The popular annual customs in central Hunan still retain the ancient Chu customs. On New Year's Day, when you get up early in the morning and open the door, you will set off firecrackers and sleep for three hours, which is called "opening the door gun". Then incense, candles, money and fruit wine are placed to offer sacrifices to the road gods, and the male elders drink wine and bow down three times each, which is called "going out to heaven". After that, they began to pay New Year greetings. After grooming, the old and the young gathered in the regular room to worship their ancestors, and then the elders made their heads first. According to the seniority and the age, the whole family bowed four times and four times in turn, and then worshipped each other. This is also called "group worship". The customs in central Hunan are rich and colorful, including dragon lantern dancing, lion playing, spring cattle dancing, giving gifts to the god of wealth, praising the land, playing flower drums and so on. When dancing the dragon lantern, I saw a dragon flying up and down, turning left and right, accompanied by cheerful gongs and drums, with endless lively atmosphere. When playing the lion, you have to sing songs praising the lion. Some people have to prepare pigs, fish and chickens to worship and pray for the lion god to bless peace. Chinese New Year custom is commonly known as "Chinese New Year". People regard Chinese New Year as the most solemn festival of all festivals. As soon as we entered the twelfth lunar month, we began preparations: making rice cakes, sewing new clothes, handling new year's goods, dusting, sweeping the floor and dredging ditches. On the morning of the first day of the first month, every family sets off firecrackers to open the door when it is auspicious, which is called "opening the door to wealth". After the whole family gets up, they should take candy and cakes and play "early gang". Vegetarian breakfast, generally eating rice cakes, glutinous rice balls, rice cakes, oil tofu, etc., symbolizes "reunion." After breakfast, first go to the ancestral hall in the hall, bow down to the ancestors, and each family will be led by the elders to pay a New Year call to each family in the village. In the morning, the whole village is led by the elders, beating gongs and drums, and goes to the ancestral temple to worship the ancestors or the temple to worship the Buddha, which is called "travel"; Picking evergreen branches and inserting them in the door is called "taking money". On this day, avoid sweeping the floor and splashing water. The intention is to avoid the outflow of wealth. At the same time, avoid saying unlucky things. From the second day of junior high school, relatives and friends exchange greetings and pay New Year greetings. Usually pay homage to the Yue family first, and then to other relatives and friends. As the saying goes, "The first day is a cub, the second day is Erlang, and the third day is the fourth day." From the third day to the fifteenth day, most rural areas dance dragon lanterns, lions, or perform flower drum operas. In front of the dragon lantern, there are colorful flag lights, big gongs and drums to clear the way, and then there are gangs and bands. Every village is greeted with firecrackers, and some are invited to eat wine, commonly known as "inviting seats". At this time, the dragon lantern and the lion have to perform as a reward. Ethnic Marriage Customs The marriage customs of Han people in Hunan Province, the old customs include matchmaking, blind date, exchange of Geng, determination of Geng, going through the door, paying homage to the bride, making trouble and returning to the door. Write the son and daughter birthdates on red paper, and the matchmaker will give it to the other party as "changing the Geng" or "red Geng". If the Geng is successfully combined, they will give each other a token, which is called "Ding Geng". The man sends cloth, and the woman mostly sends a pair of cloth shoes, socks soles and insoles. Choosing the right date to greet the bride is called "going through the door" and asking for bride price and dowry from each other. The custom of marrying the bride, saluting as a ceremony, entering the bridal chamber and having a noisy room varies. In western Hunan and southern Hunan, it is still popular to cry and marry. One or two days before marriage, or even half a month, I began to sing the "crying wedding song". In Jiahe County, southern Hunan Province, it has developed into a whole set of "marriage-accompanying songs and dances", including an Xi song, a crying wedding song, a mother-blaming song, a parting song, a farewell song, a shooting song (a calendar song), a play song, a matchmaker's bitter song, a child bride's song, etc., and a singing and dancing "marriage-accompanying dance" Among ethnic minorities, young men and women's choice of spouse, betrothal and wedding are more colorful than those of Han nationality, and many of them still maintain primitive and quaint characteristics. Young people of ethnic minorities often get to know each other and find targets on the way to festivals or fairs. The Miao people's singing activities on April 8th and June 6th, catching up with autumn, and the Dong people's "playing with mountains to catch up with depression" are all excellent opportunities for young men and women to get together and make friends. The Miao people in western Hunan also have the wind of jumping on the moon, and virgins go to the top of the forest in the breeze and moonlight to dance to songs. Those who are in love with each other, although strangers, can also meet and get engaged. The betrothal of some young men and