Fuzhou Folk Customs

Let’s talk about “the in-laws send lanterns”. In the old days, the top priority for a girl when she got married was to have children. Not having children or having children late after marriage was extremely disgraceful to the bride and her family, so there was a custom of "bringing lanterns to the in-laws". "Deng" and "ding" are homophonic in Fuzhou dialect, and "sending lanterns" is the good wish of "adding children" and "prosperous people" expressed by Fuzhou people during the Spring Festival. The first choice to "send lanterns" is the brother-in-law. If there is no brother-in-law, the sister-in-law may be substituted. The time to "send lanterns" is after the New Year and before the girl's husband's hometown "welcomes the New Year". At this time, the various lamps prepared by the parents' family were hung on the two ends of two "white canes" (sugar cane), and were carried by the in-laws' uncle to the in-laws' mother's house.

There is something special about "sending lights". In the first year of marriage, a girl is given a "Guanyin Sends a Child" lamp, in the second year she is given a "Children Sitting Basin" lamp, and in the third year she is given a "No. 1 Scholar Riding a Horse" lamp. If there is still no addition in the second year, add an orange lamp. In Fuzhou dialect, "jue" and "ji" are homophonic, which means people are anxious because the bride has not given birth to a son or daughter. If you already have children, give one additional lantern to each child, and the number of lanterns given should exceed the number of children, such as Guan Dao lanterns, revolving lanterns, sheep lanterns, etc. When the lanterns are delivered, the in-laws' mother or brother-in-law will cook Taiping for the in-laws' uncle to eat and give them lucky money.

On the day when your in-laws send lanterns to your in-laws, you have to dress up carefully. Therefore, when people in Fuzhou see someone wearing new clothes and looking nice, they jokingly say, "dress up like your in-laws". Therefore, In-laws and uncles have become synonymous with wearing new clothes and dressing up beautifully. My uncle-in-law went to "deliver lanterns", which provided him with food, clothing, and New Year's money. Of course, it was a nice job. However, country people, especially children, love to mock your in-laws for "bringing lanterns". When they see you coming carrying sugar cane and lanterns, they will shout, "My in-laws are sending lanterns, and my mother is pregnant (pregnant)." If you want to eat your mother's peanut candy, throw it at the doorbar and roll it to the corner of the dung bucket." These folk nursery rhymes are still very interesting when I think about them.

The lantern given to my grandson is the Linshui Milk Lamp. Linshui Fuzhou goddess Chen Jinggu.