What are the folk customs about Guan Yu?

Guan Yu was captured by Sun Quan in Linzhou after his defeat in Maicheng. Sun Quan dedicated Guan Yu's head to Cao Cao, who read his loyalty and gave Guan Yu a thyme body to be buried in Luoyang. When people die, nature goes out like a lamp. It happened that Buddhism, which pays attention to "reincarnation retribution", took a fancy to him. In order to promote Buddhism, Zhiyi, a representative figure of Buddhism in Sui Dynasty, sat in meditation and gave lectures from Tiantai Mountain in Zhejiang to Yuquan Mountain in Dangyang, Hubei. He dreamed that Guan Yu appeared in Yuquan Mountain, so Qin invited the King of Jin to seal Guan Yu as the protector of Elena Guan. Since then, Guan Yu has been worshipped with the gods. By the Tang Dynasty, the worship of Guan Yu was limited to Jingzhou, Hubei. In the Song Dynasty, folk stories pushed Guan Yu to the extreme, saying that he was "brave and good at fighting, and ten thousand people were enemies" and summarized his character as "loyalty". "Although nobility comes first and death comes second, it is impossible to take it away." Therefore, in order to meet the needs of the ruling class, Guan Yu was named "Zunning Zhenjun". Since then, emperors have regarded Guan Yu as the embodiment of loyalty and bravery, and made him an imperial edict. Guan Yu's position gradually changed from monarch to marquis to king to emperor. In the Ming dynasty, temples spread all over the city and countryside. In the heyday of the Qing Dynasty, there were temples everywhere in counties and towns. In Beijing alone, there are 1 16 temples dedicated to Guan Gong. According to data, there are more than 460 temples in Taiwan Province Province. There are also temples in new york, Yokohama, Kobe and Oshima, as well as in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia and Australia.

The people respectfully call Guan Yu different from the ruler, which has both the factors of hero worship and the psychological needs of praying for disaster relief. So in the eyes of ordinary people, Guan Yu is the patron saint, benefactor and god of wealth. Gathering overseas Chinese, building temples and worshiping Guan Yu is to find a psychological meeting point that can unite national strength and carry forward Chinese culture. Yu Youren, a former Kuomintang veteran, wrote a couplet for a Malaysian temple: "Loyalty and righteousness unite Chinese sons and daughters, and Spring and Autumn represents the national spirit." It can be seen that as a cultural phenomenon, Guan Yu's original regeneration is the basis of continuing folk worship, and it has been innovated and sublimated in the process of continuous social development.

At the earliest time, people offered sacrifices to Guan Yu, holding three sticks of incense in their hands, and chanting to the statue of Guan Yu in the Guan Temple, asking Guan Yu to bless peace. Later, it gradually evolved into a complete set of "musical notes". According to "Xie Liang Guandi Zhi", "During the Jiaqing period of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial capital was enshrined. On May 13th every year, on Guandi's birthday, Niu Yi, Yang Yi, Guo Wu, Boyi, etc. are used to send the court officials to salute. " The Draft of Qing History also records Guan Yu's memorial service in the spring and autumn and May 13th every year. It can be seen that in the Ming Dynasty, Guan Yu's sacrifice was included in the category of national sacrifice. However, the sacrifices at the Guanling Temple in Dangyang are different. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Dangyang Guanling was divided into two festivals: Spring and Autumn. The Spring Festival is on April 8th (Knight's Day of Guan Gong), and the Mid-Autumn Festival is on September 13 (ascensiontide of Guan Gong). During the Republic of China, the sacrifice in Guanling was changed to May 13. The level and form of sacrifice are very particular. In the Qing Dynasty, the Spring Festival in Dangyang Guanling was held by soldiers in Jiangjun Town, Yichang, and the autumn festival was held in Zhili Prefecture, Jingmen. There are altars in the memorial hall, three sacrifices in front of the main hall, incense lamps and fruits in front of the sleeping hall and the tomb shrine. Officials attending the ceremony fasted and bathed, and entered from the Sanyuan Middle Gate and the left and right side doors according to taste. The priest led his subordinates to worship in front of the statue in the main hall, burning incense and paper, and the etiquette teacher gave orders and recited greetings. During the sacrificial ceremony, merchants from all over the country gathered, and officials, tourists and figures gathered together. Businessmen, artists, shopkeepers and opera singers all show their magical powers in 72 lines. This activity, which has nothing to do with sacrifice, seems to be related and forms a "meeting" together. Therefore, Ci Hai quoted Miao Shi Xiangcong as saying, "There are many department stores, which are called temple fairs." In this way, the temple fair not only meets the needs of dignitaries, but also promotes the exchange of materials between urban and rural areas and meets the needs of ordinary people. The Dangyang Guanling Temple Fair has a long history, but it was once interrupted for various reasons.

The modern temple fair in GUANLING started in 199 1 the bronze statue of Guan Yu donated by Pan Alai of Tiantong Palace in Taoyuan County, Taiwan Province was unveiled. Modern temple fairs not only have the form of traditional culture, but also have new contents that keep pace with the times. In order to satisfy people's traditional psychological habits and promote cultural exchanges between the mainland and Taiwan Province Province, the sacrifice to Guan Yu remains the same. There is an altar in the middle of the corridor of the main hall, which is dedicated to a black water cow head, a whole pig and a whole sheep, with incense burners, wax tables, vases and five offerings; On both sides of the bronze incense burner in the courtyard, two tables are covered with yellow satin and dozens of seasonal fruits and vegetables are placed; Between the main hall and the worship hall, there are nine red lines hanging in the air, and hundreds of yellow lanterns are hung on the lines; In front of the altar, priests and worshippers recite greetings, bow and burn incense according to "ceremony notes" In the temple, bells, drums and firecrackers are ringing, and folk bands are playing fine. At the same time, there are some folk art performances in the temple, such as lions, stilts, lotus boats, waist drums, etc., and sometimes there are opera sketches, song and dance competitions, karaoke competitions, etc. The large-scale folk drama "Guan Gong Guo Wu Guan" is a fine folk art newly discovered by the cultural department and a striking highlight at the Guanling Temple Fair. Modern temple fair is a stage for folk art exhibition and an opportunity for cultural inheritance, which can promote its essence, discard its dross and bring forth the new. Therefore, in 200 1 Dangyang, Guanling Temple Fair was changed to "China Dangyang Wusheng Guangong Cultural Tourism Festival", which injected brand-new contents into Guanling Temple Fair. Recently, "Dangyang Guanling Temple Fair" was declared as a national intangible cultural heritage project.