The origin of sunshine doll

Sunshine Baby comes from the folk custom in northwest China.

In ancient times, the custom of hanging "Qing Niang" was popular in Beijing, Shaanxi, Henan, Hebei, Gansu, Jiangsu and other places. At least in the early years of the Yuan Dynasty, this custom already existed. Li Junmin, a poet in the Yuan Dynasty, wrote the poem "Sweeping Mother": "Roll up your sleeves and take a broom, hang it in the sky and shake your hand." In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the custom of Qingyang became more popular among the people, and this custom was also recorded in Fu Cha Dunchong's Yanjing Years and other books describing the scenery of Beijing. This custom can be seen occasionally in the northern countryside today. Up to now, there is still a song in Henan Province, "The Maid Sweeping Sunny Days to Shelter the Rain": "The Maid Sweeping Sunny Days will clear up in three days, and I will put on flowery clothes for you. If it doesn't clear up for three days, tie your light back. "

It is said that after this custom spread to Japan, because all the monks in Japan presided over the ceremony of praying for rain and sunshine, the clean mother became this shape! Later, there was a name "Sunshine Doll". The ballad of Sunshine Doll is similar to our song "Sweep the Sunshine Mom, Stop Rain": "Sunshine Doll, Sunshine Doll, I hope tomorrow will be fine. If so, I will give you a golden bell. Sunshine doll, sunshine doll, I hope it will be fine tomorrow. If so, I'll give you good wine. Sunshine doll, sunshine doll, I hope it will be fine tomorrow. If not, cut off your head. "

There is a legend in China that the war in the pre-Qin period was cruel, and the calculation of the meritorious military service was based on the number of the enemy's left ear or head. According to legend, in the Qin dynasty, once the battle was over, the army would tie the enemy's head with white cloth and hang it upside down on the battlefield with a rope. Later, because this form was too troublesome, it was simply made into the shape of today's sunshine dolls with small white puppets, and each sunshine doll represented a head. Slowly, this white cloth puppet was associated with sacrifice and became a symbol with sacrificial significance. As for the sunny dolls and rainy dolls that became popular in Japan later, it was only the result of the later development of this sacrificial feature.