Chinese New Year's EveChinese New Year's Eve night, the old greets the new, the whole country rejoices, and people look forward to the ringing of the New Year's bell. For people in Shandong, Henan, Hebei and other places, especially in rural areas, there is also a common cultural tradition, that is, to put a wooden stick, that is, a door stick, at the gate of their own home on the day of Chinese New Year's Eve. So what is the meaning of this stick?
First, the origin of the chaotic world: the legend of the door stick
The legend of the door stick takes place at the turn of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, and there are roughly three versions, and the basic structure and elements of these three versions are actually the same, but they are different in some details.
First, let's talk about a more vague version of the legend. The legend recorded in the Complete Book of Chinese Folk Tales was learned from an old man named Qin Mingchuan. Legend has it that in the last years of the Yuan Dynasty, there was a grand marshal (who did not specify who it was) who was extremely cruel, and the place he passed through was bloody and rainy, and the people were afraid of life. On this day, he led an army to massacre a village, and saw a woman running first with a small child on her back, and then throwing the child down, carrying a larger child on her back and continuing to escape. The big handsome did not understand, caught this woman and scolded this woman is a fool, the child can not move his back, let alone the big child? The woman explained that the little child was her own child, but the eldest child was not, and if she carried the child back, she would be spurned by everyone, saying that she was a harem, so she could only abandon her own biological child.
The marshal was touched by the woman and promised to let her go, and the marshal told the woman that when the army slaughtered, she only needed to put a wooden stick at the door, and his army would not harass her. When the women returned to the village, they publicized the incident, and as a result, the whole village put sticks at the door, and when the marshal's army came to attack, they saw that the whole village was on the sticks, so they retreated without committing any crime.
Another version also occurred at the time of the Yuan-Ming dynasty. According to legend, Zhu Yuanzhang once sent Hu Dahai and Chang Yuchun to Shandong to fight against the Mongols, and ordered that all the people who hung the "South Card" at the door of their homes would indicate that they were good people, and those who hung the "North Card" were rebels and wanted to kill their heads. How shrewd the common people are, when they wait for Hu and Chang to come, every family hangs the south card, and when they leave, they hang up the north card. However, this matter was not long ago reported, and Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and sent Hu and Chang to lead a large army to massacre the people. At this time, I only saw a strong man running with an old grandmother on his back, and after being intercepted by the officers and soldiers, the strong man knelt down and pleaded with ning to kill me alone, not to hurt my mother. The filial piety of the strong man touched everyone, so Hu and Chang let the strong man go and told him to put a stick in front of his house to escape this disaster. The plot that follows is similar to the first version.
Spring is often encountered in film and television dramas
The last version directly skipped the generals who commanded the troops, pushing Zhu Yuanzhang to the front of the curtain. It is said that Zhu Yuanzhang planned to carry out a big purge of this village in order to prevent his scandal from leaking out, but there was a person in this village who was kind to him, so Zhu Yuanzhang told this person to put a stick at the door at night Chinese New Year's Eve to escape this disaster.
Zhu Yuanzhang
Now it is difficult for us to examine the relationship between the truth and falsity of these legends and stories, but these three versions of the story all occurred at the time of the turmoil and turmoil in the Yuanming Dynasty, and probably reflected a certain social psychology. At the time of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the world was full of riots, the people were killed, hungry and white bones, and the fortifications were built into mountains. In this turbulent social context, it is understandable that ordinary people are anxious to find a kind of spiritual sustenance, and putting down sticks can avoid disasters, which may reflect the people's eagerness to get rid of the chaotic world in the context of that era and their desire to rule the world. It can be seen that the door stick is given the effect of blessing and refuge by the people, and this connotation has been inherited and continuously enriched by future generations, and finally formed the custom of the door stick we see now.
In addition, the educational significance of these stories is also very conspicuous, and the common social values of ancient China such as filial piety and retribution are also integrated, which also makes these legends have a different value in the process of transmission.
Second, there are differences in the same: the custom of blocking sticks in various places
Regarding the custom of the door stick, Shi Duozhai is recorded, but this custom is mostly found in the writer's pen. In the article "Past Years", Mo Yan, a Gaomi man in Shandong, recalled in more detail how the Gaomi people of Shandong who belonged to his time celebrated the New Year, which mentioned that "a stick was placed at the gate, which is said to be a 'door stick', and stopped the mules and horses of the ancestors from running out." According to Mr. Mo Yan's account, the role of the door stick in the area seems to be to leave the ancestor's mule and horse in the house. This sentence may confuse readers in the field, what is the mule horse of the ancestors? Let's start by wondering what the barricades in other areas look like.
