What are the customs about the tiger and the customs of the Year of the Tiger

The tiger is a fierce beast, the image is mighty and fearsome, the ancients regarded the tiger as a door god, posted on the Chinese New Year's Eve of the lunar calendar, in order to seek good fortune, its custom has a long history. Wang Chong of the Eastern Han Dynasty "On Balance? The "Ghost Chapter" quotes the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" cloud:

In the middle of the sea, there is the mountain of Dushuo, there is a big peach tree, its Qu Pan is three thousand miles, and the northeast between its branches is called the ghost gate, and ten thousand ghosts enter and exit. There are two gods and men, one is called a god and the other is a god, and the Lord reads and leads ten thousand ghosts. The evil ghost clings to the reed rope and eats the tiger.

So the Yellow Emperor is a salute to drive it with time, set up a big peach man, the door is painted with gods, Yu Lei and tigers, and the reed rope is hung to resist the evil charm. tangible, so insist on eating tigers.

In the Han Dynasty, Ying Shao's "Customs and Customs" said: "According to the "Book of the Yellow Emperor", in ancient times, there were two people, Shen Tu and Yu Lei Kundi, who were obsessed with ghosts, and read a hundred ghosts under the peach tree on Dushuo Mountain. Therefore, county officials often used Chinese New Year's Eve, decorating peach people, hanging reed ropes, and painting tigers on the door, all of which followed the example of the past and hoped to defend the murderer.

Painting a tiger on the door to ward off the fierce has been very popular in the Han Dynasty, and its ** should not be later than the Zhou Dynasty. "Zhou Li? Magistrate?

Shi's "On the left side of Humen, Si Dynasty" sentence, Zheng Xuan Zhuyun: "Humen, Lumen also." Wang Ri looked at the road bed, painted the tiger outside the door, with Ming bravery, Yu Shouyi also. ”

The "Rui Beast" to ward off evil and disaster

In people's traditional concept, the tiger is also regarded as a "rui beast", a symbol of bravery, majesty, justice and auspiciousness. According to this characteristic, the ancients also made many items into tiger shapes to ward off evil spirits.

In many parts of our country, people wear "Ai Hu" made of mugwort leaves on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival in May, and the "Cocoon Tiger" made of silkworm cocoons is worn in the place where silkworm cocoons are produced, and there are tiger heads made of colored silk on children's backs, so as to "suppress the five poisons" and eliminate disasters.

In some places, children are dressed in tiger head shoes, tiger head hats, tiger head shaped cloth toys, and even children's pillows are made in the shape of tigers, which is said to bless children with safety and live a long life. When the baby in Xifu and other places in Shaanxi Province celebrates the full moon, the uncle's family will send a little tiger made of yellow cloth, wishing the child to be as powerful and strong as a tiger in the future; When entering the gate, one section of the tiger's tail should be broken off and thrown outside the door, so that the child will grow up without disaster. In Haining, Zhejiang, every Dragon Boat Festival, in addition to dragon boat racing, making zongzi and other activities, grandmother and uncle also have to prepare tiger hats and tiger clothes for the newborn nephew, which will be sent to the daughter's house by the grandmother on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival.

The children of every family wear tiger hats and tiger clothes on this day, bathing in the "gifts" of tigers.

In Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions during the New Year's Festival, there is a custom of cutting tiger-shaped "tiger cypress flowers" to give each other; In Shanxi, Shaanxi and other places, there is a custom of making tiger buns to worship ancestors or give each other on Chinese New Year's Eve and Qingming, which are all prayers for the blessing of the "tiger god" and peace and auspiciousness. There is such a ballad among the folk of southern Jin: "Willow leaf vegetables, tiger head buns, ancestral graves knock their heads down."

You eat the old wheat bun, and you come back on July 15 to steam a jujube fruit for you. The song sings about the custom of worshipping ancestors with tiger buns on the Qingming Festival.

