Introduction to astronomy
"On February 2nd, the dragon looks up" is an old proverb. In order to show the movements and positions of the sun, the moon and the five stars, astronomers in ancient China divided the sky into 28 days according to their orbits, that is, the zodiac. The 28-day stay can be divided into four areas (4 elephants or 4 gods), the Black Dragon in the East (including horns, horns, temples, houses, hearts, tails and dustpans for seven nights); Western White Tigers (including Wei Xiao, Lou, Wei, Chang, Bi, Gou and Shen); South Suzaku (including well, ghost, willow, star, Zhang, wing and seven nights); North Xuanwu (including bucket, ox, female, air, danger, house and wall). Among them,' horn lodge' is the dragon horn. On the second day of February, the dragon horn star rises on the eastern horizon, so it is called the leading star. Folklore also says that the dragon will wake up from sleep on this day, so people will burn incense and pray for good weather and good harvests in the coming year. This day is also called "Dragon Head Festival" and "Dragon Festival".
The Lunar New Year in China officially begins on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, and will not really end until the rise of Erlong in February next year. For ordinary people, the second day of February is a very important festival. People think that this day is the day when the black dragon "ascends to heaven", commonly known as "the dragon looks up". This day is generally after the fright, spring returns to the earth, everything recovers, farming is just around the corner, and everything is a new beginning.
Whether walking in the rural market or walking on the streets of the city, you will see a beautiful scenery-many people are queuing for haircuts! Why do you want a haircut? Because people think that the second day of February is the day when the dragon looks up, getting a haircut on the day when the dragon looks up is called "scraping the dragon's head", which indicates a good start of the year.
As the saying goes, "the dragon doesn't look up and it doesn't rain." In the genealogy of ancient gods, the dragon is the god in charge of rainfall, and the amount of rainfall is directly related to the harvest of a year. So, in order to get the dragon gods to make clouds and rain, on the second day of February, a grand sacrifice ceremony was held in front of the Dragon Palace, and at the same time, a big drama was sung to entertain the gods. There are many people who avoid "dragon heads up". For example, on this day, people are forbidden to move needles and threads for fear of hurting longan and inviting disaster. Don't carry water, thinking that the dragon will come out for activities at the party, and don't carry water by the river or by the well, so as not to disturb the dragon's actions and lead to a year-long drought; Taboo building rammer to prevent injury to the "faucet"; Furthermore, it is unlucky to avoid grinding, thinking that grinding will squeeze the faucet. As the saying goes, "Grinding is a tiger, grinding is a dragon". People who have a stone mill should set up a fan on this day to facilitate "leading the way to heaven".
Besides offering sacrifices to the dragon gods, people often hold various activities, such as dragon dancing, shaving the dragon head, wearing dragon tails and writing. Dragon dance, in a good year, several ordinary people cooperated to make a dragon. On February 2, they took to the streets to celebrate the dragon dance, hoping to get another bumper harvest in the new year under the protection of dragons. The so-called haircut faucet refers to the haircut on the second day of February. One is to shave the child's head, which is called "Happy Head". When the dragon looks up, it will bless the children to grow up healthily and get ahead when they grow up. Adults get haircuts, say goodbye to the old and welcome the new, hoping to bring good luck and a smooth new year. In addition, adults should use five-color cloth to cut out square or round pieces with thin stalks in the middle, wear them with thread to make them look like bugs, and wear them on children's clothes and hats, commonly known as "wearing dragon tails" to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters. In the past, children were asked to start writing, which was a good sign for the dragon to look up. I hope children can read when they grow up ... The simple act of February 2nd is full of people's ardent concern for their children and their hope for a better life.
In ancient China, natural creatures were divided into five categories: caterpillars, featherworms, ostracods, scale insects and humans. Caterpillars refer to furry mammals, feather insects refer to birds, ostracods refer to fingernails, and scale insects refer to scaly fish and winged insects. Dragons are the length of scale insects. When dragons come out, all kinds of insects hide. On the second day of February, just before and after the fright, all kinds of insects germinate and are prone to diseases, and pests are also natural enemies of crops. Therefore, people hope to use Rowen to subdue all kinds of insects, protect people and animals, and have a good harvest. There are many activities to lure dragons and insects, the most characteristic of which is scattering ash. Dust removal is very particular. Plant ash is the most popular choice for ashes. People use plant ash to spread a one-stop train to the river at the door of their home, and then use bran to spread a one-stop train to guide them home, which means to send away the lazy (green) dragon and attract the rich (yellow) dragon, so as to protect people and money; From the street gate to the kitchen, and around the water tank, it is called "leading money dragon"; Sprinkle plant ash at the door to block the door to eliminate disasters; Scatter plant ash at the foot of the wall in the shape of a dragon and snake, so as to make money and avoid harm. It is also very popular to sprinkle ash around the walls of Zhuang Village in Fuxian County, Shaanxi Province, which is also the performance of Long Fu's insect repellent. Later, lime was also used to replace plant ash Long Fu in pest control.
For Najib, the food on the second day of February is also related to "dragons", and noodles are not called "noodles" but "Longxu Noodles"; Jiaozi is called "Dragon Ear" and "Dragon Horn"; The meal is called "dragon"; Pancakes are branded into scales, which are called "Longlin cakes"; Noodles cooked with wonton are called "Longnazhu"; Eating pig's head is called "food faucet"; Eating scallion cake is called "tearing dragon skin". Everything carries symbols and meanings related to dragons.
As far as the whole country is concerned, due to different regions, customs vary from place to place. On February 2nd, there were many activities related to "holding the tap". In addition to the activities and eating habits mentioned above, there are popcorn, eating scorpion beans, and playing beams to repel insects. However, no matter which way, it is all around the beautiful dragon belief. It is an activity that people want to survive, and it has evolved into "Dragon Head-raising Festival" and "Spring Dragon Festival".