The first seventh, a funeral custom of the Chinese nation. It is customary to think that the "first seven" refers to the seventh day after a person's death. It is generally believed that the soul of the deceased will return home on the "first seven", and the family should prepare a meal for the soul of the deceased before the soul returns, and then must avoid it, the best way is to sleep, and if you can't sleep, you should hide under the covers; If the soul of the deceased is allowed to see his family, it will make him remember, and it will affect his reincarnation. It is also said that when the family returns home on the seventh day of the first day, the family should burn a ladder-shaped object at home, so that the soul can follow the "ladder" to the sky.

However, different regional customs are also different, counting from the day of the death of the deceased, the mourning family will hold a paper burning memorial every seven days, a total of 7 times, commonly known as "burning seven".

Generally speaking, "three seven" and "five seven" are more important, and relatives and friends should also send some paper and candles. There is also a ritual called "Hui Sha" (also known as "Hui Sha").

The old custom believed that the soul of a person still exists after death, and before 7749 days, the ghost of the deceased will return home once, and the specific time is calculated by the Taoist priest.

At that time, the bereaved family will arrange the incense, candles, wine and food, and spread a layer of charcoal ash or plant ash on the ground to test the footprints of the deceased. With a bamboo pole and a sticker money every foot, stand on the doorstep or insert it under the eaves of the house where the deceased has fallen into the air, and it is said that the ghost will enter the house when he sees this. A hard-boiled egg was placed in a pot in the corner of the house to bribe the god of evil (commonly known as the god of chicken feet) to keep the ghost of the deceased in the house for a little longer.

At this time, the family hides far away, and after the specified time has passed, they first throw a string of firecrackers into the house, and then they can enter the house after the explosion.

At the end of the 100th day and anniversary, paper is burned to commemorate the occasion. Half a year or a year after the death of the deceased, another ashram is given to the deceased.

"Burning seven" means that from the day of the death of the deceased, every seven days is a sacrifice day, called "the first seven", "two seven", "three seven", "four seven", "five seven", "six seven", "last seven", a total of 49 days.

Folklore has that people have three souls and seven souls, one soul one year after death, one soul in seven days, three years of soul, seven full souls, so it is necessary to pass the "seven periods" and three anniversaries. There is another folk saying, it is said that the deceased from the date of death, within 49 days, every seven days Hades will interrogate the soul of the deceased, so the "seven periods" are also called "seven plagues".

At the burning of the seventh, the mourners should hang white paper lanterns at the gate to indicate that the family has filial piety.

The first seven set up spiritual cards at home, burned incense and candles, offered wine and food to mourn, and the remaining six or seven went to the cemetery to turn paper money.

Generally, the first, third, fifth and other single seven sacrifices are more solemn, relatives and friends are there, and the filial son wants to cry the spirit; Second, fourth, sixth, etc., relatives and friends do not come. The filial son only burns paper and does not cry spirits, which is called "empty seven".

Especially the "three seven" and "the last seven" are the most important, every two "seven" days, relatives and friends have to go to the grave to burn paper to pay tribute, and the filial son also has to cry.

"The last seven" is also known as the "end of the seven", most of the bereaved families have to chant and confess, relatives and friends also send dead coins, incense, paper, wax, gold and silver buckets and other sacrifices. If the "burning seven" meets the seventh, seventeenth, and twenty-seventh days of the summer calendar, it is called "rushing seven" or "committing seven", and it is believed that the dead soul "has disasters every seven, and rushes seven are difficult".

Eighteen encounters are also taboo periods, as the saying goes: "Every seven and eight, copper hammer and iron hairpin; Burn seven and burn nine, Hades please eat and drink". It is believed that on the day when the burning of the seventh meets the seventh and the eighth, the king of Hades will torture the souls of the dead, and in this case, he should advance or postpone the memorial by one day.

In some rural areas, when encountering "Chongqi", the filial son will put a paper umbrella on the top of the grave of the deceased, with the intention of helping the soul of the deceased to avoid the disaster. On the afternoon of the first day of the "Chongqi", a number of white paper flags are cut and planted by children and daughters-in-law along the way from the door of the house to the grave, and the souls of the dead are invited home to pay respects in order to avoid the disaster. The white flag is planted to guide the way, and it is said that if the soul of the dead does not have time to return home, it can hide under the white flag and take refuge.

In rural areas, there is also an extremely superstitious habit of "going out of trouble" with ghosts and gods. "Out of the evil" is also known as "back to the evil", it is said that after the death of the person still in the house of the ghost, "out of the evil" is the king of Hades in a certain time in the 7749 days, to send the ghost to seduce the soul to go to the underworld; There is also a saying that the soul of the deceased should return home at some point to leave the stove. The date and hour of the "outburst" are calculated by Mr. Yin and Yang based on the date of birth and the time of death of the deceased.

The rural dialect is generally known as 'Touqi', which is actually the 'night of returning to the soul' in the written language.

Gao Qing heard that tonight was Chen Jing's first seven, and it was tasteless in the face of the sumptuous grilled fish, Lan Lan stared at Gao Qing, not knowing what he was thinking, but Gao Qing was thinking about the driver's words, go to the temple, yes, go to the temple now, but why did he go to the temple? What does Chen Jing's return to soul have to do with herself? Isn't it overthinking? Gao Qing thought of this, where did he remember the driver's suspicions on Fukang Street?

