Central and South Volumes, Full Two Sets / Collection of Folk Custom Materials from Local Chronicles of China

Author: Chief Editor: Ding Shiliang et al
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1998-10-01
Features: Preface to the Publication "The Compendium of Folk Custom Materials from Local Chronicles of China," divided into six volumes. This volume is the Central and South China Volume, collecting materials related to Henan Province, Hubei Province, Hunan Province, Guangdong Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Hainan Province. The selection of folk custom materials aims to provide references while striving to maintain the original form of local chronicle records. Due to the various conditions during the compilation of local chronicles, the original texts inevitably reflect the conscious or unconscious perspectives of the compilers, either positively or negatively. Readers are expected to discern this while reading. For instance, the use of old names and characters for ethnic minorities in the original texts is a product of the old society and should be abolished in newly compiled local chronicles. However, as these documents are compiled for research reference, they are retained in their original form. Some non-essential folk custom records or merely the opinions of compilers that do not align with academic principles are omitted. To facilitate readers in locating the original books, the correspondence between each local chronicle and the current administrative divisions is arranged primarily according to the method of "The Joint Catalog of Local Chronicles of China," with minor adjustments. The newly established Hainan Province, separated from Guangdong Province, is placed after Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the order of provinces, cities, and autonomous regions. These materials will provide significant help in understanding the customs of various places and ethnic groups in Central and South China, as well as in conducting research in folkloristics, sociology, history, literature, and related disciplines. They also hold reference value for compiling new local chronicles, promoting the transformation of customs, and discussing issues related to spiritual civilization and material civilization.
Beijing Library Press
Content Summary "The Compendium of Folk Custom Materials from Local Chronicles of China," divided into six volumes. This volume is the Central and South China Volume, collecting materials related to Henan Province, Hubei Province, Hunan Province, Guangdong Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Hainan Province. These materials will provide significant help in understanding the customs of various places and ethnic groups in Central and South China, as well as in conducting research in folkloristics, sociology, history, literature, and related disciplines. They also hold reference value for compiling new local chronicles, promoting the transformation of customs, and discussing issues related to spiritual civilization and material civilization.
Excerpt: "The Chronicle of Xingyang County" (12 volumes, Qing Dynasty, Jiaqing 12th Year edition)
Rites and Customs: The male rite of (capping ceremony) allows boys aged 15 to 20 to undergo the ceremony. In the preceding ten days, there are rituals such as selecting auspicious days for the ceremony and for guests, followed by the main ceremony, which includes rituals like welcoming guests, washing, presenting blessings, placing the cap, drinking the cap-awarding wine, naming the cap, the cap-wearer bowing to guests, bowing to parents and other relatives, and the host offering drinks to guests. However, the customs differ: the ancient ritual involved three placements of the cap, but now only one is used; the blessings presented are often insincere, or the host may resent them. However, the capping ceremony is rarely practiced today.
Wedding Customs: The wedding includes rituals such as presenting gifts (), asking for the name (), presenting betrothal gifts (), which also includes selecting auspicious days and requesting a date (、), and the welcoming ceremony (). However, the customs differ: the sheep and wine used must avoid black eyes in sheep, and the wine must be pure. When presenting fruits, noodles, and harmonious wine to the bride's family, the bride's family accepts them but replaces the wine with water and inserts chopsticks. During the welcoming ceremony, the groom's father must present a gift of gold to the groom, who then eats it, called the "opening ceremony," or else the groom will not eat. Before the bride returns, she stands on a stone, called "stepping on solid ground," and throws chopsticks into her mother's arms, who catches them with her sleeve, saying "keeping wealth." When the bride arrives at the groom's door, a red carpet is spread for her to avoid stepping on the ground. Someone hands her a treasure vase, which she holds. The vase contains grains and gold and silver. The next day, the groom performs a thank-you ceremony for the relatives, and the groom's father feeds him with fritters, wrapping his hands together, symbolizing the groom's appearance. Within three days, the bride's family provides meals, with the third day being the "hunger meal" ritual, where oil and honey are added to the food to make it sweet and easy to digest. On the ninth day, the bride returns to her parents' home, and the groom accompanies her, called "returning home." The next day, gifts are given to the groom, who takes them back, called "stealing wealth."
