Customs in Laiwu County

The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is the day of offering sacrifices to stoves, commonly known as "off-year", also known as off-year, off-year and off-year festival. On this day, the kitchen god was sent to heaven to say things, called sending the kitchen stove, retiring the kitchen stove and getting drunk.

The sacrifice of the stove was held on the evening of the 23rd. The portrait of the kitchen god in Jiaodong area is posted on the kitchen fire wall in the east of the main room. On both sides, there is a pair of couplets "Heaven speaks well and goes back to the palace for good luck", which is the "head of the family". When offering sacrifices, put candied fruits and a bowl of noodle soup, then burn incense and kowtow, and put the old kitchen god? Take it off and burn it, which is to send the kitchen god to heaven. When cooking, add some cereal and miscellaneous grains to feed the horse of Kitchen God. There used to be a saying that "men don't Yue Bai, women don't offer sacrifices to stoves". In Shandong, men usually offer sacrifices, but in Enxian and Boping, women lead their children to burn incense and worship the stove. Old stove? After burning, some new stoves were set up at that time, while others were set up on New Year's Eve, so the couplets had the words "Go to heaven on the 23rd and come down on the first day of the first month".

Sweet and sticky food is often used in sacrificial stoves. Peaches and dates are commonly used, sheep dates and dried persimmons are also used in Linqu, glutinous rice cakes and small honeydew melons are used in Weihai, and millet cakes or jujube cakes are added in Wudi, Enxian, Boping, Zhaoyuan and Rizhao, which means sticking the mouth of the Kitchen God to prevent him from speaking ill of God or making the Kitchen God's mouth sweet, so it is called this in Chengwu and other places. Some people put some distiller's grains or wine at the door of the stove, which is called "drunken living and dreaming of death".

In addition to candied melons, some offerings are jiaozi, which means "ups and downs in jiaozi", some noodles, some boiled horses, and chickens made of straw, so that the kitchen god can ride to heaven and have a good trip. After the sacrifice, a farewell ceremony will be held. The family knelt in front of the statue of Kitchen God, kowtowing and burning the old statue of Kitchen God and a paper horse. At the same time, the old man murmured: "Kitchen God, please go to heaven, say more good things, say less bad things, and bring all the grains." People who are in urgent need of having children read: "On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God went to the Western Heaven. Say nothing nice and bring a fat boy on his ponytail." This will even send the kitchen god away. Zichuan, Zhaoyuan and other places have the custom of divination after quitting the kitchen, that is, quietly going out to hear people predict good or bad luck.

After resigning from the kitchen, it is said that the immortal went to heaven and everything was forgiven. At this time, people who are too poor to marry are called "chaotic years". In ancient times, it was called 10 days after the great cold, and marriage was not prohibited. Most rural people get married at the end of the year.

1February 8 is Laba Festival. There was no regular twelfth lunar month in ancient times. After the Jin Dynasty, December was the twelfth lunar month, so December 8 was called Laba. Legend has it that Buddha Sakyamuni became a monk here. To commemorate Sakyamuni, all temples in Tokyo (Kaifeng) in the Northern Song Dynasty held Buddha baths on this day, and made seven treasures and five flavors porridge, called Laba porridge, also known as Buddha porridge. Later, people also made Laba porridge, and even the court made Laba porridge as a gift for officials. It is very common to eat Laba porridge on Laba Festival in all parts of Shandong. Laba porridge in Texas is made of eight kinds of five-grain fruits, among which there must be dates to symbolize good luck. The jujube of Laba porridge is "early" and the chestnut is "strong", that is, strive for a bumper harvest as early as possible. Make laba porridge thicker and more sticky. Stickiness is the homonym of "Lian", which means a bumper harvest every year. The Yellow River Estuary reclaimed wasteland, and there was a bride at home. Laba uses yellow rice and red dates to make cakes, which is called "eating bowls of cakes". Jimo regards Laba Festival as a farmer's festival, which is said to be taken from the "seven people and eight valleys" and is a commemoration of the valley.

Laba Festival is in the middle of winter and the weather is cold. As the saying goes, "Laba Laba, freezing to death is called melting." In the old days, places like Zouping had to wait for Laba Festival to show kindness to long-term workers. When they left, they presented some Laba cakes.

July 15th is the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is mainly to worship ancestors, so it is also called Ghost Festival. Watermelon is indispensable in the offering, so it is also called melon festival. According to Buddhist legend, Manglietia's mother (Manglietia is a Buddhist figure and one of the top ten disciples of Sakyamuni) fell into the hungry ghost road, and her food intake turned into a fire. Mulian asked the Buddha for help. The Buddha read the Orchid Sutra for him and told him to make a pot for his mother on July 15th. In modern times, offering melons and fruits and Chen Hippo as sacrifices to ancestors certainly means tasting new things, and it is also a legacy of basin sacrifices. In the old days, the Mid-Autumn Festival was a bonsai for Manglietia to save her mother. Later, it gradually evolved into a river lantern, offering sacrifices to orphans and people who died unexpectedly. The Central Plains River Lantern in Texas is spectacular. People use melon peels, bowls and paper to make lamps, and use streets and lanes as units to make oversized paper boats. Paper stood on the boat, holding a nine-ring mord in his hand. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, people put lights and paper boats into Hanoi and went down the river. Suddenly, the river was brightly lit, swaying like the stars in the sky. In the coastal area of Jiaodong, Taoist priests put lights in the sea by boat and played bamboo music. People on both sides of the Texas Canal flocked to the river to see the lights. Tengzhou also has the custom of putting river lanterns, which is roughly the same as that in Texas. The difference is that before putting on the river lights, we put on the incense table and recite the scriptures. When the monk recited the scriptures, he scattered the steamed buns under the stage, and the children rushed to eat. It is said that eating it can eliminate disasters. In order to pay homage to their relatives who drowned in the sea, fishermen on Long Island made boats out of wooden boards and straws to place memorial tablets and sacrifices of the drowning people, such as candy and cakes, and some even put on cotton-padded clothes, shoes and hats and daily necessities that the deceased loved before his death, then lit candles, and married men of the same age threw the boats into the sea.

The custom of ancestor worship in Mid-Autumn Festival is quite common in Shandong. They usually go to the grave to worship their ancestors in the afternoon. Sacrifices in Shan County are particularly rich, including a bamboo basin, a paper coat and a vegetarian table. Zichuan invited ancestors to sacrifice at home, and every household planted spikes on the door. It is said that this grain is used as a horse so that ancestors can ride it back after the sacrifice.

The diet of Mid-Autumn Festival is usually steamed buns, jiaozi and steamed bread, and seasonal fruits such as apples and pears are eaten after meals. Lingxian County is the only place that makes an exception and calls the Mid-Autumn Festival the Drunk Festival.