The origin of temple fair
Temple fair, also known as "temple fair" or "festival field".
Temple Fair is a folk religion and custom in China, which is usually held during the Lunar New Year, Lantern Festival and when the dragon rises on February 2nd. It is also one of the forms of fair trade in China, and its formation is related to the development of local temples and religious activities. It is held on festivals or specific dates in temples, mostly in or near temples. Temple fairs are very popular in vast areas of this country.
Temple Fair is a traditional festival form in China, which reflects people's psychology and habits. Its origin can be traced back to ancient social sacrifices.
The real temple fair was formed in the Eastern Han Dynasty, when Buddhism was introduced into China and local Taoism gradually formed. Temple fairs combined with religious activities and began to shine. People's religious sacrificial activities are centered on Buddhist temples and Taoist temples and gather around temples, so they are called temple fairs. Due to the large number of people attending the sacrificial ceremony, some vendors peddled goods around the temple fair, and street performers also performed some vaudeville, and the temple fair gradually extended its function as a market.
Temple fairs were fully formed in the Tang and Song Dynasties, when Buddhism and Taoism reached their peak and had a great impact on social life. There are many kinds of religious activities, such as Christmas celebrations, Jiaoao fasting, land and water Dojo and so on. Many recreational activities, such as dancing, visiting Buddha statues, drama, etc. Are included in these religious ceremonies, which not only attracts believers to watch, but also stops many non-believers.
What followed was the prosperity of commodity fairs and garden markets. Businessmen and vendors sell folk toys and snacks, masks, clay figurines, dough sculptures, bells, sugar blowers, etc. Make the children stop and forget to return. At the same time, there is also a commodity market for housewives to buy, pots and pans, clothes, shoes and socks, everything, the market scene is grand, the goods are easy to compare and choose, and the price is cheap, which is the most satisfactory shopping place for women. In addition, there are all kinds of jugglers, such as walking on stilts, talking cross talk, dancing yangko, puppet show, counting treasures, singing Shaanxi opera and so on, which makes the scene very lively. People can also take part in it and play some folk games, such as street rings and puzzles. Vendors at temple fairs are also mobile. After finishing this temple fair, they will set up a stall at the next temple fair.
Visiting temple fairs in the New Year is gradually derived from this, from the initial blessing to the final stall, but now such activities have become less and less, mainly because young people now rarely believe in sects and do not like to go out, so temple fairs are getting more and more deserted.
Temple fairs and temples
Temple fair is a general term. In fact, every place has a special temple fair name, such as ditan temple fair Temple Fair, Changdian Temple Fair and Baiyunguan Temple Fair, so it is not difficult to see that this temple fair has a great relationship with temples.
Temple fairs are gradually formed on the basis of temple sacrificial activities. Dating back to ancient times, sacrifice is an important activity closely related to people's production and life, mainly offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, ancestors and natural gods. In this process, people should get together and hold activities to render the atmosphere, such as playing musical instruments, performing programs, offering tributes, bowing, and so on. This is the embryonic form of the temple fair.
It can be said that the temple fair is a market activity derived from temples.
What activities are there in the temple fair? ?
stage a play
In ancient times, there were not so many recreational activities as now. There is no TV and mobile phone, and the only entertainment is watching a play. Rich families even have their own stage, and those who have no money watch the temple fair together. Men, women and children sit or squat under the stage, but they all watch with relish. Nowadays, young people seldom go to the theatre, and fewer people sing at temple fairs.
walk on stilts
Walking on stilts has a long history in China. Performers use their feet to tie wooden 1 ~ 3-foot-high seesaw sticks to act as various strange movements of funny people. Walking on stilts, Beijing is called stilt or stilt club. Shaanxi, Henan and other Yellow River basins are called "sticky feet". Walking on stilts can be divided into two activities: literary stilts and martial stilts. Wenqiao mainly sings while walking, mixed with simple dance and waist twisting movements, while Wuqiao performs such difficult movements as handstand, high platform jumping, stacked arhats and splits.
Touch the monkey (touch the stone monkey)
The custom of touching stone monkeys in temple fairs began to spread from the Ming Dynasty. People who touched monkeys lined up for hundreds of meters, and many people came to wait at midnight. Among them are children, babies in their arms, young companions, and elderly people who are faltering. They all kept rubbing their hands and stamping their feet in the cold wind and marched in an orderly way. Foreigners who come to touch monkeys must spend the night in Beijing.
Make eyes at money
There is no water stone bridge under the three bridges, and only one bridge opening is opened in the middle. The cave is placed horizontally, with a square table on each side. On the table, there are two Taoist priests sitting cross-legged. At the top of the bridge mouth, a paper tire with a diameter of about two feet and a thickness of more than three inches hangs high, and the dough is covered with gold paper. The money is tied with red velvet rope from the north and south ends, and a small copper bell is tied in the middle hole. On the east and west sides of the bridge, there are many coin stalls that are no longer in circulation, and ten coins are exchanged for a dime.
Tourists aim at the small copper bells on the money holes five meters apart on both sides of the bridge deck. Whoever can ring these two clocks correctly will have a good year and everything will be smooth. This is the famous "eyes for money".
Nowadays, temple fairs have once again become an indispensable folk activity for the people. In addition to temples, they are also held in parks, squares and other open places, with cultural, commercial and entertainment activities as the main activities and less religious activities. Temple fairs can be seen everywhere in China. Typical ones are: Beijing ditan temple fair, Shanghai Chenghuang Temple Fair, Nanjing Wang Jiang Temple Fair, Shandong Taishan Dongyue Temple Fair, Tianjin Huang Hui Temple Fair, Fujian Mazu Tempel Temple Fair, etc. Colorful local temple fairs have formed a unique temple fair culture in China.