When sending cold clothes in southern Shanxi, we pay attention to wrapping some cotton in five-color paper, saying that it is to make cotton coats and quilts for the dead.
When sending cold clothes in northern Shanxi, five-color paper should be made into various styles of clothes, hats, shoes and quilts. Even to make a set of paper houses, tile columns, doors and windows are ready. Apart from being smaller in size, these paper handicrafts look more exquisite and beautiful than real houses. Luoyang Luoyang dialect has a saying: "October 1st, oil chirp", which means that on the first day of October, people will cook and fry food, chop meat and wrap jiaozi, and prepare food to worship their ancestors. These things are greasy, and the operation room is inevitably full of hands and faces.
In urban areas, Yanshi, Yiyang and other places, some people don't go to old graves to burn cold clothes, but burn them at their doorsteps and intersections. On the first day of October, when it was getting dark, people grabbed a handful of earth ash, sprinkled an ash circle in front of their homes, and then burned incense and paper clothes and paper ingots to pay homage to their ancestors. People who pay attention to it will go to the crossroads not far from home to send cold clothes to "ghosts" in order to "return ghosts, but not be rude" and bribe those vagrants so that they can make peace with their dead.
Xin' an county pays special attention to other things: on the first day of October, the newly married daughter-in-law has to add soil to the old people who have died in her husband's family; Those who go to the temple to worship their ancestors have to play drums to entertain them. At the beginning of the Republic of China in Beijing, most Beijingers followed the old customs. Before the first day of October, they went to Nanzhi Store to buy cold clothes paper. It was made of colored wax paper that was burnt and burned with a nightgown and cut into strips in the shape of cloth. Generally, a piece of paper broke three or four. Pink ones are printed with white patterns; The white ones are printed with violet patterns; The yellow ones are printed with red patterns (usually continuous patterns of peony, chrysanthemum and butterfly). There are also plain paper. In short, it's just a symbolic thing. Some cut these cold clothes into clothes and trousers, others don't cut them, and they are directly packed in packages wrapped in paper money and banknotes for incineration. Some rich people who are more particular about it ask the paperhanger of the ghost clothing shop to paste some advanced winter clothes such as fur coats and leather pants. No matter what kind of cold clothes you use, you should mainly use paper money and paper ingots, and put them in packages for incineration.
at the gate of the mansion, there is a drink in the ancestral hall; Generally, people regard parcels as the main theme, and set up a drink in the class, mostly offering three bowls of dumplings. The rich are not limited to this, and there are no rules for dried and fresh fruits, Manchu cakes, cold meat and hot stir-fry. Burning incense and holding candles, the whole family kowtowed four times in the order of seniority (called "three ghosts and four gods"). Sacrifice, or send it to the graveyard, or burn it at the door. There is no mourning for the old. It is popular in the central area of Lulu to burn cold clothes at the intersection in the wild in the evening as a sacrifice for the dead or ghosts who have no descendants.
In the southwest of Shandong Province, in addition to preparing cold clothes, paper bundles are also made for the entertainment of the underworld on the theme of operas or fairy tales loved by the dead before their death. When sending cold clothes in Nanjing, Nanjing, all kinds of ghost clothes should be packed in a red paper bag with the identity and name of the deceased on it. On the first night of the first day, the paper bag will be offered for a memorial ceremony in class, and then it will be incinerated outside the door. At the same time, the freshly harvested red beans and glutinous rice will be made into delicious food for ancestors to taste. In fact, this series of sacrificial activities are all manifestations of remembering ancestors and praying for the prosperity of the family and the safety of future generations. Other
"(October) is the first day of the month, and it is the Cold Clothes Festival to cut the tomb for cold clothes."
—— Records of Wanquan County, Hebei Province. In the 14th year of Qing Daoguang, it was added to the ten-year edition of Qianlong.
"October New Moon, commonly known as October Dynasty. If people are not poor, they all sacrifice to them first, and burn more ghost clothes, which is called the clothing burning festival. "
——— Hu Pu 'an
"On the first day of October, it is called Ghost Festival. Each family sacrifices to sweep their ancestors' clothes, cuts them out with five-color paper, fills them with paper, writes their ancestors' names, and presents them to their descendants, making several copies according to the style and burning them in front of the tomb, or
—— Hebei Zhangbei County Chronicle, printed in the twenty-fourth year of the Republic of China
"Inside and outside the city, in late September, you will buy clothes, boots, shoes, hats, clothes and satin for offering in October."
———— Meng Yuanlao < Tokyo Dream Record >
"October New Year ...... the literati family worships their ancestors to sweep the grave, like Zhongyuan Instrument. In the evening, seal the book, add five-color silk to make a crown with clothes and shoes, and burn it outside the door, saying that you will send cold clothes. "
—— Pan Rong of Qing Dynasty < Ji Sheng at the age of Emperor Jing >
The first day of October in the lunar calendar is the Cold Clothes Festival. In the old days, offering sacrifices to tombs, burning paper money and paper clothes (cut with colored paper) meant giving clothes and coins to the dead. Today, Han people still burn paper on graves. —— Quoted from Hejian County Records of Hebei Province,
Volume 17 of Luoyang City Records: October 1st of the lunar calendar is commonly known as Ghost Festival, also known as Cold Clothes Festival.
All the year round, it goes back and forth, in October of the lunar calendar, autumn comes and winter comes. On the first day of October, cold air came, and while people were wrapping up thick cotton-padded jackets, they remembered that their dead relatives should also add clothes, so they bought five-color paper paste to make cold clothes, burned them and sent them to the underworld for the ghosts there to keep out the cold. It was called "October 1st, burning cold clothes"-in Luoyang, it is necessary to emphasize a "son" voice, called "October 1st, burning cold clothes".