What superstitions and taboos are there among the people in China?

In China's long-standing traditional culture, a considerable part is directly created and enjoyed by the general public. This part of culture is customarily called folk culture. It spreads among the people in the form of customs and folk art, which directly affects people's production, life, psychology and ideas. With the development of modern humanities, many emerging disciplines, such as cultural anthropology, ethnology, especially folklore, pay great attention to this part of national culture, collect, sort out and study it, and put forward various theories and viewpoints about it. China's exploration of folk culture formally originated from the May 4th New Culture Movement. Before liberation, it developed to a certain extent. After liberation, it stopped for a while. After 1976, some related disciplines in this field resumed, cooperated with each other and developed quite rapidly. In the research of folklore, there are specialized academic groups and a few professionals, as well as a large number of part-time collectors and researchers. In addition to folk literature, it also covers marriage, funeral, age, living customs, material production, diet, clothing, folk beliefs, national customs and so on. Folk taboo is a topic that has been highlighted recently. Taboo is usually called "taboo" in cultural anthropology. This is a ban on sacred or unclean things. Taboo has been produced and played an important role in primitive times. Fraser's The Devil's Lawyer (subtitled "Defending Superstition") is a famous book devoted to studying the function of primitive national superstitions, including taboos. With the development of society and people's ideology, the form and connotation of taboo have also changed, and it has not been widely popular among the people until modern times. Taboo is not a single folk phenomenon, it exists in all kinds of folk activities, and it mainly restrains itself in all aspects by passive avoidance, so it is an organic part of the whole folk custom. In China, contemporary folklore scholars have paid full attention to the classification of taboos. For example, Mr. Tao has a special chapter "Classification of Taboos" in Introduction to Folklore. He divided taboos into (1) religious taboos; (2) production taboo; (3) language taboo; (4) general life taboos. Although the division method is general and not rigorous, it is one of the earliest scholars to discuss this issue. Mr. Wu Bingan's classification of taboos in China folk customs is based on the folk belief sources of taboos. He generally divides taboos into five aspects, that is, first, he regards natural forces or natural objects in nature as sacred and inviolable things, and worships them, thus forming taboo ideas and behaviors against the sun, the moon, stars, wind, rain, thunder, rainbow, water, fire, mountains, stones and other things. Secondly, regarding an animal or plant as a sacred thing closely related to the ancestors of this clan has formed taboos such as prohibiting killing or committing crimes. Third, the worship of ancestor spirit originates from the taboo of ancestor symbols or relics. Fourth, the taboo about ghosts, monsters and their places of activity stems from the worship of ghosts and elves. Fifth, the taboo formed by the concept of seeking good fortune and avoiding evil derived from superstition of good fortune and misfortune. These five aspects can be roughly summarized as follows: (1) nature worship; (2) Totem worship; (3) ancestor worship; (4) Worship of ghosts and gods; (5) Worship of fate. The taboo classification here is divided according to these five reasons of taboo worship. The theoretical system is rigorous and profound. However, the actual classification results based on this classification system have not been seen. Perhaps it is because these five forms of worship blend with each other in real life and are difficult to distinguish, so there are some difficulties. Taboos: First, human taboos. The human body is different from the human body, and some people have greater spiritual strength-China people call it "fatal" and "nemesis". These people will hinder others. "Obstruction" is a common word, which is harmful to those who hinder it, that is, it can hurt others and even cause death. For example, monarchs, powerful ministers and other people in high positions; Witch witch, Shen Han, Duangong and other folk theocracy figures; There are also "opponents" who can't communicate with each other or can resist each other in physiognomy. , can hinder and hinder the dead (see the book "reading taboo" section). For such people, ordinary people should beware of contact with them, and it is best to stay away from them, otherwise it will lead to disaster. In the old society, there was a seven-product sesame official, the county grandfather, who was not allowed to stare at the people when he was questioned in court. So when singing opera, there is often such a dialogue: "XX, look up." "Wang dare not." "Forgive your innocence." "Yes", it can be seen that only in the case of early pardon, ordinary people dare to look up at officials, or look up at officials. Otherwise, you will hurt yourself because of the "fatal" of officials. "Book of Rites Quli" says: "The son of heaven is as light as a belt. You look at it, the doctor looks at it, and the scholar looks at it in five steps. Anyone who looks at it is arrogant, worried and treacherous on his belt. " It can be seen that some taboos have been institutionalized and ethical since ancient times. It also emphasizes the prohibition of the human body. The taboo way of sacred, inviolable or unclean and dangerous human body is usually to isolate it from ordinary people in various ways. Kings and ministers live in tall and thick palace walls and official residences; Lamas, monks and Taoists live in monasteries, temples and Taoist temples that are separated from the mortal world; Give birth to a child in another place; Criminals should be put in prison; Patients should be alone and be careful; The dead should be buried underground ... China people are forbidden to show their bodies. Adults must not expose their bodies to others except children who can run around naked. There is a folk saying that "men don't show their umbilicus, women don't show their skin." It may be because of the concern that men are too hot to do heavy physical work, or because of the consideration of sensitive areas of male upper body asexual stimulation, so the restrictions on male upper body exposure are not too strict. For women, the strictness of the requirements is amazing. In the old society, women were ordinary people, with good family circumstances, and hid in boudoir since childhood. As the saying goes, "you can't get out of the front door, you can't get out of the second door" and stay at home all day. This means nothing more than hiding the face and hands that are difficult to wrap from outsiders. Because the nudity of any part of women will produce "sexual attraction", which will cause male lust and lead to disaster. Second, facial taboos. Because it is believed that gaze can absorb and control the soul, there are many physiognomy methods in ancient China. Bone is one of them. Wang Fu's Notes on Qian Fu. "Xiang Lie" says: "People have their bones, but things still have their shapes." Wang Chong's Lun Heng. "Ancient Fragrance" says: "The way to deal with joints is to judge people's lives by examining their skin." Wang Chong also cited examples of Fan Li's going to Vietnam and Liao Wei's death in the State of Qin. He said, "The King of Yue is a man with a long neck and a long beak. He can find * * *, but not * *. " "The king of Qin is a man with long eyes, cunning speech, a little kindness, and a wolf heart ... you can't make friends with him." They all grasp the evidence of each other's souls through physiognomy and occupation, thus avoiding it. It can be seen that there are skeletal taboos such as "long-necked beak" and "long eyes and long eyes". Once the common belief principle of ominous bones is established among the people, it applies not only to others, but also to themselves. So, if you have a bad omen, you will also be afraid of yourself. Of course, this phase theory is idealistic, but there are still many believers among the people. This situation was pointed out long ago by Xunzi, a thinker in the Warring States Period, in Xunzi's No Pictures. He said: "People are known for their good fortune and bad fortune, which is called by the world; The ancients had nothing, and scholars had no way. " He also cited many examples to prove that the physiognomy method is not credible, pointing out that "it is better to have a heart-to-heart talk." It can be seen that the taboo of physiognomy belongs to folk beliefs, and the superstitious fallacies have long been seen through by discerning people. However, the existence and development of folk beliefs have not stopped and changed because of the awareness of a few wise men, and physiognomy beliefs are still developing and continuing in an increasingly complicated way. The folks have "the upper body length, assisting the king; Short upper body, shallow blessing ","long upper body, sitting in nave; The saying that the lower body is long and busy. This is flattery. There is another saying: "The upper body is long and the lower body is short. Not eating is laziness. "This is a common saying that workers cherish themselves.