(This picture is designed by Fucha Maolin)
Today is the twenty-third day of the Waxing Moon, a small year for the Manchurians.
I'm still in Hainan, and I asked a few locals, and they didn't know what a small year was, but it was only a small year. In the past, it was generally said that the 23rd day of the Waxing Moon was a small year in the north and the 24th of the Waxing Moon in the south. Now the network is developed, according to the network census of local customs, a variety of things, there are many sayings, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai areas are the day before the Chinese New Year's Eve, Sichuan Guizhou is in the Chinese New Year's Eve night, Nanjing and other places are on the fifteenth day of the first month. There are also some areas where there is no such thing as a small year.
In some areas, there are different folk sayings, such as the saying "official three people four boats five", which means that the official family's small year is the twenty-third month of the Waxing Moon, the people's family is the twenty-fourth month of the Waxing Moon, and the water people's home is the twenty-fifth month of the Waxing Moon. Some people also say that the lower nine streams and dramas are the twenty-fifth year of the Waxing Moon.
Not only are there great differences in the small year of the Han nationality in various places, but also the small year of the Mongolian people is not uniform, the Mongolian people have "Li Min twenty-three Taiji twenty-four" said, "Taiji" is a title of mongolian nobles in the past, such as our Taizong name Emperor Taiji Taiji and Taiji is a word. It means that the general herders in Mongolia are twenty-three years old, while the nobles are twenty-four years old.
At present, in addition to organizing their own ethnic celebrations and golden festivals, manchu organizations in some areas also have a small year of celebrating the twenty-third day of the Waxing Moon. For example, the Preparatory Group for the Manchurian Festival in Jingzhou, Hubei Province, generally organizes two festivals a year, one is the Golden Festival, and the other is the small year of the 23rd day of the Waxing Moon.
The Manchurians believe that if we say that the New Year is said, in a broad sense, it begins from the beginning of the Waxing Moon, and the specific activities begin at least from the Eighth Festival of the Eighth Month of the Waxing Moon. In this broad Sense of the New Year, there are two climaxes, one is the 23rd year of the Waxing Moon, and the other is from the Chinese New Year's EveChinese New Year's Eve to the first day of the Chinese New Year.
Now speaking of xiaonian, the main content is to send the king of the stove, but from the source, the Inner Asian people believe in the fire god sacrifice in shamanism, and Mongolia still retains this custom, while Manchuria only preserves the fire god worship in myths and legends. The Manchurian creation myth "The Great War of the Heavenly Palace" retains the image of the goddess Toyaraha, the god of fire. Ancient Greek mythology Prometheus stole fire from the sun god Apollo for humanity and became the god of fire. The Manchurian fire god Toyalaha goddess has a similar myth and legend, she stole the divine fire of the god Abu Kaendu, she was originally a beautiful goddess, but in the process of transporting the fire, she burned all parts of the body, and finally became the image of a monster.
This is a picture of a small year in the family of the twenty-third month of the Mongolian lunar month
The Summer Calendar of the Xia Dynasty had the Month of Mengxi (January) as the first month, the Yin calendar of the Shang Dynasty had the WaxInge Month (December) as the first month, and the Zhou Dynasty's Zhou calendar had the winter month (November) as the first month. After Qin Shi Huang unified China, he also took the Yangchun Moon (October) as the first month, that is, the first day of October as New Year's Day. Beginning with Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the first day of the first lunar month was set as the Great Year. The ancient kingdom of Buyeo in Manchuria was based on the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar. Manchuria takes the first day of the first lunar month as the big year, and at the earliest it is also the late Fuyu kingdom, after the establishment of Goguryeo.
