Tujia people living in Enshi, southwest Hubei, have formed a rich and colorful national traditional culture in their long-term production and life, and festival culture is an important part of it, which shows their psychology, beliefs, morality, ethics, customs, values and ways of thinking from one side. New Year's custom culture is another important part of festival custom culture, which is briefly introduced below.

1. Kill pigs

For a long time, Tujia people have a tradition of feeding pigs. Every winter in the lunar calendar is the time to kill the pig. Killing pigs can not only lead a good year, but also ensure eating meat all year round. Whose pig killed several heads and killed many times, which is also a symbol of the disparity between the rich and the poor. Killing pigs depends on the date and must not conflict with the family's genus, otherwise it will be considered bad for the family. For example, there are dogs, tigers and chickens at home, and the day of killing pigs cannot be one of these genera. I hope that the butcher will be invited again on that day, and the man with strong neighbors will be invited to help, and then the butcher will be paid according to the number of heads.

As the saying goes, "the frog jumped and the pig barked", and the pork that has not been drained is the best. On this day, the host family will invite people to have a "bath" feast with their close relatives and friends. After a ruined party, all the remaining meat was made into bacon. Tujia people's custom of curing bacon is also related to the humid climate in mountainous areas. It is easy to preserve after smoking, and the meat looks good. Stew and fry in the pot, and the fragrance will float for a few miles.

2. A busy year

On the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, Tujia people in Enshi began to buy new year's goods. Housewives are busy baking bean skins, making mash, beating tofu and pushing dumplings. Whether a wife can do it depends on whether she can cook good tea and rice. Playing Ciba is a technical activity as well as a physical activity, which requires the participation of men who can do Ciba and have great strength.

Bean skin, fermented glutinous rice, tofu, glutinous rice balls and rice cakes are all homemade foods. As long as people are diligent and capable, they don't have to worry about anything. In addition, we have to go to the market to buy something for the New Year. I'm going to send some samples in the new year. Being a family member is already a good deal. I know what to buy. Candy, cakes, noodles, wine and other New Year's greetings must be bought. Draw a lively and festive fireworks, and you must buy scented wax paper for sacrifice. Those with better conditions will also buy some dry goods and fresh vegetables that are not available at home, and then buy some new clothes for the old and young at home. Whether the preparation for new year's goods is sufficient can show whether a family is rich or not.

Spend the next year

Enshi Tujia people have the custom of off-year, and worship the kitchen god on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month. When the stove came, in order to make the kitchen god say something nice to the sky, people worshipped him with gum candy and glued his teeth so that he could not talk nonsense. Or daub the kitchen door with alcohol so that the kitchen god can't talk nonsense. Bring back Kitchen God on New Year's Eve.

Tujia people believe that there are gods three feet above their heads and feel that they have a pair of eyes watching everything, that is, "people are doing, and the sky is watching." If you have awe in your heart, you must master proper limit. This is actually a good self-discipline.

According to folklore, this day is the day when mice marry girls. The mice forgot the grain in the granary and hid one by one. It is rare for the host family to take a day off from killing mice, just in time to clean the house. This kind of delicate work undoubtedly falls on wives. First of all, set up a long ladder and use a long broom to clean the sun dust on the beams, mainly the stove room and the fire pit room. This is a masterpiece left by smoky fire. When cleaning, wear a straw hat or scarf on your head to prevent the sun dust from falling on your hair. Then, clean the cobwebs and sundries in the house, sweep the floor and tidy up the furniture. Later, the bedding on the bed will be removed and washed. The men cleared the weeds in front of and behind the house. Busy for a while, refreshing inside and outside.

3. Tujia Year

Enshi Tujia people have the custom of having a reunion dinner on the first day of New Year's Eve, which is also called Chinese New Year. Legend has it that during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, Tujia soldiers were ordered to go out to crusade against the Japanese pirates. In order to smash the enemy's plot to sneak attack during the New Year, they had a reunion dinner one day in advance and suddenly launched an attack the next day, defeating the enemy. In order to commemorate the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the custom of Tujia people celebrating the New Year one day in advance has been inherited to this day. The history of Tujia people's struggle for national survival, development and resistance to aggression is handed down through such a festival folk custom, which is epic and plays an important role in establishing national self-esteem, enhancing national pride and national cohesion.

Now, we usually have a family reunion dinner on New Year's Eve. For older families, group tours begin on the 28th of the twelfth lunar month and last until New Year's Eve. The reunion dinner is very rich, and there should be leftovers. In some families, stewing hooves, stewing pig's head and steaming New Year's rice will be eaten until the fifteenth day of the first month. Some people plan to sprinkle a handful of millet in previous years' meals. When eating New Year's Eve, the children at home say "a lot of millet" for good luck. In the year of the Communist Youth League, there must be a fish in the dish to make it "more than a year" lucky. Seeking good luck is a true portrayal of Tujia people yearning for a better life.