Funeral Customs: Funerals include rituals such as embalming after three days, mourning for five or seven days, the small mourning period () after a year, the major mourning period () after two years, the purification ritual () after six months, and the end of mourning after twenty-seven months. Burials are not restricted by time or month, but may involve rushed or hasty burials. From the mourning period onwards, ancient rituals are followed. However, the customs differ: people celebrate when they find good mulberry trees. On the seventh day of the funeral, Buddhist monks are fed and offerings are made; wealthy families build wooden structures outside their homes, using three wooden measures as bases and woven bamboo walls, with rice, flour, and vegetables arranged as mountains, and gold and silver foil balls, creating a spectacular scene. Relatives gather to write inscriptions on the coffin banner, set up music, and hold a feast, called "warming the company." On the day of burial, the dummy corpse is elaborately decorated, and local shamans or relatives spend two to three hundred (pí) of cloth. There are also those who contribute to the burial expenses. If a family has a deceased elder, ten people form a group, collecting money monthly, supporting families with children or emergencies, with the other nine helping with the arrangements, similar to the ancient practice of (jù) contributions.
Ritual Customs: Most rituals are held in the middle months of the four seasons. In the second half of the previous month, there are rituals such as selecting auspicious days and informing the family to prepare offerings. In spring, there is a ritual of offering chives with eggs; in summer, offering wheat with fish; in autumn, offering millet with pork; and in winter, offering rice with wild geese. Sacrifices are made on (jì) days and during tomb-sweeping. Following ancient customs, there are no deviations.
Folk Customs of the Year:
January: "New Year's Day" (), the day to step on the end of the year. At midnight, everyone rises, washes their faces and mouths, presents sacrifices, burns firecrackers, prays to heaven and earth, worships ancestral tablets, replaces peach charms, sticks yellow paper, and places door gods to drive away evil spirits. They spread sesame stalks on the ground to ward off evil and burn talismans to expel demons. They carve wooden spoons, hang gourds on doors, believing that blessings will come and disasters will leave. On this day, people wear clean clothes, and relatives exchange New Year's greetings. For three days, rice and noodles are not eaten raw but must be pre-cooked. Guests are greeted warmly, and those who are less important only leave name cards. At dawn, if one does not sleep and sneezes, they must immediately rise, as sleeping while sneezing is a sign of illness; if one does not sleep and speaks, their words will not be heard outside, as it is believed that calling out is a sign of ghosts. Upon waking, they eat millet cakes called "" () and mallow leaves, using the sound of "" (mǎchǐcài) to wish for a good year. They eat donkey meat with new chopsticks, called "chewing ghosts." Those who pray for clear eyes stand a bamboo pole in the courtyard with pine and cypress branches at the top, hang a lantern at night, called "heavenly lantern." Every family sets up small altars to worship the divine, called "heaven and earth altars," which are removed after the seventh day.
The 15th: "Lantern Festival" (). People make paper lanterns, hang flower lanterns, set off firecrackers, play on swings, and perform music and drums. Lantern riddles and poetic couplets are everywhere, with men and women crossing the bridge to ward off evil.
The 19th: This day is called "Stocking the Granaries Day." Farmers light lanterns and make offerings to pray for abundance. The daughters return to their parents' homes on this day, called "adding children."
The first day of February: "Harmony Festival" (). Relatives exchange fine noodles, called "dragon's beard noodles." On the second day, they roast beans to ward off pests, calling it "the dragon raises its head," and daughters often return home.
The third month: "Qingming Festival" (). At dawn, they hang willow branches on doors, and men and women sweep tombs, carrying jars and buckets, hanging paper money along the roads. Newlyweds dress up especially for tomb-sweeping. For new graves, they mourn the day before the "Cold Food Festival" and start piling up and enlarging the mounds after three years. After the ceremony, they place paper money at the tomb and hang paper flags.
The eighth day of April: This day is the birthday of Buddha. Famous temples and monasteries hold ceremonies to pray for blessings. They place cooked soybeans in a jar for people to pick, called "making connections." On this day, people sell early summer cucumbers, called "bringing freshness."
The fifth day of May: "Midsummer Festival" (). People stick spiritual talismans on their halls and hang the image of the Celestial Master in their courtyards to ward off epidemics. They insert mugwort in their doors and float mugwort in wine. They exchange sticky rice dumplings. Children tie colored threads on their hands and feet.
The sixth day of June: "Gratitude Festival" (). People roast wheat flour slightly yellow and soak it in boiling water, adding sugar to eat, believing it removes heat and humidity and prevents eye problems. At noon, they dry clothes in the sun, even the oldest scholars' worn books and poor women's ragged clothes, refusing to leave the sunlight.