To talk about the history and culture of Manchuria, it is necessary to make it clear that Manchuria has a multiculturalism, that is, there are urban cultures such as Fuyuguo and Goguryeo, which attract Buddhism and the lunar calendar of the Central Plains. But strictly speaking, both buyeo and Goguryeo were feudal feudal federations in which the various ministries preserved a great deal of autonomy and preserved their own culture. During the Bohai Sea, all parts of the north also preserved a lot of autonomy, and even in foreign diplomatic and commercial activities, each region would send its own representatives to participate in their own interests. Dajin Guomeng Anmuke also has a lot of autonomy within itself. Even in the later Jin Dynasty, the flags of the early Eight Banners had a great deal of autonomy, similar to the federation of feudal society.
Looking at the Preserved Manchurian Sayings, such as "Ubud Xiben Mama", it reflects that the Jurchens of the East China Sea who lived in Heilongjiang and other places have always used the ancient Manchurian traditional calendar, did not introduce foreign Buddhism and other cultures, and have always preserved shamans and other cultures. The cult of Vulcan has continued.
This is Merlinger's manchu calligraphy year.
Merlinger's full calligraphy: twenty-three, sugar melon sticky.
Although the Manchurians are now scattered and the folk customs of various places are different, they are highly unified in a small time, that is, the twenty-third day of the Waxing Moon. Folk proverbs include "flag three people four", "official three people four" or "soldier three people four" and "army three people four". The so-called soldiers and armies, because the Manchus are all soldiers, refer to the Manchus, and the officials of the Qing Dynasty also refer to the customs of the Manchus. Therefore, through these folk proverbs, it can be seen that the twenty-third day of the Waxing Moon is a characteristic of the Manchus. Since the Liaojin Dynasty, the north has been an area where the northern ethnic groups and the Han nationality have mixed, and the customs of the north have been greatly influenced by the northern ethnic groups, so the northern Han nationality should be influenced by the Manchurians in the twenty-third year of the lunar month.
(Drawing by Fucha Maolin)
Why do Manchurians choose the twenty-third lunar month for the New Year? This is a digital idea that originated in Manchuria. The ancient Manchus used odd numbers as yang and even numbers as yin. The last digit of the current ID card is also based on odd numbers for males and even numbers for females, ancient and modern Chinese and foreign, which is unified. Because of the cold in Manchuria, since ancient Manchurians have had a tradition of worshiping the sun, the Khitan people's house is not like the Han traditional sitting north to south, but sitting west to east, that is, facing the place where the sun rises. The Golden Kingdom founded by the Jurchens, the military flags and national flags used at that time, were painted with the sun. Therefore, the festivals of major Activities of the Manchus are spent on odd-numbered dates, such as the Manchurian Clan Celebration Golden Festival, which is the thirteenth day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar. Therefore, the small year is also scheduled to pass on the twenty-third day of the odd month, one day earlier than the Han tradition. In the history of the Han people, it is the twenty-fourth year of the Waxing Moon. The Song Dynasty poet Fan Chengda's "Sacrifice stove words" said: "In ancient times, on the twenty-fourth day of the lunar month, the stove king wanted to say things to the heavens." The cloud car wind horse lingers, and the family has cups and plates and abundant ceremonies." This poem proves that the Han Chinese are the twenty-fourth year of the Lunar New Year.
For example, the Manchu compatriots in Jingzhou have a Jingzhou Manchu festival preparatory group, and the festivals that pass every year are two, one is the Manchurian celebration of the golden festival, the date is the thirteenth day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar, and the other is the Manchu small year of the twenty-third lunar month, and the two important ethnic festivals are selected in the yang number, and the tail number is three. Think about it, when the old King Han also started with thirteen pairs of armor, are these numbers a bit coincidental?
The Manchurians changed from the worship of the fire god to the worship of the king of the stove, which was a change in lifestyle, just in early Manchuria, before entering the customs, there was a fire god worship, but the date was not in today's small year. Only after entering the customs, it was gradually transformed, using the lunar calendar, passing the small year, and transferring the worship of the fire god to the worship of the king of the stove.
