Lantern Festival is the most brightly lit season in a year, which can be regarded as "the fire tree never sleeps". Folk lanterns in Shanxi are no exception. Of course, there is a distinction between light and fire. Lights are lanterns; Fire means setting off fireworks

According to legend, the custom of playing lanterns began in the Western Han Dynasty and flourished in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, lantern style prevailed in all previous dynasties and spread to future generations. The fifteenth day of the first month is the climax of the annual lantern fireworks. Therefore, the Lantern Festival is also called "Lantern Festival". In Shanxi's county-level city walls and even towns, these residents are concentrated and bustling. Before the fifteenth day of the first month, the streets were full of lanterns, flowers everywhere, and the lights were swaying, reaching a climax on the fifteenth night of the first month. On the fifteenth day of the first month, "watching lanterns" has become a spontaneous activity among Shanxi people.

On the fifteenth night of the first month, red lights are hung high in the streets and alleys, including palace lanterns, animal lanterns, lanterns, bird lanterns and so on, to attract people to watch lanterns.

In Taiyuan, the lights in Taigu County are very famous. People have compiled a beautiful folk proverb that has been passed down to this day: "The fire in Nanzhuang, the lights in Taigu, and the iron bars in Xugou love to harm people."

Taigu lamp, why is it famous? This is because in the history of Taigu County, business gradually prospered for more than 300 years, and it was even more prosperous during Daoguang and Xianfeng years in Qing Dynasty, and it was once known as "Little Beijing". At that time, banks flourished in China and enjoyed a high reputation. In Taigu City, there are more than 700 shops along the street. In addition to commercial competition, big businessmen and wealthy families try their best to imitate the fashion of Suzhou, Hangzhou and Yangzhou in terms of cultural customs. The rise and development of the Lantern Festival is formed under such circumstances. With the development of trade, many varieties and patterns of colored lights have been introduced from other places. According to legend, "Palace Lantern" and "Dragon Lantern" were imported from Guangdong by businessmen. As for a large number of lanterns, they are imitations of Yangzhou. Behind the introduction of this kind of knowledge, there are local innovations, which make the Lantern Festival in Taigu rise suddenly and become the crown of the Three Jin Dynasties.

Taikoo lamp is famous for its variety, exquisite production and beautiful appearance. During the reign of Kangxi in Qing Dynasty, there were paper lanterns, gauze lanterns, Yang Jiaodeng, hydrangea lanterns and satin embroidered lanterns. During the light years of Qing Dynasty, palace lanterns were introduced. Most of these palace lanterns are made of rosewood and walnut. All exquisite wooden products are carved with faucets, with round, octagonal or hexagonal mouths and tassels. They are exquisitely carved and elegantly shaped. On the horizontal plane of this lamp, there are calligraphy and painting, which are colorful and fascinating.

On the night of Lantern Festival, you can also see all kinds of plant lights, animal lights, trademark lights and crossword puzzles hanging on the street to attract people to watch.

On the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth day of the first month, the lights in Taigu City, the lights along the street, the lights in the small house in the courtyard and the lights outside the temple are all decorated with colorful lights, which are beautiful and pleasing to the eye. People watching lanterns are like rivers, like tides, rubbing shoulders and staying up all night. Some activities in solve riddles on the lanterns need longer time. In the evening, there are still folk music performances, pushing the atmosphere of the Lantern Festival to a climax. This kind of Lantern Festival is not only available in Taigu County, Shanxi Province, but also in all counties in the province. In some big villages and towns, there is also the saying of hanging lanterns, which is "watching lanterns". In other counties and provincial capitals of Shanxi, there are also lantern festivals, lantern festivals and lantern festival competitions, and all localities also have their own unique ideas.

Watching lanterns is the most interesting and cultural activity in the "Shangyuan Festival", which is still flourishing in cities, towns, markets and towns all over the province.

kite

Kites have a history of more than 2,000 years in China. From the traditional China kites, we can see the shadows of auspicious meanings and auspicious patterns everywhere. In the long years, our ancestors not only created exquisite calligraphy and painting that condensed the wisdom of the Chinese nation, but also created many patterns that reflected people's yearning and pursuit for a better life and implied good luck. It gives people the meaning of happiness, auspiciousness and blessing through the image of the pattern; It combines the appreciation habits of the masses, reflects people's kind and healthy thoughts and feelings, and permeates our national traditions and folk customs, so it is widely circulated among the people and deeply loved by people.

