Wenzhou Folk Customs

Spring Festival

Closing firecrackers

Opening firecrackers: On New Year’s Eve, the last thing people in Wenzhou do when they close their doors is to set off firecrackers outside the door, which is called It is a cannon that closes the door to indicate peace in the new year. In the early morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, the first thing people in Wenzhou do after opening the door is to set off firecrackers outside the door, which is called opening the door, in order to bring good luck to the new year. When the cannon is opened and the cannon is closed, three double-shot firecrackers (commonly known as two kicks) are usually fired, but four firecrackers are usually prepared, commonly known as "bringing four and releasing three", leaving one as a reserve.

Eating rice cakes: Breakfast on the first day of the first lunar month, which is the first meal of the New Year, is usually prepared on New Year's Eve. The dishes must be served in tall bowls, with the word "high" meaning "一 There are also people who eat rice cakes, as "cake" and "gao" are homophonic, which means "every year you get better, you get better".

New Year greetings: Younger people get up early to pay New Year greetings to their parents and other elders, and then go out with gifts such as dates, longans, and lychees to pay New Year greetings. When peers pay New Year greetings, they hold hands with each other and send greetings such as "Happy New Year" and "Congratulations on getting rich" to each other. The New Year greeting activities continued until the first half of the first lunar month. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, on the morning of the first day of the first lunar month every year, the party and government leadership invited people from all walks of life to hold group greetings to reduce the tediousness of the New Year greetings.

New Year’s wine: During the Spring Festival, families serve “New Year’s wine” to entertain relatives and friends. There are no certain specifications for New Year's wine, and the time is usually between the first and fifth day of the lunar month. Ruian used to serve wine on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year to worship ancestors.

Opening the pen: On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the scholar cuts a piece of red paper and writes a poem congratulating the New Year on it, or writes the words "Open the pen in the New Year, good luck and good fortune", which is called "opening the pen".

Opening of the market: Most stores are not open during the Spring Festival. Food and daily necessities needed by residents are purchased before the festival. After the third and fourth days of the Lunar New Year, various stores opened one after another. When the market opens, red banners are hung and firecrackers are set off. In recent decades, many shops have remained open on New Year's Day for the convenience of residents, or have taken turns opening their doors to accommodate the market.

Sending Yuanbao: There are people who "send Yuanbao" in rural areas. During the Spring Festival, two people partner up, holding strings of copper coins and evergreen branches, and recite the song "Sending Yuanbao" door to door. One person reads the blessing words, and the other person should say "good". For example, "Ingots enter the Taoist altar - good!" "Gold and silver fill the room - good!" There is a proverb in Wenzhou that "giving ingots on the first day of the first lunar month means they are all good", which refers to this custom.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, firewood is burned in every courtyard, which is called "Liaohuo Pan". Children have fun jumping on fires and setting off fireworks. Devoted men and women went to Taiping Temple in the suburbs to pray for the health of their families.

Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival is also called the Lantern Festival and the Lantern Festival. From the fifth to the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, dragon lantern dance activities are carried out in urban and rural areas. From the 14th to the 16th is the "main lantern" day, which is the climax of dragon lantern dance activities. Common dragon lanterns include cloth dragon, gauze dragon, stool dragon and jewelry dragon. The dragon lantern team walked through the streets and alleys to dance and "participate in the dragon" in the courtyards of wealthy families.

During the "Dragon Festival", the lantern master sings dragon lantern songs amidst the sound of drums to pray for the owner of the property. Dragon lantern songs have a certain formula. The lantern master improvises lyrics according to the name and identity of the household head. There are also various recreational activities such as adjusting horse lanterns, dancing fish lanterns, imitating lions, walking on stilts, and dressing up as willows.

Dongtou fishermen also put out "Kongming lanterns" on this day. The lanterns are made of oily paper and the paper is dipped in oil. After it is lit, the gas expands and the red lantern rises slowly and floats into the sea and sky. The scene is spectacular.

Spring Prayers Block the Streets

Every year in Wenzhou City, prayer activities start from Kanglefang on the first day of the second lunar month and end at Wuma Street on March 15th. Prayer activities are held in the main streets in sequence, which is called " "Blocking the Street" is a local traditional festival.

On the day when the street blessing is held, a red building is set up in the thoroughfare, with flower gates, curtains, and lanterns hanging. The atmosphere was lively. Operas, ballads, puppets, dragon rolling, stilt walking, and lantern riddle guessing are also performed on the streets. At the same time, every family sets up altars and bonsais. Flower festivals are called "flower festivals" and shops attract customers with reduced prices, attracting tourists from all over the world. At night, the lights are brilliant and the orchestra is playing, and the city gates are wide open, allowing people to come in and out, and activities last until midnight. The next day, another street blessing event was held elsewhere.

