On the second day of the second month of the lunar calendar, the folk customs are basically around 'shaving and eating'. Many people will cut their hair on the day when the dragon looks up. Do you know why? What's the point of the Dragon looking up and having a haircut?
It is understood that on February 2 of the lunar calendar every year, barber shops around the country usually have a peak flow. In addition to seeking auspiciousness, there are reasons for "not shaving in the first month" in some areas. Compared with the popularity of shaving, the tradition of young people eating is becoming weaker and weaker.
Why is this' shaving day '?
On the second day of the second lunar month, spring returns to the earth. It's the time to plant crops. The earth thirsts for rain. The dragon is the auspicious thing that dominates the wind and rain in Chinese culture. There is a saying in the common saying that "the dragon does not look up and the sky does not rain". Therefore, the dragon looks up is a symbol of recovery and auspiciousness. In folk custom, people choose to shave their heads on this day, hoping for the auspicious omen of great fortune.
In addition to seeking good luck, there are taboo reasons. Mr. Liu, a hairdresser from Harbin who works in a barber shop in Shanghai, told reporters that he used to work in the barber industry in Beijing, Hebei and other places, where there was a custom of not shaving in the first month, so the business at the end of the waxy moon was extremely hot. The employees were busy from early to late, and there were few guests in the first month. Some bosses simply gave the employees a holiday and closed down for the first month, especially the second day of February Days will be full of guests again; but when he arrived in Shanghai, he found that there was no such disparity in the change of passenger flow year before and year after.
As for haircut, it's widely said in northern China that "my uncle died of shaving in the first month". However, Liu Zhenchao, vice president of Liaoning folklore society, said in an interview with Xinhua news agency that this was actually a misrepresentation, that "dead uncle" was a homophony of "nostalgia for the past". In the early Qing Dynasty, Han people missed the Ming Dynasty in the way of not shaving their heads in the first month, but they dared not openly confront the Qing government which issued the "shaving order", so they had the above-mentioned view. According to the reporter, people in the North don't shave their heads in the first month, most of them are taboo to 'dead uncle'. People who don't have an uncle don't have such scruples, but with the development of society, the number of people shaving their heads in the first month is also increasing.
Xue Liyong, a folklorist in Shanghai, told reporters that there is no saying that people don't shave in the first month of Shanghai, just to welcome the new year, most people will choose to have their hair cut at the end of the first month of the year, so that there are obviously fewer people cutting their hair in the first month, but there is no restriction that the first month can't cut their hair.