Chapter 118: Giving away the poor

After eating cake, the group visited Su You's new house.

Su Xun was not interested in the fancy engineering skills in the studio, but he greatly appreciated the furnishings in the study.

Except for bamboo, wood, porcelain, and stone, there was no metal decoration in the study room. Su Xun praised: "If the bronzes are no more than a piece of steel, you can't enter the study room. This room does not cost much to decorate, but it is elegant everywhere. It's nice."

Su You quickly spread out the paper: "There are still some paintings and calligraphy on the wall. Since we are a family, I won't comply with his request."

Su Xun smiled and said: "It will take advantage of it, but it has to be exchanged for something. Well, this barrel is good, but it's a pity that the writing is not good and it is just a philistine! I'd better choose a paperweight."

Well, knowing everything in the world is knowledge, and being knowledgeable is writing. It is indeed incompatible with the temperament of my fast-talking cousin... Hey, wait a minute, when did I say I would exchange it for something? Didn't I pick up calligraphy and painting for free?

Su Shi smiled and said: "The bamboo couplet on the wall is not bad either. Water's energy is my friend. Bamboo's solution to guilty conscience is my teacher. Bai Letian's poem is good. I want this."

This couplet is made of old moso bamboo dry material boards. It took Su Shi a lot of effort. After the acid writing was sprayed with fire, the wool wheel polished it until it was shiny. Hachigong cleaned the study every day and had already begun to patina. Su Shi had a vicious eye.

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Su You refused: "Why, such a big object took me a lot of effort..."

Su Shi patted his chest and said, "Write a poem about the sauce vat!"

"Deal! Wait, that's something you've owed me for a long time, okay..."

Su Che suddenly discovered a question: "This text is neither painted nor carved, it is written with a pen. Uncle Yao's writing power... Oh, is the legend that Wang Youjun penetrated the wood three-thirds of the time true?"

Su Shi held his belly and laughed: "This is one of Mingrun's strange tricks! He first wrote the character with acid, and then sprayed it with a blowtorch. The writing naturally penetrated into the bamboo wood. I was shocked when I saw it for the first time.

Big jump!"

Su Che then breathed a sigh of relief: "I see, I like the couplet on the pen holder. That one belongs to me. Well, I didn't expect that dried lotus pods can be so elegant in a bottle. I want a few more dried lotus pods!"

Ba Niang followed Mrs. Cheng, and couldn't help but feel amused, and whispered: "Mom, dad and brothers, it was a good fight!"

When the villagers heard that Su Laosan was back, they all came to greet him and made trouble.

Choosing an auspicious time in the afternoon, Su Xun led Su Shi and Su Zhe to worship their ancestors.

There will inevitably be another good banquet afterwards.

Su Xun was really impressed by his little cousin's cooking skills. He had traveled to so many places, but it turned out that the one with the best cooking skills was in his hometown.

After dinner, Mrs. Cheng and Ba Niang are going back to the city. The shop will be opened tomorrow, and Su Xun is going to visit the Shi family across the street. This is also the meaning of Jiang Qing's question.

Su You did not ask for shares in the weaving and dyeing workshop, and Mrs. Cheng did not force it, but she carefully prepared the gifts for Su You, including food, clothing, housing and transportation.

This little cousin has an eccentric temperament. He doesn't like decorations or colorful clothes. He doesn't even like silks and satins. He only likes the comfort of cotton and linen. However, he is extremely picky about workmanship and would rather wear his own clothes.

Zhanzi didn't like the old clothes sewn by his own hands, but he also didn't like the new clothes made by Li Ma.

Eating does not require noble ingredients. Even things that people in the Song Dynasty did not eat can be included in the dishes. However, the requirements for cooking techniques are extremely high. From the preparation of ingredients, seasonings, to frying and frying, everything must be to his liking.

, it’s really not easy.

You can also see from the study room layout that the materials used emphasize natural physical properties, but they are all carefully selected and then exquisitely processed. The materials are not expensive, but the effort spent is.

In the eyes of Mrs. Cheng, Cheng Wenying and Shi Dongxiu, this was the aristocratic nature brought from the mother's womb, the legacy of the Wei and Jin Dynasties with natural elegance, which was completely different from the behavior of the newly wealthy families.

Therefore, the clothes and quilts in the gift were all carefully sewn by Mrs. Cheng. This favor was no less than a few percent of the shares in the dyeing and weaving workshop, and even three sous was not as good as his treatment.

…

On the fifth day of the lunar month, the ban is broken, the poor are sent away, and the gods are welcomed.

Breaking the taboos is also called "breaking the five", which is usually together with "sending the poor". The taboos of the previous few days can be lifted after this day. At the same time, the garbage that was not taken out in order to accumulate wealth will be lifted.

It happens to be a day of cleaning, and this kind of care is called "sending the poor".

