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Folk customs of Ruichang

Paper-cutting

Paper-cutting is one of the treasures of my country’s traditional folk decorative arts. Ruichang is known as the “hometown of paper-cutting”. Paper-cutting is a wonderful folk art that flourishes in Ruichang. In 1992 and 1993, Ruichang City was awarded the honorable titles of "Hometown of Paper-cutting" and "Hometown of Chinese Folk Art" by the Provincial Department of Culture and the National Ministry of Culture.

Tea-Picking Opera

Ruichang Tea-Picking Opera, formerly known as Tea Lantern Opera, was renamed after entering the half class, and is commonly known as Tea Opera among the people. In the 30th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1765), floods overflowed, river embankments collapsed, and the victims went out. The Huangmei tea-picking opera triangle troupe, who had fled famine, merged with the Ruichang tea lantern opera in northern Jiangxi, thus forming the Ruichang tea-picking opera. A folk tea drama, later called tea-picking drama. In 1986, Ruichang Tea Picking Opera was renamed "Jiujiang Tea Picking Opera" and was included in the "Encyclopedia of China" [(Opera·Quyi) Page 146] in the "Chinese Opera Music Collection·Jiangxi Volume" published in 1999. The renamed "Jiujiang Tea Picking Opera" "Tea Picking Opera" was revised to "Ruichang Tea Picking Opera" and added to the compilation.

Ruichang Folk Songs

Ruichang folk songs are rich and colorful with various genres. There are mainly folk songs, field songs, lantern songs, minor tunes, labor chants, children's songs, folk songs, etc. The themes are also quite wide, including praise of revolution, praise of labor, resistance and struggle against exploitation and oppression, and longing for a better future. There are also many love songs among them, which accuse the evils of the feudal marriage system, express the love of young men and women, and deeply reflect one aspect of the society at that time. These folk songs were produced, developed and enriched in the social practice of working people. As early as the early 1980s, the Ruichang Cultural Center carried out a rescue work on the county's folk songs - comprehensively collecting, organizing and compiling the "Ruichang Folk Song Collection", thus enabling Ruichang folk songs to be passed down and protected and become a precious place cultural heritage.

Funeral customs

When an old man is dying, his children who are out of town must rush home and wait in front of the bed, which is called "sent off" or "sent off old age". After breathing, it turns into paper money, which is called "getting up money". Then the funeral is announced to relatives and friends, who then send funeral gifts such as wreaths, firecrackers, or cash, and attend the funeral. Children wear mourning clothes, and most of them wear black gauze or white flowers, while fewer and fewer wear white mourning clothes. When an employee of an agency or unit dies, the unit where he or she works usually presides over the issuance of an obituary notice, a memorial service or a farewell ceremony to the body. Under the strong promotion of the municipal government, the deceased in both urban and rural areas were changed from coffin burial to cremation. But most of them are still buried after cremation, but the coffin is replaced by an urn. There are also some people who place the urn of the deceased in the coffin for burial (this is mainly the case where the coffin was already purchased).

Birthday customs

Birthday celebrations are popular in Ruichang. Young people call it "birthday" and old people call it "birthday". Three days after the baby is born, he invites relatives and friends to a banquet, which is called "making three dynasties." Young people also adopt foreign customs when celebrating their birthdays, such as singing birthday songs, blowing out candles, and eating cakes. When the elderly turn 60 years old, they celebrate their 60th birthday (every five or ten years thereafter) and invite relatives and friends to celebrate or have a family gathering, where they eat longevity noodles and drink longevity wine. In the old days, younger generations had to pay homage to the birthday star, but this is no longer the case. However, it is common for younger generations to honor the elderly by giving them clothes, or requesting songs to celebrate the birthday of the birthday star on a local TV station.

Marriage customs

The old custom of arranged marriages based on the words of the matchmaker and the orders of the parents has long since disappeared. Free love and independent marriage among young men and women have become the mainstream. The old habit of intermarriage between cousins ??and cousins ??no longer exists; nowadays, long-distance marriages are relatively more common. The number of rural young people going out to work is increasing day by day, and it is not uncommon for them to marry young people from other places.

Folk weddings still focus on bride price, betrothal gifts and dowry, and increasingly focus on richness and luxury. It has become common for dowries to include color TVs, refrigerators, and motorcycles, and it has also begun to appear that rich families marry their daughters to accompany them in cars or houses. It is now rare to use a sedan to welcome a bride, but it is common for people to use a sedan to welcome a bride and take photos of the whole process. The decoration of new wedding houses is becoming more and more luxurious, with high-end furniture and complete household appliances. In the old days, it was popular to have a wedding night. In addition to throwing tents (popcorn, dates, candies, etc.) and congratulations, they also teased the newlyweds in various ways. Nowadays, we have changed the old habits and become civilized, singing, dancing, or performing theatrical performances. .