This festival originated from land worship, which led to the emergence of the land god. The land god was called "She" by the ancients and "Land Lord" or "Uncle" by the Chaoshan people.
The sacrifice of the land god has two properties. One is the worship of cultivated land, which is a reward for planting grain on the land and providing people with food; A worship of the settled land is a gratitude to the land for building rural areas and protecting people's homes.
In Chaoshan, the "Bo Gong Sacrifice" still retains these two properties. For example, on June 26th, Bo Gong was born, which belongs to the former nature. Chaoshan people should worship Bo Gong before building a house and building a village, which belongs to the latter nature.
Sacrificing to social deities in spring includes both the prayer of abundant crops and the hope of peace and harmony. In Lishe community in Chaoshan, the social gods are mostly uncles, and Master Ying is developed from the worship of uncles in rural areas.
There are many names for the old people in Chaoshan. Among them, there are gods who entered the court to worship, such as the city god, Guan Gong, Mazu, etc. There are also Buddhist and Taoist gods, such as Antarctic Emperor, Tian Xuan God and Lv Zu. More people create miscellaneous gods to worship, such as Sanshan King, Anji Wang Sheng, Shuangzhong Gong Sheng, Rain Fairy, Narcissus, Dragon Tail and Myrtle.
In a relatively independent community, lords of various names are organized into a hierarchy according to the size of their sacrificial scope. In rural areas, Li community has different uncles, and the whole village has * * * big shots.
In some places, several neighboring villages are closely related for administrative or economic reasons, and several elderly people are worshipped by several villages. In towns, streets and alleys, there are uncles who worship in different ways, grandfathers who worship in different places and grandfathers who worship in the whole town.
The sacrifice of these uncles still retains the legacy of praying for spring in ancient times, and the time is concentrated at the beginning of the lunar calendar. Therefore, there is a saying in Chaoshan that "God is in February".
The "camp" of the camp god is Chaoshan dialect, which retains the circuitous and borderland of the ancient meaning. God's sacrifice is called "Master Ying" because in the process of sacrifice, there must be a ceremony for the land god to inspect the land and settle down.
According to what Chaoshan people usually say, there are two kinds of camps: camp owners and military camps. In the most basic community, Wen Ying's practice is after the sacrificial ceremony. Please ask the master to get on the sacred sedan chair, carried by the selected Ding Zhuang, and patrol every alley of the community under the guidance of the ceremonial drum music, and then March around the boundary of the community and return to the sacred factory.
The practice of five battalions is generally only adopted by rural communities. After the sacrificial ceremony, the idol should be tied tightly to the sedan chair with red cloth to prepare for the sprint. When the camp started, a bonfire was lit in the alley. Ding feat lifted the idol, ran to the bonfire, forcibly lifted the shrine to their heads, jumped over the fire and ran across the alley. After running the alley in the village, I ran out of Tianyang again, carrying my master around the village boundary and returning to the factory.
Chaoshan people call this practice "taking the master". Walking in Chaozhou dialect means running, and it is also a dialect word that retains the ancient meaning.
Whether it is Wenying or Wuying, its original intention is to level the soil and exorcise evil spirits. However, this kind of religious ceremony actually has the function of rectifying community order and strengthening community governance.
In the days of the camp owner, you should take action to repay God. Master's guard of honor consists of colorful flags, colorful scenes, lion dances, songs and dances, gongs and drums, and trendy bands. Although the scale of the ceremony parade may vary greatly due to different community conditions, it fully embodies the nature of viewing and entertainment. Therefore, this activity of offering sacrifices to the land god in Fangxiang has undoubtedly become a community festival.