Zhang Min turned his eyes and said: "Liang-laying is one of the five major ceremonies to be held in building a new house. The five major ceremonies are: first, the ceremony of "anfu master" at the house site; second, "releasing water" (
Ceremony of burying underground drainage ditches in the main hall of the main house; third, the ceremony of installing the door; fourth, the ceremony of raising the beams; fifth, the ceremony of "moving into the new house". In order to make the ceremony of "raising the beams" more grand and spectacular
, those from wealthy families often combine the ceremonies of "raising beams" and "building new houses" together.
"Don't be ridiculous, these are rituals you are talking about. I am asking you where the custom of going to the beam came from."
"Third uncle, what are you in a hurry for?"
Zhang Min cast his eyes to another place, winked at Qin Yu who was sitting on the side, and then said to his third uncle with a smile: "Let's ask our family's great talent to answer this!"
Zhang Min knew about these rituals because she had experienced them when she first built a new house, but it was difficult for her to tell her why.
"Well, let me tell you. If something is wrong, uncle, please don't laugh at me." Qin Yu saw his cousin's eyes and had no choice but to speak.
"Xiaoyu, just tell me and I will correct you if you find something wrong!" Zhang Yuanqiao encouraged.
"In fact, the custom of raising beams has been around since ancient times. As the saying goes: 'If there are beams on the roof, there will be food in the house; if there are no beams on the roof, the livestock will not prosper.' People believe that only when the beams are upright, stable, and peaceful can the family prosper."
Industry. And in ancient times, there were strict selections for beams. They must be round and straight beams, not skewed. Only such beams can be used as upper beams..."
Qin Yukaikai said that he was very interested in these folk customs when he was in college, and he also conducted some understanding and investigation.
"Yes, you are right about the meaning of beam-mounting. Do you know the procedures for beam-mounting?"
Zhang Yuanqiao is a teacher. He couldn't trouble Qin Yu, so he always asked questions to the end as a habit.
"Hey, uncle, I really understand this. The customs of beam-laying are different in different places. As far as our area is concerned, you have to choose an auspicious day for beam-laying, and then the night before, the carpenters and masonry masters will lift the colorful beams on the
On the table in the hall of the newly built house, the heads of the stems are placed on the east side (that is, facing the left), and the tail heads are placed on the west side (that is, facing the right). Then the host arranges the melon seeds and fruits, and accompanies the masters to guard the beams to prevent any trace of dirt and evil spirits.
Things are close to colorful beams.
When guarding the beam, the carpenter first has to perform the ceremony of accompanying the beam. He first grabs a handful of rice on the tea tray, scatters it around the hall, bows to the beam tree and says:
"This beam, this beam, is very unusual. The beams on the house are steady and steady, and the red stars are shining high, resplendent. The family is auspicious, the population is prosperous, the old live longer, and their life is as long as the mountains; the young add happiness, the orchids and guis are fragrant. Officials
A scholar will be promoted and a bird will soar high; a scholar will be promoted and the sky will be high. Everything will go well and everything will be good and prosperous."
After the carpenter said the words of congratulations to Liang, he had to follow the rules and ask for a cup of clean water from the master, drink it in his mouth, spray it on the beam tree and say:
"Looking aside, the heaven and the earth are opening up, the days are auspicious and the times are good, the emperor's descendants are building beautiful halls, and they are comfortable to live in. The evil spirits abdicate, and the evil spirits are hiding. Accompanying the beam here will always be auspicious. The sound of the hammer echoes through the sky, and thousands of saints and sages accompany the beam.
The evil spirits from heaven will return to the clouds in the sky soon, and the evil spirits from earth will follow the water and descend to Luoyang."
Qin Yu's voice was ups and downs, and along with the sound of the sizzling charcoal fire, it reached everyone's ears, and everyone could think of a vivid scene of a carpenter reciting lyrics in their minds.
"Very good. I didn't expect you, Xiaoyu, to know so much about the custom of going to the beam. Keep talking and give them a lot of knowledge. Not many young people today understand these old traditions."
Zhang Yuanqiao is very satisfied with Qin Yu's performance, but as he said, today's young people have too little understanding of traditions. I am afraid that these things will be completely eliminated after the death of the older generation in a few decades.
disappeared.
"I only knew that the ceremony of going up to the beam was quite complicated before, but I didn't expect that there are so many details." Another cousin of Qin Yu sighed.
Qin Yu nodded, and he agreed with what his uncle said. Today's young people pursue different goals. The fast pace of life means that few people understand these ancient and cumbersome customs carefully.
"After the evil spirits come out, the guests and the host sit together in the hall to accompany the beam. After midnight, they prepare food and wine for the guests to have a late night drink. The host also treats the carpenters and masonry masters with generous gifts, often stewing elbows to thank them.
After hard work, the owner of the new house had to accompany the carpenter and masonry master to drink slowly. After the supper, the time was approaching the fifth watch.
At this time, the master carpenter brought the ax painted red, the ink fountain, and the ruler and placed them on the table, with the three feet leaning against the left front of the table. The master masonry also brought the tile knife and hanging ruler and placed them on the right front of the table. Everything
After preparation, a big red rooster was placed on the beam. At this time, the carpenter who was in charge of the ink fountain came to the table and said: "Lu Ban came early, so it is a good time to put the beam on." Then the carpenter put grains, pens, ink, papers and other items on the beam.
