Why do some people say that the dead cross the bridge is a kind of righteous sacrificial folk cust

The crossing of the bridge of the dead is an interesting sacrificial folk custom in the Chaoshan area.

It is very popular, this folk custom, it is said that it is derived from the folklore of Tang Taizong's tour of the underworld and Liu Quan's entry into the melon.

When Chaoshan people arrange bridge sacrifices for their deceased relatives, watermelons become the protagonists, but in the underworld, there are some lazy imps who are unwilling to do their best to pick watermelons, so they will catch strong men on the road at night to pick watermelons instead of them, so in the evenings of these days in early June, Chaoshan people have the habit of not going out.

In addition, there are many taboos, such as the ban on buying watermelons, from the beginning of June to buy watermelons, it belongs to the patent of the mourners, in addition to watermelons, the five fruits of the bridge worship: peaches, plums, lychees, grapes, and yellow peel fruits.

It is also forbidden to buy. In addition, the married daughter is forbidden to go back to her parents' home, from the beginning of June to the sixth day of June These days to go back to her parents' home, it means that there is a funeral in the mother's house, so it is forbidden for the married daughter to go back to her parents' house these days, and then it is also forbidden to visit the homes of relatives and friends.

It is forbidden to make kueh and eat kueh, and people who have the task of worshiping will make bridge cakes, as well as five cakes and five feasts, among which the practice of bridge cakes is the most exquisite, making it into the shape of a shoe, and it should be eaten or fed to pigs before noon on the sixth day of June, otherwise it will delay the undead to cross the bridge.

The date of the undead crossing the bridge is fixed on the sixth day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar every year, and all adults in the family who died before the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth month of the same year including the death last year, and the bridge crossing ceremony must be held on this day when the bridge crossing ceremony is not held, and each deceased only needs to hold it once.

The bridge of the dead has a very strong superstitious color, but because it contains the ethical and moral concept of filial piety of the son of man, it is still accepted by the majority of Chaoshan people. This custom is still prevalent among the Chaoshan people.

This folk custom comes from the story of Tang Taizong and the Dragon King of Jinghe, who tried some ways to stop Wei Zheng in order to prevent the Dragon King of Jinghe from being killed by Wei Zheng.

Because in fact, only people who die together at the same time can do this thing of crossing the bridge of the undead. That's why it's very impressive. It is also very popular.

Some people will say that crossing the bridge for the dead is a kind of sacrificial folk custom with righteousness, which means that the crossing of the bridge by the dead means that it is worth forgetting the past, and this behavior is very brave.

It refers to the passing of the elders and the delivery of the clothes of the elders across the bridge, which is a custom to express the remembrance and longing for the elders.

It refers to a kind of mourning activity carried out 100 days after the death of a person, in order to seek the early reincarnation of the deceased.

A representative building was built next to the bridge to honor the gods who passed by on the bridge.

There are still a lot of taboos when holding the sacrificial folk customs of crossing the bridge for the dead, and you can't go out on the first day of June to the sixth day of the first month, and you can't go out at night, and the daughter who marries out can't go back to her parents' house.

The crossing of the bridge by the dead is a very interesting sacrificial folk custom, this sacrificial folk custom is very popular in Chaoshan, this folk custom is still because of the folklore of Tang Taizong's visit to the Difu and Liu Quanjin melon at that time.

This story tells the story of Tang Taizong who was invited to the underworld by the king of Hades to confront him, and later extended Li Shimin's life span by 20 years. In order to repay the king of Yama, Li Shimin said that he would repay him with melons and fruits, but the king of Yama told Li Shimin that he had eaten both winter melons and pumpkins, but he had never eaten watermelons.

But at that time, no one was willing to send this watermelon to Lord Yan, Liu Quan's wife at that time died, and he was also doing very badly, so he asked to send the watermelon over. But when Lord Yan got the watermelon, he was very happy, and he fulfilled Liu Quan, so that the two of them turned back to the yang world. Because his wife had passed away for several years, and the body was gone, Lord Yama also arranged for her to borrow the corpse to resurrect her soul, so that the young girl who had just reached the end of her life would become his wife's soul host.

After that, this story was passed down among the people, and when the Chaoshan people held a bridge funeral for their relatives, watermelon became an indispensable thing. At that time, there were still a lot of taboos, that is, from the beginning of June, buying watermelon was the patent of the funeral person. And the daughter who has been married is forbidden to go back to her parents' home, and returning to her parents' house means that there is a funeral in her mother's family, which is very unlucky.

You can't go to the homes of relatives and friends, and you can't go out at night.

During the process, there should be no loud noises, and there should be no disrespect for the deceased, and children should not come.

On the afternoon of the fifth day of the sixth lunar month, when the festival of "crossing the bridge of the dead" is held, people generally do not buy raw fruits to eat, especially watermelon. On the night of the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, the family was closed, and they did not dare to go to the street or visit the door, for fear that the ghost would come to pick watermelons.

It is forbidden to buy watermelons and eat watermelons, watermelons are used to cross the bridge on this day, and it is forbidden to go out at night for fear of being caught by ghosts.

The "bridge crossing" ceremony should be held in advance on the afternoon of June 5. In the afternoon, worship the dead, toast wine, tea and food, and tell the dead to cross the bridge. At about 11 o'clock that night, the "crossing the bridge" ceremony was officially held, and it was commemorated until midnight, that is, the sixth day of the first month.

The necessary offerings for crossing the bridge are: there are seven pieces of fruit that are two or three inches wide and seven or eight inches long and are not steamed, called "bridge plate glider", arranged into a zigzag plate bridge, symbolizing the Nai He Bridge of entering the palace of the king of Hades, and the bridge is the meaning of seven continents. The head and tail of the bridge are guarded by Yin Cao officials, and a cooked braised duck should be prepared to respect the head of the bridge, and a cooked white chicken should be honored by the end of the bridge.

At this time, it is the ripening season of Chaoshan watermelon, and the folk customs here replace the pumpkin with watermelon. The number of watermelons offered depends on the number of children of the deceased, one for each of them, regardless of gender. If you are an only child or have no son, you should give one or two pairs.

During the worship, each watermelon is inserted with a lit incense stick, and a string of paper is set as the husband's money of the person who picks the watermelon; In addition, a pot of fresh fruits with 12 different kinds of fruits should be added, and a large number of paper skulls should be incinerated to honor the king of Hades, so that the deceased can be reincarnated and reborn as soon as possible. When some Yin households hold the "crossing the bridge" ceremony, they also invite monks and Taoist priests to make a dojo, which is commonly known as "crossing the bridge".