"Pole grass?" Zhan Changsheng said with a puzzled face.

Ding Haixing explained, "Pole grass is actually the straw of millet, and the grain grown from millet is millet. Xinghuapo every household will plant a lot of millet in the field, and after the grain is harvested, the pole grass will be preserved and used as feed for livestock, so every household has a large stock of pole grass. ”

Then Zhan Changsheng and Hongying saw a rather spectacular scene, the fire was in the sky, the smoke was billowing out, and the whole village was shrouded in smoke.

Ding Haixing looked at the people in the firelight, and let future generations say that this practice is still very dangerous, easy to cause fires, and not conducive to environmental protection.

"What is this for?" The incarnate curious baby asked.

"The pole grass was raised, and the light illuminated the whole village, and it also let the ancestors know that it was time to go home, and illuminated the way home for them." Ding Haixing looked at the two of them and explained, facing the red tassel with the small notebook that had been written.

Some words can't be typed in sign language.

"That's interesting." Hongying looked at the men of the Ding family with interest, "I also worship my ancestors at home, but because I am a girl, I am not allowed to participate." Said rather regretfully.

"I don't know ......," Hongying suddenly stopped talking again.

Zhan Changsheng took out a paper and notebook from his pocket and said, "Little fool, your father is watching you from the sky!" It will be very gratifying to see that our red tassels are beautiful, smart, and healthy. After writing, he handed it to Hongying.

Hongying looked at the words in the notebook, her eyes suddenly reddened, and she nodded heavily.

Ding Haixing looked at Hongying and said in sign language, "New Year's Day, let's not cry!" As he spoke, he gently hugged her and patted her on the back.

"Look, it's not over yet!" Ding Haixing hugged Hongying's shoulders and looked at the gate.

When the bundle of grass is about to burn out, Ding's father and Ding Guodong will use the fire of the pole grass to ignite the incense prepared in advance, bow in the direction of the family cemetery, and then return to the house. In this way, the deceased ancestors are invited back, and it can be regarded as a family reunion.

This incense stick will be inserted into the incense burner on the table of the Eight Immortals in the middle of the hall. On the wall above the table hangs something like a New Year's picture.

"What's that?" The red tassel blinked and pointed to the New Year's painting hanging from the table of the Eight Immortals.

"The "family tree shaft" is usually kept in a secret place, and it is usually hung out during the Chinese New Year." Ding Haixing took out the notebook and pen in Zhan Changsheng's hand and wrote.

The width of the genealogical axis is large, generally about 1.1 meters wide and 1.7 meters high. The content displayed in the genealogical axis is stylized. The main screen is divided into two parts from top to bottom.

At the top of the upper part, there are mascots such as halls and pavilions, pine and bamboo. There is an offering table in the pavilion, and a tablet is placed on it, which reads "worship the position of the ancestors (ancestors) of the past dynasties".

The Ding family was originally a bit wealthy, so this family tree was very formal.

On both sides of the long road, there are rows of regular grids drawn to record the names of deceased ancestors, elders or fellow clansmen.

There are rules for the arrangement of names, the man is on the left and the woman is on the right, and the husband and wife should be symmetrical to the left and right; The highest rank is at the top level, and the other elders are ranked down according to their seniority.

In the past, men were inferior to women, generally speaking, men had names, and women had low status, except for women from rich and noble families, many women did not have official names, especially women from poor peasant families. But after a woman dies, she must be registered in the family hall, so these women who have no name have to be called "Li", "Wang" or "Zhang" and so on.

Ding Haixing's grandmother has only one surname, Ma.

In addition to the "genealogical axis", the family tree should be placed on the table of the Eight Immortals, and the names of the three generations of ancestors should be written. There is no uniform requirement for the offerings on the table, and each family can prepare it according to their economic conditions.

The Xinghuapo ancestor worship is carried out in a small family, and after preparation, the whole family has to kowtow to the offering table.

Although it is a new society, it has not yet reached the period of breaking the *four* old, don't look at the small village, adults attach great importance to the Spring Festival ancestors, and there are many rules. For example, children are not allowed to talk nonsense, children are not allowed to sit on the chair in the middle, etc., to show respect for the ancestors.

Ding's father led the whole family to kneel in front of the ancestors, and Ding Haixing, Ding Mingyue, and Ying Jiefang's daughter, who belonged to the marriage, were not qualified to kneel together.

I only heard Ding's father say, "I warn all the ancestors, our Haixing is married, and the son-in-law is the People's Liberation Army!" This year's harvest in the field is okay, although there is still not enough to eat, but there is no need to gnaw the bark, the ancestors bless the wind and rain next year......"

Ding's father nagged about what happened this year, and begged his ancestors to bless his family with good health and prosperity in the coming year.

Ding Haixing lowered her voice and said, "The incense on the table should be kept all the time, from the Chinese New Year's Eve to the night of the first day of the new year, one day and one night, to show that "the incense cannot be broken." Adults can't sleep on Chinese New Year's Eve, and parents don't keep the New Year until dawn. ”

"Then ushered in the ancestors, do you want to send them away!" Zhan Changsheng asked.

Ding Haixing nodded and said, "Of course, at about five or six o'clock in the evening on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the ancestors will be sent away." After the salute, the incense is pulled out of the table, brought to the door, and bows in the direction of the family's cemetery to burn paper, and the ancestor worship ceremony is completed. ”

Dad Ding got up and turned around and said, "Okay, let's make dumplings!" ”

According to the rules, the first pot of dumplings wrapped in the Chinese New Year's Eve should be used to worship the ancestors first. The first pot of dumplings that the family has been busy making in the afternoon comes out, and some are first set aside and put on the table.

Dad Ding held the dumplings in both hands and put them on the table of the Eight Immortals, and muttered in his mouth, "Ancestors, don't blame, don't blame, there are dumplings to eat this year, and you have been wronged in the past two years." ”

"What's going on?"

Hongying asked curiously.

"The first two years were difficult, and I couldn't afford to make dumplings during the Chinese New Year, so my dad said so." Ding Haixing said regretfully.

Zhan Changsheng's slender knuckle big hand stretched out, took Ding Haixing's hand and said solemnly, "In the future, I won't be able to eat dumplings in Chinese New Year's Eve." ”

"With you, I don't doubt it at all." Ding Haixing looked at him and smiled.

"Trust me so much." Zhan Changsheng looked at her with interest in his eyes and said.

"Convinced!" Ding Haixing smiled happily and said, if they can't eat dumplings, the country will be closed!

There is also a particular aspect of placing offerings, plates should be placed in odd numbers, dumplings should be placed in odd numbers, chopsticks should be placed in odd numbers, not in pairs.

A few years later, these traditional ancestor worship activities were all canceled, and when it came to the reform and opening up, there was no need for the whole family to kowtow in front of the offering table, and three bows were considered to be the number of rituals.

When the New Year's bell is about to ring, the men of the family will take incense burnt paper and send their ancestors away. It used to take a day and a night, but now it only takes half a night. The changes reflect the changes of the times.