However, the fire in ancient times was mainly not an official actually engaged in agriculture, but a religious wizard engaged in sacrifice. The ancients felt incredible about the regular operation of astronomical phenomena, and always felt that there was a "hand of God" manipulating nature and human activities, and the operation of fire was no exception. Besides, there are storms and lightning in nature, and there are joys and sorrows in the world. In order to pray for God's eternal happiness on earth, there is a ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven. When offering sacrifices to heaven, kill the animals, incense the firewood, light the firewood, and let the burnt smell of animal meat float to the sky with the smoke. When the Emperor of Heaven smells the smell of fireworks and meat, he will be merciful and give peace and happiness to the world. The task of the fire administration is to sort out, light and guard the firewood used to worship the heavens and complete the ceremony of burning sacrifices. After beginning of spring, spring ploughing will begin, and the custom of trial ploughing has been handed down in some areas of China. However, due to the different environmental and natural conditions, the ways and times of traditional customs of spring ploughing production are also different.
the first paragraph
In northern Guangxi, during the spring ploughing season, urban activities are even more enthusiastic and grand than those in rural areas. In rural areas, due to the cold weather, most people try to plow and cultivate. They usually bring the yoke into the cowshed and put it around the cow's neck, indicating that the cow is pulling the yoke to plow the field, indicating that spring is coming and the new year begins to sow grain. We should be prepared to plow the fields and try to catch up with the sowing season. Don't miss the opportunity to farm. Urban activities: According to legend, in the past, in order to enhance the production atmosphere of spring ploughing, people were urged to prepare for spring ploughing. The day before the spring, the county magistrate in the city sent an official to build a thatched official factory on the wasteland next to the county town God Temple. The official beat gongs and drums, blew and beat, carried the county magistrate and paper-bound spring cattle and plows, and went from the yamen to the official factory along Yingchun Road. People along the road set off firecrackers to enlarge the rice. After the spring ox is carried to the official factory, it is necessary to burn incense and sacrifice to the royal heaven. The ceremony is three days and three worships. The county magistrate leads the way, and all the squires worship with the ceremony. Then they read a prayer to worship the god of heaven and earth, and then the county magistrate personally helps the ploughing, and carries out trial ploughing after the spring ox to show the beginning of spring ploughing. The shouts of onlookers resounded through the sky. After the county magistrate tried to cultivate, the chief officer held the paper-wrapped spring cattle to the street to remind people that the new year has begun, all crops are waiting to be planted, and all industries are waiting to flourish. Everyone should be lazy to welcome the first day of spring ploughing. Travel all over the streets, go back to the county government for spring, and then burn paper to wrap spring cattle.
The second paragraph
In Yaoshan, the heads of households have to dig several hoes in the fields with hoes on their backs, or dig several hoes in rice fields and vegetable gardens, which means that in addition to digging in spring, they have to go up the mountain to cut some bamboo and insert it in the fields, which means inserting it in the fields and burying a few seeds in the fields, which means a bumper harvest.
In other places, the first day of February is considered as the Spring Festival. Early in the morning, every household knocks on the pot cover for a while to show laziness and welcome the first day of spring ploughing. After breakfast this morning, men usually check the farm tools at home to see which ones need to be repaired and which ones need to be replaced, and make decisions one by one. Do it yourself or ask someone to start sorting out farm tools. After breakfast that day, women used glutinous rice soaked the day before, ground it with a pulverizer, chopped dried vegetables and bacon pickled in early winter and glued them into delicious stuffing, wrapped them in glutinous rice cakes, made them into Yangchun cakes, padded them with grapefruit leaves and steamed them in a pot. After that, the family sat together and ate a sumptuous "Yangchun cake". When eating "Yangchun", the person in charge of the family told everyone about the production plan and variety arrangement to be planted in the new year, asking everyone to make great efforts to do Yangchun well and strive for a good harvest in the new year.
Hun yuan, Shuoxian and Yin Shan counties in Shanxi Province and parts of Hebei and Inner Mongolia. There is a popular custom of beating drums to welcome the spring.
Before spring ploughing, people held sheepskin round fans and tambourines, knocking and singing, praying for disaster relief and a bumper harvest after autumn.
During the spring ploughing season of Hani people in Honghe, Yunnan Province, farmers' performance teams went from village to village to perform original songs and dances reflecting the working life of local ethnic minorities, and sang Haruka for spring ploughing.