Taihao Fuxi is a wise emperor in the ancient legend of China. He is "the head of a hundred kings", ranking first among the five emperors in Huang San. Fu was born in Taoshui Valley (now Shuiqin County). Fuxi is the pioneer of the Chinese nation's mind and the pathfinder for mankind to enter the civilized era from the primitive state. The migration of the group tribes represented by Fuxi from the Weishui River Basin (a tributary of the upper reaches of the Yellow River) to the middle reaches of the Yellow River has a difficult process. Legend has it that he later became king, with his capital in Chen (now Huaiyang, Henan Province) and died in Chen (now on the bank of Caihe River, which is 5 kilometers north of Huaiyang County 1.5 km, and the tomb of Fuxi Tai Hao family has been built since ancient times), and he reigned in 160 years. In the evolution of human society from matriarchal to paternal, from barbarism to civilization, he made great achievements as a monkey with his own intelligence and wisdom. Later generations therefore called him "the ancestor" and "the originator of Sven". "Tai Hao" is people's praise for Fuxi, which means that Fuxi's merits are boundless and bright as the sun and the moon. In order to commemorate the achievements of our ancestors, Fuxi Mausoleum was built here in the Spring and Autumn Period. When Confucius traveled around the world to visit the State of Chen, Chen Linggong accompanied Confucius to visit the mausoleum. During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Zhi of Wei thought of Wang Yuchen, visited Fuxi Temple and wrote Fuxi Zan. Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, the Fuxi Mausoleum of Taihao has been continuously expanded, including the mausoleum and the sacrificial hall, covering an area of 875 mu. Now the buildings in the cemetery are all Ming dynasty buildings, and the structure is similar to that of the Ming dynasty palace. The existing Fuxi Mausoleum of Taihao was built in the 13th year of Ming Dynasty, and it was rebuilt and repaired many times in Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Huaiyang Taihaoling Temple Fair, also known as "February Fair", began in distant ancient times. The Book of Rites and the Moon Order states: "The Mid-Spring Moon ... is enshrined in high media and too many prisons." The ancient emperors called it "Tai Prison", offering sacrifices to the land gods and the valley gods, and the princes called it "Little Prison". The "high media" here refers to Fuxi and Nu Wa. In myths and legends, Fuxi and Nu Wa got married, created human beings and gave birth to human beings. Later, Fuxi organized tribal men and women to meet as matchmakers in the form of "February meeting", and the meeting place was today's Taihao Mausoleum. On this basis, Fuxi "married", ending the ignorance of human group marriage. Therefore, Fuxi and Nuwa were called "high media" by later generations. After Fuxi's death, people buried him in the place where men and women met at the "February Meeting" in Huaiyang, starting from Gao Lingji and offering sacrifices every year, and the incense flourished.
Today, the temple fair in February of Taihaoling lunar calendar has become a grand event for the world emperor Sun Chaozu and economic and cultural exchanges. At present, it is the temple fair with the longest duration, the largest number of people and the longest history in China. In 2004, it was recommended by the Ministry of Culture as "China Folk Culture and Art Protection and Inheritance Organization Unit".
Main contents of the February meeting
The temple fair in Taihaoling is huge and lasts for a long time, which is unique among the temple fairs in the Central Plains. Every year, the lunar calendar lasts for one month from February 2 to March 3. During the meeting, faithful men and women from Henan, Hebei, Anhui, Shandong, Hubei and other provinces poured into Taihao Mausoleum from all directions to pay homage to their ancestors, reaching hundreds of thousands every day at the peak.
Sacrificing ancestors is the basic content of temple fairs. According to legend, February 15th of the lunar calendar is the birthday of the ancestor Fuxi. Fuxi and Nu Wa created gossip together, made their marriage, and laid the foundation of China's early civilization. The ancestor worship meeting, composed of good men and faithful women, held high the yellow silk Qinglong flag, held incense towers in hand and carried flower baskets on their shoulders. In the sound of instrumental music, they solemnly burned incense and bowed down to their ancestors to express their respect for them. Anyone who worships ancestors and burns incense should bring a handful of soil from his hometown and sprinkle it on Fuxi Mausoleum after burning incense, which means that future generations will prosper.
Fuxi is an ancestor, of course, it is a major event in charge of racial reproduction, so many people come to Taihao Mausoleum to beg for children. There is a descendants kiln on the wall of Ren Xian Hall. It is said that a touch can make your son and grandson flourish. Even unmarried girls shyly flock to touch it for good luck. Women who are not pregnant after marriage are specifically here to ask for children. They often buy a clay doll at the temple fair, tie it with red thread, touch it in the kiln of future generations, and then carefully hide it under clothes and take it home. If you happen to be pregnant and have a baby, you will be grateful to your ancestors. Make a wish at the next temple fair.
During the temple fair, various folk entertainment activities are even more fascinating. Compared with other temple fairs, the temple fair custom in Taihaoling has two unique features: First, it is called "lifting scriptures", also known as "lifting flower baskets". This is a relatively primitive dance form that sacrifices ancestors and entertains gods. During the temple fair, these "selected teams" sang and danced in front of Taihao Mausoleum, which often attracted many good men and women who came to make pilgrimages to stop and watch. When the dance reached its climax, the dancers walked back to back in the middle with their tails touching, symbolizing the intersection of Fuxi and Nu Wa. His lyrics are also related to Fuxi Nuwa. Some movements of this dance are basically consistent with the images of Fuxi, dragon's head rising and Nu Wa's lower body mating in Han Dynasty stone reliefs, which is a primitive custom of worshipping reproductive function.
The second unique custom is "mud dogs" and cloth tigers that can be seen everywhere in temple fairs. Mud dog is a kind of mud toy sold at the temple fair, which blows loudly. The local people explained that it was a god dog guarding the mausoleum and a sacred object for ancestor worship. If the mud dog is given to children or relatives and friends, it can eliminate the pain, be auspicious and safe, and people will buy it and bring it back to their hometown. Every year, the temple fair in Taihaoling is crowded with a dazzling array of mud dog stalls. These clay toys have different shapes, exaggerated images and different expressions, which symbolize Gu Zhuo. According to textual research, these clay toys are living cultural relics in the late primitive society that have been passed down to this day. The shapes of some mud dogs reflect the reproductive worship in Fuxi era.