Singapore's Mid-Autumn Festival inherits the beliefs of Taoism and Buddhism in China, and has rich historical, religious and folk cultural connotations. In addition, it also expanded the original festival of July 15th of the lunar calendar into a month-long celebration.
The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is the season when crops mature, which is called Xiaoqiu. China people who pay attention to filial piety should sacrifice their ancestors with the new rice valley and report their harvest. So every Mid-Autumn Festival, every household should prepare chickens, ducks, pigs, fish and all kinds of cakes to salute them. Some people have to go to the cemetery to remember their ancestors.
In addition to the usual fruits and dishes, there are daily necessities such as rice, oil and salt, which must be inserted in Pudu Banner. Setting a table to worship Pu can be divided into "public Pu" (also known as "Lian Pu", which is jointly organized by residents of various settlements, groups or temples) and "private Pu" (organized by individuals or single families and institutions).
During the ceremony, the Purdue flag with Chinese honorific words and the name of the donor will be erected on the altar, and a wick will be inserted on each offering. Soap, towels and a washbasin filled with clean water will also be placed under the altar for the "good brothers" to wash and dress. Many smokers will also light cigarettes and stick them on their feet to push themselves and their "souls" to smoke for "good brothers", which is human.
The so-called "good brothers" are friendly terms for Singaporeans. It is possible that most of the early lonely souls were soldiers who died in battle, and people usually held large-scale sacrifices to them, so they were called "good brothers". At the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, the food in the middle table must be reserved for "good brothers".
According to the Taoist scriptures, on July 15th, the gate of hell was wide open, and the underworld could only come out for activities on this day. Therefore, every family sacrifices to their ancestors, hoping that they will soon live beyond the celestial realm. At the same time, people should also sacrifice to those who have no offspring, or those who die unjustly. Taoist priests want to build a hall for praying for blessings, named "Purdue in the Central Plains", to appease the ghosts and help them resolve their grievances and enjoy life as soon as possible.
Buddhism also celebrates the Mid-Yuan Festival, which is officially called the Orchid Festival. When the festival comes, a grand "fire mouth" ceremony will be held, the main purpose of which is to offer sacrifices and appease the ghosts. Yankou is the name of the Taoist ghost king in Buddhism, which was deliberately translated as "Yankou" because of spitting flames. It can also be understood as a fire on the face, so it is also called a "face-burning scholar" and is called a "master scholar" by the people.
Therefore, in the Mid-Autumn Festival, there will be an additional statue of "Master" in temples in Singapore. The big one is more than two meters high, with a fierce and ugly face, a long tongue hanging down and a belly as big as a drum. According to folklore, Master Dashi is the ghost king, who rules all the ghosts in the underworld. In the Mid-Autumn Festival, Guanyin will become the ghost king and control the ghosts who come and go. Therefore, there is usually a small Guanyin statue on the head of a master. This is actually a symbol of Wang's "disgusting" image. By the end of Purdue in the Central Plains, Dashi, the master of paper binding, will be incinerated with gold and silver paper, symbolizing the departure of the ghost king and the end of the Central Plains celebration.
Apart from religious color, the Mid-Autumn Festival in Singapore has profound social significance. As early as the colonial period, in addition to temples, large and small trade unions, companies and street organizations held the "Mid-Autumn Festival", which became one of the important ways for China society to enhance cohesion and help each other.
Today, the "Central Plains Society" is still very prosperous. Members of the Central Plains Society will pay a certain amount of money out of their own pockets, and then everyone will buy traditional sacrifices such as "three sacrifices" and "five sacrifices", and even daily necessities such as rice noodles, sugar and oil to worship "good brothers" (ghosts).
After the worship, everyone enjoys the sacrificial food together, and other daily necessities are equally distributed to individuals to take home. Of course, there will be large and small yuan, and the number of offerings will be different. However, the form of "Central Plains Club" did play a role in maintaining friendship and enhancing cohesion.
Usually, there are many Zhong members in the temple, and a grand banquet will be held near the temple, and at the same time, a "blessing" activity will be held at the banquet, that is, a "temple fair auction". The most special items in the auction are all kinds of religious symbolic blessings, such as the furnace of the god of wealth, Baoshan, Wang Li and so on. Every year, the Central Plains Association will donate part of the proceeds from the auction to charity.
These things have beautiful meanings, blessing wealth or peace, and are usually the most intense items on the scene. Those who take pictures of blessings don't have to pay immediately. They can take the word "Fu" home first, and then pay auction fees the previous year one year later, that is, on the Mid-Autumn Festival next year. Many people, after inviting the lucky newspaper, have a prosperous business within one year, or double the auction fee next year. This is also the biggest difference between religious blessing and ordinary auction.
The most lively and exciting part of the whole worship ceremony is praying. This "bidding" is a technical job. Bidders should not only be loud, but also be able to enliven the atmosphere and control the rhythm. Chinese, Fujian dialect, Cantonese, English, Malay, etc. Should be able to switch freely, even in Tamil, it is best to know a few words. After all, Singapore is a multi-ethnic society. It is not excluded that if friends are willing to participate in the bidding for blessings, it will naturally be more effective to communicate in their own accustomed language.
In addition to offering sacrifices to "good brothers" at Purdue, Singaporeans also considered the spiritual life of "good brothers" through ceremonial ceremonies such as crater and tin cans, so "Songtai" came into being.
The history of the platform is much shorter than the Mid-Autumn Festival. Traditional temple fairs are all about inviting troupes to perform, but with the disappearance of dialects, traditional troupes have no market. Since the 1980s, a small fresh wind of "singing platform" has been blowing on my face. The stage with song and dance as the main content immediately swept the lion city and became the classic content of the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala.
"Singing platform" fully embodies the characteristics of grassroots culture. Generally located on the lawn between neighbors, anyone can watch. It sings the most popular folk songs, and the host gags on the stage to satisfy the entertainment tastes of ordinary people.
The only thing that can explain "singing" or religious activities is probably the chairs in the first row under the stage. The first row of chairs is usually empty, with some gold and silver paper on it. Needless to say, it must be reserved for "good brothers"
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