Among the "street blessings", the longevity peaches in front of Xiguo Sangang Hall are the most exquisite. The metric longevity peaches are as high as the eaves and span the street. There are hundreds of 3-meter sculptures of "Journey to the West", "Water Margin" and "Three Kingdoms" on top. In addition, there is a Pu Qingzhou Pearl Store, which looks like a pavilion and is made of hundreds of thousands of colored beads. The store is woven Opera characters, dragons and phoenixes and various patterns are colorful and dazzling.

In 1952, during the Wenzhou Urban and Rural Materials Exchange Meeting, similar cultural and entertainment activities were held, which were known as "street blessings".

Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival is also called the Duanyang Festival and Wenzhou calls it the "Chongwu Festival".

Wrapping rice dumplings: Every family wraps rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival. Types include meat brown rice dumplings, bean paste brown rice dumplings, white sugar lotus seed ham brown rice dumplings, Huaibai rice dumplings and broad bean rice dumplings. Rural people cook rice dumplings with juice from the ashes of early rice stalks. The rice dumplings are fragrant and long-lasting, and are called "grey soup rice dumplings." One or two days before the Dragon Boat Festival, married daughters will send rice dumplings to their parents' families. The natal family gave back paper fans, sachets and other items. Nowadays, there is a custom of giving gifts during the Dragon Boat Festival in rural areas. Usually, the nephew brings something to eat to his uncle's house. It is no longer limited to rice dumplings. For example, in rural areas along the coast, centipedes, jumping fish, hairy cockles, etc. are sent.

Dragon boat racing: In the eastern plain of Wenzhou, the rivers are intertwined, and almost every village has a dragon boat. In a poem by Ye Shi of the Southern Song Dynasty, "One village, one boat, all over the country, with flags and drums flying everywhere." Dragon boat racing starts on the first day of the fifth lunar month and ends around the tenth day of the lunar month.

During the dragon boat racing, the river is noisy with gongs and drums, and several or dozens of dragon boats display their flags to compete first. The spectators on the shore cheered and cheered, and the scene was spectacular.

Before liberation, there were frequent fights between two boats and bridges collapsing into the water due to crowds of spectators. In the 23rd year of the Republic of China (1934) and on the eve of the founding of the People's Republic of China, a fight broke out between dragon boats in Tengqiao and Wudan in Yongjia, and 41 people drowned. From the south to Minyin, successive governments have banned dragon boating many times, with little effect.

In the late 1970s, dragon boat racing revived in Wenzhou. The people's government shall provide guidance and eliminate superstition. Safety measures have been strengthened and it has become a folk healthy sports activity.

Play Taige: There are two types of Taige: water and land.

The water platform pavilion is a colorful boat, long and wide, with a balcony on top and colorful flags placed around it. On the platform, there are men and women dressed as opera characters, which are vivid. There are swings in the front and rear of the boat, and there are young children decorated with dragons. Swinging up and down. Young men and women at the stern of the boat pretended to be men and women. Tai Pavilion was walking slowly in the sound of music. When I saw red silk hanging on the shore, I advanced and retreated three times to collect the red silk. Several temples in the urban area are equipped with pavilions, among which Fangren Temple on Chanjie Street is the most famous.

Lutai Pavilion uses a wooden platform as a platform, and also sits on a group of opera characters, which are carried on the shoulders of many people (later changed to a platform on a cart) for parade. This event is held during the Lantern Festival or on the street.

To ward off evil spirits and drive away epidemics: During the Dragon Boat Festival, a statue of Zhong Kui is hung in the hall of a wealthy family; calamus and mugwort are placed on the door; children's arms are tied with five-color silk threads, which are called "long-life threads."

Chinese Valentine's Day

On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, there is a begging book, and each family uses rice flour to make tongue-shaped sugar cakes, which are called "Qiao Shi". On the evening of Chinese Valentine's Day, Qiao Shi takes the "longevity thread" worn by children during the Dragon Boat Festival and throws it on the roof tiles, allowing magpies to pick it up and build a bridge to help Vega cross the Milky Way.

