"Going out of the garden" is an adult custom in Chaoshan area of Guangdong Province, which means that underage children are just like being in the garden, but when they are 15 years old, they should be "taken out of the garden" to let them have the consciousness of independent life. The ceremony of "leaving the garden" reminds children to face the world when they grow up, to be responsible and to be responsible for what they have done.
It means that the child has grown up and can walk out of the garden. He is no longer a child who plays in the garden all day.
The ceremony is to assemble three kinds of fruit crystals into four, eight or twelve pieces, put them on the commonly known "plastic broom" (bamboo dustpan for drying), and invite them out of the in-laws' furnace. Children who leave the garden should bow down and then stop worshipping. Children who leave the garden should wear red leather shoes and eat chicken heads, and eat a little of all food. And he was the first one to eat.
Ritual details
"Going out of the garden" is a unique adult ceremony in Chaoshan area. 15-year-old children will hold a "out of the garden" ceremony. Because local customs are different, for example, in some areas, only girls are allowed to go out of the park, and some people use 12 flowers to give people in the park a bath, and so on. Therefore, taking Jieyang as an example, this paper discusses some etiquette of "leaving the park".
Chaoshan people no longer worship their parents-in-law They think that/kloc-children under 0/5 live in a "garden" and are sheltered by a pair of gods called parents-in-law. Whether children can grow up depends on the gifts of these gods, so Chaoshan people have always attached great importance to worshipping their parents-in-law.
Children living in the "Garden" worship their parents-in-law on July 7th every year, praying for their healthy growth. Children who leave the garden are no longer under the control of "in-laws" and will no longer worship "in-laws" on July 7.
On the day of "leaving the garden", children should wear new clothes, clogs, usually red. Of course, many complicated procedures have been simplified now, and uncles can send red envelopes directly to nephews (daughters) and let the children buy them themselves. Moreover, this morning, parents will let their children wear a pomegranate flower with auspicious meaning on their ears.
Eat breakfast "bite" a chicken head? On this day, we usually have eight people to have breakfast, including a rooster, dessert, vegetables and so on, patched together into eight or twelve dishes. The table is also exquisite. The person who leaves the garden sits in the right position, with the head of the chicken facing him (her). The person who leaves the garden eats it himself, and the head of the chicken becomes his or her patent. Its significance lies in that when you grow up, you can get ahead and prosper.
After "going out of the garden" and holding chopsticks, others can eat them, as is the case with every kind of food. When the gardener is a chicken, goose should be used instead of chicken. Entertain friends and relatives, receive gifts at noon, prepare a sumptuous lunch and entertain friends and relatives. During the dinner, family members and relatives all blessed the children and sent good wishes.
A few days before or on the day of "leaving the garden", relatives will come to give gifts, or red envelopes or gifts. When the protagonist of Out of the Garden gives gifts, parents usually arrange them in return.
Others in Jieyang, there is a saying that children can't run too far out of the park or even cross the bridge. On this day, children just play, eat and don't do any housework, and are spoiled by their parents for the last time. For a good omen, children's words and demands are generally not rejected unless absolutely necessary.