Family custom

In Wuxi folk customs, there are some small festivals, special temple fairs and festivals besides big festivals, ten temple fairs and eight temple fairs.

Wuxi customs call the seventh day of the first month as the sun, the eighth day as the valley day, the ninth day as the sun, and the tenth day as the earth day. People often use these four days of rainy weather and sunny days to predict the disaster of that year.

On the ninth day of the first month, according to legend, the Jade Emperor was born, so it was called Tiangong. This morning, everyone ate steamed buns and served the first bowl of cakes on the long platform in the hall (the so-called "day before"). On this day, there was a ceremony in the Jade Emperor's Hall (in today's old library), which was called "fasting for heaven", also called the Chaotian Meeting and the Chaowang Meeting. At that time, all the temples in Wuxi came to congratulate each other. Since the eighth night of the first month, some superstitious old ladies have come to sit at night and recite Buddha. After the Republic of China, these bad habits were abolished. It is said that this day is Wu Taibo's birthday. Meicun holds Taibo Temple Fair once a year. In recent years, more than 10 million people catch up with temple fairs and festivals for shopping and sightseeing every year.

On the second day of February, it is called daily. Eating steamed bread cakes in the morning is called "supporting cakes". It is said that eating them can cure back pain. On this day, it is a rural custom to make a round envelope on a plum tree with red paper, thinking that it would be angry not to make a plum tree. It is also said that this day is the birthday of the father-in-law land. There is a temple fair and festival in Qin Xiang (Shitangwan Township) in Xixiang, and now about 30,000 to 40,000 people attend it every year.

February 12 is Baihua's birthday, which is called "Flower Dynasty" (some people also call February 15 "Flower Dynasty"). On this day, people stick red paper on the flower trees, which is called "rewarding the red" to wish the plants and trees lush and full of vitality. Wuxi folk believe that if the weather is fine on this day, everything will be harvested, so the proverb says, "Nothing, but look at February 12."

On February 15, various towns and villages in Wuxi often have tea-picking lanterns and other entertainment activities, commonly known as "tea picking". Huishan and Beixiang stone bridges are the most prosperous. There is a saying in Wuxi proverb, "In February and a half, pick tea and watch".

February 18th, commonly known as this day for the horse monk crossing the river. Monk Ma is a fierce god. When the north wind blows, if the horse monk goes to Jiangnan, there will be famine in Jiangnan. If the south wind blows, monk Ma will go to Jiangbei, and there will be disaster in Jiangbei. Therefore, people often use the wind direction of this day to predict the harvest of that year.

February 19 is the birthday of Guanyin Bodhisattva, and June 19 is the day when Guanyin became a monk. In February, June and September, Wuxi folk women eat the chaotic fast sacrifice from the first day to the nineteenth day, commonly known as "eating Guanyin". On February 19, there was a temple fair and a festival in Nanjing Xin 'an Jinghui Temple.

There is also the thorn festival in mid-February. According to legend, on this day, when you hear thunder, you will have a good year. Therefore, there is a saying that "the source of stinging is like mud". If it thunders before the sting, the year will be bad, the harvest will be poor, and the climate will be wet in the future, so there is a saying: "Before the sting, it will be wet for a hundred days."

In the old society, on the eighth day of April, all the monasteries in Wuxi held prayer meetings on this day, and most of them were women, so buddhist nun was the most popular one. The most famous temples are Huazang Temple in Xixiang and Zhituo Temple in Dongxiang. On the eighth day of April, residents of these two places also hold banquets for their relatives and friends to visit temples.

The origin of Huazang Temple was in Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty (11-1162). Zhang Jun was buried, and a temple named Huazang Temple was built on the left side of the tomb. According to legend, there are flat-bottomed snails in the temple. It is said that people cut off the snail's tail and put it in the temple pool. Snails produced here are all flat-bottomed.

