Ten days before the festival, people began to busy purchasing New Year's goods, such as chickens, ducks, fish, meat, tea, wine, oil and sauce, North and South fried goods, sugar bait and fruits, all to buy enough. New Year's Day before the New Year's rice, served in a bamboo basket, above the red orange, Wu Ling, water chestnuts and other fruits and Yuan Bao cake, inserted pine branches, called "New Year's rice". New Year's food and drink are to take auspicious words. Jiangnan people New Year's tea to honor guests, tea tray or bowl cover put two olives, known as "no treasure tea". New Year's dinner, there must be fried greens, said to eat "pro hot"; must eat bean sprouts, because the soybean sprouts shaped like "Ruyi"; every meal must eat fish head, but can not eat all, called "yearly fish (Yu) It is called "Yearly Fish (Yu)". Overview of Hunan Folklore
Folklore, as a social and cultural phenomenon, is often the most initial and widespread form, reflecting in a concrete and profound way the level of material production, way of life, ideology and spiritual and psychological conditions of the society. This is true in the world, in China, and also in Hunan. The emergence, evolution and inheritance of Hunan folklore, and even its demise, have their different characteristics in different historical periods and corners of the three Xiangshui, and they are consistent with the process of Hunan's social development.
I. Main Characteristics of Hunan Folklore
Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the south of Dongting Lake, Hunan is contiguous with Hubei Province in the north, neighboring Jiangxi Province in the east, and Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces and Regions in the south, and Guizhou Province and Chongqing Municipality in the west, and it belongs to the Folklore and Culture Circle of the Yangtze River Basin. History for the Jing barbarians, Yang Yue, southern barbarians and other ethnic minorities inhabited: ancient legend period, Hunan territory, there are egg yu, Jiu Li, three Miao, irrigation pockets, and other tribes; the first Chu period of the Jing barbarians, Huai people, Tiger Fang, Yang Yue,, the Elephant's Clan, the wind and Yi, and so on; Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, the Chu people entered the Hunan province, there are a large number of barbarians and the Ba people; Han and Tang dynasties, barbarians spread throughout the territory of the force, and this is the other side of the coin, with the Central Plains dynasty often occurring During the Song Dynasty, Yao, Miao, Bong, Boy, Uighur and other ethnic minorities emerged, gradually evolving into Miao, Dong, Yao, Tujia and other ethnic groups since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, coupled with the Bai, Hui, Uighur and so on, Hunan has become one of the provinces with a large number of ethnic minorities in addition to the Han Chinese, and a large number of ethnic minority customs have become the most important features of Hunan folklore.
These social customs and living habits, which were very different from those of the Han areas, especially from those of the central plains in the north, were often used as pretexts and justifications for the feudal ruling class and the great Han orthodoxy to attack and suppress the minorities. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the People's Republic of China and the People's Government of the People's Republic of China have attached great importance to the question of nationalities, and have formulated a correct line and a series of guidelines and policies, respecting the customs and habits of the national minorities and protecting their freedom of belief, so that the national minorities enjoy the same equal rights as the Han Chinese people. Analyzing the folklore phenomena formed by ethnic minorities in the process of their social development in history with the viewpoint of historical materialism, it is not difficult to find that folklore plays a very important role in the study of the history of the development of human society. For example, the "self-marriage" of the southern barbarians is essentially a manifestation of bloodline endogamy. In the kinship title in the paternal and maternal line is not obvious and "brother to take brother's wife, brother to accept brother and sister-in-law," the inheritance of marriage, is the remnants of the original marriage to the maid, is not what "obscene and obscene steam report" of the beast behavior. The custom of not falling into the husband's family and robbing marriage is a remnant of the transition from matrilineal to patrilineal marriage. The prevalence of aunt-uncle table marriage and uncle's right system in western Hunan reflects the matriarchal clan stage centered on women's rights experienced in this region. In addition, hunting in the mountains, mutual assistance in exchange for work, and the Jiangcao gongs and drums are remnants of the primitive ****productivism of the primitive society of equal distribution and collective labor, and the blood oaths of the Miao and the Dong, and the Yao system of the Yao people are all remnants of the primitive rural communal organization and military democracy. These minority customs in Hunan have actually been experienced in the history of the Central Plains, only that they have not been documented, or have been documented but are missing because of the long period of time. After the migration of Han Chinese from the north in the period from the Wei, Jin, North and South Dynasties to the Tang and Song dynasties, and from Jiangxi in the east in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Hunan gradually completed its sinicization. This process of sinicization is not only manifested as a process of national assimilation, but also a process of conflict, impact and intermingling of two civilizations and social ways, Hunan's local barbarian customs and Han customs. From the historical and practical point of view, the influence of the customs of the minority areas is also considerable, and the former is widely retained in the latter.
