Who has the folk information about spending the Spring Festival with Beijingers?

The custom of celebrating the Spring Festival in Beijing is very interesting.

The so-called Spring Festival refers to the first day of the first lunar month in China. It heralds a new beginning, the revival of everything, the arrival of spring and the beginning of a year's farming. Therefore, it has always been valued by China people. Later, with the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, the country took 1 month 1 day of the Gregorian calendar as "New Year's Day", and the "Happy Year" of the lunar calendar had to be renamed as "Spring Festival". However, the celebration of the Spring Festival has not been slightly reduced because of the change of birthright, and it still maintains the traditional grand ceremony and becomes a real national ceremony. Moreover, it has been particularly active in recent years, as if the ritual that once disappeared has been revived. In many places, the enthusiasm and exultation of the Spring Festival is rare in the past half century. It's just that the custom of "offering sacrifices to stoves" has not been restored on a large scale, and it may never be restored again. People have been indifferent to or forgotten the "Kitchen God" (also known as "Kitchen God") from the bottom of their hearts.

"Kitchen God" is "Kitchen God", and it is said that it is a god who specializes in human evil. It seems that every household has a special inspector stationed by the intelligence agency. But he will always be a kind, kind and smiling face and will never glare at each other. Does this explain a certain concept of China people, which comes from social experience, that is, those who observe people's private affairs always smile and don't make a ferocious appearance to scare people? I don't know, but it's always interesting. There are different opinions about the name of "Kitchen God". Huai Nan Zi said that the Yellow Emperor and Yan Di "died as kitchen gods" and were responsible for the good and evil on earth, which showed that China people attached great importance to the kitchen god and he became the embodiment of the Yuan Dynasty. But according to the five classics, the kitchen god is named Su and Ji Li, and they are my kindred. I prefer to believe this statement in order to get a glory. Speaking of Su's ancestors, in addition to the Su's father and son in Sichuan and the three great literati, there is also a kitchen god who is respected by everyone and has a long history. Wonn't the descendants of Kitchen God show extra pride? Moreover, Su Zao Wang also has a beautiful wife, and this is "Grandma Zao Wang" Wang Boqiao. Unfortunately, the publication of Youyang Miscellanies broke my glorious dream. It says that the kitchen god is called Kui and looks like a beautiful woman. There is also a saying that the kitchen god's surname is Zhang Bang, the word Guo, and his wife is jealous. There is no doubt that I am not interested in this statement. Unfortunately, the power of folklore is enormous. When I was a child, I heard a folk song, saying, "The kitchen god's real name is Zhang, and a bowl of cold water is fragrant with three pillars." Everyone can sing, and I lost the blessing of taking the mantle of glory because I decided that Kitchen God was Zhang's ancestor. Old people told me that the kitchen king classic was once sold in the old Beijing market. It said, "The Kitchen God left a scroll of scriptures for good men and women to read. My surname is Zhang Ming from China, and the Jade Emperor put me in charge of the kitchen. I came to the world to check good and evil, without clearing it first. " Look at that meaning, the kitchen god not only named Zhang, but also the chef of the Jade Emperor. He was appointed by the God of China to engage in espionage activities of "investigating good and evil". Popularity is popularity, but its status has been greatly reduced. From the incarnation of Yan Huang, he suddenly degenerated into a "god" company manager, who looked at people through the keyhole and listened to voices through the door. No wonder China people's attitude towards the old man has become more playful. But I never understood that the Jade Emperor sent his chef to earth, but he still couldn't eat: Is it really out of touch?

Anyway, Kitchen God is a person who is respected, feared and dealt with, no matter how he laughs. Sacrificing a stove is an ancient custom, which was first called "offering a stove". It seems to commemorate the first person who cooked with fire. It can be seen that the chef king at that time did not pollute more air. Later, he became a god. He cooked for God, but only taught people to cook by hand. The original sacrificial furnace was in summer. In the post-Han era, there was a gentleman named Yin Zifang who made a fire early in the twelfth lunar month (winter) to cook. Suddenly, he saw the kitchen god, appeared in the air, and mumbled something, complaining that the food was terrible and there was no meat in his stomach. Mr. Zifang hurriedly killed his dog (named "Antelope") and offered it to him. Since then, the family has prospered, and people and money have prospered. It can be seen that the kitchen god will put on an immortal shelf after becoming immortal. I won't bless you if you don't give me something delicious. Therefore, killing dogs to worship the kitchen god in winter has become a custom passed down from generation to generation. Naturally, this is also a good reason for people's toothache in winter. For the man of god, for a long time.