There are many ways to give away the poor. The simple one is just to blast the firecrackers and take out the garbage early in the morning. The more complicated ones are to cut a little person out of paper and call it the "poor wife", or even let her carry a bag filled with garbage.

The paper bags were delivered outside the door, exploded with cannons, and then burned and sent away.

In Han Yu's "Song of the Poor", it is mentioned that for the poor ghosts, "we will make a cart from willows, tie grass into a boat, carry grain for the misfortune, tie the oxen to the yoke, and guide the sails to the top", and prepare a car and a boat for the "poor ghost".

The dry food shows his eagerness to send him away as soon as possible.

The ceremony of "sending the poor" can be carried out until the dark day of the first month. The "sending the poor" written by Han Yu was done on the dark day.

The Hui day is the last day of each month in the lunar calendar. The Hui day of the first month is the first Hui day of the year, which is the "Chu Hui" and is particularly valued.

It was still dark again, so Hachiko gently called Su You up and went to fight for the road.

The fifth day of the first lunar month is the birthday of Lutou God, the God of Wealth, also known as the "Five Road God".

"Five Roads", as the name suggests, are east, west, south, north, and middle. No matter which direction you go out today, you will get wealth from the five roads.

Everyone loves the God of Wealth, so it is very popular. The sooner you receive it, the more effective it will be.

Therefore, although the fifth day of the lunar month is supposed to be the day to welcome the gods, on the night of the fourth day of the lunar month, every family starts to "grab the road" early.

"Golden gongs and firecrackers are used, and the sacrifices and wine are cooked. In order to be the first to benefit the market, we must get up early to welcome them, which is called connecting the road."

Hachigong placed incense and candles at the door and served croquettes, cakes, crispy meat, chicken, fish, bacon and sausages. A large table of delicious food was set up, which was very grand.

The younger ones were all still sleeping, and the older ones got up to help with the arrangements. Then they burned incense, burned paper, and set off firecrackers, first to bring relief to the poor, and then to bring relief to the gods.

After receiving the gift, everyone ate the offerings and chatted until dawn. This was called "road wine" and was a blessing.

Su You said to Zhang Zao: "Brother Chaowa, you are in charge of the accounts. You must eat more today. You are our God of Wealth."

Zhang Zao waved his hands repeatedly: "The young master is the one who decides everything. You are the God of Wealth for all of us."

Then one of them received a slap on the head from Hachiko: "You dare to talk nonsense in front of the gods! You don't know the taboo, so I'm looking for a beating!"

During the Chinese New Year in the city, shops of all sizes were closed after doing business on New Year's Eve, but reopened this morning. This connected with the God of Wealth, and it was a good time to "open the door and make money" smoothly, making the first money of the year.

But there is no such thing in the countryside. The fifth day of the lunar month is mainly for testing new fields.

It means to clean the cattle pen and take the cattle for a spin in the paddy field. It means to remind you, old man, that it is time to calm down. The spring plowing and farm work will start soon.

The seventh day of the Lunar New Year, Ren Day.

The previous six days were spent talking about animals.

"The first day of the first month is a chicken, the second day is a dog, the third day is a pig, the fourth day is a sheep, the fifth day is an ox, the sixth day is a horse, and the seventh day is a human. On the first day of the first month, a chicken is painted on the door, and on the seventh day, a human is posted on the tent."

An important custom today is to "wear people to win", so "Ren Day" is also called "Ren Sheng Festival".

Rensheng is a kind of ornament. Women cut ribbons to make flowers or people on Ren Day. Rich families carve gold foil, and poor families use colored paper. Cut out human shapes and stick them on screens, bed tents, or wear them in the hair to pray for blessings and avoid disasters.

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The implication is that "those who cut the ribbon, who enter the New Year, describe a new beginning." It also means to have a completely new look in the New Year.

This custom has been popular since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and has become more and more important since the Tang Dynasty. Every "Human Day", the emperor would give the officials colorful carvings to celebrate the festival, and hold a banquet for the officials to compose poems for the festival, while the people would cut ribbons and give gifts to each other.

"Jiancai is a gift for blind dates, silver hairpins are decorated with phoenixes; pairs of birds hold ribbons in their hands, and bridges are crossed twice."

Su You's family hasn't had this custom for a long time. There was no way around it. One old and one young couple were orphans, so the three sisters, the fifth sister and the sixth sister-in-law had them cut and delivered to them.

Today is different. There are many more girls at home. Young sister Shi Weisu and several other girls cut paper figures with scissors.

This is also an intangible cultural heritage, but Su You really doesn’t know how to do it anymore. The strength of Sichuan in later generations is New Year paintings, not paper-cutting.

However, he knew that the so-called paper-cutting was not just about cutting, but also carving with a sharp knife. This process was called "paper engraving".
Chapter completed!