Kites with a history of more than 2,000 years have been integrated into and influenced by the traditional culture of China. In China's traditional kites, such auspicious meanings can be seen everywhere: "Longevity is better than Nanshan Mountain, Longevity is better than Nanshan Mountain", "Dragon and Phoenix are auspicious", "A hundred butterflies are in spring", "Carp yue longmen", "Ma Gu offers longevity", "Birds return to the phoenix", "Fish all the year round" and "Peace in the four seasons".

Auspicious patterns use figures, animals, flowers and birds, utensils and other images and some auspicious words, take folk proverbs, auspicious words and fairy stories as themes, and form an artistic form of "one auspicious word and one pattern" by means of metaphor, analogy, pun, symbol and homophonic expression, which endows people with the meaning of seeking good luck, avoiding disasters and taking refuge, and places their hopes on happiness, longevity and celebration. Because of its figurative meaning and auspicious patterns, it combines scenery with things, so its theme is distinct and prominent, its conception is ingenious, it is full of fun, its style is unique and its national color is strong. For example, the pattern of fly with me with a pair of phoenix birds facing the sun is called "Double Phoenix Rising Sun", which has rich meanings and changeable patterns, and embodies people's healthy enterprising spirit and pursuit of happiness.

The auspicious patterns in China are rich in content, including "seeking happiness", "longevity", "celebrating" and "auspicious", among which the patterns seeking happiness are the most.

Seeking happiness:

The pursuit of happiness is the same. Bat is homophonic with "all happiness" and "all wealth" Although its image is not beautiful, it is fully beautified and regarded as an auspicious pattern symbolizing "happiness". Kites with bats as patterns abound. For example, in the traditional Jingshayan kite, the whole rigid arm can be painted with beautified bats, represented by "Yan Fu". Other meaningful kites include "Happiness in Happiness", "Happiness in Eyes", "Five Blessingg's Birthday", "Five Blessingg's Birthday", "Five Blessingg's Monkey" and "Five Blessingg's Birthday". In the Zhou Dynasty, Hong Fan wrote "Five Blessingg": longevity, wealth, corning and togetherness. "Being virtuous" means being virtuous, and "dying after the exam" means dying well. According to Five Blessingg's morality, happiness includes wealth and longevity. Other auspicious patterns used for praying include "Fish" and "Ruyi" (Ruyi was originally a bamboo stick, so it was named because it can scratch places that people can't reach). The auspicious patterns and kites related to this are: Fish every year, Many blessings, Carp yue longmen, All the best, All the best and Peace.

Life span:

Throughout the ages, people hope to live a long and healthy life. There are many patterns to express and celebrate longevity: evergreen pines and cypresses, cranes and colorful birds that are said to live for a thousand years, Ganoderma lucidum that is said to live for a hundred years, and Xiantao, the Queen Mother of the West, which can make people live forever. There are more than 300 glyphs that pursue and express longevity, and the changes are extremely rich. The word "Wan" originated from Buddhism, which means "Up to Wan". In Shayan kites, the waist pattern is mostly a rotating "ten thousand" pattern. The auspicious patterns and kites related to this are: "Celebrating the birthday of Xiangyun" and "Celebrating the birthday of the Eight Immortals".

Celebrations:

Express people's beautiful, happy and happy mood. There are many shapes of happy characters, and "Xi" is a common festive pattern. Magpie is a sign of happy events. Kites include the word "happy" and "happy" kites. Kites and auspicious patterns related to this are: jubilant, double happiness, multiple happiness, happy life and happiness. Festive patterns are also very interesting, such as butterflies, birds, flowers, baiji, longevity, happiness, and happiness, such as "a hundred birds fly at the phoenix". Happy marriage, harmony between husband and wife, Yuanyang kite, etc.

