decocting medicine. When crossing the bridge, they threw the crock into the river, thinking that this would ensure that there would be no diseases and disasters in the new year. In modern times, the act of throwing medicine cans disappeared and evolved into a simple holiday amusement and blessing activity.

Third, the Qingming outing

Qingming is one of the twenty-four solar terms, which merged with the Cold Food Festival after the Tang Dynasty. Sacrificing ancestors to sweep graves and enjoying the moon in spring are everywhere. Many of Wuzhen are related to sericulture.

The night before, Tomb-Sweeping Day made a green ball, wrapped zongzi to offer sacrifices to the "white tiger", drew a bow and arrow in front of the door with lime to pray for raising silkworms and boiling snails, and picked snails with a needle, which is a custom called "picking green". In Tomb-Sweeping Day, sericulture farmers from four towns went to Putin Temple to burn incense and pray, which was called "Shixiang". At that time, vendors gathered, tourists were like ants, stalls and performing venues lined up in the open space, and white boats and boxing boats in the river port competed for more than half a month, which became the carnival of sericulture farmers in the water town.

Fourth, Chang Xia said people.

Long summer is also one of the 24 solar terms, which means tasting broad beans, salted eggs, plums and cherries every day. Farmers put malt, "grass head" and.

The powdered "Long Summer Cake" is given to relatives and friends. Children were invited to carry bamboo tubes, pick broad beans, melt bacon, collect wild firewood, gather 100 meters, and cook "wild fire rice" in the outdoor stove. It is said that eating it will not bring summer. Chang Xia said that people in Jiangnan are the most prosperous. It is said that during the Three Kingdoms period, Liu Bei's son Adou was taken to Jiangdong in summer. Mrs. Sun weighed herself face to face and carefully lifted her up. Later, Chang Xia weighed it every year and wrote a letter to Zhuge Liang to show his dedication, which spread to the people and became a custom.

Five, eat zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival

The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the Dragon Boat Festival, also known as the Mid-Yuan Festival. Every family makes zongzi, and friends and relatives give gifts to each other. According to legend, this custom originated from the commemoration of Qu Yuan, and the ancients regarded "heavy five" as an "evil day" with "poisonous gas and ghosts". So, hung a picture of Zhong Kui, pasted the symbol of Shi Tian, hung mugwort leaves, calamus, peach branches and garlic in front of the door to ward off evil spirits, ate yellow croaker and drank realgar wine, and even snakes and insects fought poison with poison. Children wear tiger-shaped clothes, and women cut chestnuts to store realgar to show their strength. At noon, Cang Shu, Radix Angelicae Dahuricae, Carapax Trionycis and Olibanum are used to "smoke mosquitoes", realgar wine is sprayed in the corner, and quicklime water is sprinkled to repel insects, all of which have the nature of weeding.

Sixth, Long Caiyu.

The 25th day of the fifth lunar month is the "dragon equinox", also known as "dragon equinox". Legend has it that the dragon kings in Sri Lanka went to their respective jurisdictions to pray for rain on this day, hence the name Pink Dragon. It was a routine fire drill held by the Fire Hose Association, a Japanese public welfare fire organization. At that time, the hoses in each square will be assembled in teams, with all the fire-fighting equipment, on the open river in the town. Some put all kinds of pigments in hoses and barrels in advance. At the command, gongs and drums were loud, and all the hoses were sprayed into the air at the same time, showing colorful colors.

Seven, plow drying insects

On the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, in the hot summer, there is a saying in Wuzhen that "on June 6th, duck eggs are cooked in the sun". This is a good time to expose insects and molds. Song Dynasty once designated it as "Sunlight", but the reason was the dream talk elaborately made by Emperor Zhao Huan. Later generations felt bored, so they moved the traditional "book drying day" to the seventh day of July, where scholars dried books, monks and nuns in temples dried scrolls, and ordinary people dried clothes. It is said that there is a custom of leading cats and dogs in the river every day, which can avoid lice and moths.

Eight, Central Plains River Lantern

The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is the Mid-Autumn Festival, commonly known as "July and a half". On that day, the Taoist temple held a ceremony of fasting and praying for blessings, and the Buddhist temple held a "Bonsai Festival", in which the two religions offered sacrifices to their ancestors, so it was also called "Ghost Festival". After the Southern Song Dynasty, the custom of entering the river lanterns in the Mid-Autumn Festival prevailed. Make all kinds of flower-shaped lanterns with paper paste, light candles inside, support wooden boards, or paste them into boat shapes with all kinds of colored paper, and light a little rush oil inside. At night, put them on the water's edge or take a boat in the river, and the candlelight shines and goes with the flow, which is a spectacle. Because of this, Buddhists are "loving navigation" and Taoists call it "loving crossing".