This kind of kitchen statue, whether it is a two-seater or a single-seater, is printed in woodcut and watercolor, which is more exquisite. Above the statue is the twenty-four solar terms of the year, and below is a pony. On both sides of the statue are printed couplets that read, "Heaven speaks well and goes back to the palace for good luck." Worshippers are mostly small families and farmers, and their "palace" is natural and simple, but the Kitchen God and his wife are always content with their duties, unlike today's officials who have to pick jobs. Kitchen God is much cuter than modern civil servants.

On the 23rd night of the twelfth lunar month, these grandparents who had eaten enough kitchen waste ash for a year were respected by people. Although the fruit offering is extremely simple, the ceremony is extremely grand. After dinner, the indoor fire will be lit and the whole family will get together. On the altar, there will be three or five bowls of Guandong sugar, honeydew melon, south sugar, a bowl of cold water and a plate of forage. Cold water, straw and boiled beans are for the horse of Kitchen God. People's imagination and service are really comprehensive. Then set up sacrificial vessels such as candlesticks and incense burners. At the beginning of the sacrificial handle, first light a small red candle made of sheep oil for the sacrificial handle. This kind of red candle was called "small double bag" in the old society. ) There are yellow money under the wax table, thousands of pieces, and one or two pieces of silver ingots. Incense is provided by the man's parents. Beijing folk custom: "Women don't sacrifice stoves, men don't Yue Bai". But when I was a child, the ban was broken, women also offered sacrifices to the stove, and men also Yue Bai. It's just that when offering sacrifices to the kitchen stove, men usually kowtow first and then stand still for ten minutes. Kowtow when you run out of incense. Then, put the unburned fragrant roots, together with the kitchen stove, money and forage, in the "money-grain basin" (a big basin made of pig iron) in the yard, and incinerate them with the pine branches and sesame stalks already placed in the basin. When the fire in the basin rises, the priest often prays constantly and says, "Old Kitchen God, say more good things and say less bad things!" " "As for the decoration such as kwantung sugar and honeydew melon, small pieces are thrown into the basin to stick the mouth of the kitchen god, and the rest are all thrown into their own mouths. The so-called "for human consumption, the heart is full of knowledge. "Immortals are just a symbol of people's wishes.

The sacrificial stoves of wealthy businessmen and tycoons are naturally different from ordinary people. Their offerings are not only rich, but also candy can be piled as high as a hill, and eight big sedan chairs, hairy horses and saddles should be attached. After the incineration ascended to heaven, all the guys in the shop stepped on sesame stalks all over the yard. The kitchen god of the poor family does not have this blessing. A bowl of cold water with three fragrances and three kowtows is called "kowtow". If the kitchen god is burned to death on the spot, even if the ceremony is completed, the kitchen god will still serve him well.

Sacrificing a stove is a signal of the coming of the Spring Festival, which Beijingers call "celebrating the New Year". After this day, people from all companies went out to collect accounts. Naturally, there are also many debt dodgers. It was not until the Lunar New Year's Eve that they met God (Kitchen God) that they stopped settling old scores, so they came up with the sayings of "deadly Kwantung Sugar" and "saving jiaozi".

In any case, Kitchen God is also the closest prayer to the people. No matter how arrogant, after all, it retains more mortal spirit. Therefore, this lovely and often fooled god is really a good object for people to vent their sorrows and joys in the past year. To tell the truth, there are very few people who hate the kitchen god, and many people ridicule the kitchen god. This is an ordinary fairy.

Seeing the God of Kitchen God recently, I always feel a bit like him. I really hope that the kitchen god is still surnamed Su, and I urge scholars to take care of it and complete this "mission".