Auspicious:

Dragons, phoenixes and unicorns are imaginary animals. Turtles were a symbol of longevity in ancient times, and were later replaced by turtle back patterns. It is particularly important to emphasize the topic of dragons. China is a country that worships dragons. In our country, dragon has a special meaning. Dragon is a magical creature with antlers, bull's head, python's body, fish scales and eagle's claws. It is regarded as a symbol of ancient civilization in China. Traditional auspicious patterns composed of birds, animals and other images include "Dragon and Phoenix are auspicious", "Dragon playing with pearls", "Cai Feng Qi Fei" and "A hundred birds are flying towards the phoenix". Chinese traditional kites-long-rope kites with centipede heads, especially large ones, are loved by people for their spectacular flying scenes.

The Chinese Ring

Nine-ring is a folk toy in China. Nine rings are made of metal wires, which are sleeved on transverse plates or various frames, and the ring handles penetrate. When playing, repeat the operation according to certain procedures, so that the nine rings can be untied or combined into one.

Nine-ring is a kind of intellectual toy that spreads among Shanxi people. It uses nine rings in a string and wins by unraveling them. According to the Records of Dan and Lead by Yang Shen in Ming Dynasty, the two intersecting rings were made of jade. "Two rings intersect into one, can be closed, can be solved into two, and can be merged into one." Later, instead of jade, copper or iron became toys for women and children. It has a history of nearly 2000 years in China. In Zhuo Wenjun's letter to Sima Xiangru, there is a sentence that "nine chains are broken". A Dream of Red Mansions in the Qing Dynasty is also recorded by Lin Daiyu's skillful interpretation of the nine-linked rings. Zhou Bangyan also left a famous sentence about the Nine Rings, "Clever Jie Lianhuan."

Nine-ring chain is very popular, with various forms and specifications. When making, nine small rings are made of metal wires, which are connected and sleeved on strip-shaped transverse plates or various frames. The handle of the frame is sword-shaped, wishful-shaped, butterfly-shaped, plum-blossom-shaped and so on, and each ring is connected with it by copper bars. When playing, all nine rings are connected to the copper ring according to law, or all of them are untied after putting on sleeves. Its solutions are diverse, separable and changeable. The winner needs 8/kloc-0 times to arrange nine connected rings in a row, and then it takes another time to untie all nine rings. In addition, it can also be set into flower baskets, hydrangeas, palace lanterns, etc.

At the same time, the nine-ring chain is also solved in order. It takes a long time to solve the nine chains, and it can also exercise people's patience. Moreover, the nine-ring chain can increase the number of rings as needed to improve the difficulty, but the increase of the number of rings will increase the steps of solving rings geometrically, and the method of solving rings has not changed in essence, so we usually see nine rings.

Zhuo Wenjun, the wife of a talented woman and poet in the Western Han Dynasty, once mentioned the Nine Commandments: "I can't understand it, I can't understand it, I can only blame Lang. ……

Zhuo Wenjun was born in the Western Han Dynasty, and Zhuge Liang was born at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when the Han Dynasty had fallen apart. The difference between the two is hundreds of years. That is to say, in the Western Han Dynasty hundreds of years before Zhuge Liang, the Nine-Chain already existed. Therefore, the statement that "the nine-ring chain was invented by Zhuge Liang" is not correct, and it may have been misinformed by later generations.

play on the swing

This is the custom of ancient Tomb-Sweeping Day in China. Swing, that is, lift the rope, move. It has a very long history. It was originally called Qian Qiu, but later it was changed into a swing to avoid taboos. In ancient times, swings were made of branches and tied with ribbons. Later, it gradually developed into two ropes, a pedal swing.

In ancient times, swinging was only seen around Tomb-Sweeping Day and the Cold Food Festival, and it was limited to the games of boys and girls in wealthy families.