The custom of worshiping tigers of the ancients is conducive to the protection of tigers, so the distribution of tigers in China was once very widespread. However, because this kind of reverence is based on the balance of human and tiger power, when the power of the tiger is strong and the power of man is relatively weak, people fear the tiger, respect the tiger, and worship the tiger as a god; When the power of human beings becomes stronger, especially in modern times, when advanced ** is used, arrogant human beings no longer regard the tiger in their eyes, so they indiscriminately hunt and kill it, so that it will soon become an endangered animal, and some species have become extinct. Therefore, in order to ensure that tigers and other wild animals are effectively protected, it is also necessary to raise the awareness of the Chinese people of the great significance of harmonious coexistence between humans and animals and the protection of the ecological environment, and to restrain people's behavior in the form of law.

Relying only on the traditional concept of tiger worship can no longer play a protective role.

The customs of the Year of the Tiger are:

1. Tiger pillow parenting.

Every time a child celebrates his birthday, the uncle should give his nephew a pair of tiger pillows, which can be used as pillows and toys, and also express blessings.

2. Tiger head pillow.

Tigers and tigers are windy, domineering and cute, big cats, always with a cute cuteness, especially when they are young, people always want to touch the round tiger head, and the deep-rooted impression is that the tiger has the breath of a king, whether it is looking back, hunting, lazy rest, as if they are born with pride.

3. Tiger mask.

The local custom in Shaanxi is that the uncle bought it for his nephew to suppress evil and ward off evil spirits and pray for growth. I deeply believe that it is a kind of inheritance of manhood, and it is the expectation of responsibility and responsibility. The uncle is also a boy in the family, and he was also a naughty but loving little boy.

Bartering is not only to hope that the nephew can be like a little tiger, the tiger and the tiger are in the wind, and to spend this life happily, but also the hope that the nephew can be a man who stands up to the sky, has responsibilities, has ambitions, has responsibilities on his shoulders, has ideals in his heart, is frank and open, full of righteousness, walks every step in his life in a down-to-earth manner, and is the pillar of the family.

4. Shenhu Town House.

During the Spring Festival, people in the Northeast and North China like to hang the "Town House Divine Tiger Map" in the main hall of the house, and there are often poems on the picture: "The Divine Tiger descends the high mountain and descends the demon to the world." The good family bought it, and kept it safe in all seasons.

Or said: "The tiger is the king of beasts, and the evil is removed to the bottom, and your mansion is invited, and everything is prosperous." These are expressions of people's good wishes to be blessed by the tiger god.

5. Northeast cloth tigers.

The cloth tiger in the northeast of his hometown is particularly distinctive, and it also has its uniqueness in its styling characteristics. The limbs are short, fat, and fat. It is a manifestation of people's generous, honest and cute image of Bu Laohu.

In terms of its image characteristics, it is very suitable as a pillow for newborn babies, and the color is divided into "black, red, yellow, blue, and white", and the traditional five colors with high saturation are also used in the use of color.

The body of the tiger is mainly red and yellow, expressing the feeling of auspiciousness and festivity, the color contrast is strong, the image is simple and cute, and the pillow of the tiger head pillow sleeps with the meaning of safe and healthy growth.

6. Year-old tiger clothing.

In some places in Shaanxi, when celebrating the first birthday, it is necessary to wear tiger head shoes, wear tiger head hats, and pillow tiger head pillows. This custom extends to other children in Chinese folk culture, which means that no matter what the zodiac is, the child must wear tiger head shoes and a tiger head hat on his first birthday. The implication is to bless the children to grow up "tiger and tiger life".

7. Marry a female tiger matchmaker.

In the Guanzhong area of Shaanxi, the married girl must accompany a pair of extra-large tigers, and when they pass through the door, they are placed on the lacquer cabinet and carried them, walking at the forefront of the family sending off the family, which may be the legacy of the tiger media. After marriage and childbirth, my grandmother wanted to give a mud tiger as a full moon gift.

As for wearing a tiger hat, wearing a tiger bib, wearing tiger shoes, and pillowing a tiger pillow are national baby-rearing customs. These tiger-shaped daily necessities convey the deep affection of their parents, hoping that the tiger babies and tiger girls will thrive.