The other side of the main characteristics of Hunan folklore is that of the Chu culture. Chu people since the Spring and Autumn began to enter Hunan, and gradually unified the Hunan region, the ancestors of the primitive clan system has been disintegrated, across the threshold of "civilization", especially in the late Warring States period, along with the fall of Ying, a large number of Chu aristocrats moved south to Hunan, and promote the development of Hunan's regional economic and cultural development. Chu culture itself belongs to the category of southern culture, so the living customs of the Chu people and the Yuan-Xiang region has a similar relationship with the cultural factors. For example, the Chu people worshiped witches, which was similar to the custom of honoring ghosts and gods in the southern region. This combination of influences to the Hunan region, the formation of Hunan "believe in ghosts and gods, good sex shrine," the characteristics of folklore. And in the worship of witch, but also different from other regions: Qin and Song people worship witch, more demonic and evil; Yue people and Huai people worship witch, more ghosts and phantoms; and Chu people worship witch, but more humane flavor. Qu Yuan's works of God - Xiangjun, Xiangfu, mountain ghosts, etc., or beautiful, or born sentimental, they are living images of people. Nuo opera, Meilian opera, lantern plays around Hunan, are both entertaining the gods and entertaining people, so far the gods in the minds of Hunan people have real-life shadows. And the warrior temperament of the Chu people, martial struggle spirit, "Chu although three households, the death of Qin must Chu", has been rooted in the bones of Hunan people, cultivated the world celebrated the special spirit of Hunan people. As early as in the Northern Song Dynasty, Su Shi, a native of Sichuan, discovered this connection. In "Qu Yuan Tower", he wrote: "The people of Chu have been mourning Qu Yuan for thousands of years. Where is the spirit floating? Fathers and mothers are empty and hard to swallow. The winds of his legacy have become a race to the mountains of Chu, and his lamentation is strong." Qu Yuan's spirit of sacrifice, "Knowing that death cannot be allowed, I wish not to love", "Voluntary innocence in order to die straight", and "Though nine deaths, I have no regrets", has inspired generations of Hunan heroes. China's modern history is not lacking in Hunan's generosity and sadness of the people, the revolutionary movement is not without Hunan people throwing their heads and spilling hot blood of the feat. Some unfulfilled ambitions of the people such as Yang Yulin, Chen Tianhua, Yi Baisha, Xia Shouhua, Yao Hongye, Zheng Jia溉, etc., they killed the body to become a benevolent, martyrdom to death, they chose to throw the stone into the water, embodied a kind of death with Qu Yuan have striking similarities to the value of the death.
Second, the partition of Hunan folklore
Thousands of miles of different winds, hundreds of miles of different customs. Hunan folklore, both regional cultural characteristics of the same, but also around the history, geography and many other reasons for the differences. As early as in the Han Dynasty, when Yang Xiong compiled "Dialect", he pointed out that the culture of Hunan region has obvious differences between "between Jiangxiang" and "between Jiangyuan" and "between Yuanli", that is, the difference between the eastern and western regions. In other words, the difference between the eastern region and the western region. Geographically, the Xuefeng Mountain Range, which is the watershed of the Zi River and the Shenjiang River, is the boundary, and the western part of the Yuan and Yuan River Basin is the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, while the eastern part of the Xiang and Zi River Basin is mostly the hilly area in the southern part of the Yangtze River. Such a geological structure, is bound to make the east and west of the two major parts of their respective internal folk heritage and communication is more convenient. There is a folk saying that "the transmission of mountain songs is not separated by mountains and water", and this proverb characterizing the transmission of mountain songs also applies to folklore. In a society where productivity is not yet developed, mountains are the barriers to transportation, and water is the hub of contact, and people always communicate through waterways in all aspects of life, economy and so on. From the point of view of the evolution of the administrative division of Hunan, the two major regions of the east and west have always been in different administrative regions. When the Chu people entered Hunan, they set up Qianzhong County in the west and Jiangnan County in the east along the east and west sides of Dongting Lake. During the Qin Dynasty, the Xiangzhi basin belonged to Changsha County, Xiangzhou was set up during the Southern Dynasty, the late Tang Dynasty set up the Hunan Observation Envoy, and the Song Dynasty set up the Jinghu South Road here. Shencheng basin belonged to Qianzhong County in the Qin Dynasty, Wuling County in the Han Dynasty, Jingzhou and Zhengzhou in the Southern Dynasty, Jingnan Sectional Envoy and Qianzhou Observer in the late Tang Dynasty, and Jinghubei Road in the Song Dynasty. These historical facts show that the eastern and western parts of the region have their own relatively independent historical evolution. From the point of view of ethnic composition, as early as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, there are differences between the two regions of the indigenous peoples, Xiangzhi Basin for the Yang Yue people, Yuanli Basin and Southwest China have some **** the same characteristics of the ethnic groups. The difference in ethnicity is bound to be reflected in the larger differences in folklore.
Hunan folklore of regional differences, resulting in the Xiangzhi basin for the region of the eastern region and the Yuanli basin for the region of the western region. This difference can be examined in several major aspects such as the seasons and festivals, folk beliefs, marriage rituals, and folk songs as oral language folklore.