The origin of swing can be traced back to ancient times hundreds of thousands of years ago. At that time, our ancestors had to climb trees to pick wild fruits or hunt wild animals in order to make a living. In climbing and running, they often catch the thick vines and rely on the swaying vines to climb trees or cross ditches and streams. This is the most primitive prototype of the swing. As for the later swings with ropes hanging from wooden frames and pedals tied to them, they existed in northern China in the Spring and Autumn Period. There is a record in Yiwenzhi Collection that "the mountain in the north swings into cold food every day for a play". At that time, the rope tied to the swing was generally made of animal skins in order to be firm, so the word "boot armor" was written on the swing, and the word "skin" was taken as the side.

Bean grass

Ancient folk games. Popular in Central Plains and South China. Its origin is unknown, and it is generally believed to be related to the emergence of traditional Chinese medicine. Ancient ancestors struggled to survive and lived a monotonous life. In their spare time, they amuse themselves by fighting insects, grass and wild animals. After the legendary "Shennong tasting a hundred herbs" became a traditional Chinese medicine, it became a custom to gather in the suburbs to collect herbs and insert Ai Men to relieve the summer heat and epidemic. After harvest, competitions are often held, with grass as the competition object, or with the names of flowers and plants as the competition object, such as "dog ear grass" versus "cockscomb flower"; It is also a variety of fighting grass, which wins more, and has both plant knowledge and literary knowledge; Children hook, pinch and pull each other with petioles. If you break it, you lose, and then change a leaf to fight. Bai Juyi's poem "Watching Children's Play" says: "Making dust or mowing grass is fun all day long."

Han has never seen fighting grass before. (Textual research on popular things in the past dynasties: Shang) The origin of things says: "It started in Hanwu". According to a story written by Zong Yi, a person from the Liang Dynasty, "On May 5, four people stepped on a hundred herbs and had a scene of fighting grass." Memories of the Years: "On the Dragon Boat Festival, build houses to store medicines, shoot herbs and wrap five silks."

It was called "stepping on a hundred herbs" in the Northern and Southern Dynasties and "fighting grass" or "fighting a hundred herbs" in the Tang Dynasty. "Biography of Liu Bin" said: "In Tang Zhongzong, Princess Anle fought with Baicao for five days." The song dynasty expanded to fight at any time on weekdays. There are many descriptions of this in the works of scholars in past dynasties.

The play of "Doll Play Sketch" in the Palace Museum in Beijing is as follows: First, both sides of the competition choose grass with certain toughness (Loulan case: mostly plantain, perennial herb of plantain, roadside and ditch? Edge, ridge, etc. Stemless, with many slender fibrous roots; Leaves clustered from rhizosphere, thin papery, with 5 main veins, whole or undulate, or sparse and blunt teeth, as long as 15-30 cm; There are green and white sparse flowers, the corolla is divided and there are four stamens; When the fruit is ripe, it will open like a lid and release four to six brown-black seeds. Its long floral axis is a good material for weeding. Then cross each other into a "cross" shape and pull each other hard, so that the person who persists will win. This kind of grass that fights by the pull of people and grass is called "the warfare". Wang Jian's "Gong Ci" chanted the scene of the game of mowing grass: "Flowers, celery leaves and soil in the water will be collected from many families, always waiting for others to count them all, and there are jade buds in the sleeve." Grass bucket has not only "bucket", but also "bucket".

The so-called "literary fight" means that girls collect hundreds of herbs for the names of flowers and plants, and report the names of grasses to each other in the form of competitions. Whoever collects more grass seeds will have a high level of competition, and whoever persists in the end will win. So you can't play this game without some plant knowledge and literary accomplishment. & lt& lt> Part 62: "On Baoyu's birthday, the sisters were busy drinking and writing poems. The maids in each room also had a good time with their master. Xue Pan's aunt Xiangling and several maids each picked some flowers and plants to have fun. It says, I have Guanyin willow; Said I was Luo again. Suddenly, the bean official said that I had sister flowers, which stumped everyone. Xiangling said I have husband and wife ears. Seeing Xiangling's answer, Dou Guan said unconvinced, "There have never been any husband and wife! Xiangling argued, "One flower is called' orchid' and several flowers are called' spike'. The upper and lower two flowers are called' brother's ear', and the first flower is called' husband and wife's ear'. I have a flower with the same head. Why not call it' husband and wife ears'? " After being asked for a while, the bean officer smiled and said, "According to your statement, a flower called Sui of Lao Zi's son can be called Sui of the enemy if there are two flowers behind it. Xue Pan has just debuted for half a year, and you miss him in your heart, pulling flowers and planting grass into the ears of lovers. What a shame! " Xiangling blushed, smiled and ran to twist the mouth of the bean officer, and the two men rolled on the ground like this. The maids are playing and having a good time. Baoyu also picked some grass to join in the fun. "。

