Taboos among Shanxi folk
Taboos are called taboos among Shanxi folk. It is a prohibition against getting close to "holy" or "illegal" things in order to avoid incurring punishment, that is, a negative precaution taken to create fear of some mysterious power. Different from laws and moral norms, taboos are based on people's common beliefs. They are folk beliefs based on the worship of gods and witchcraft beliefs, which people use to regulate their own beliefs and behaviors.
Taboos are generally spread among the people through oral transmission and behavioral demonstrations for thousands of years.
There are all kinds of taboos and strange things. It penetrates into all aspects of people's production and life. Judging from the records in ancient books, some have now passed with the passage of time, while others still remain. In today's rural areas where culture and science are underdeveloped, deep in people's hearts, it still has a certain market. Here, we only list the taboo customs that are widely spread in real life in Shanxi rural areas as follows.
Residential taboos
Residential buildings are the place where people live and where they live for nearly half of their lives. Especially in rural areas, residences are part of personal property. The number, quality and size of the house, as well as the size of the courtyard, are indicators of the wealth of a family and the ability of family members. Therefore, building a house is a top priority whether it is for a young person getting married or a young person with a family.
Similar to city building, choosing and building a house in a natural environment must comply with the rules of "nature". Of course, rural residences must also comply with traditional customs. As part of the entire village, the construction of any house must also consider maintaining harmony with other people's houses in terms of shape and other aspects. Therefore, residential architecture must not only handle the relationship between people and nature, but also handle the social relationships between people and between families. Also be consistent with customs and beliefs. Harmony is the key to the problem. Folks believe that only in this way can the family business prosper and the descendants prosper. Otherwise, the family will decline, the descendants will have no successors, and disasters will inevitably occur. As a result, a series of folk taboos, rules and particularities have been formed in the long history.
There are two main types of housing in rural Shanxi, one is cave dwellings and the other is architectural houses. According to Chinese house building rules, the site should be chosen to conform to the natural terrain and face north and south. This is designed to avoid wind and face the sun based on the geographical and climatic environment. It is a general rule to build a house with a mountain and water. It is taboo to build a house in a dry place without water, or in a shady and humid place. Also avoid choosing a place with no vegetation and regular running water. Any place located in the valley, at the gate of a city, outside a prison gate, or at the mouth of a hundred rivers is definitely not a good location for building a house.
In short, on the one hand, the choice of homestead conforms to the requirements of nature, that is, there is water and sunshine. On the other hand, it also reflects people's pursuit of myths, avoiding ghosts, avoiding war, seeking peace and avoiding disasters, The social psychology of procreation and fear of litigation.
Due to the relatively sparse population density and perhaps the influence of ethnic minorities in the north, Shanxi people like to live scattered. Shanxi is also a region with more mountains and less plains, so the rule of facing south also has some variations in mountainous areas.
In the mountainous areas of northern Shanxi and Luliang, the direction of the main house depends on the land type, and does not necessarily face north or south. For example, in Lingqiu, generally whichever side of the mountain is tallest in the east, west, south, and west is the direction of the earthen house, and the other sides are the side rooms. This may reflect people's lofty psychology. This is of course the choice when surrounded by mountains.
In some places, such as Linxian County, it is important to build a house facing the mountain but not the ditch, that is, with the ditch behind and the mountain facing it, to show good luck. But this is not the case in some places. Many houses in mountainous areas prohibit mountains and deep ditches in front of the house, thinking that the devil is blocking the way and is detrimental to the owner.
In some places in southern Shanxi, it is taboo to build houses that are "empty". If the house is backed by a cliff, a cellar, a pit, a ditch, etc., it will be "empty", and even a well will be a taboo. But there are ways to break the taboo. If you want to eliminate this phenomenon, build a road between the house and the tabooed person, and you can turn the "emptiness" into reality and eliminate disasters. In many villages in the Pinglu area, careful observation can reveal that the houses at the four corners of each village tend to change slightly. This is the result of this taboo, which reflects people's pursuit of "realism" and "stability". mentality.
"Living close to the city" is a folk custom in Shanxi. This is a tortuous reflection of the traditional Chinese mainstream values ????that are ashamed of doing business.
However, farmers are also very taboo about having an open and unprotected courtyard in front of their home. It often gives people a feeling of loneliness and thinness.
In the Jinzhong area, we saw many interesting phenomena during field surveys. In some villages, those courtyards built on the edge of the village and its periphery have adopted methods to avoid facing open fields. It is to turn the courtyard gate and open it towards the village instead of outside the village. If it cannot be opened outwards, there is another remedy, which is to place a bottle on the top of the door, called a "Feng Shui bottle", with the mouth of the bottle facing the open door. According to the owner, this can contain the evil spirits blowing from the wild. inside the bottle, so as not to affect the safety of people in the house.