After eating, Gao Qing and Lan Lan separated and walked to their own houses, but Lan Lan looked at Gao Qing with a little embarrassment, Gao Qing asked puzzled, "What's wrong?" ”

"I don't dare to go back alone, and today is still Chen Jing's first seven, I'm afraid." Lan Lan said nervously. Yes, even I almost went to the temple, how could a girl not be afraid of Lanlan? No wonder I didn't say a word when I was eating just now, it turned out that I was worried about what to do at night. Gao Qing looked embarrassed, what should I do? Do you want to bring it back to your room? Of course, I don't have much opinion, but will Lan Lan be willing?

"Why don't you sleep with me tonight?" Gao Qing asked, Lan Lan's face turned red as soon as she brushed it, and her chest was beating even more, Gao Qing knew that she must have misunderstood herself, and explained again and again. "Don't get me wrong, I'm just letting you sleep, it's okay if I don't sleep all night." Lan Lan looked at Gao Qing's movements and weak explanations.

Poof, he laughed, "I didn't say anything, why are you so nervous?" Gao Qing walked up to Lan Lan embarrassed and took the other party's hand, "Let's go." ”

Soon, the two came to Gao Qing's dormitory, Gao Qing lived alone, and everyone else moved out, either rich or fooling around with his little girlfriend, for this matter, Gao Qing scolded them for not being righteous.

There are disadvantages and advantages, a person lives clean and the air is fresh, a few of them are there, a bunch of sweaty and smelly clothes are piled up in the corner of the wall for half a month without washing, Hong Kong feet are more powerful than the other, the smoke has never dispersed, people who don't know still think that they have come to the fairy world, or the crematorium.

Although Gao Qing lives alone now, but the clothes he changed from this afternoon and the nightmare are also piled up in the corner, Lan Lan entered the door and covered her mouth, looking at Gao Qing with an angry face, Gao Qing spread his hands helplessly, the meaning is obvious, "A lonely man is like this." Lan Lan shook her head helplessly, walked into the bathroom and took out the bucket, put the dirty clothes in the corner of the wall in the bucket, and walked into the bathroom again, Gao Qing stood at the door of the bathroom like this, looking at the busy thin figure in the bathroom, I couldn't help but feel warm in my heart, from childhood to adulthood, it is estimated that as long as my wife has treated herself like this, right?

Just as Gao Qing was in his recollection, a voice came from the bathroom, "Gao Qing, do you know what day it is?" Gao Qing came back to his senses and looked at Lan Lan suspiciously.

"Isn't it Chen Jing's first seven today? What's wrong? ”

"Actually, today is not only Chen Jing's first seven, but also the Midyear Festival." Lan Lan glanced at Gao Qing, I really don't know if this guy is really stupid or pretending to be stupid.

"Midyear?" Gao Qing shook his head suspiciously.

"It's Halloween."

"Halloween? You say it's Halloween? Gao Qing felt that he couldn't calm down, how bad things happened one after another.

The Chuen Festival, commonly known as the 'Ghost Festival', is called the Obon Festival in Buddhism in the seventh and a half months, and the Ghost Festival is generally divided into 'Shangyuan', 'Zhongyuan' and 'Xiayuan'.

On the fifteenth day of the first month, the Han nationality called the Shangyuan Festival, which is to celebrate the Lantern Festival, which has been in ancient times; On July 15, the Han nationality called the Zhongyuan Festival, sacrificing to the ancestors; On October 15, the Han nationality called the Xia Yuan Festival, which is to eat cold food and commemorate the sages.

The festival falls on the 15th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, and partly on the 14th day of the seventh month. It was originally a small autumn, and a number of crops were ripe, and the people routinely worshiped their ancestors, and made offerings such as new rice to report the autumn to their ancestors. Therefore, every mid-year festival, every family worships their ancestors, and when they make offerings, they perform rituals. On July 15, go to the grave to sweep the grave and worship the ancestors.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Taoism set three meetings and five wax days, of which July 7 is the moral wax, and it is the day when the middle meeting is the fixed Taoist people to the governance center to accept the examination. This ancestor worship date in July was later fixed on this day as Taoism fixed the birthday of Zhongyuan Diguan and the corresponding date of worship on July 15.

Legend has it that all the ghosts were released on that day, and the people generally carried out activities to worship the ghosts. Where there is a new mourner, for example, to go to the new grave, and generally in the local sacrifice to the lonely soul and wild ghosts, so it is a festival centered on worshipping ghosts, which is one of the largest Chinese folk festivals.

The significance of this day is better explained in the famous 'Midyear Festival' poem.

The moon is the soul of the lover and the ghost, and the moonlight is icy;

An everlasting lamp that burns a green flame;

On the night of the Middle Yuan, the ghosts are also awake, and the people are also awake;

People are stunned on the bridge;

Stretch out the cold white arm, and the bridge bars stop me;

Stop me from fishing for Li Bai's moon;

The moon is illusory, and the moon in the water is illusory, not to mention

Tonight is Zhongyuan, and people are as pitiful as ghosts

Poor, poor Tanabata is the myth of Biluo

Fall on earth. The Mid-Autumn Festival is the hope of the world

Sent in Biluo. And the middle yuan

Zhongyuan belongs to Huangquan, another dimension of space

If you flutter on the bridge, if

You cry, you cry on the bridge

If you laugh, on the magpie bridge you laugh

Are we the protagonists of ghost stories, or myths?

In the end, the sun is immersed, and the ghostly light is as soft as no edges

Drift over the clouds, float over the clouds

It is like a Buddhist lamp surrounded by green smoke

Sparkling under the bridge, sparkling on the bridge, my eyes sparkling

The moon is the weird spirit of the nightmares, tonight, can you go back?

The soul of the other side is crowded, and the soul of this shore is crowded

On the way back, the spirit was marching

And the water, flowing under the bridge, tears, flowing on the bridge.