It is said that it has also become a "patent" for women's games. There are many descriptions of "fighting grass" in ancient poems, which are also related to women.

Ancient wine order

Alcoholism is a game passed down from ancient times to the present, which is used for entertainment and fun in outings. Liquor order is not only helpful to create a pleasant atmosphere and increase harmonious friendship, but also one of the ways of etiquette education in ancient times, so it prevailed in various dynasties and took various forms.

Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period: Pouring Pots

The oldest and most lasting wine sequence should be the first to throw the pot. Pan-throwing came into being before the Spring and Autumn Period and prevailed in the Warring States Period. Historical Records: Misunderstanding Biography contains the grand occasion of throwing a pot. Today, there is a lifelike pot-throwing stone sculpture in the Wollongong Chinese Painting Museum in Nanyang, Henan.

This pitcher has a wide mouth, a big belly and a slender neck. The adzuki bean inside is very smooth and elastic, so the arrow it throws often pops up. The arrow is pointed at one end, and its length is in "Fu" (about four inches in Chinese), which is divided into five Fu, seven Fu and nine Fu. The darker the light, the longer the distance. At the beginning of pot throwing, the conductor (wine conductor) confirmed the position of pot throwing, and then demonstrated that "the winner doesn't win the drink", that is, the winner punishes the loser for drinking, and played the music of "Beaver Head".

The reason why it has the longest history is that it has the most feudal etiquette and benevolence. In the Book of Rites, the special chapter on throwing pots is written carefully. Han Danchun, a celebrity of the Three Kingdoms, wrote the most wonderful description in the Fu of Throwing Pots: "Flowers are endless, rabbit hair and falcon hair are neither surplus nor shrinkage, and they enter the pot smoothly", which can give a glimpse of the grand occasion at that time.

Volkswagen jiuling

The popular wine list is easy to understand and learn, and can be used quickly regardless of educational level, which has an overwhelming advantage in prestigious banquets. There are ten main forms of popular alcohol orders:

1, rolling order. Dice (also known as "dice") order is one of the commonly used wine orders in ancient times. Sometimes you can use one dice, up to six dice, depending on the number of people and time. This order is simple and quick, and it is very accidental. It does not need any skills, and it is all luck, which is especially popular with heavy drinkers. There are many kinds of dice sequences, including guessing sequence, six sequences and wine sequences.

2. Guess things. Hide something so that people present can guess what it is. He who guesses correctly wins, and he who guesses wrongly drinks. There are mainly cats and dogs, guessing chess pieces (also known as guessing boxing) and guessing flowers.

3. Palm. Taking the finger as a play is called the finger palm order, which mainly includes the five elements of making orders, the lawsuit of official action, the order of raising the bridge, the order of cutting cloth (this is Japanese boxing), the order of big and small gourds, the order of punching (also known as guessing boxing and thumb play) and the order of multiple guns.

4. Pass the parcel order. Make the official hold the flower branch in his hand, make people drum behind the screen, and the guests pass the flower branch in turn, and stop drumming until the flower branch in his hand is drunk.

5, tiger stickers chicken worm order. Two people face each other, cross talk with chopsticks, and at the same time either shout tiger, stick, chicken, insect, beat tiger with stick, tiger eats chicken, chicken eats insect, insect eats stick, discuss the outcome, and the loser drinks. If a stick makes a chicken or a bug make a tiger appear at the same time, it doesn't matter whether you win or lose. Keep shouting.

6. Spoon order. Take a spoon in the center of the dish and use it to stir the handle to make it rotate. When the rotation stops, the person pointing the hand drinks water.

