Bao Mu Brother Said Things 2022-02-10 16:57
New Year's New Direction
Please God of the Nian Wei series
In the eyes of Chinese, the Spring Festival has always been associated with sacrifices and blessings, and every Spring Festival, the elderly in the family will go to invite some "gods" to offer at home to bless the prosperity of the family and the safety of the livestock, and look forward to a good harvest in the coming year.
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When I was a child, I remember that during the New Year in the family, every meal had to be lit in front of the gods, burned paper, prostrated, and offered, and there were words in the mouth, which probably meant praying to all the gods and immortals to perform their duties and bless the relevant matters in the family, at that time, when they were young, they did not understand, they knew that the location of each god's offering was different, and the things they managed were different, and the Shrine at the door of the main room was dedicated to the "Buddha Buddha" (Shakyamuni), the "Jizo Bodhisattva" was enshrined under the table, and the "Heaven and Earth" was enshrined on the north wall of the courtyard. The gate of the Chong courtyard is dedicated to "Emperor Guan", the shadow back wall is dedicated to the north is "Guanyin", the kitchen is dedicated to the "King of the Stove", the livestock shed is dedicated to the "King of Cattle and Horses", and the gate of the courtyard is the "Door God", that is, Wei Chigong and Qin Qiong. These gods and immortals have their own scope of blessing, and the more complete the gods invited in the family, the wider the scope of blessing. There are also some special gods and immortals invited by special people, such as the "Medicine King God" enshrined in the doctor's home, the carpenter's family worshiped "Lu Ban", and the brick and tile kiln home enshrined "Taishang Laojun".
In memory, the gods at that time were engraved paper printing, monochrome or three-color, the old man with white batter pasted in a special position, in front of the statue put a carton or iron box made of incense burner, which is filled with fine sand, can be inserted incense, as if listening to the old people, the number of incense burned before each god is also different, I think it may be the reason for the different status of the gods.
In recent years, with the progress of science and technology, the idols have basically achieved color printing, more exquisite and beautiful, but with the gradual disappearance of the elderly in the countryside, the younger age no longer attaches too much importance to the blessing of god, thinking that this is a feudal superstition, more is to believe that a good day depends on their own efforts to struggle, so the annual custom of "please God" has slowly become diluted.
In fact, rather than saying that "please God" is a feudal superstition, it is better to say that this is a yearning for a better life for the elderly, and more of a wish for a better life for the whole family in the coming year. (The text is purely personal and has nothing to do with religion)
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