Which god should we welcome on the eleventh day of the first lunar month? Which Bodhisattva?
During the first month of the lunar calendar, the motherland is immersed in the joy of renewal, and the rich and colorful New Year customs in various places are precious treasures in the treasure house of Chinese traditional culture. Which god should we welcome on the eleventh day of the first lunar month? Which Bodhisattva? The various festivals in the first month of the lunar calendar will come soon after the Spring Festival. Following Shuimoxiansheng.com’s special topic on the first month of the lunar calendar in 2019, let’s count how many important traditional festivals and customs there are in this month.Which god should we welcome on the eleventh day of the first lunar month? Which Bodhisattva?The eleventh day of the first lunar month every year is the birthday of Niangniang Taijun. Taijun Niangniang is a well-known deity in northern Zhejiang and even the entire Taihu Lake basin. She mainly plays the role of the patron saint of young women and has the divine powers of delivering births, protecting delivery, protecting infants, and blessing children. She is composed of three deities: the Great Taijun (Mrs. Taijun), the Second Taijun (Taijun's mother), and the Third Taijun (Taijun Bodhisattva). Among them, the Third Taijun is the most revered. People often have the custom of "adopting" children to her in order to pray for the children's healthy growth.In the daily life of people in northern Zhejiang, the belief in Taijun can be said to be everywhere. From the time a child is born to the time he or she grows up, a series of rituals are carried out around the belief in Taijun, such as stealing shoes to pray for a child, praying for breastfeeding, the third day, shaving the head on the full moon, the first birthday, the sixteenth birthday, etc. The "Luohan Wine", or "Wine to Worship Taijun", people either pray for the blessing of Niangniang Taijun, or thank Niangniang Taijun for her grace. Niangniang Taijun became the "Women's Director" sent to the human world by Guanyin Bodhisattva. Worshiping Taijun, also known as "worshiping Atai", is one of the important rituals passed down from generation to generation by the people of Qidu Town, Wujiang, northern Zhejiang. The locals hold three "Worship Atai" ceremonies in their lifetime. One is "Worship Atai at the Hundredth Day", one is "Worship Atai at the One-Year-Old", and the most important one is called "Worship Atai at the Sixteenth Year". It means that the child will learn to live independently from now on, which is equivalent to "coming of age ceremony". Therefore, this ceremony is also quite grand, and the scene is no less inferior to a wedding. The etiquette of "paying respect to the sixteen-year-old grandmother" is very particular and has a special set of procedures. Parents usually choose an auspicious day one month in advance, set up an atmosphere for the ceremony, and then prepare certain physical objects and even some other special utensils. There are also etiquette masters in the folk who specialize in planning and conducting the entire "Bai A Tai" ceremony. "Paying respect to the Sixteen-year-old A-Tai" usually involves placing an octagonal table in the center of the host's house. The table is filled with a variety of dishes, including a cooked rooster with a few tail feathers, pig's trotters, a whole fish, rice dumplings, cakes and various candied fruits. A paper "Ataimu" (a portrait of the local goddess) is placed in front of the Eight Immortals Table, and twelve wine cups are placed on both sides of the Eight Immortals Table. A pair of big red candles should be placed at the two ends of the south side of the eight-immortals table. "Pray to the Sixteen-Year-Old A Tai" must be carried out at an auspicious time. When the time comes, the ceremony begins. After the father or other relatives solemnly light the candles, the child must stand in front of the table, put his hands together, and bow three times to the "A Tai", silently expressing his good wishes and blessings in his heart to the "A Tai" and praying. After the pious prayers, hundreds of firecrackers are set off. In an instant, the sound of firecrackers is everywhere. The family also burns some gold ingots folded from tin foil in an old iron pot. The children have to pick up the carp tied with a red rope hanging on the corner of the Eight Immortals Table and release it into the river. When all these are completed in sequence, the ceremony of worshiping Taijun is over. After that, there is a banquet for the children to celebrate their 16th birthday, and they are considered adults. Therefore, the locals have always attached great importance to this, which is almost on par with the ancient "girls' hairpins and men's caps". |
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