Shaoxing customs, after sending the god of the stove in the new year, began to prepare for the 'blessing', which is the most solemn ceremony of the year.

In fact, the so-called "blessing" should be more appropriately said as "please bless", or it is more accurate to expand to "invite the blessed god to come to the house for dinner".

But if you also invite you to eat, you will have different frugality due to different family backgrounds. Ordinary people use meat side, a live fish, a goose a 'three animal blessings' to invite the Bodhisattva, pay attention to a little with the 'five animals' offerings, like the Shen family, then use the 'seven animal blessings', but there are more cattle, sheep, chickens and ducks four kinds, and they are all whole.

The rules are naturally different, the general people just cook the sacrifices, and then insert some chopsticks, it is called a blessing ceremony, and wait for the fifth watch day to display, light incense and candles, and invite the gods of fortune to enjoy it. But when it comes to a big family like the Shen family, everything that was originally simple has given rise to a series of complicated things, and they have exhausted their hearts and spared no material resources to renovate a table of flowers...... I don't know if it's to satisfy the great bodhisattva's heart, or to satisfy the vanity of the heart.

For example, their blessings are served in large pots, with the pig's mouth facing upward, the chicken and goose's whiskers bent and kneeling, and their heads facing the god of blessing to show their welcome; Placing a live carp is to take the meaning of 'jumping the dragon gate', and the eyes of the fish should be pasted with the word "blessing" in red, so as not to frighten the god of fortune. There are also some chopsticks to be inserted on the sacrifices such as meat, chickens, and geese, and the number should be single, with seven and nine as appropriate, but those poor little animals, after cooking, will be arranged into eighteen appearances, which must be very unpleasant.

Before inviting the Bodhisattva to the table, the women of the Shen family first set up the bowls, chopsticks, and wine cups, and put the 'Seven Animals Blessing Ceremony' in the middle, with knives and cutting boards on the right, and a bowl of chicken and duck blood on the left, indicating to the Bodhisattva that this is specially killed for you, except for what cannot be eaten, all belong to you alone.

It's just that eating meat Bodhisattva will also be greasy, so you have to put ten bowls of vegetarian dishes such as leeks and celery fungus. There is also a plate of bean curd to accompany the meal; I was afraid that the saltiness was not suitable, so I also served a dish of fine salt, and put two pieces of dried tofu on the salt, and asked the Bodhisattva to add it according to his own taste.

How can you make food without wine? That's why you have to serve six glasses of wine. I was afraid that the Bodhisattva would be sluggish, so I served three cups of tea and prepared them, as well as a few rice cakes and a string of zongzi, which was regarded as pasta for the Bodhisattva.

It's a hearty meal, but it's not over yet...... Not only let the Bodhisattva eat, but also prepare some fruit to clear his mouth after the meal, and then put the lychee, longan, walnut, jujube four-color dried fruits, lotus root, orange, papaya, bergamot four-color fruits are arranged, and the whole big table is full at this moment...... Except for the five plate-sized spaces in the innermost part.

At this time, the women had to leave, and the man who presided over the sacrifice brought five candlesticks, which were placed in the empty place, and five big red candles were lit, which were called 'five candlesticks', which represented 'blessing, luck, longevity, wealth, and nobility.' This is called the poor dagger, first ask the Bodhisattva to eat and drink enough, and then take the opportunity to make a request...... There is a way to eat other people's short mouths, presumably the great Bodhisattva is embarrassed to refuse.

There is a saying that 'men do not worship the moon, women do not worship', and the worship is limited to men, which is the same regardless of whether you are rich or poor. In fact, this kind of discrimination is permeated throughout the blessing, for example, those who have been divorced, those who have been remarried, those who have died with a man, those who are pregnant, and those who have entered the delivery room, are not allowed to touch the blessings and sacrifices.

When it comes to the official blessing, even the wives and ladies have to avoid it...... It is said that because bodhisattvas love cleanliness, women are unclean, and they will not eat in their presence...... According to this inference, it is normal for men to be dirty and not like to be clean.

The women and ladies withdrew rather disappointed, secretly hoping that the fifteenth day of August would come, and that they could justifiably discriminate against men during the moon worship.

When the women left, Shen Mo followed his father in, the tall, short, fat and thin people in the hall were all male surnames of their own clan, no need to command, everyone naturally stood in order according to their generations and ages, and under the leadership of the head of the family, Master Shen, they knelt three times and bowed nine times to the Bodhisattva.

The festival takes place late at night, and everyone must remain absolutely silent, not laughing or laughing, and the atmosphere is oppressive.

After kowtowing, Shen Mo saw that Master Shen got up, and was about to get up, but saw that the people around him did not move, so he had to continue to kneel and peek at what Master Shen was doing.

I saw him pour a full glass of wine, slowly sprinkle it on the ground, and then respectfully invited the idol down and burned it together with the paper and ingots. When it was almost burned to ashes, Master Shen dug out the tongue of the chicken and goose with its head held high on the offering table, threw it into the air, and then laid a cup of wine with tea leaves around the fire. ”

Then he turned and said, "Take away the blessings and sacrifices." Then the men got up one after another, and the noble men had carefully carried the sacrificial table out of the hall, apparently finished.

Witnessing this extremely short sacrifice, he silently said, 'It's too fast, does the Bodhisattva have time to stretch out his chopsticks?' I withdrew it. Taking advantage of the crowd's stirring, he whispered to Shen Jingdao beside him, "Why did you toast a glass of wine?" Afraid that the Bodhisattva will get drunk? ”

Shen Jing snorted, quickly covered his mouth, and saw that the people around him didn't care, and then the mosquito snorted: "Haven't you heard of 'fast bodhisattva, slow ancestor'?" It is said that the Bodhisattva's eating action is very fast, and we will finish eating after pouring the wine once, and if it is sent late, it will be unhappy. ”

Silent heart said that this is a meal? Isn't this a fairy play? The common people are indeed invited to eat, but they are all invited to one meal, which one is for the Bodhisattva to eat? It's only a blink of an eye, do you have time to taste it? He believes that if the Bodhisattva can choose, he will definitely let the people of Shaoxing stagger the invitation, your family please the first day of junior high school, and his family please the fifteenth, so that you can eat all year round......

He secretly decided that when he presided over the sacrifice, the offerings must be placed for a while longer, and for how long. Of course, it's the kung fu of a meal...... Presumably, even if the Great Bodhisattva of the Blessed God is full, he will come to his house for dinner every year.

In later generations, the blessings of the Shen family were more than those of other parents, and they originated here.

At this time, the men came out with Fang Cai's sacrificial table, and Shen Mo realized that the matter was not over.

When he saw that the offerings of chickens and ducks, and the candlesticks of cups and plates, had not changed in the slightest, he said to himself, 'What's the use of bringing them back now?' Bodhisattvas must have backbone. ’

At this point the crowd began to move, at first facing the hall door, and then falling again and turning their backs to the door.

Only then did Shen Mo realize that at first, when offering to the gods, the table top was horizontally swung with wood grain, but now it has been changed to a straight pendulum.

"What is this for?" He asked in a low voice.

"Please go back to the hall for dinner." Shen Jing whispered.

It turned out to be an ancestor worship! Shen Mo was secretly surprised: "It turns out that ancestors, like immortals, can be fooled. ’

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Chapter 2, Tickets......