Writer Mo Yan
In "The Spring Festival of Linzhou Folk", the author describes the door stick as follows: "Thirty nights, people used to put a peach stick on the threshold of the gate, and other sticks were used when there was no peach wood to prevent "wild ghosts" from entering the house. "Linzhou is in Henan Province, and according to the author's account, Linzhou's door stick likes to use peach sticks, which are used to prevent lone ghosts from entering the home. Peach wood did have the effect of warding off evil spirits in ancient China, taoists often used peach wood swords, and in the past, they also liked to carve door gods on peach wood boards during the New Year. However, not all areas like to use peach wood, Qingdao's door stick is stipulated to be willow wood, of course, the rules are also changed in the back, and some even take grinding sticks or brooms instead. Liu Jiaqi recorded in the "Hometown Unique Annual Customs": "Put a stick for pushing and grinding outside the door and inside the gate. "The barricade here is replaced by a milled stick.
Momoon Gate God
Mr. Zheng Jiasheng of Zhengzhou also mentioned the custom of "blocking the door stick" in the "Old Family Chronicles": "Taking care of The Gods, that is, you can't invite the gods to your home, you don't care, you must burn at least three pillars of incense every day, and there must be a 'door stick' in front of the door (used by the security guards, horizontally outside the door, to prevent the lone ghost from disturbing the gods). One thing to keep in mind in particular is that at the beginning of the first month, don't forget to take the 'door stick' away, because the gods are leaving the god's seat, going to the toilet, and moving. At night, remember to put the 'bar stick' on the bar. "There's another rule about the barricade, when will it be possible to take the stick off?" Zhengzhou is the fifth day of the first year can be taken, but Qingdao is in the second day of the first year, the second day of the first year of the People of Qingdao is to go out to worship the New Year, at night will remove the door stick, called "send the Year", and Rizhao is in the third day of the first year to take away the door stick. Anhui's gate sticks last longer and will not be removed until after the Lantern Festival.
The time of removal of the barricade varies slightly from place to place, but this difference is not important. Importantly, by reading the writers' articles, you will find that the effect of the door stick has changed from the initial blessing and avoidance to the ancestral family sacrifice. In many areas Chinese New Year's Eve night before the door stick is placed, there will be a "please family hall" step, please family hall in short, is to Chinese New Year's Eve this special season to implement the family sacrifice, some places in the south are also called "please ancestors" "please grandfather", basically for the deceased ancestors will prepare a table of wine and dishes, light incense and paper money, and also shout their ancestors to go home to receive food.
Please family customs
After the end of the family hall, according to the concept of Shandong and other places, these ancestral gods who were invited back would not leave immediately, and would stay at home for some days, but there were always some lonely ghosts outside who had nowhere to go, and these lonely ghosts would harass the ancestors, rob the ancestors of sacrifices, and also bring bad luck to the people in the Yang And rob people of their wealth, so they had to put a door stick at the door to drive away evil spirits, so these lonely ghosts were not allowed to step into this house.
Therefore, the function of modern door sticks can be summed up in two points:
First, so that their ancestors can receive food at home for a few days after the Chinese New Year's Eve, without worrying about the intrusion of lone ghosts. For example, in "Traditional Festivals", it is said: "Then, I stepped into the door, lit a candle, and stayed up all night." After entering the gate, a wooden stick should be placed horizontally at the door, called a 'door stick', preferably peach wood, to prevent the fierce gods and evil spirits from entering the door. Mr. Mo Yan's hometown may have been more thoughtful, and they may have thought that the ancestors might have come on mules and horses, and that the mule horses would not run out when they put on this door stick.
Second, in order to prevent the leakage of their own wealth, they will block their fortune and good fortune in their own homes. For example, in the "New Year Customs Unique to Hometown", it is said: "In the early morning of the third day of the first year, when 'gathering wealth', firecrackers should be set off first, and then the sesame poles should be swept into piles for firewood, and the 'door sticks' should also be removed at the same time." "Since the cannon has been released, it means that the wealth has been gathered in the house, and the door stick can be removed at this time."
Wen Shijun said
Chinese no matter what the situation in the past year, whether it is difficult or smooth, this important joint in the New Year will always follow the custom of the door stick to seek refuge in the blessing, behind which hints at the concept of Chinese - a new year, a new beginning, with hope, the future can be expected. In other words, this is also a manifestation of the optimistic spirit of the Chinese nation, more than six hundred years ago, when the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, social turmoil, the people are precarious, in such a difficult situation, people still have expectations for the rule of the world, this is a kind of spiritual comfort for the ancients to themselves, but also reflects the wisdom of the ancients. With the development of urbanization, many rural customs are now dying, and it is good to be able to pass on such customs as the door stick, but more importantly, the optimism rooted in the hearts of Chinese is passed down from generation to generation.
bibliography
Tian Wenge: "Old Rizhao, Old Things by the Sea (17)-New Year's Day (Door Stick)".
He Wei, "The Complete Book of Chinese Folk Tales, Shandong Yicheng Volume", Intellectual Property Publishing House, 2011.
(Author: Haoran Wenshi Jingsu)
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