The reason why the cloth tiger has become a representative of cloth toys is because it has a very close relationship with China's folk customs, which can be traced back to ancient times. As early as about 6,000 years ago in the Neolithic Age, the primitive tribe in the pottery, stone and jade, there are similar pictures of tigers, in the tombs of the Yangshao culture period unearthed in Henan, the tiger and the dragon are on the left and right of the deceased, from which we can see the status of the tiger in the hearts of the ancestors. In recent decades, a large number of early Han Dynasty petroglyphs have been discovered throughout the country, and the image of a tiger in nature is also fully expressed, and the tiger in the painting is pounced on the sheep to hunt.

2022 is the Year of the Tiger, so what are the folk traditions related to tigers across the country? Next, I will give you an inventory.

01. The Bai people regard the tiger as their ancestor

In the minds of the Bai people, the tiger is their ancestor, and they consider themselves to be the children of the tiger, commonly known as the "tiger child and tiger girl". If there is a red and white wedding event in the family, the Bai people will generally choose the time on the Tiger Day, thinking that that day will be more auspicious.

Moreover, most of the Bai people will hang tiger-related images in their homes to show respect. Even if the Bai people are bitten by a tiger or even bitten to death in the process of hunting, they will not retaliate, but regard this as a way to "become immortals".

02. Children born in the Year of the Tiger generally have the word tiger in their nicknames

For children born in the Year of the Tiger, parents generally give their children a nickname with the word "tiger", and the most common nickname is "little tiger". And on the day of the child's birthday, parents will bring a tiger head hat and wear tiger head shoes to the child, thinking that this practice can make the child "tiger and tiger".

My cousin was born in the Year of the Tiger, and his nickname is Little Tiger. still remembers that on his birthday last year, his family bought him a complete set of clothes embroidered with tigers, and he was also very "domineering and exposed" when he wore them.

03. Newcomers should hang tiger buns when they get married

There is such a custom in the surrounding area of Huaxian County, Shaanxi, that is, when the new daughter-in-law marries into the in-law's family, the people on the mother-in-law's side will hang the "tiger bun" (shaped like a tiger's steamed bun) prepared in advance and tied together with red thread on the neck of the new daughter-in-law. When entering the cave house, the new daughter-in-law has to take the tiger bun off her neck and share it with her husband.

And this tiger bun is also very particular, generally divided into "male and female". The male tiger bun is engraved with the word "king", which is for men to eat, while the female tiger bun has a pair of flying birds on it, implying that the wife flies with her husband. At the same time, the two tiger buns will pinch out a small tiger at the neck position, expressing their wish for "early birth of a precious son".

04. The parenting custom of sending tiger headrests

In Shanxi and other places, there is such a child-rearing custom: when a woman is pregnant, her pillow will be replaced with a tiger headrest, and a small cloth tiger will be placed next to the headrest.

This is done in the hope that the pregnant woman's body will be healthy, and the child born to the pregnant woman can also be alive and well. At the same time, after the child is born, the grandmother's family will give her daughter and granddaughter some tiger things, such as tiger head buns, tiger head quilts, tiger head shoes, etc.

1. The Tiger Star of Yunnan.

Yunnan not only has myths and legends such as the tiger universe and the mutual transformation of man and tiger, but also uses the tiger as the name of clans, tribes, mountains, rivers, regions, buildings and people. The Yi people in Yunnan not only believe that everything in the universe was created by a tiger and the earth is propelled by a tiger, but also invented, created and used the tiger astrology.

The Tiger Planet is mainly related to the position and cycle of the Moon and the Lunar Planet (Leopard Star), and is determined by combining the auspiciousness and evil of the Red-Eye Star and the Leopard Star that cause solar and lunar eclipses. Every year, the Tiger Astrological Horoscope is used for some rituals and farming.

2. The custom of sending cloth tigers in Shaanxi.

Shaanxi has a child-rearing custom of sending cloth tigers. When the child is full moon, the uncle's family will send a tiger made of yellow cloth, and when he enters the gate, he will break off one part of the tiger's tail and throw it outside the door. Sending cloth tigers is to wish children to grow up to be as powerful as tigers; Breaking the tiger's tail is to hope that the child will be free from disasters and difficulties in the process of growing up.