There is a high platform in the east and west of the square, and the recipients are separated from the square. The monks and nuns filled a copper plate with water, the small bronze statue of Muny was put into the water, and the water was poured on the heads of the prisoners one by one. After pouring, the recipient throws money into the plate, so the sutra is also called "Bathing Buddha Festival". Then the monks and nuns preach Buddhist scriptures one by one. The first person to pass on the scriptures is called "First Classics", and it costs twice as much money. .

Wuxi folk also believe that it can't rain on the night of the seventh and eighth day of April, otherwise it will be bad for wheat. Wuxi proverb says: "Wheat is not afraid of ghosts and gods, but it is afraid of rain on July and August nights."

April 10, Wuxi is commonly known as "difficult day". On this day, people usually set up an altar in the city of Chong'an Temple to sympathize with ghosts. In the Qing Dynasty, Wuxi and Phnom Penh altars were set up, and the city gods of the two counties were also brought here, and the rest of the streets were also burned with paper.

On April 16, this custom uses sunny days and rainy days to predict the disaster of that year. It is considered that sunny days have floods, rainy days have droughts, and sunny days are the best when it doesn't rain. The proverb says, "There are valleys, but look at April 16th."

Summer, long summer, Wuxi often has the custom of "seeing three innovations in long summer", that is, tasting three innovations in long summer. There are three new trees and three new places. The three new trees are cherry, green plum and loquat. In the third place are green broad beans, amaranth and garlic seedlings. Wuxi has the custom of weighing people on this day, and every household and village often uses big scales to weigh people.

May 13, usually called Guan Yunchang's birthday, sometimes rains in Mao Mao on this day, which is called "Master Guan's sharpening rain". If it rains that day, people think it is safe.

The third day of June, commonly known as this sunny day, is the main drought. If it rains tonight, it will rain every night in June, which is called "dusk array". As the saying goes, "On the third day of June, there will be dusk, planting rice in the morning and being sleepy in the afternoon." Thunderstorms in June are good for rice growth. I think it will be very hot in June. Therefore, there is also a proverb in Wuxi: "It is not hot in June, and the grain will not bear fruit."

June 23, according to the old custom, is the birthday of General Lingguan in Heaven. Lingguan has three eyes, holding Strafe. On this day, people often fast, and they run wildly in the village with God on their backs. They call it "Xie Huangling Palace" (Xie runs around here as a verb explanation), thinking that this can drive away disasters and avoid epidemics.

The fifth day of August is the birthday of the social god (commonly known as Wang). In fact, the social gods worshipped in different places are not consistent, and it is ridiculous to force a unified birthday. On this day, all localities raised money for sacrifices. Some of the social deities worshipped in various places have famous names, and most of them are historical celebrities, such as Wu Zixu of Wu in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Huang Xie of Chu in the Warring States Period, Xiang Yu, the overlord of Chu at the end of Qin Dynasty, Monroe, the general of Soochow in the Three Kingdoms Period, Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Shu and Han in the Three Kingdoms Period, and Yang Guang, the second monarch of Sui Dynasty. Others call themselves Stuart, Doctor or Lang Jun, but they have no names. There are also women in social gods, called aunts or wives.

1October 13, this day is the incense festival of Baoan Temple outside the south gate, where a statue of a humiliated man is enshrined. According to legend, this day is its birthday.

Baoan Temple, located outside the south gate of Dubo Port (now Nanzhan Township), was founded in the Southern Dynasties (535-546) and is one of the top ten famous temples in the south of the Yangtze River.

There is a beamless temple in Baoan Temple, which was built in Wanli period of Ming Dynasty (1573- 1620). It's all brick, and the roof is a brick vault. Wuliangsi has three rooms and two entrances, and there is one room and two entrances in the middle of the existing temple. The architectural form of Wuliangdian was popular in Ming Dynasty. At present, there are not many ancient buildings in Jiangsu. In addition to Wuxi Baoan Temple, Nanjing, Suzhou and Jurong also have one each.