China has been called "a land of clothes and etiquette" since ancient times. In ancient times, people attached great importance to etiquette. In the past, China was not a legal country, and the country was governed by etiquette. Rely on etiquette to govern the country, coordinate interpersonal relationships, and maintain social harmony. The country has the five rites of "good luck, bad luck, military, guest, and honor" and , and there are also five personal rites of "birth, crown, wedding, funeral, and sacrifice" in all aspects. Today we will talk about the "five rites" of individuals in traditional culture. The "giving birth ceremony" in Chinese.
The birth ceremony is what we now call the birth ceremony , which includes the birth ceremony, the three-day ceremony, the naming ceremony, the full-moon ceremony, the hundred-day ceremony, the one-year-old ceremony, etc. In ancient times, having children was the greatest wish of a couple and a great joy for the family. When a woman is pregnant, she says "happy" or "happy"; when a baby is born, she says "happy"; when sending birth information to relatives and friends, it is called "announcement"; when relatives and friends come to celebrate, they say "happy, happy to have a baby" and so on. In addition, there are also customs such as drinking wedding wine, eating wedding noodles, steaming wedding cakes, and sending wedding eggs. The word "happy" almost runs through the entire process of pregnant women giving birth.
The birth ceremony, specifically, in ancient times, the birth ceremony was called the birth ceremony. " Book of Songs · Xiaoya·Siqian" says: "When a man is born, he carries the bed to sleep on. When he carries the clothes, he carries the clothes." "When a woman is born, she carries the place to sleep. When she carries the clothes, she carries the clothes. "Nongzhiwa." This means that if a boy is born, let him sleep on the bed, dress him in gorgeous clothes, and play with him with white jade. When the prince meets the prince, he makes the baby boy play with Zhang, hoping that he will become an official when he grows up); if the baby is a girl, let her sleep on the ground, wrap her in swaddling clothes, and give her a clay spindle to play with. (Tiles are the spindles used by ancient women when weaving. Let a baby girl make tiles, which means that she will be trained to be diligent in weaving from an early age). The consciousness of favoring boys over girls and subordinating men to women is very obvious.
The Three Dynasties Ceremony is a ceremony held on the third day after a child is born (the day of birth is counted as the first day). In rural areas in the south, there is still a custom called "Washing the Three Dynasties". According to records, Xisanchao appeared in the Tang Dynasty and became very popular in the Song Dynasty. This is a bathing ceremony held three days after the baby is born. The practices vary from place to place, but the basic process is similar: boil water with moxa and bathe the child. Relatives and friends who came to congratulate took money, happy fruits and other things and put them into the bathtub, which is called "adding basin". Xi Po chants different auspicious words according to the different items thrown in by relatives and friends. For example, if jujubes and chestnuts are placed, it is said that "the son will be born early"; if lotus seeds are placed, it is said that "the noble son will be born in succession", etc. After washing, some even slap the child three times with green onions, which means "smart" (onions). When washing the three dynasties, relatives and friends give red envelopes as gifts, and the host treats them with cakes and other treats, and leaves relatives and friends to eat "three dynasties noodles". After washing, there is another important ceremony called: navel burning. That is, the remnants of the newborn's umbilical cord are removed, and alum is applied to the baby's fontanel, which means that the newborn has left the pregnancy period and officially entered the infant stage.
Full-moon ceremony, also called full-moon ceremony, also called full-moon naming ceremony, is held when a newborn is one month old, and it is a custom that continues to this day. As a full-moon gift, the first thing is to serve full-moon wine . On the day of the full moon, a group of relatives and friends bring gifts to congratulate the host, and the host hosts a sumptuous banquet, called full-moon wine. Secondly, on the day of the full moon ceremony, a barber should be invited to the home to shave the newborn's hair for the first time, which is called fetal hair , and the shaved fetal hair should be retained. After shaving, the shaver will be rewarded with money. In ancient times, it was necessary to name the child when the baby was full moon, but now the name of the child is already decided before birth, because the hospital's birth certificate must also include the newborn's name.
Hundred-day gift, during the hundred days of children, there is a folk custom to wear hundreds of clothes and eat hundreds of meals. Parents hope that their children will grow up healthily. I think this requires everyone's blessing. Thanks to everyone's blessing, I have to eat hundreds of meals and wear hundreds of clothes. To wear Baijiayi is to take a piece of cloth from each family and piece it together to make a costume, which is called Baijiayi. The same goes for Baijia rice.Moreover, in some places, children will wear longevity lock for 100 days.
One-year-old gift, the most common cultural custom of one-year-old gift is " grabbing weeks ". Scratching the week, also called "testing", "lists trays and lamps on the ground to hold fruits, trees, food, official certificates, pens, and other things used for scrolls and needlework, and observes which ones are picked first, and considers them as signs, which is called "testing". "This is a great gift for children." A child's inadvertent scratching arouses the imagination of adults. This custom is very common and is still popular among the people. There are also sets of ritual utensils specially used for children to catch their children.
The birth ceremony can be said to be one of the most important etiquettes in our lives. In modern times, there is a saying that "there are three tables in life. We don't know how to eat at the first table, we don't have time to eat at the second table, and we can only watch at the third table." Eat with others!” So, we must cherish the good times now. In the next article, we will talk about our coming-of-age ceremony, the "Crown Ceremony". Welcome to leave a message and follow us!