Mid-Autumn Festival

Moon appreciation: relatives and friends send moon cakes to each other. The round shape of mooncakes symbolizes the reunion of the moon in the ancients. In addition to Soviet-style and factory-style mooncakes, Wenzhou mooncakes also include hollow mooncakes and large mooncakes with a diameter of more than a foot. On this day, relatives in other places go home as much as possible to reunite and celebrate. Banquets often include taro, dried vermicelli, cockroaches, new duck and other dishes. At night, each family prepares moon cakes, melons and fruits, and enjoys the moon in the atrium until late at night. There is a small stone bridge at the foot of Jigu Mountain in the urban area, spanning the Mingwangdai Bridge on the Yudai River. In the middle of the night, the bright sun is projected on the river. The small bridge is divided into east and west parts, like the moon supporting the bridge, so it is also called "Yuedan Bridge". It's night, and there are often groups of three or five going to watch it.

Small furnishings: Three or four days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, wealthy families in Yongjia, Ruian or well-off families set up several square tables in the central hall, surrounded by brocade and "small furnishings". The small furnishings simulate the Wenchang Emperor's Temple, including statues of gods, desks, chariots and horses, weapons and deacons, etc. Exquisitely made and of great ornamental value.

During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, two small furnishings in Xinfuxing and Chenqixing Town Stores in Yongjia City were particularly distinctive. Xinfuxing displayed large tinware, ranging from half an inch to five inches. There are ten tables, a row of shining lights. Chen Qixing is even more ingenious. The first one is to install a silver door wall and a colorful building with a revolving revolving lantern inside. He also sets up a goldfish tank with red water, with golden scales and butterflies in the tank. play. Door lanterns, high lamps, red candles burning high. On both sides of the railings, colorful flags were fluttering and weapons stood tall. The eight square tables and round tables in the middle are furnished with dongs, silverware, and jade ornaments; there are ballet classes and singing classes, and the young performers are all made of copper, and they hold silver strings and percussion instruments, which are extremely sophisticated. Especially in the Peking Opera class, all the silver opera characters are lifelike in both spirit and form. These small furnishings were on display for more than ten days, and there was an endless stream of visitors.

Double Ninth Festival

Double Ninth Festival, the ninth day of September, is a climbing festival. Men and women climb to the top of the mountain to enjoy the autumn colors. Each family also makes climbing cakes as gifts for their children. Deng Gao means "denggao", also known as "Double Ninth Cake", which means rising step by step. The cake is made of rice and consists of circular cakes of different sizes in the shape of a tower, with rice sculptures of opera characters and gold flags and silver flowers inserted on it. It is popular among children. Love it.

New Year's Eve

From the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, people have been preparing for the New Year; from late to New Year's Eve, there are various folk activities: pounding rice cakes. Since December half, people have begun to pound rice cakes, which contain sugar and are called "sugar cakes". They are also called "crystal cakes" and are made from Liangcan rice in the past. Sugar cakes are made into various shapes with No. 1 prize printed on them. There are also ingot-shaped, large-sized pond cakes made of ingots, weighing several kilograms, and decorated with silver flowers in the middle hall. Some people make rice cakes, bucket cakes, and rice cakes.

Buying New Year's goods: Every twelfth lunar month, every household is busy buying all kinds of food, clothes, and utensils. During the New Year's Eve, the poor people even pawn their clothes to buy food for the New Year. It is beneficial to the residents.

Giving gifts to the Kitchen God: On the night of the 23rd and 4th day of the twelfth lunar month, each family sends the Kitchen God to heaven. This night is also called "Little New Year's Eve". When sending the Kitchen God, fruits, cakes and maltose are placed on the stove to invite the Kitchen God. "God says good things, and they will be safe when they fall to the ground." Maltose is a must-have offering. It is said that the Kitchen God's mouth is glued and he will not speak ill of others. After the festival, candy is distributed to children, and this custom has been abolished.

Dividing villages? Keeping the New Year's Eve? New Year's Eve: At the end of the lunar calendar, commonly known as the "Thirty Days", those who have traveled far away will return to their hometowns to reunite with their families. In the evening, they worship their ancestors and serve New Year's Eve wine, which is the New Year's Eve dinner. The main dishes include taro and fish. (both have the meaning of "more than enough"), rice cakes; ten cold basins are served in red tall bowls, which means "everything is complete". Red candles and oil lamps are lit everywhere in the residents' houses at night, which are called "year-old lamps". Parents give them The younger generation divides the money (also called money for evil) and puts it under the pillow to receive blessings and avoid evil. In the evening, the whole family sits around in front of the lamp, laughing and playing to "keep the New Year up" at noon.

In the late 1970s, when televisions became common in every household, people watched the TV Spring Festival Gala instead.