April 30 is the twenty-second day of the third lunar month of the 2024 Jiachen Year of the Dragon, which is an out-and-out good day. The Shenzhou-17 astronaut crew, who have been on a business trip in space for more than five months, will return to Earth on this day, which is exciting and exciting! At the same time, this year's 22 March is still the "coming day" of the mainland's traditional folk beliefs.
On the 22nd of March this year, why is it "Cheng Ri"? Where does this expression come from? What are the customs and particularities in the old traditions? Now, let us start from the perspectives of the ancients and modern people to see whether the meaning behind these rules is reasonable.
March 22 this year, the "Cheng Ri" in the eyes of the ancients
Before the ancients did something important, they usually turned over the old yellow calendar, hoping to pick a good day, and thus formed the "auspicious culture" in traditional Chinese culture. This rule has been elaborate from ancient times to the present. Nowadays, before doing housewarming, opening a business, getting married and other major events, people will generally choose a day to do it, hoping to get a good fortune.
The theoretical basis of the Zeji culture is derived from the folk belief of "building and eliminating the twelve gods". Legend has it that there are 12 immortals on duty in turn, each of whom has a different mission, they are building, excepting, full, leveling, stabilizing, persistent, breaking, dangerous, successing, harvesting, opening and closing, collectively known as the "twelve gods of construction and extermination".
Regarding the relationship between the culture of Jiji and the "establishment of the twelve gods", it has long been recorded in the ancient history series of the mainland "Siku Quanshu". There is a special mention in the book, "to open, exclude, determine, hold, dangerous, into six days as auspicious, the rest of the six characters to build, full, flat, broken, closed, is the second auspicious, flat or fierce."
According to the ancient calendar of the mainland, "(lunar calendar) March Jianchen, then Chen is Jian,...... , the child is a ,......". The twenty-second day of March this year is the Jiazi Day in the Ganzhi Discipline Law, and "Zi is Cheng", which corresponds to the "Cheng Ri", that is, the day when the "Cheng Shen" of the twelve gods is on duty.
March 22 "Day", what are the taboos in the old customs?
According to the old saying, "Chengri" has the meaning of success and achievement, and it is an auspicious and good day, which can help people form positive psychological cues and help to get things done. Although in the auspicious culture, "Chengri" belongs to the auspicious day of the zodiac, there are also some traditional taboos, mainly including the following three things.
(1) Don't buy six livestock: The mainland was an agrarian society in ancient times, and livestock played a very important role in people's hearts, which can also be seen from the idiom "six animals are prosperous". When the ancients bought six types of domestic animals, including horses, cows, sheep, pigs, dogs, and chickens, they generally avoided "Chengri". The reason behind it is very simple, because "Chengri" is the day of harvest, and the old custom believes that it is the day of achievement, and buying six animals is an act of purchasing property, which requires money, and there is a lot of uncertainty, so it is not very suitable. From a practical point of view, it is a reminder to people to think twice before buying a property and not to act recklessly.
(2) Do not cut wood: In ancient times, due to various conditions, logging was a very dangerous job, because it was possible to fall branches or trees at any time, and once the dodge was not timely, it would bring hidden dangers to life safety. Therefore, the ancients practiced the culture of choosing auspiciousness in the matter of logging, hoping to seek psychological comfort. "Chengri" is the day of harvest success in the old custom, and the ancients usually did not do some risky things, so there is a taboo not to cut wood on this day. From a practical point of view, March 22 is the season when all things in nature are growing vigorously, and it is acceptable to take care of trees instead of cutting them down at will.
(3) Don't talk crazy: As the old saying goes, there will be rain when the sky is mad, and woe to people who are crazy. In the old customs, it is believed that "Cheng Ri" symbolizes achievement and is a good day to look forward to, but at the same time, we must also learn to be restrained and act in a low-key manner, especially not to say crazy things, otherwise it is easy to cause trouble. From the practical sense, words are the true embodiment of a person's heart, a person who loves to talk crazy words, usually arrogant and disgusting, it is naturally difficult to succeed in doing things, and it is not worth advocating.
When many people see the old customs, they will instinctively understand them as "feudal superstition", but in my opinion, many old traditions actually contain the great wisdom of the ancients. Take the "success" of Chengri as an example, it has the meaning of success, but the rules related to it are exquisite, but it is to remind people to be cautious in words and deeds, which is the so-called "full of losses, humble benefits". In addition, if you don't pay attention to this aspect, it doesn't mean that others don't, and the reason why you remind everyone to pay attention is to avoid committing other people's taboos and learn to empathize with others to understand others.