In the middle of the beam, use red cloth to seal the beam - tightly wrap the waist of the beam, sew the red cloth covering the beam with red thread, and then sing the poem "Tie the beam":
Holding a piece of damask from the master's house in his hand, there is still zero within one foot and three feet.
Tie it three times on the left to increase wealth, and tie it three times on the right to increase the number of scholars.
The owner's family will be prosperous and full of glory and wealth.
After chanting, the carpenter and masonry master each raised a glass of wine to their heads, sprinkled the wine three times on the beam tree, and chanted in unison:
Holding a glass of wine from the host’s house, I wish you a long-lasting life;
Holding two glasses of wine from the master’s house in hand, prosperity and wealth can be enjoyed from generation to generation;
Holding three glasses of wine from the master's house, his descendants will be granted the title of prince.
After the carpenters and bricklayers offer wine to the beam, the carpenter will put the rooster on the beam tree and stand there. First, he will hold the rooster and praise:
Holding a chicken from the owner's house, it has a high head and a low tail;
Wearing a golden crown, Xia Pei Jin, and a colorful feather coat.
This chicken is not an extraordinary chicken. The owner of the club is offering sacrifices to Liang’s chicken!
After that, the chicken is placed on the beam tree, which is called a living dragon standing on the beam, which means that the family business is prosperous. After the beam ceremony, it is the auspicious day of raising the beam. The carpenter and the masonry master use ropes wrapped with red paper at both ends of the tree.
Each of them climbed to the top of the main pillar with a beam-installing tool, held the rope, kept balance at both ends, and slowly pulled it up, while chanting:
The master's house has a beam on the roof today, and it is auspicious that the zodiac will bring good luck.
The lucky star shines brightly, and everything is prosperous.
After chanting, the guests accompanying Liang, the host, and the men, women, and children from the village who came to pick up Liang's steamed buns all shouted: "Okay!" The chorus echoed through the sky, and together with the sound of firecrackers, the atmosphere of Liang was changed.
The place was filled with joy and excitement.
At this time the master masonry chanted again:
"This beam, this beam, is very unusual. It grows on the mountain, and today it is a beam. When you go up to the beam today, it is auspicious to meet the ecliptic, the valley is good and the auspicious day, the purple is shining brightly. The buildings are shining brightly, and the things are beautiful and precious. The elderly will live longer, and the years will bring glory.
Peach. Those who are young will be happy, the moon is full and the flowers are good, readers will be educated, the dragon gate will jump high, officials will be rewarded, and they will be promoted step by step, the farmers will have abundant crops, the grains will be full and the warehouses will be empty. The family business will be prosperous, and the wealth will be forever."
Wood, the master masonry chanted as he pulled the beam tree up to the top of the main pillar and stabilized it. Then he lowered the rope and pulled the steamed buns, peanuts, candies, and coins up the beam. In order to win the prize, he deliberately asked: "There are a lot of things down there."
People, don’t throw your axes around!" Then he shouted: "The beam tree is well, it will attract wealth. One morning, EMI is good. Master, please throw away the steamed buns on the beam!" So the carpenter master and the masonry worker
The master sat on the square of the beam tree, tossing the steamed buns and singing the cheers for the beam...
Qin Yu finally finished speaking, and everyone was still thinking about it. For a long time, some people sighed:
"I didn't expect that to be a good carpenter, you not only need to be able to do the work, but you also need to understand these things!"
"Actually, in the past, apprentices would learn from carpentry masters. When they were able to become apprentices, it depended on whether the master could teach them these things. Only when they learned these things can they be considered as apprentices."
The uncle answered appropriately, and Qin Yu also nodded in approval. The craftsmen in ancient times were very strict, and it was not an easy task to become a master.
"Eh! No, Xiaoyu, although what you said is very good, it is different from the customs here. There seems to be no ceremony for accompanying the bride as you mentioned, and there is no ceremony for bringing out evil spirits either!" Zhang Hua recalled.
After a while, I discovered something different.
"Idiot, you don't even think about it. What era are we in now? We have reinforced concrete houses. Where do the beams come from? Xiaoyu is talking about the customs of the past!" Zhang Yuanqiao didn't like his son, so he memorized it in the first place.
She forced him to drop out of school and go out to work, which almost made him sick.
Qin Yu cast a sad look at his cousin Zhang Hua. Whenever he got a chance, his uncle would hit his cousin mercilessly. This was something that everyone was used to.
Zhang Hua blinked at him and signaled Qin Yu to help him out, otherwise his old man would seize the opportunity to scold him for a long time.
"In fact, although houses no longer need to use beams, these rituals still exist, but in a different way. Take the evil spirit ritual as an example. Now the carpenter will catch a rooster and swim around the whole house.
Go, some bamboo sticks will be placed in the corner of every door, and wherever the rooster passes, someone will pick up the bamboo sticks and slap them on the wall. This is called to drive away evil spirits!"
Qin Yu naturally would not ignore his cousin's request for help, so he had no choice but to explain for him:
"In folklore, the rooster itself has the ability to destroy evil spirits and summon yang. Wherever the rooster goes, evil evil spirits and filthy things will naturally not dare to stay. When they hear the flapping sound of bamboo sticks, they will hide inside the bamboo sticks and wait.
After the carpenter completes the house, people will collect all the bamboo sticks and one person will tie firecrackers to pillars to clear the way in front. Those with bamboo sticks will follow and run out. This is called sending evil spirits away!"
"Well, I didn't read this book in vain. We can't throw away these traditions passed down by our ancestors!" (To be continued)