A bunch of chrysanthemums mourned, and two lines of clear tears were poured on the cheeks. Reverie when a loved one is alive, it is happy to be close to others." Another year of The Mid-Yuan Festival is coming, are you ready to worship your ancestors? In fact, Zhongyuan Festival belongs to the intangible cultural heritage, is a culture, is a tradition of remembering the ancestors that is both ancient and modern. It embodies the ancient people's idea of "cautiously pursuing the future", and the core of culture is to respect the ancestors and fulfill filial piety.
The ancients believed that July was an auspicious month, a month of filial piety, and a half of July was a festival for the folk to celebrate the harvest and reward the earth in the early autumn, and some crops were ripe, and the people should worship their ancestors according to the custom, and use new rice and other sacrifices to report autumn to the ancestors. Legend has it that the gates of hell will open on this day, and the ancestors will let the ducks carry their souls across the Nai Ho Bridge and come back to visit their descendants and forage for food. On the last day of July, the ghost gate is closed again, and the ghosts have to return to the mansion through the ducks. Therefore, on the day of the Middle Yuan Festival, whether it is rich or poor, you must remember 6 things, which means that everything is smooth and peaceful.
Thing #1: Eat duck
When we worship our ancestors, the burned paper money, treasures, houses, etc. need ducks to drive across the Nai Ho Bridge. Similarly, ancestors needed ducks to come back to visit. Why ducks and not chickens? Because people think that ducks are used to water, they can stay in the water for a long time. Chickens are not good at water, and rooster crowing will scare some bad things so that ancestors can't come back. Fish are originally aquatic things, and landing on the shore is the end of life, and it is not suitable as a messenger of the Yang and the earth.
The second thing: The fruits and pastries offered cannot be evenly counted
Fruits with harmonic sounds, such as pears, cannot be brought. Pear tong "away", which is unlucky. The Middle Yuan Festival is to show filial piety and worship, and taking pears to it is obviously hoping to be separated from the ancestors forever, which is an act of filial piety.
There are more fruits than pastries, such as seeds of fruit can not be worshipped. Like the meaning of pomegranates, it can be used for hospitality, but not on the table. The offering table means that the children and grandchildren are all placed on the offering table, and the family door will be unfortunate. There are also watermelons, dragon fruit, kiwi fruit are multi-seeded, remember not to put.
Dressed fruits such as grapes, lychees, loquats, etc. should not be brought to worship. These fruits are strung together, and the ancestors will feel that they are letting the ancestors wear them and leave, which is not suitable for taking.
We can bring some apples, which means peace and security; oranges mean that the source of wealth is rolling, and we can also bring some past; bananas look like yuanbao, which means to send money to the ancestors, or we can bring points, remember to be singular.
Thing 3: Don't steal tribute
We often see on TV that some ignorant children will hide under the offering table to steal tribute, which is not allowed, mainly for 3 reasons.
(1) Tributes are originally prepared for ghosts, how can they eat what people can eat? Folk say that if a living person eats these light people, if they are sick, their souls will leave the body, and they need to find Taoist priests to shout the soul.
(2) Some foods in the tribute are uncooked, such as pig heads. The pig's head looks like it is cooked on the surface, but it is actually in a half-life state. If we eat these, it may cause physical discomfort and affect later work, life, etc.
(3) The tribute must be prepared for the ancestors, if you steal the tribute, the ancestors will feel that the family does not want him, even his meals are not complete, will be angry and leave, will not bless the family everything smoothly.
Thing 4: Don't go home late
As we all know, the Zhongyuan Festival is held from evening to evening to burn paper and set off firecrackers. If you go home late, you may delay the worship and make the ancestors unhappy; you may bump into something bad on the road, and it will follow you all the way home. In addition, the Zhongyuan Festival is after the autumn, the temperature difference between morning and evening is large, and it is easy to catch a cold. Coming home too late, the wind was strong, the dew was heavy, and it was not good for the body.
#5: Don't hang wind chimes at the head of the bed and don't look in the mirror in the middle of the night
People who like to watch suspenseful horror movies know that the horror shots on TV are indispensable to wind chimes and mirrors. It is said that the wind chime is a spirit, and it rings at the head of the bed at night. In addition, wind chimes will also affect the quality of our sleep, it is recommended not to hang.
There is a folk saying that in the middle of the night, ghosts will replace the living through mirrors and thus come back to life. At night, it is cloudy, and you may see something bad in the mirror, so it is better to take a picture during the day.
Thing 6: Don't step on the paper
Whether in the countryside or in the city, people will burn paper money, even paper houses, paper televisions, etc., which is one of the reasons why I tell everyone not to go home too late. These paper money, paper ashes after the paper house burned will float everywhere, they are sacrifices to ghosts, if you accidentally step on them will break them, ghosts can not be used, you say will not find you trouble?
Conclusion: Zhongyuan Festival, no matter how rich or poor, these 6 things everyone should remember, the old tradition can not be forgotten. It should be a good wish for our future success and peace. What customs do you have there, comment below the comments, and communicate together. I am Bao Mama's private room 7788, an office worker who likes to tinker with meals. Every day around the stove, pots and pans and work, tired and happy. I will do my best to share my family's three meals and four seasons, provide you with reference, and also record my lost youth, and look forward to communicating with you. Cooking skills are limited, please be more inclusive, welcome to comment, like, forward.