What customs are there on the 17th day of the first lunar month?

What customs are there on the 17th day of the first lunar month?
The seventeenth day of the first lunar month is the seventeenth day of the Spring Festival. On this day, different regions have different festival customs. Let’s take a look at the customs and habits on the 17th day of the first lunar month in different places! If you want to know more about the first month of the lunar calendar in 2018, please pay attention to our fortune teller website! 1. Popularity Days The 7th, 17th and 27th of the lunar month are “Popularity Days”. The good or bad weather foreshadows the success or failure of people in this year. The seventh day is for children, the seventeenth day is for middle-aged people, and the twenty-seventh day is for the elderly. We also eat dumplings on this day.
2. “Sending Away Crickets, Centipedes and Scorpions” Festival There is also a festival on the 17th and 18th day of the first lunar month, called the “Sending Away Crickets, Centipedes and Scorpions” Festival. It was also night time, and we made a bonfire in the yard. But people no longer jump over bonfires or dance around them. They stare at the firewood until it burns to ashes, then take out a shovel from the house and shovel the ashes that have not yet been extinguished into the slope or beside the road. This is said to send away poisonous insects such as crickets and scorpions. This year the whole family will be peaceful and will not be harmed or bitten by poisonous insects anymore. The Cricket and Scorpion Festival is accompanied by the custom of cleaning. The diligent farmers shoveled away the garbage in the yard along with the ashes. The person who pours the ashes sometimes mutters something, indicating where, to whom or to whom the crickets, scorpions will be sent. Generally, the unanimous answer is "send them to the road without hurting anyone." However, if there is an enemy, they can directly ask the crickets, scorpions to be sent to a certain enemy.
3. Mouse Marries Ni
"On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, mice marry their daughters." It is a festive day for mice. According to folklore, the Jade Emperor assigned cats to notify cows, tigers, chickens, dogs and other animals to go to heaven and arrange their seats according to their abilities and qualifications. After overhearing the cat's message, the clever mouse ran to the South Gate of Heaven to wait first. The foolish Jade Emperor saw that the mouse arrived first, so he appointed it as the first of the twelve zodiac animals. The cat was so busy notifying others that by the time it arrived at the South Gate of Heaven, the twelve zodiac animals had already been filled up and there was no place for it. From then on, it and the mouse had a deep hatred. The mouse felt that he was a little unfair and could not beat the cat in terms of martial arts, so he wanted to resolve the grudge with the cat. It came up with an idea and asked the weasel to act as a matchmaker to marry its most beautiful daughter to the cat. The cat felt that there was no place for him in the twelve zodiac signs, and it would be worth it to marry the mouse's beautiful daughter, so he readily agreed. So the mouse chose an auspicious date, and the lucky day was set on the seventeenth day of the first lunar month. He also stole a woman's embroidered shoe to use as a sedan chair, and with music and music he sent his daughter to the cat's new house. Later, on the seventeenth night of the first lunar month, mice in every household would send their daughters off to get married, and the bridal sedan would be the embroidered shoes of the ladies. They only pick out beautiful embroidered shoes, and they will carry away whichever one is the prettiest. So before going to bed at night, the elderly would repeatedly warn the young ladies to put away the embroidered shoes under their beds, otherwise they would be mistaken for a sedan chair by mice and pulled all over the place, making them difficult to find in the early morning. It is said that on the seventeenth night of the first lunar month, if someone puts a urine pot on his head and lies under the bed, he can hear the drums and music of the Rat Marrying Girl, see the wedding scene of the Rat Marrying Girl, and receive festive gifts from the bride. The mice worked all night to send their daughter away, but ended up marrying their own flesh and blood into the cat's belly.
Rats live parasitically on humans and have had an indissoluble bond with humans for a long, long time. People in ancient times had the custom of worshiping rats. It may be that people’s ancestors had long known the principle of ecological balance. Therefore, the mouse marrying Ni'er, also known as the mouse getting married or the mouse taking a wife, is an important element in traditional folk culture. In our hometown, on the 17th day of the first lunar month, every family makes dumplings, trying to pinch the dumplings to close the mouths of mice to prevent them from destroying food and clothing at home. In fact, the so-called "Rat Marries Girl" and pinching rat's mouth when making dumplings are nothing more than people continuing to perform the rat worship activities handed down from ancient times.