7. Preface of local operas. Each performer said a local opera, and pointed out that those who can't say famous actors have two drinks, and those who can say half have one drink.

Eight, shoot the seventh order. Start with one number, and there is no limit to the next number. Seven (such as seven, seventeen, twenty-seven, etc. ) on the table, seven (that is, multiples of seven, such as fourteen, twenty-one and twenty-eight) on the table, and those who make mistakes are drunk.

9. Vote. Set a special. The host and guest took turns shooting arrows at them, and the winner won and the loser drank.

10, unveiling order. The magistrate buckled a piece of paper with numbers written on it on the table with a cup. The people at the table don't know this number except the magistrate, but it is required that the number must be between 6 and 36. Let the officer finish his drink, say the word "6" in his mouth and give it to anyone at the dinner party, and so on. If the sum of the added numbers is exactly equal to the number deducted from the cup, it is called winning the prize, and then the person drinks a glass of wine. If it is the official's turn again, and the number does not exceed the number in the cup, only the official is allowed to add "1" to others. If the total number exceeds the number in the cup, then the person will guess with the receiver, guess a few punches after counting, and the loser will drink.

mantle

The so-called "shooting" is to cover an object under objects such as Ou and Yu, so that people can guess what is inside. Biography of Han Dong Fang Shuo: "This smell made several scholars answer. Yan Shigu wrote: "Put things under the cover so that they can be shot in the dark, so that clouds can be shot over. "According to the above records, shooting games were popular in the palaces of the Han Dynasty." Most of the articles in the country are daily necessities, such as towels, fans, pens and ink, boxes and cans. "

Snake belly, a term in traditional Chinese medicine, is one of the eight methods of opening cataract with golden needle in ophthalmology. Refers to the surgical process of pushing the golden needle between the iris and the lens. Volume 2 of the Eye Sutra describes the specific method: "It's ok to insert the needle, that is, close to Polygonatum odoratum (lens), and slowly needle the eye, so the needle handle will have to go in without attracting attention." See cataract manipulation for details.

Shooting is a superb and interesting game in the daily life of ancient literati. "Shooting" means guessing, and "covering" means covering. Under the cover of a person's random selection of an object, the shooter guesses the object through divination and other means, which is similar to a guessing game, in which the puzzle is just a divination image obtained by everyone, and a specific thing is inferred from an infinite number of possible things according to the image, number and reason of the gossip in the Book of Changes. Shooting can not only inadvertently "play", but also test the skills of Yi people. It has become a difficult game that is easy to occupy the family in ancient and modern times. Shooting is interesting, interactive and entertaining, and can verify the divinatory symbols in real time. No matter whether you shoot or not, you can deepen your thinking, understanding and inspiration on Yi Xiang, which is a good way to practice your ability and self-confidence.

The so-called "a gentleman lives in his house, playing with his words by watching his image, and playing with his career by watching his change" ("copula? Shao Yong, a master of Yi Studies in Song Dynasty, said: "Although clouds are not beneficial to the world, it is easy for scholars to know saints. There must be a few things in the world. Therefore, the sky is round and the shape of things is also; Tian Xuan Dihuang, the color of things is also; The nature of things is also static; In heaven and earth, things have a place to live "("plum blossoms are easy to count? " The mysterious song of things ").

Shooting has a long history, the Han Dynasty Han Shu? "Biography of Dong Fangshuo" records: "After tasting it, several families shot it, put it under the altar of protecting the palace, and shot it, but they could not win. Shuo praised himself and said,' Taste Yi, please shoot it.' Instead of divination, I said,' I think dragons have no horns, so a snake with feet is like a lizard if it doesn't guard the palace.' Above: "My God." Give ten silks. Then you can shoot other things, connect them and give them to silk. "

Guarding the palace is a gecko, which looks like a dragon without horns, but like a snake with feet.

There are many famous photographers like Dong Fangshuo in history. Officials in the Three Kingdoms period, Guo Pu and Liang Yuan in the Jin Dynasty, Li in the Tang Dynasty and Shao Yong in the Song Dynasty, were all first-class masters recorded in history.