3. Guangxi tiger totem.

In the minds of the Yi people in Guangxi, the tiger has a pivotal position. They see tigers as ancestors and call themselves "after the tigers". For this reason, the Yi people are accustomed to worship tiger-shaped ancestral spirits at home.

Every household of the Yi nationality, there is a tiger-shaped evil spirit hanging on the gate, a tiger totem hanging on the wall, and a stone tiger god shaped like a tiger at the intersection of the village. In the legend of the Yi people, the tiger is the most powerful and noble god, which can eliminate disasters and evil spirits for the people and bless peace.

Folk traditions: Bull fights tigers

"Bull Fighting Tiger" originated from "Bull and Tiger Boxing", and later gradually evolved from martial arts movements to dance performances. Today, the "big tigers" are still closely followed by several "little tigers", and although their movements are immature, they are full of energy.

InJiaozuo, HenanThere is such a unique activity. Every Spring Festival, "playing the tiger" is mainly based on the cooperation of two people, one person lifts the tiger's head, one person supports the tiger's tail, and makes various actions such as fluttering, falling, and throwing along with the rhythm of gongs and drums.

Folk tradition: Lihou Tiger "China's first tiger".

Known as "China's first tiger", "Lihou Tiger" is the main representative of folk handicraft skills in Licheng County, Changzhi City.

The cloth tiger is a traditional handicraft widely spread in Chinese folk, it is a good children's toy, gift and collectible, Changzhi's intangible cultural heritage "tiger" is also because of the long history and innovative modern skills and timeless.

From the situation, it has shaped the spirit of the tiger and the childlike innocent and cute taste. The colors of "Lihou Tiger" are mainly "black, red, blue, white and yellow", highlighting the beauty of the lump, conforming to the common modeling rules of folk toys, showing simple beauty and simple beauty.

Zhuang characteristics on the tiger head hat.

The tiger is the "king of beasts" and is a mascot widely respected by Chinese folk. Since the beginning of the Han Dynasty, there has been a custom of painting tigers on the door to drive away evil spirits and calm down. Chinese are accustomed to condense the most important and best wishes on children's ornaments and utensils, adults often make some carry-on items with the meaning of "tiger" for children, in addition to the calming effect of driving away evil spirits, but also blessing children tiger heads, long life and 100 years old, hoping that children can grow up to be as strong as tigers, brave and mighty.

Guangxi's Zhuang, Miao, Yao and other ethnic minorities still maintain the custom of making tiger head hats and tiger head shoes for children. These hats come in a variety of shapes and are full of childlike play, but they also have the key element of a tiger. A Zhuang embroidered hat on display at the Guangxi Museum of Nationalities, at first glance, does not have a tiger pattern on it, but the hat borrows the shape of a tiger.

This Zhuang embroidered hat is the product of the combination of the customs of the flower woman and the tiger head hat. Fan Miaomiao, deputy research librarian of the Guangxi Museum of Nationalities, said that Hua Po is the god of fertility and protection of children in Zhuang legend, and is in charge of giving flowers and sending children, white flowers represent boys, and red flowers represent girls. When the old artist made the tiger head hat, he embedded the meaning of the flower woman in the tiger head hat, believing that this is the token that can best bless the healthy growth of children, with distinctive Zhuang national characteristics.

Guangxi's "tiger culture" is inclusive.

In the Central Plains, when the child is full moon, the elders will give the child tiger head shoes, tiger head hats, tiger head pillows, belly pockets embroidered with tiger patterns, etc., so that the children can grow up healthily, safely and strongly. Such customs have spread to the ethnic minority areas of Guangxi, and they have their own national characteristics: those majestic and ferocious tiger shapes have changed to another look on the bodies of Guangxi children, or cute, or honest, or naughty.

They are colorful and interesting. Because it is believed that tigers can accompany children to thrive and avoid evil.