In Yansui, Shaanxi, Pingyao, Yonghe, Wuxiang, Shanxi, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, Zhangbei, Hebei, Ningyuan, Hunan and other places, the tenth day of the first lunar month is regarded as the day for mice to marry. On that day, each family makes pastries and cooks millet rice, and places them in the cracks at the base of the walls, which is called "Congratulating the mouse on his daughter's marriage." Everyone blew out their candles and went to bed early, for fear of disturbing the mouse family. There are also people who regard the twelfth day of the first lunar month as the day for mice to marry their daughters. For example, in Lintong, Shaanxi Province, people do not use knives in the kitchen on that day because it is called "rat taboo." In Dali, Shaanxi, no household turns on the lights at night. It is said that if the lights are turned on, mice will come out and gnaw on clothes. In Yuanshi, Hebei Province, women gather at the door today, which is called "hiding from rats", otherwise rats will gnaw on their clothes. The time for avoiding rats in other areas varies. For example, in Wuqiao, Hebei and Linyi, Shandong, it is on the seventh day of the first lunar month; in Wucheng, Shandong, it is on the seventeenth day of the first lunar month; in Taiping, Shanxi, it is on the twenty-second day of the first lunar month; in Yongping, Hebei, it is on the twenty-fourth day of the first lunar month; in Fuzhou, Fujian, it is on the twenty-ninth day of the first lunar month; and in Qishan, Shaanxi, it is on the last day of the first lunar month. In all the above-mentioned places, lighting of fire at night is strictly prohibited, which is called "avoiding rat marriage". In Beijing, the 17th and 18th days of the first lunar month are called "Rat Wedding Days." According to legend, when mice get married, they often borrow human shoes as bridal sedans. As the saying goes, "At the age of seventeen or eighteen, mice start to get married." At that time, children will place baits such as flower cakes and biscuits in dark places, and knock on dustpans, bottles and jars to urge the mice to get married. According to legend, at that time a group of rats would chirp, pick up the shoes and run away. In Shenze County, Hebei Province, on the day when mice marry, children collect old shoes, throw them into the middle of the street and burn them on a fire, which is called "filling the boxes for mice". Children also use the fire to roast their feet. There is also a story about this: Someone saw several mice biting each other's tails and paws, and lifting up a mouse together. The mouse being lifted was curled up on its back. The man thought that the mouse had really married off his daughter, so he went to the mouse son-in-law's house, and suddenly scolded him. As a result, the mice scattered in fright, and the curled up mouse was also very frightened, and fell to the ground and trembled. At this moment, something suddenly fell from the arms of the mouse that remained in place, and then broke. The man walked closer to take a look and found it was an egg. Only then did he realize that the mice had conspired to steal the egg. The idea of ​​marrying a daughter or marrying a wife may have originated from this legend. However, the purpose of going to bed early and not turning on the lights is to increase sleep time and compensate for the hard work of the past few days. Only by combining work and rest can one stay healthy. In addition, fruit baits are used to lure mice, mousetraps are set out, and opening of boxes and cabinets is prohibited. The purpose is to make the mice have no scruples and come out in droves so that they can be caught in one fell swoop.
4. Putting down the lights: Putting down the lights means collecting the lights. The Lantern Festival ends today and all the colored lights must be removed, hence the name "putting down the lights".
Those with exquisite craftsmanship should be properly collected. All the dragon lanterns in the township are gathered in a temple or other public places, and the head and tail are burned, leaving the dragon body for use next year.
Food customs: Eat noodles today. There is a proverb: "The top of the lamp is round and the bottom of the lamp is flat."
5. Collecting the Lanterns The dragon lantern is the most popular group game during the Lantern Festival. It can be divided into three parts: the dragon head, the dragon body and the dragon tail. The dragon body is a long piece of cloth painted with dragon scales. It is easy to collect and does not fade easily. Today, all dragon lanterns are collected at a public place, such as a community temple, and burned from head to tail.
6. Acupuncture Day: In the old days, women spent a lot of time on needlework in a year. They stop doing needlework on this day in order to save eyesight. It is commonly known as "Acupuncture Day", which means avoiding acupuncture.
7. White Tiger Opening Day The 16th or 17th day of the first lunar month every year is the Waking of Insects Day, also known as the White Tiger Opening Day. The tradition is to offer sacrifices to the White Tiger, which later developed into beating villains.
8. Mangge Festival of the Miao Nationality The 17th day of the first lunar month is the traditional "Mangge Festival" in Ancui Township, Rongshui Miao Autonomous County, Guangxi. Men and women of all ethnic groups from all over the country invite each other to watch the "Mangge" performance.
9. Pulling the Dead Ghost On the 17th day of the first lunar month, Baifu Village will usher in a very lively traditional festival in the village: Pulling the Dead Ghost is held on the 17th night of the first lunar month every year. Because villagers always bring their deceased relatives back home to celebrate the Spring Festival and send them off on the 16th day of the first lunar month, they are worried that wild ghosts and evil spirits that no one will pay tribute to will stay in the village and cause harm, so on the night of the 17th every household lights a fire to drive away the evil spirits and drag the dead ghosts out to burn them.
10. Fenggang "Pearl Goddess Worship"
The celebration of worshiping "Fenggang Pearl Goddess" on the 17th day of the first lunar month is a folk activity with local characteristics in Dahao area and even in eastern Guangdong area. "Fenggang Ma" is the common name for "Pearl Goddess". Due to her magical powers, every year on the 17th day of the first lunar month, in addition to the villagers, there are also thousands of devout believers from other places who come to worship. There has been a saying since ancient times that "Fenggang Ma welcomes outsiders". When did the "17th day of the first lunar month worship ceremony" begin? According to legends from the old folks in the village, there are different opinions. One says it has existed since ancient times; another says it was during the Ming and Qing Dynasties; a third says it was in the late Qing Dynasty. However, these opinions have not been verified so far, so this question remains a mystery? It is said that in the old society, the worship activities on the 17th day of the first lunar month were not like they are now. The worship activities on the 17th day of the first lunar month were held in turns by the Yongsi and Baoben ancestral halls respectively. Each ancestral hall took turns to hold the shrine and incense burner every two years, and each ancestral hall would invite "Goddess of Pearl" to their own ancestral hall for worship. The worship of "Fenggang Ma" was interrupted during the war and the Cultural Revolution. After the Cultural Revolution, the worship activities were resumed, breaking the tradition of holding the worship in the upper and lower ancestral halls separately, and were unified in the current "Pearl Niangniang Temple". There are tens of thousands of pilgrims every year, and the deity responds to all prayers. People from other places come here to worship the deity. Under the correct guidance of the new religious and folk policies in the new era, the worship of "Fenggang Ma" has become a local folk activity.

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