Differences in seasons and festivals can reflect a variety of unique lifestyles, and are a concentrated expression of differences in folk life. Although Hunan has a large **** of yearly customs, it is not difficult to see the individuality of regional differences. Dragon Boat Festival in the west of the Yuan River Basin is particularly valued, the prevalence of the custom of racing, quite a number of places, there is a big and small Dragon Boat Festival, that is, in the May 15 and then a big Dragon Boat Festival, the legend of the Eastern Han Dynasty with the general Ma Yan related to the east of the Xiangzhi Basin, only the plains of the river valleys, the custom of racing, the southern hilly and mountainous areas, generally do not have this type of folklore activities. The 9th day of the 9th month of the 9th lunar month in the west of the Yuanli area is particularly valued, not only to brew the sun wine, but also to make sun cakes to give each other, and some places even in the 19th day of the big sun festival again. The east of the Xiangzhi basin is relatively low priority, generally only high hiking only. Over the small New Year to the 24th day of the lunar month is quite common throughout the province, but the sacrificial stove time there is a bright help regional, Xiang capital basin in most places in the small New Year's Yong, only a few places are in the small New Year's eve or the next night, and most of the places in the Yuanli basin are in the evening of the 23rd day of the lunar month in the first sacrificial stove. Bathing Buddha Festival as the 8th day of April is far less common in the Yuan River basin than in the Xiangzhi basin, and wu rice, which is an important part of the festival, is almost absent in the western part of the country.
In terms of folk beliefs, the eastern Xiangzhi Valley has the custom of Chao Yue. "every year in July, the euphonium to pray to the Nanyue, the fasting and the baggage, to the August solstice to visit the Yue temple incense, and there are along the way to pick incense and wish to worship, to three, five, seven steps for the festival, to the temple square stops, known as the burning incense." Nanyue temple fair thus become one of the most lively fair in Hunan, Nanyue has "half a year does not open, open to eat half a year," the folk song. However, in the western Yuan River basin, there are no regional folk rituals such as Nanyue's, and wishes are scattered, such as Wulei Mountain, Taifushan Mountain, Xizhushan Mountain, and so on, and there are no widely circulated songs of pilgrimage to incense in the eastern part of the country. The folk gods and goddesses believed in are also quite different. In the western Yuanli Valley, the worship of Ma Yan was historically very well developed, with Fubo temples scattered all over the area. The worship of the Bamboo King was also very common and developed into the God of Heaven. However, in the eastern Xiangzhi Valley, there was no worship of Ma Yan and the Bamboo King.
In terms of marriage etiquette, many places in the eastern Xiangzhi Valley Songtang custom is very prevalent, and the western Yuanli Valley crying marriage custom is more prominent. Songtang and weeping marriage are both related and different, Songtang is mainly to accompany the marriage, and the theme of weeping marriage is parting, Songtang is mainly to learn the knowledge of social life, and emphasizes on intellectual development; weeping marriage is to be bonded by affection, and emphasizes on the expression of emotions. In the wedding program, the east of the Xiangzhi basin is generally son-in-law does not welcome, that is, the groom to the bride's home, some places before the sedan chair to the door of the new son-in-law but also to avoid, and the western Yuanli basin, although strictly speaking is still son-in-law does not welcome, but there are some changes in many places the groom went to the female family on the wedding day to perform the ceremony of the wild geese, and then first sedan chair and return. The bridegroom's guests in the Xiangzhi Valley are usually men, while those in the Yuanli Valley are mostly women, especially the sister-in-law of the bride's family, who must go there. The newlyweds in the Xiangzhi basin return to the door two or three days after the wedding, and in many places in the Yuanli basin on the ninth day or a month later.
Folk songs, as oral language folklore, are quite developed in the western part of the Yuan River Basin, and there are special forms of field songs, while most of the Xiangzhi Basin has no field songs, or has them but they are undeveloped. In the Yuan river basin, there are field songs such as "Gripping Field Drums", "Tea Mountain Drums", "Gripping Grass Drums", "Digging Songs", etc., which are a combination of labor horns and mountain songs, accompanied by gongs and drums or gongs and drums and money, and are used in mountainous areas for collective labor occasions. Comparatively speaking, the field songs of the Xiangzhi Valley are somewhat inferior.
Furthermore, after the Hunan folklore is divided into the eastern part of the Xiangzhi basin and the western part of the Yuanli basin, the two regions can be divided into a number of neighborhoods according to their subtle differences. For example, the eastern Xiangzhi basin can be divided into Changyue, Hengbao and Chenguiyong three neighborhoods, and the western Yuanli basin can be divided into Changcheng, Chenyong Yuanjing and other neighborhoods. Some of the folklore phenomena and even the difference between a county. Such as the Qing Dynasty, Zuoling County, over the small New Year's Day, "the people first day, shaking the day after the" difference. In the western Hunan Longshan area, the Miao in the waxing moon 28 New Year, while the Tujia in the twenty-ninth New Year. Northern Hunan Huarong, the locals ate the New Year's Eve reunion dinner at noon, while moving into the "South" at dawn, but most do not eat New Year's Eve dinner. There are other customs, the nuances of which can exist in a village or township
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