In the extensive and profound traditional Chinese culture, folk culture has always occupied a very important position. Our country has a vast territory and rich resources, and the living habits, diet, clothing, festivals, beliefs, etc. of each region will be different. Gansu is a province with a long history. Since ancient times, people’s special customs have formed a unique Gansu culture. Let’s learn about it together.
1. Gansu New Year's Eve customs
New Year's Eve
Commonly known as "New Year's Eve", the wax knife is thirty (some years it is twenty-nine), which is the first day of the lunar calendar. The last day of the year. In the afternoon of that day, every household cleans the courtyard, tidies up the indoor and outdoor environment, then puts up Spring Festival couplets, door gods, half curtains, hangs yellow coins, burns incense to worship ancestors, and sets off firecrackers to express the removal of the old. In the evening, every family eats green rice noodle stew called "Cangcang", which means family reunion and longevity. After the whole family, old and young, has had enough to eat, some leftovers are meant to "live a prosperous life and have more than enough every year." It's night, and the whole family is completely sleepless, which is called "staying up for the New Year" or "keeping up the New Year's Eve". The younger generation kowtows to their elders to bid farewell to the new year, and the elders give "lucky money" to the younger generation, also called "lucky money".
Qingming Festival
Qingming is one of the twenty-four solar terms in the lunar calendar. On this day, graves are swept to worship ancestors, which is called "Spring Festival". It is customary in urban and rural areas of Wuwei that those who have tombstones must go to the tomb to offer sacrifices, burn paper money, and add soil one or two days before the Qingming Festival; those who do not have tombstones must go to the suburbs or in front of their homes or streets on the night before the Qingming Festival. Paper money was burned in the alley. It is taboo to visit graves and burn paper on Qingming Festival. Legend has it that the paper money burned on that day becomes iron money and cannot be used by the deceased.
Dragon Boat Festival
The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the Dragon Boat Festival, also known as the Duanyang Festival. In the early morning of that day, willow branches were placed at the door of every house to summon Qu Yuan's spirit and ward off the plague. Children tie five-color cotton or silk ropes on their wrists, wear sachets and purses on their bodies, and apply realgar wine on their mouth, nose, and ears. It is said that this can avoid the five poisons (namely snakes, scorpions, geckos, toads, and centipedes). There is a saying in Wuwei that "Wear out during the Dragon Boat Festival in May". Teenagers of both sexes wear fashionable summer clothes and have fun. Young women pay attention to embroidering vanilla purses, decorating them with tassels, and giving them to relatives and friends.
In the old days, unmarried girls would wear their purses on their lapels or tie them in their braids, tempting them to pick them off. If they were not picked off, they would feel ashamed of their appearance. On this day, every family eats rice dumplings or pancakes, and relatives and friends give each other gifts. In the afternoon, urban and rural residents gathered in groups to visit temples. In the past, they visited Haizi. Now the sea water has dried up and the temples were destroyed by earthquakes. Instead, they visited the Confucian Temple, Ancient Bell Tower, Leitai, Haizang Park, Xijiao Park, etc. Children go to the wild to climb trees, break branches, and make willow hats to prevent the heat.
Mid-Autumn Festival
The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month is the "Mid-Autumn Festival". On this day, every household in urban and rural areas steams moon cakes to show family reunion. Wuwei people's mooncakes are made from dough and steamed. They are as big as an overturned basin and come in many varieties, including layered mooncakes, twisted silk mooncakes, double mooncakes, and cinnamon-flavored mooncakes. They are delicious. There is a saying that "it comes out on August 15th", which means that the autumn harvest is already in August and the food is abundant. Relatives and friends give each other mooncakes as a means of comparison.
On the night of August 15th, the bright moon rises slowly. Every family sets up an incense table in the courtyard, offers moon cakes, fruits and other sacrifices, lights candles and burns incense, and the whole family sits around to admire the moon. . A little, the housewife cuts the moon cakes and watermelons; the whole family eats fruits and moon cakes, chatting and laughing, which is quite interesting. According to legend, the watermelon offered to the moon god must be cut into two zigzag-shaped petals. If there is a pregnant woman in the family, the number of teeth on the melon can be counted to predict the gender. An odd number will give birth to a boy, and an even number will give birth to a girl.
2. Gold locks, silver locks, and tethering locks
Zhangye folk had the custom of tethering locks in the past. "Tuansuosuo" is a ceremony held when a child is "over the full moon", invited to be a godfather (i.e., asked to be a godfather), or when a young man or girl is engaged. The 29th day after the child is born needs to be "over the full moon". On this day, all relatives and neighbors who have been here for the full moon, as soon as they enter the house, first tie a "long life and wealth" lock to their children as a blessing.
After the "Baby Egg" can run and jump, the parents will ask three people with different surnames and good conduct to be their children's godfathers, who are said to be able to suppress evil and drive away evil. Turn evil into good fortune. After parents find a "ganda" for their children, they choose a good day, prepare a banquet, and personally visit the "ganda" to invite the "ganda" to come. Before eating on this day, the three "ganda" must take out the "locks" they carry in their arms and hang them one by one on their necks.
When the baby grows up and has a daughter-in-law, she must be engaged before getting married, and the engagement must be locked with a padlock.
On this day, the girl shyly came to the young man's house early in the company of her relatives. Everything was ready. The guests and hosts sat down happily on a red table with the Eight Immortals. The elders on both sides smiled and locked the child and the girl with each other's padlocks. As soon as they hang up, the young man and the girl are tied together, and the two families officially become in-laws. Whether it is for a full moon celebration, a marriage invitation, or an engagement, the locks are all the same. In the old days, rich families hired silversmiths to customize gold or silver locks, while poor families either used copper locks or strung a string of copper coins instead.
3. Longdong Shadow Puppet
Longdong Shadow Puppet, also known as lamp shadow and cowhide doll, is a stage performance tool and a folk handicraft. In the old days, Longdong shadow puppetry was a kind of folk shadow play in which edible clear oil (vegetable oil) was used as fuel and lights illuminated the silhouettes of figures made of cowhide as puppets. It can also be performed when the sun is shining during the day, which is called hot shadow play.
Shadow puppetry originated very early. According to folklore in Longdong, when Hu Hai, the son of Qin Shihuang, was born, he cried all day long. But one day, he stopped crying when he saw the shadow play on the window. But as soon as the figure left the window, he started crying again. So Qin Shihuang ordered people to carve the shape of the performer and continued to perform. Hu Hai stopped crying, and shadow play appeared.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, film performances became more common. "Capital Records" says: "All shadow plays were made by people in the capital who first carved arrowheads on plain paper, and later on colored leather." During the Qingli period of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, Fan Zhongyan was guarding Qingyang. At that time, artists performed shadow puppet plays to reward the soldiers. In the late Qing Dynasty, Gansu general Dong Fuxiang brought the Huanxian shadow puppet troupe to the capital to celebrate the birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi.
IV. Farmhouse style outside the Great Wall of Kangning
Kangning Village belongs to Xiaoman Township, Zhangye City. The terrain of the whole village is relatively flat, gradually extending from south to north, with sufficient water resources. It belongs to the Daman Irrigation District. The cultivated land is fertile, and the main products are wheat, corn, a small amount of millet, potatoes, beans, and cash crops such as flax, apples, and sunflowers.
Because Kangning Village has attached great importance to the development of courtyard economy and planted pear trees over the years, the per capita annual income of the village has always been the highest among all villages in the region, making it a truly "well-off village". Zhangye's two Pear Blossom Festivals in 1992 and 1993 were held in this village. The white pear blossoms stretched as far as the eye could see, making tourists marvel and linger.