So who is this Stove King? There is a folk legend among the old Beijingers, and the folk proverb in Beijing has "The original surname of the King of the Stove is Zhang, and his family lives in Shunyi Zhanggezhuang." "The relevant authorities in Shunyi District have successfully registered this well-known figure as the intangible cultural heritage of the region. Moreover, Shunyi also adapted the image of the king of the stove into a commentary and put it on the stage.
The legend about the king of the stove is that Zhang Sheng was very rich and married a wife who was very virtuous, but because he could not have children, Zhang Sheng took his wife off. The other woman was a woman who was delicious and lazy, and in the end this was the loser's wife, and the family was all destroyed, and the woman died. Zhang Sheng begged around, and finally came to his ex-wife, who was already a rich man, and Zhang Sheng was ashamed and embarrassed, so he plunged into the stove and committed suicide. After death, he went to heaven and confessed his mistake to god, and god made him the god of vesta.
When the Khitans ruled, people began to settle in this village, and it is possible that the original inhabitants were Khitans. The Qing army entered the customs, and here was assigned to 6 acres of flag land, and there was a general. At the earliest, it was called Zhang Hao's responsibility, so it is mainly the flag land here, and there are flag people with the surname Zhang who are responsible. Because the original people of this village are Manchurians, Zhang Gezhuang Village is now a Manchu village and enjoys the treatment of an ethnic village. The king of the stove here is, of course, a Manchurian.
The main foods of Xiaonian are sugar melon and Kanto sugar, which are traditional Foods of manchurians
What is used to sacrifice the King of the Stove? Because the Manchurians themselves are a people who love meat, usually eat big fish and meat, a little tired, today I will change the taste of vegetarian, Manchurians love to eat sweet and love to eat sticky, so I think this stove prince is also our Manchurians, so it is on the sugar melon and Kanto sugar that the Manchurians love to eat.
In the history of the Han people, it was a deliberate worship with cattle such as yellow sheep and guinea pig wine, and there was meat. In the Song Dynasty, there was a stove candy called "gum tooth dumplings". But the Han areas originally had no sugar melon and Kanto sugar. Sugar melon and Kanto sugar appear different names because of different shapes, sugar melon is melon-shaped, kanto sugar is long strips. It can also be known by the name of Kanto sugar. There is sugar cane sugar in the Central Plains, but there is no sugar cane in Manchuria, and the Manchurians want to eat sugar, that is, they use malt to boil sugar, and there are also sugar boiled with tiancai. Because in the past, Manchuria was also called Kanto, so it was called Kanto sugar in general. Because the Eight Banners Army was sent to garrison various places, the Manchurian sugar melon and Kanto sugar also spread throughout the country.
According to the past, the stove prince was the head of the family, and nothing in the family could be hidden from him. On the day of the new year, when he ascended to heaven to pay tribute to the gods, if he did something that violated the traditional taboos of Manchuria, he would break his life. Therefore, please let him eat sugar melon, let him have more beautiful words, and have the heart to stick sugar to the mouth of the king of the stove and not let him say more. There is a saying in Beijing after the break: "The ascension of the king of the stove to heaven - more good words."
Our folklore expert Fucha Chenfeng summed up the process of our nation's small year.
The ancestors of the Manchu people have lived between the vast white mountains and black waters since ancient times, and gradually formed a unique new year custom in fishing, hunting, farming, production and life.
The 23rd day of the Waxing Moon is a traditional festival of the Manchurians - The Little Year. There is a saying that before the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, it was only the lunar year. After entering the customs, the Manchus used the lunar calendar and began to celebrate the New Year.
Earlier, before the waxing moon, every household had finished the game, called "closing the courtyard door". The Kanto land has also entered the cold season of ice and snow, and the rural people have also entered the "cat winter" period. Because of the cold weather, the annual pigs fed by each family also stopped or grew slowly because of the cold climate, and when they entered the Waxing Moon, each household began to "kill the New Year pigs." People who kill new year pigs have to find some relatives and friends or neighbors to come to their homes to eat new year pork. The remaining pork is cut into cubes and frozen, then put into large vats and other containers, the mouth of the container is sealed, and it is ready for guests and families to eat during the New Year.