women of ethnic minorities has a different flavor. The pledge of the engagement of the Yao nationality in Longhui is an oiled paper umbrella, and the girl family intends to hang 12 triangular silk cloth blocks tied with various colors of flowers and silk thread on the supporting bones of the paper umbrella; On the other hand, the Dong people in Huaihua are engaged in a cock-stabbing ceremony. On a bright moonlight night, young men and women are accompanied by their partners to meet. The man pierces the cock's comb and drops the chicken blood into the wine. The two sides drink and pledge to be United forever. The weddings of ethnic minorities each have a set of etiquette, which is cheerful, warm and full of interest. In the wedding ceremony of Miao nationality in Xiangxi, a ceremony of washing "harmonious face" should be held. When the bride arrives at her husband's house, the man's elders bring a basin of clear water, and a silver bracelet is placed in the clear water. The bride and her husband's family wash their faces with this basin of clear water. It is said that after washing a "pleasant face", the whole family can live in peace and harmony. Tujia weddings have a unique style. Girls should sing "the song of crying for marriage" when they get married, "the song of sending a sedan chair" when they see their parents off, and when the newlyweds enter the bridal chamber, singers will sing "the song of congratulations" and "the song of worshipping guests". Yao nationality in southwest Hunan has the custom of "robbing relatives". When the groom goes to meet relatives, the bride avoids it and the groom chases after it, so it can only be considered as marriage if it goes back and forth for three times. It is said that the husband and wife formed in this way can respect and love each other and grow old together. The mountains and slopes around Zhangjiajie are steep, and the roads are rugged, so it is not appropriate to carry them. Local Tujia and Miao people often use bamboo pieces to weave long cylindrical baskets as load-bearing tools for production and life. According to different uses, the specifications and manufacture of the basket are different. It is large, rough and durable for production and small and exquisite for life. When a girl gets married, she should take a laundry basket as her dowry, and when her daughter gives birth to a child, her family should give her a basket (for carrying the child). People have to carry a firewood basket when they go up the mountain to get firewood. In the eyes of mountain people, the basket is like a desert camel and a boat in a river. Therefore, outsiders are also called basket Zhangjiajie. Other teas are the necessities of Tujia life. Sun Yunmeng's nine, eternal custom: people sip tea porridge and hold mountains. Anyone who comes, visits and housewives will screen tea according to their objects, and the hierarchy is quite particular. Regular customers sift ordinary tea, while distinguished guests sift egg tea and sweet tea. When Tujia girls get married, they have to cry for marriage in the first ten days. There are two ways to cry. One way is to ask ten girls to cry with the bride, which is called accompanying ten sisters. Most of the content is to praise the bride. The other is that the bride cries alone, and the content varies from person to person, improvising lyrics. The words must be appropriate and the cavity must be beautiful. Although the Bai people are monogamous, the arranged marriage is serious, and the feudal parents' orders and intermediary agreements prevail. There are also people who are married by their fingertips. The birth of a child by the Bai people is very lively. Celebrations will be held to deliver a baby, give good news, wash three times, fight three dynasties, name it, be over 1 days, be over one year old, and be white and wear green at the age of 12. Bai people's funerals have rituals, such as breathing, washing corpses, wearing shroud, asking Taoist priests to make way, entering coffins, sealing coffins, mourning, offering sacrifices at home, ordering the Lord, sending funerals, digging graves, burying, laying bricks and attacking, sending torches and erecting monuments, which are similar to Tujia customs. Local Drama Hunan's local drama is mainly divided into two types: big drama and folk small drama. * * * has more than 5, plays in 17 genres. Xiang opera, Qi Opera, Hengyang xiang opera, Wuling Opera, Chenhe Opera, Jing Hexi, Baling Opera, Xiangkun, etc. are the characteristic operas in Hunan local dramas. Folk operas include Huagu Opera, Lantern Opera and Yang Opera, among which Huagu Opera and Lantern Opera are the most influential and popular. Snake Eyes Every year on the third day of the third lunar month, the weather begins to get warmer and the snake is about to come out of the hole. Every Tujia family should pick wild Artemisia and mix glutinous rice to make Baba and stuff it into the snake hole, which means to prick the snake's eyes and prevent the snake from hurting people. Xiang opera, a local literature and art, is the main local drama in Hunan Province, which was formed in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, and has both North and South tunes and local characteristics. Qi Opera is popular in southern Hunan and western Hunan, and its performance is rough and simple, with Shan Ye flavor. Huagu Opera is popular in the whole province, with beautiful tunes, lively forms and popular language, reflecting real life, so it is deeply loved by the masses. Lantern and shadow play are also popular. Miao opera in western Hunan was developed after the founding of New China, and it was refined by absorbing Miao folk art.