The formation of rooftop customs and habits

1. Spring Festival

The "Five Flavor Porridge" Spring Festival breakfast on the first day of the Lunar New Year has different customs in different places. In both urban and rural areas of Tiantai, five-flavor porridge is eaten. The so-called "five-flavor porridge" is a porridge cooked with five kinds of rice, red dates, tofu, red beans (red beans) and taro. After investigation, the origin is that monks in Buddhist temples cooked this soup to pray for "five blessings" to come to the world during the New Year. Wutai is known as the "Buddha Land", and many local people believe in Buddhism, so this custom has spread. They use it to pray for good weather, peace and prosperity for the country, and that people can live and work in peace and contentment all year round. However, the origin of this custom has to be told in the late Yuan Dynasty. It was a porridge created by local residents to thank Zhu Yuanzhang's rebels for capturing the county. The implication is that eating it will bring "five blessings".

The lunch is the specialty snack on the rooftop: "Jiaobing tube", and the dinner is dumplings or chaos.

In addition to eating, on the rooftop, every child has to wear new clothes and new shoes... which means "removing the old and welcoming the new", hoping that life will be better in the coming year. The luckiest people on this day are the children. They will get the lucky money prepared by the adults...

Also, there is a unique habit in my hometown "Hongchou". Although it is a legacy of the feudal "patriarchal" mentality, after all, giving birth to a child is still a joy. thing. Therefore, there is a custom in Hongchou that if a boy is born this year, he will hold a "melon seed wine" on the first day of the first lunar month of the next year. The so-called "melon seed wine" is to put out the New Year's goods prepared by oneself and invite some neighbors, friends and relatives to eat the New Year's goods carefully prepared by oneself as a celebration. On this day every year, people who organize "melon seed wine" will prepare traditional new year products such as melon seeds, peanuts, and rice candies. Nowadays, people also prepare some new new year products such as candies, jelly, and canned fruits. This custom has become popular not only in Hongchou, Sanhe, and Tantou areas, but also in some towns in Sanmen County adjacent to Hongchou. However, due to historical, geographical and other reasons, this custom is only found in the southeast corner of the rooftop.

After the third day of the first lunar month, it is basically the same as in other places. It is a custom to visit relatives and see friends.

2. Lantern Festival

As the last festival of the New Year, the Lantern Festival is also very lively. Different from other places, in addition to eating soup, Tiantai people also have a special snack called "Lulabo", and designate the 14th day of the first lunar month as the Lantern Festival. However, there is another story in the history of this "Mu La Bo": an old artist and his daughter fled to Tiantai City under the iron heel of Jin Bing, but they fainted due to overwork, so they thought that a kind person scooped up a bowl. The paste was boiled and given to him to eat. After eating for a while, their eyes lit up and they said repeatedly: "Dry eye paste! Bright eye paste!" From then on, Tiantai people have a custom of eating glutinous rice.

Like other places, people in Tiantai also like to watch the Lantern Festival, but they also have customs that are different from other places. During the Lantern Festival every year, there is a habit in Tiantai, Sanmen and other places in Taizhou to dress up some children as gods and put them on "sedans" or floats, which is an important part of the Lantern Festival. , it is a beautiful scenery for people to watch.

3. Qingming Festival

Although Tiantai people also worship ancestors and sweep tombs during Qingming Festival, the sacrifices of Tiantai people are different. They burn some conventional food and The unique Qingming cakes and Qingming hinges have special skins on the outside. In addition to the ingredients of glutinous rice flour, these peels also have a kind of wild vegetable called "Qing". This kind of wild vegetable has a small plant, only about the size of a small green vegetable, but it is a real game and green food, and it is precisely because of Qing. Yes, the skin of Qingming cake will be green.

3. Winter Solstice

Although this is not a festival, it is an ancient weather forecaster. Its arrival means the true arrival of winter. On this day, some special foods will be eaten across the country to celebrate, but unlike other places, the habit of Tiantai people is not to eat glutinous rice balls, but to eat a kind of glutinous rice balls called "Winter Solstice Balls". It is made by first adding glutinous rice flour and water, and then making it into a ball shape. After it is cooked, add some sweet seasonings to cover the outside. In this way, the "Winter Solstice Circle" with rooftop characteristics is ready. .

5. Customs and habits of moving to a new home

Unlike other places, when moving from an old residence to a new home on the rooftop, you usually have to treat guests to a meal. They often set up several banquet tables and invite their friends to have a meal to show their happiness in celebrating moving to a new home.