There is a folk saying "on February 2, the Dragon rises its head". This saying has a long history. It means that everything is going well this year and the construction is going well. Remember the next time, to this day can go to cut hair, shave, long looked up Bo a good omen, start a new year. So what does February 2 really mean? What's the custom of February 2? Let's have a look at it together.
There is a folk saying "on February 2, the Dragon raises its head". It means that when spring comes, all things will recover, and Zhelong will start its activities, indicating that the year's agricultural activities will begin soon. In the north, February 2 is also called dragon head up day, or spring Dragon Festival. In the south, it's called the outing Festival. In ancient times, it was called the vegetable picking Festival. Since about Tang Dynasty, Chinese people have had the custom of "February 2". According to records, the origin of this sentence is related to ancient astronomy's understanding of stars' movement and agricultural solar terms.
In ancient Chinese astronomy, 28 constellations were identified in the ecliptic on Sunday, called 28 constellations. The ancients divided the 28 constellations into four palaces according to the southeast and northwest, each of which has seven constellations. According to their images, the four palaces were attached to four kinds of animals. Among them, Donggong 7 is imagined as a giant dragon stretching from north to south, composed of 30 stars.
The stars are relatively immovable. When the position of the earth's rotation makes the Colossus in the same direction as the sun, the sun's light will submerge the starlight, and people will not see the Colossus in the sky. After a period of time, the position of the earth will shift, and the Colossus will reappear again, again and again. The ancients found this Law and judged the seasons by it.
When the first night of Donggong 7th night, known as "dragon horn", appeared on the horizon, it was spring, so the ancients regarded its appearance as a sign of spring. At this time, it coincides with the rain solar term in February of the Chinese lunar calendar, resulting in the saying of "February 2, dragon head up". Bai Juyi, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, said: 'on February 2, when the new rain is clear, the grass sprouts and vegetables grow for a while; the light clothes and fine horses are young in spring, with a line of "cross Tianjin head". '
Folk custom experts explain why the Dragon rises on February 2
There is a saying among the people that "on February 2, the dragon looks up". Why did the dragon rise its head on February 2? Folklorists explained this.
According to the professor of Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences, this kind of folk custom is related to festivals. Around the first day of February, it was "Jingzhe". Many animals, such as frogs, snakes and earthworms, go into hibernation in winter, which is called "hibernation". Around February of the lunar new year, when the weather gets warmer, some insects gradually end their hibernation and begin to come out for activities. It seems that they are awakened from their sleep by the bright spring sun or the loud spring thunder. Therefore, this festival is called "Jingzhe".
The professor also said that the legendary dragon was imagined by our ancestors on the basis of snakes, earthworms, etc., so the folk also called the snake "Little Dragon". Around February 2, snakes and earthworms ended their hibernation and started their activities. It is believed that the dragon is the symbol of the emperor, the auspicious thing, and the master of the wind and rain. And 'February 2' is the day when the Dragon wants to rise to the sky and start activities, so it is called 'February 2, the Dragon rises its head'.
So, why not 'February 1' or 'February 3'? Folklore experts explain that it has something to do with our preference for even numbers in folklore.
Folklore experts say that in ancient China, especially in the Qin and Han Dynasties and before, heavy days such as January 1, February 2 and March 3 were regarded as the days when heaven and earth interacted with each other. Therefore, in such a day, people need to do more praying, sacrifice or memorial activities to get happiness, well-being and good luck.
Analysis of astronomy experts' February 2, dragon head up '
"February 2, the rise of the dragon" symbolizes the return of spring and the recovery of all things. So, where is the dragon? How does it raise its head? Astronomers have explained this.
Different from ancient Western astronomy, China divides stars into seven star regions, namely 'three walls' and' four images'. The so-called "wall" means "city wall". 'three walls' are' purple walls', which symbolize the imperial palace; 'Taiwei walls' symbolize the administrative organs;' tianshiyuan 'symbolizes the prosperous street market. The three walls are triangular around the north star. Around the "three walls" are four images: the eastern Canglong, the western white tiger, the southern Zhuque and the northern Xuanwu. In other words, the Eastern Star image is like a dragon, the western star image is like a tiger, the Southern Star image is like a big bird, and the northern star image is like a turtle and a snake. As the earth revolves around the sun, the stars in the sky change with the seasons. Every evening at the turn of winter and spring, the dragon appears; at the turn of spring and summer, the Xuanwu rises; at the turn of summer and autumn, the white tiger shows its head; at the turn of autumn and winter, the rosefinch rises.
There are two stars on the dragon's head 'Jiaosu': Jiaosu 1 and Jiaosu 2, representing the two horns on the dragon's head. The four stars after "Jiaosu" are "Kangsu", which is the throat of the dragon. Under the throat, there are four stars arranged into a dustpan, which is "Disu", representing the dragon claw. The fangxiu, Xinxiu, tailxiu and Jixiu behind the dragon claw represent the heart and tail of the Dragon respectively.
Folk customs of February 2
In some areas of China, a dragon is drawn on the ground with cooking fume during the spring Dragon Festival, which is commonly known as yinqianlong. There are two purposes to guide the Dragon: one is to ask the dragon to come back, make clouds and rain, and pray for agricultural harvest; the other is that the dragon is the God of all kinds of insects. When the Dragon comes, all kinds of insects will hide, which is beneficial to human health and crop growth. In Nantong, Jiangsu Province, people use flour to make longevity peaches and livestock. After they are steamed, they put them on bamboo sticks, and then put them in the fields at night. They think it's food for the God of insects and ancestor worship. They pray that the God of insects will not harm the crops.
On that day, food names were generally added with the title of "dragon". Eating dumplings is called eating 'Dragon ears', eating spring cakes is called eating' Dragon scales', eating noodles is called eating 'Dragon whiskers', eating rice is called eating' Dragon seeds', eating wonton is called eating 'dragon eyes', etc.
Women can't do needlework on this day, because Cang Long will look up and see the world. Using the needle will hurt the dragon's eyes. Before a woman gets up, she thinks' on February 2, the dragon looks up. If the Dragon doesn't look up, I look up '. After getting up, I will light the beam with a lantern and read 'February 2, shine on the beam, scorpion centipede has no place to hide'. In some places, women stop washing clothes for fear of hurting Longpi, etc.
On the third day of February, the birthday of Wenchang (the God who dominates the fame and fame), the Japanese literati worshiped Wenchang and asked for the imperial examination. As the old saying goes, children begin their formal study on February 2. In the past, there were four rites for scholars, namely, the first rites of writing, the advanced rites, the Thanksgiving rites and the first scholar rites. Among them, the first rites of writing were the first rites of life. The ceremony includes worshiping Confucius, teaching the most basic principles of life, and giving four treasures of study.
February 2 shaving faucet
As the saying goes, 'the dragon does not look up, the sky does not rain'. The dragon is not only a auspicious thing, but also the master of weathering rain. On February 2 of the lunar calendar, people prayed that the dragon would raise its head and make clouds to rain and nourish all things. It is known as "February 2 shaving the dragon head". People in China generally believe that shaving on this day will make people lucky and prosperous. Therefore, the proverb "shaving the dragon head on February 2, a year has a spiritual head". On February 2, every barber shop is full of customers and has a prosperous business.
In addition, there is a popular saying in Chinese people that "first month's uncle died of cutting his head", so many people do not visit barbershop for a month after finishing hairdressing in December, until February 2, the ban was lifted. However, this folk taboo has gradually faded in recent years.