After the fifteenth day of the waxing moon, each family entered the "busy year" stage. At this stage, housewives are the busiest people, and in the winter they make their families well dressed and start busy years without stopping. Pack "sticky bean buns", sprinkle rice cakes, engrave "look delicious", some housewives also make chicken, fish or elbows and other dishes frozen and stored, so that during the New Year, take a picture of a "cool hand", in case guests come to Ding unprepared.
On the twenty-third day of the lunar month, there are two things that must be done: the first thing is that the room is cleaned, which people call "sweeping dust", and the whole room must be carefully cleaned. Because "dust" and "Chen" are homophonous, it means to sweep away the achievements and usher in the new year.
The date of "sweeping dust" is not fixed, it depends on whether the day of "playing spring (Lichun)" is years ago or years later, if it is spring before the year, it is necessary to sweep the dust before the small year, if it is the spring after the year, the dust can be swept after the small year.
On the day of the New Year," the second task is the "sacrificial stove." Most of the Manchus place a shrine on the north wall of the North Stove. As mentioned earlier, the old Beijingers said that the King of Zhao was a native of Shunyi Zhanggezhuang, which is now a Manchu village. It is also said that The King of Zhao originated from the image of Zhang Kui, the former general of the Shang Dynasty in the classical novel "Fengshen Yanyi", zhang Kui was beheaded after being captured by King Jiang Ziya of Zhou Wu's military division in a confrontation with King Jifa of Zhouwu, and was posthumously named "Vesta God" by Jiang Ziya, also known as King Of Stove. Therefore, the folk slipped in the mouth and said: "Grandpa Zhang, the grandfather of the king of the stove, riding a horse, carrying a gun, saying good things in heaven, returning home to descend auspiciousness." ”
Since then, the Han people in the Central Plains have begun to provide for the stove king, people are afraid that he is lonely in the mortal world, I don't know who is a matchmaker from it (maybe it is the marriage agency looking for) to match a stove king grandmother, named Gao Lanying, I feel that there are many women in the northeast who call it such a name. On a six-open piece of paper, the Stove King and the Stove King's grandmother were sitting in danger, and there was a "good" can and a "evil" can on the offering board. This was the inspector sent by the Jade Emperor to monitor each household, and he wanted to classify the good and evil deeds done by the family he had contracted into good and evil pots. There is a saying that this stove king grandmother is hungry, loves to gossip, and has the characteristics of the old lady in the past, so the stove sugar is for the stove king's grandmother, to avoid her gossip after the day.
After dinner on this day of the New Year, it was the date on which the Emperor of The Stove reported his duties to the Jade Emperor. Place a table in front of the north stove in the kitchen with incense burners, wax tables, and offerings. The man in the house stood on a stool, carefully peeled off the old paper cup of the stove king and the stove king's grandmother, and repeatedly rubbed it on the mouths of the stove king and the stove king's grandmother with "stove (rough) sugar", which means that others should be sweet after seeing the Jade Emperor, and then put it into the stove to burn. At the same time, ladders, ponies and roosters made of sorghum straw were also burned, symbolizing that the stove king rode from the ladder to the chimney and ascended to heaven with two jars of "good" and "evil", and the rooster was eaten by the stove king on the way. When everything was ready, the man knelt at the altar table and prayed with his hands together: King Stove, surnamed Zhang, riding a horse, carrying a gun, carrying a pot of good and evil, seeing the Jade Emperor in heaven, good things to say more, bad things to be less publicity! After the prayer is completed, the incense candle is lit, the prostration is performed, and the whole "sacrificial stove" process is completed.
Author Fucha Chunbing
Manchu Culture Network original article.