Dingzhou, an ancient city with a long history, has a long folk history, which is briefly summarized for circulation.
Dingzhou marriage custom
In the old custom of Dingzhou, both men and women must get married in the right place, obey the orders of their parents, follow the words of the matchmaking agreement, and let the fortune teller get a good deal on the birthdays of young men and women, and then get engaged. Engagement is also called "book exchange". Both men's and women's books are folded with red paper, 30 cm wide and 60 cm long. In the man's book, it says "respect the promise" and in the woman's book, it says "keep your word". Before marriage, the man will write the selected auspicious day in red paper and send it to the woman to inform the wedding date. The day before the wedding, the man will send someone to bring wine, meat and fruitcake to the woman to "make up". The groom greets the bride on horseback or in a sedan chair. When the bride got off the sedan chair, some people scattered five-color miscellaneous grains such as sorghum and black beans into the sedan chair to ward off evil spirits. When she got off the sedan chair, a grass sacrifice was stuffed in her collar, and two people helped her cross the saddle, which meant peace through the years. The bride got out of the sedan chair and couldn't step on the ground directly. There must be two people holding the bag, and the front berth will be retired. The bride will walk in her pocket until she reaches the house. The bride and groom kowtowed to the gods of heaven and earth and to the man's parents with offerings, bows and arrows, buckets and bronze mirrors. Husband and wife respect each other like guests. This is called worshipping heaven and earth. On the third day of marriage, the bride and groom go back to their parents' home together, and the woman gives a banquet to entertain them, which is called "returning to the door". After the liberation of Dingxian County, most of the above-mentioned old customs have disappeared. Young men and women can fall in love freely, and even if they are introduced, they can get married independently. The procedure of getting married only when they get married is still in use today, but there are no old habits such as scattering colored food, riding a saddle and worshiping heaven and earth.
Dingzhou custom made clothes
The change of clothing is a direct reflection of people's living standards. In recent years, the fashion of clothing has made the characteristics of local clothing less and less, tending to be the same, while the distinctive clothing was before the 1950s and 1960s. In the old days, Dingzhou people generally wore straw hats in summer, and only the bleaching degree was used to distinguish the advantages and disadvantages of straw hats. Before liberation, rich people wore hats and red flowers when they got married. Poor families can only wear felt hats in winter. Teachers, administrators and government officials who are not engaged in manual labor wear robes in winter and in summer, and they are sewn with black, blue and gray cotton cloth or satin. Workers, farmers, small traders and craftsmen wear short clothes in winter and summer, mainly with gray, black and purple flowers (a natural khaki cotton cloth or white cloth dyed khaki with loess). This woman's coat is big-breasted, and the button is under her right armpit. In the past, both men and women wore homemade black cloth shoes. The sole is glued together with several layers of old cloth, which is filled with hemp thread. The vamp is divided into square and pointed mouth. People who often walk and old people wear socks after wrapping their feet with 30-40 cm square white cloth in winter, which can keep out the cold and prevent dust. A woman who binds her feet wears a pair of bigger shoes outside her shoes, which are called overshoes. In the old society, male workers often tied a piece of black or blue cloth with a width of about 25 cm and a length of about 150 cm on their waist clothes, which could prevent them from bending over and blowing on their stomachs and backs and facilitate their work.
Dingzhou customs separation
Since ancient times, the family has been the smallest production unit in Dingzhou countryside. However, with the improvement of productivity, the labor ability of a single labor force has been enhanced, and agricultural production no longer needs large families to work together. The disintegration of large families with several generations living under one roof is accelerating, and the division of production units is the key link in this process. When separating, parents (usually parents, some brothers) invite village street cadres and elders to their homes. First, parents talk about the necessity of separation, cadres talk about the relevant policies and traditions in the village, and put forward the problems that should be paid attention to and the attitudes that should be held. The elders told them to honor their parents and live in harmony with their brothers after separation. Then the parents gave the house, furniture, savings, food and money owed to others to the whole family. Through consultation, except for parents and unmarried brothers and sisters, the family property is divided into several parts according to the number of brothers, and then the family property is divided by mutual understanding or lottery between brothers. Although the inheritance law stipulates that both men and women have the right to inherit, the custom in Dingzhou is that married or unmarried women do not share it. After separation, you need to write a separation agreement (also called a separation form), which clearly stipulates the content of separation and the support of parents.
Celebrate the birth of Dingzhou custom
Before liberation, the average family was limited by economic conditions, and the children did not celebrate their birthdays, but the elderly did not celebrate their birthdays. Even on birthdays, separated children get together, eat some pork, steamed peaches or white flour, and have a "longevity noodle". The birthday celebrations of wealthy families are even more grand. First, send invitations to relatives and friends, set up a birthday party at home, hang photos of the birthday girl, send gifts such as fresh peaches or steamed peaches with white flour to relatives and friends, hold birthday banquets for relatives and friends, and invite drummers and troupes to entertain them. Although people's living standards have gradually improved after liberation, it is still not common to celebrate birthdays. Especially during the "Cultural Revolution", health and longevity were wrongly labeled as "philosophy of existence", and the praise of life disappeared from then on. In recent years, birthday celebrations have a tendency to resume development. Influenced by western culture, it has become a trend to buy or send birthday cakes on birthdays, and the custom of kowtowing on birthdays has disappeared.
The birth of Dingzhou custom
Fertility is a major event of a family, marking the reproduction of a family. So before the newborn is born, the old man (the woman's mother or man) prepares clothes, bedding, diapers, brown sugar, eggs, sesame salt and so on for the baby. After the child was born, the man went to the woman's house to report the good news and told the mother and son that they were safe. On the third day after birth, neighbors, relatives and friends sent noodles, eggs and other food congratulations. Now many relatives and friends also send money or baby clothes directly. The bride's family brought eggs, dried noodles, sesame sugar (fried dough sticks), sesame salt and baby clothes to visit, and the man hosted a banquet. On the ninth day after birth, relatives and friends get together to congratulate the children and give them clothes, money and so on. The man gave them a banquet called "Doing it for nine days". Because of postpartum weakness, my mother-in-law has to rest for a month, wait on her daily life, make some eggs and meat to supplement the nutrition of the mother and help take care of the baby. This is the so-called "confinement". At the "full moon", her family took her home for a few days. Because of the poor medical conditions in the past, women were at greater risk of pregnancy, so there were many taboos, such as not letting strangers into the house after giving birth, especially on the fourth and sixth days, fearing the "four or six winds" (neonatal tetanus); Hanging red cloth at the door, no children at home, etc. These taboos have gradually disappeared. The baby will hold a banquet to celebrate and take pictures as a souvenir.