Set off firecrackers before the reunion dinner. As long as you hear someone's firecrackers ringing, you can conclude that this family is a reunion dinner. In recent years, the ban on whipping has reduced this link. If you are in a rural area far away from the city, firecrackers will come one after another in the year of the Communist Youth League, and the rural areas that are usually deserted and quiet will suddenly become lively. Then a "ancestor worship" ceremony is held, that is, ancestors are invited to go home for the New Year. The ceremony was completed by the head of the family. First, put some cups, bowls and chopsticks on the table, order some dishes from the bowl, add some rice, put chopsticks on the edge of the bowl (usually taboo), pour some wine in the cups, and then start burning paper, then pour the wine on the ground, and finally pour some tea on the ground. In the process of calling our ancestors, we should talk to them like living ancestors, but we can't see them through a barrier. At the end of the ceremony, the whole family sat around the table to celebrate the New Year. Unless there are special circumstances, no one can be less, which means that the whole family is round and harmonious.

After the reunion dinner, the men put up couplets and hung lanterns. The women took their family's bathed clothes and changed to a place where tap water was used for sizing on the same day. When it got dark, the family took their children and grandchildren to the ancestral graves, lit incense, burned paper, set off firecrackers and kowtowed. Sacrifice is to let the younger generation remember their ancestors and inherit their fine traditions and precious spiritual wealth.

In the evening, the family sat on the kang or brazier, talking and laughing, enjoying themselves. The old man with a story made a dragon gate array, and the children opened their eyes one by one. It's really hard for adults to sleep in their arms. This is called "shou sui". Can stay up all night.

On the first day of the first month, at dawn, the person in charge got up early in the morning to set off firecrackers and carry water. Whoever gets up early is diligent. On this day, all ages are not allowed to sleep late, and the sleepy children are forced to wake up by their parents. The purpose of this is to warn family members not to be lazy, and hard work can make them rich.

pay New Year calls

Geographically, the custom of paying New Year greetings to Tujia people in Enshi is different in six counties and two cities in Quanzhou. Some places worship their clansmen years ago and their husbands years later. Some places don't go out on the first day and the second day, and worship their husbands on the third day and the fourth day. In some places, there is also a saying that it is not too late to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.

Generally speaking, the younger generation pays New Year greetings to their elders, and friends of the same age pay New Year greetings to each other. In New Year's greetings, Baba is indispensable, followed by noodles, sugar and wine. The number and thickness of samples show the weight of the relationship. Married girls have to carry a hoof when they go back to their parents' home to pay New Year's greetings. If the hooves are small, or there is no back, it means that the girl's life is not very good. The elders don't pay New Year greetings to the younger generation, but only give gifts or lucky money to their children.

New Year greetings are the best time for interpersonal communication. By walking around each other, we can not only connect our feelings and achieve the goal of harmony, but also pass on information to each other, and perhaps find career opportunities from it.

5. New Year's entertainment

Tujia people in Enshi can't live without group entertainment for the New Year. From the town to the village, the masses have a high degree of participation, mainly playing dragon lanterns, lions, rowing lotus boats, playing rings and tricks.

More distinctive is the fifteenth day of the first month to drive the fur dog. Cats and dogs (commonly known as foxes) like to steal chickens and must be driven away. First, use bamboo tubes as torches or wood oil as candles for standby, then cut branches to build a shed, put grass on the dogs, and pile up unbroken bamboo tubes and cannon leaves (see the fire bubbling and banging). When it gets dark, men, women and children go out, put lighted torches and candles on the side of the house and roadside, and then burn the dog shed. The crowd here made a "ho ho" sound, and the crowd over there shouted "Get rid of the dog!" At this time, Shan Ye was full of flames, loud shouts and great excitement.

Interesting folk entertainment requires close cooperation between participants, which coordinates the relationship between neighbors. What barriers usually exist will be eliminated by participating in such activities.

With the development of the times and the progress of civilization, some traditional folk cultures have disappeared. Disappear because there is no need to exist. Such as offering sacrifices to the kitchen god and the door god. After decades of reform and opening up, the ideas of Tujia people have changed greatly. They think that relying on God is unreliable, relying on * * * to create a party, and relying on yourself is reliable. Some customs disappear because the objective objects disappear, so there is no need to exist. For example, walk the dog by car. Since the mid-1970s, fur dogs have disappeared, so there is no need to keep the custom of "chasing fur dogs". Although some customs have been handed down, they have been simplified. For example, during New Year greetings, people are used to picking or carrying things, no matter how far away. Later, it was changed to money, and then I didn't bring anything, just one mouth, and the family played all day.

The emergence or extinction of any kind of cultural phenomenon has both historical inevitability and realistic objectivity. Only when it can be closely linked with people's lives can it have vitality and be easily followed and passed down.