Nine, Mid-Autumn Festival to enjoy the moon

August 15th of the lunar calendar is the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, which is half of Sanqiu, and the moon is the roundest and brightest. The ancients regarded the full moon as a symbol of family reunion, so it was also called "Reunion Festival". In the evening, families get together for a big meal, and relatives and friends give each other holiday gifts. During this time, moon cakes are indispensable. When the moon rises, set up a case in the yard to enjoy the moon. In addition to moon cakes, there are seasonal fruits and vegetables, such as melons, taro, lotus roots and edamame. Most of them still offer incense on the desk, stick cardboard with thread incense, insert various colorful flags, paste the story of last month's palace, make wonderful things, and burn them outdoors to pray for a bumper harvest.

Ten, the ninth climb

The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the Double Ninth Festival, also known as the Double Ninth Festival or the Mountaineering Festival and the Chrysanthemum Festival. The custom of climbing and inserting dogwood on Double Ninth Festival has a long history. The legend originated from the story of "taking refuge in the scenery". During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Runan people listened to the teacher's instruction. On the ninth day, the whole family went climbing with dogwood, which saved them a lot of trouble. Later generations followed suit and became a custom. By the Tang Dynasty, it had evolved into a traditional entertainment project, and its function seemed to be to resist early colds, keep fit and prevent diseases. Wuzhen has no mountains to climb in recent weeks, so it has been replaced by climbing the tower. This is a day with "Double Ninth Cake", which is made of red beans and glutinous rice with a small flag inserted on it, meaning eating cakes instead of climbing, and inserting flags instead of dogwood.

Xi。 Worship ancestors on the winter solstice

The solstice in winter is also one of the 24 solar terms, and it is also a big festival in traditional customs, also known as "Winter Festival" or "Asian New Year". Before the festival, everyone grinds "Winter Festival jiaozi", prepares wine and cooks, and sets up ancestor worship, which is quite grand. People say that "the solstice in winter is as big as a year", and there are also grave-sweepers. Starting from the winter solstice, it is divided into nine "9s".

Twelve, small more in the twelfth lunar month

December of the lunar calendar is commonly known as "twelfth lunar month". There used to be a custom of "holding a small watch". In the twelfth lunar month, every street and square has a special person to beat gongs and drums and patrol along the street every evening. Sometimes they shout, "Be careful with the candles in the twelfth lunar month, close the front door, and the back door is heavy. Look after the woodshed and beware of thieves." Cadence, like a song, until New Year's Eve. Winter is cold, the climate is dry, and people use more fire. The wooden houses in the town are continuous. Once a fire breaks out, it will be serious, especially we must always be vigilant. At that time, there were no fewer than ten people in the town who supported Xiao Biao. Every evening, gongs, banging and voices come and go, which helps to remind people to pay attention to safety.

Supplementary content:

Wuzhen is actually the Dongzha scenic spot that has been opened; At the end of last year, Tashi was renovated and opened to the public.

You have to take a ferry to get into Tashi. It is the most accurate to describe Tashi with "harmony". Tashi consists of 12 small islands connected by more than 70 small bridges. The density of rivers and the number of stone bridges rank first in China. For example, Tongji Bridge and Renji Bridge are adjacent at right angles. No matter which bridge you stand by, you can see another bridge at the mouth of the bridge, so it is called "bridge among bridges". "Li Qiao Bridge" is the most beautiful ancient bridge scenery in Wuzhen, and it can be called a unique bridge scenery.

Tashi has many "old foundations"-several kilometers of old streets, Qingshi Road, and half of the houses are on the water. There are several handmade things to look at: first, the handmade sauce workshop, where the pot-stewed vegetables in the town taste good, largely because of the soy sauce produced and sold by ourselves. The price is not cheap, a bottle of ordinary soy sauce 25 yuan; The second type is a raw iron pan, which is cast by hand. 99 yuan's iron pots are said to be the most popular; Third, silk. Yidasi was founded in the early years of Guangxu. You can operate it yourself on the old silk reeling machine.

When night falls, drinking a little wine, watching singing on the balcony on the other side, or putting a few lotus lanterns by the water will be fascinating. Photography lovers should never forget to bring a tripod.

There are still some folk activities here. At that time, after the women were dressed up, each of them took a crock for boiling medicine and walked in teams. When crossing the bridge, they threw the crock into the river, thinking that it would bless the New Year without disease or disaster. In modern times, the act of throwing medicine cans has disappeared, and carrying lanterns across the bridge has become a holiday amusement and blessing activity.

Tashi's hotels and homestays are also very special. Shells are Ming and Qing dynasties, with air conditioning, direct drinking water, natural gas, broadband network, satellite TV and so on. Tourists shuttle between ancient and modern times and enjoy another kind of "harmony". Tashi Ancient Street also "hides" the most modern places of entertainment and rest, such as senior business hall, SPA health center and bar.