Today, interested people can find in many rural areas in Shanxi that public buildings such as shops and schools are often built on the outskirts of the villages, backed by barren mountains and wilderness. People build these buildings. On the outskirts of the village, the courtyard that was originally located on the edge of the village was to be enclosed. The role of taboos here is obvious.
In rural areas of Shanxi, the layout of buildings is very particular. Generally, one courtyard and four houses are the fixed structure. The main house, side house, courtyard door and toilet have their own positions. They should not be confused, otherwise it will be unlucky. Among them, it is particularly taboo to build the courtyard into the shape of a knife handle. The knife handle kills people without using a knife, which means that the family will be ruined and people will die.
When building a house, the setting of the door is a major matter of "establishing the door" and is very important in construction. The courtyard gate is regarded as the face of the person as well as the face of the family. "Establishing a family" has even become a synonym for starting a family and starting a business, so it has the most taboos.
Generally speaking, courtyard gates in rural areas should not be flushed into rivers or wells, for fear of being shot by water and causing disaster. It is not allowed to have the courtyard gate directly facing the alley. The alley is an earthen arrow, which is ominously shot towards the home. According to folklore in southern Shanxi, "Don't go through the northwest gate for street gates. The northwest is high and the southeast is low. Facing the northwest, the pulse Qi flows. Rich people don't live in the southeast, because they won't be warm in winter and cool in summer." If you can't avoid it, you should be at the entrance of the courtyard. A mirror is inlaid on it, which is referred to as the "Bagua Mirror" or "Demon Mirror" to decipher. This phenomenon is extremely common in rural areas of southern Shanxi.
In addition, it is also taboo for the doors of two houses to be directly opposite each other. If the courtyard doors are opposite to each other like those of neighboring houses, it is taboo to be facing each other directly, and it is also taboo to have small doors. It is believed that when two families are facing each other, it is unlucky for both parties, especially the younger ones. Therefore, it is extremely rare for two gates to face each other in rural areas. Even if they do exist, they are only diagonally opposite and staggered from each other.
For a courtyard, the courtyard gate facing east is generally called the Yin Gate, and the gate facing west is called the Yin Gate. Unless there is absolutely no reason to open the west gate, a barrier must be installed at the door or at the entrance of the alley. A stone tablet is inlaid on the opposite wall, with words such as "Taishan Stone Gandang" engraved on it to ward off the harassment of evil winds and ghosts.
The courtyard door directly facing the home door and windows also need to be avoided. Install the mirror on the right door and window. In addition, generally there must be a broken wall inside the courtyard door of a farmhouse to block it. In Luliang area, after the courtyard gate is built, mahogany bows and willow arrows are hung to ward off evil spirits.
In short, this kind of taboo about the opening direction and position of the door in building a house or courtyard is related to the common belief that "opening the door indicates bad luck", and on the other hand, it is also due to the fact that "the door is the home." "Prevention", all trying to avoid evil and seek good luck. Of course, it is also the most important thing among the positioning of housing construction patterns.
After the house is repaired, the owners like to decorate the empty yard with some flowers, plants and trees. For farmhouses in mountainous areas, it is best to plant a few trees. In the Lishi area, it is best not to plant flowering trees, and in the Jiaocheng area, it is forbidden to plant mulberry trees, except for the "sadness" of the mulberry tree in local folklore. In addition, as a taboo, mulberry and mourning are homophonic, and people believe that these are both contagious and unlucky. Mulberry is often homophonic for loss of population, and it is impossible to retain offspring, so it is not planted. In some villages in southern Shanxi, it is forbidden to plant grape trees in the courtyard, which is considered unlucky.
According to custom, the height of the houses of each neighborhood living together in the same place should be roughly the same. It is forbidden to have the houses of the south and west neighbors higher than your own house. There is a popular saying in southern Shanxi that "the height in the north is not too high, but the high pressure in the south breaks the waist; the height in the east is not considered high, but the high pressure in the west breaks the waist." If one house is lower than another, then an extra brick should be built on the roof of the middle house, or a small temple-like pavilion should be built to maintain balance. Those who refuse to give way are obviously condescending and use their power to suppress others. It is said that it will suppress other people's luck, good fortune, and even feng shui. Major illnesses and minor disasters can all be attributed to this. This situation in rural areas can lead to neighbor disputes and even generational grudges.
The location of the toilet must also be carefully considered; it is generally placed in the southwest corner. There is a saying that "the five ghosts have their huts on their heads." The drainage ditch cannot pass through other people's houses, let alone face other people's houses. Home door.
It is also forbidden to drip water from the eaves of neighboring houses in the courtyard. It is considered to be sewage and stupid water, which will affect your own luck. In addition, if you build an auspicious beast on the roof of your house, you should not let the ridge-nosed beast open its big mouth to face others, as it is suspected of eating others. This type of taboo is more common in densely populated villages in the Fenhe ancient land of Shanxi. It not only has the color of witchcraft, but also has some shadows of the etiquette of the old era.