Chapter 5 – Sacrifice to the Moon
In Yejiazhuang, the eaves or terraces are full of lanterns, and the lanterns present the shapes of fruits, birds and beasts, insects and fish, etc., and the paste-colored paper paintings are colorful and diverse. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info From a distance, the whole Yejiazhuang looks like a glass world.
In the courtyard of the Ye family, with the assistance of their parents, the children use bamboo paper to tie rabbit lanterns, star fruit lamps or square lamps, hang them horizontally in the short pole, and then erect them on the high poles, which are highly skilled and colorful, adding another scene to the Mid-Autumn Festival. The children compete with each other to see who can stand taller, erect more, and have the most elaborate lights.
In addition, there are also sky lanterns, that is, Kong Ming lanterns, which are made of paper to form a large lamp, and the candles are lit under the lamp, and the heat rises, so that the lamps fly in the air, causing people to laugh and chase. In addition, there are various lanterns carried by children to play in the lower part of the moon. There are several generations in the same house, and there is nothing more than this.
House slaves are in groups of three or five, busy in the courtyard, setting up tables and chairs, these tables and chairs are all made of precious rosewood, each of which is made by skilled craftsmen after thousands of carvings and processing, which shows the wealth of the Ye family. Then the house slaves put on moon cakes, watermelons, apples, red dates, plums, grapes and other offerings, and left the compound one after another.
In the main hall, sitting in the middle was Ye Guyun, the head of the Ye family, and the people sitting on both sides were all family elders or powerful figures in the family. Ye Guyun opened his mouth and asked, "My two junior brothers haven't come back yet?" The old man standing next to him replied, "I haven't received any news from the second master." One of the people sitting next to him said, "Master, it seems that your brothers have forgotten what day it is, and I wonder if they still remember their last names." The tone is yin and yang.
Ye Guyun ignored him completely and continued to ask, "How are the various items for the sacrifice prepared?" "It's ready, ready to start the moon festival. Then he looked at the people on the left and right: "The clan elders don't have to be like this, the two younger brothers are not people who don't know the importance of the matter, they should arrive soon, we will worship the moon first, and they should be able to rush back when we worship the ancestors, so you will move to the compound." Then he took the lead and walked towards the compound.
In the center of the compound, there is a huge statue of the moon god carved from mutton fat and white jade, with the rise of the full moon, the moonlight is sprinkled on the body of the moon god, and the moon god statue also shines with moonlight, which looks like a delusion. The people of the Ye family sat around the statue of the moon god in turn, the main house was inside, and the family was on the outside, besieging the city in a circle.
With a shout of "Patriarch has arrived!", everyone in the compound stood up and called out to Patriarch. Then Ye Guyun entered the compound, waved his hands, prompted everyone to sit down, and then led the clan elders to the statue of the moon god.
Ye Guyun said: "It's another reunion night once a year, Guyun is here first to thank everyone for their contributions to the Ye family, the family red book that has worked hard has been recorded, and I will be with me to worship the ancestors once every five years." On the night of the reunion, you don't have to be restrained, remember to toast me a few more glasses later. Then he commanded that the salutation could begin.
Then Ye Guyun sat down, and his wife presided over the ceremony of sacrificing the moon. (Men don't worship the moon, women don't sacrifice to the stove)
With a salute: "Sacrifice to the moon." "Casually the officiant lights a red candle, which represents the official start of the moon festival.
The chief priest sat on the red carpet, took three sticks of incense from the deacon's hand, and took out one stick first: "One time, there is no dispute between the rivers and lakes, and the people are healthy." "After the promise, insert the incense burner. "Erxu, the Ye family is prosperous, and the clan is healthy. "Three Xu, the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a happy reunion. ”。
Then the deacon poured the wine and handed it to the priest, who sprinkled the wine on the ground in front of the feast, and then placed the wine on the altar.
Then the celebrant used the candlelight to read the blessing in the direction of the moon, and the blessing read: "In the mid-autumn of the twentieth year of the Wu Dynasty, the sons and daughters of Kyushu are sincere, prosperous, and the name is restored, and the night is prayed...... Here's what you want to do, worship the gods, and feast on it!" Then put the blessing in a small basin in front of the banquet and burn it. The moon is then worshipped in turn.
Salute: "Licheng." At this point, the Mid-Autumn Festival moon ceremony is completed. Then the chief priest cuts the knife and cuts the moon cakes evenly, one for each person, and the fruit is taken by himself. Then the sacrificial table was removed, and the Ye family began the Mid-Autumn Festival family banquet.
Everyone told their own stories to those they knew well, and some of them laughed and some were silent.
With the joy of admiring the moon, the second thing that will come tonight is to worship the ancestors at the Ye Family Ancestral Temple.
Ye Guyun got up and said to the surrounding crowd: "Elders, the moon has passed, it's time to worship the ancestors in the ancestral temple." Then he instructed the old man beside him: "Go ahead, young master, come here, I'll go to the ancestral temple first." Then he walked towards the ancestral temple.
In one of the Ye family's residences, a young girl of about fifteen years old pestered a young man to tell her the story: "Brother, you have been going out to study for several years this time! Tell me what is interesting outside! I will go there in two years." "This girl is Ye Guyun's daughter, Ye Xiaoyi. That boy was naturally Ye Yuantong.
Ye Yuantong looked at it, gently tapped his little sister's head with his fingers, pointed to some animals in the house that were locked up in cages, and said: "You see that you have caught them and locked them up again, and I have taught you many times, they are all life, and like you, they also need freedom." He said that he untied the cage of the rabbit next to him and picked the rabbit up, and the little rabbit that was picked up seemed to be very close to each other.
Ye Xiaoyi pursed her lips and said to the little rabbit in Ye Yuantong's arms: "You guys, it's really a good life, someone saves you every time, someone, I don't know if you are his little sister or I am his little sister." As he spoke, he reluctantly let out all the small animals in the cage.
Then he snorted, "Okay, tell me about what happened to you when you went out this time." ”
Ye Yuantong pretended to be old-fashioned: "Outside, there are a lot of bad people, you better not go out, stay at home obediently, I'll bring you back whatever you want." Then he touched the top of the little sister's head with his hand.
Then he asked: "Why don't you go to the moon festival and don't accompany your friends to enjoy the moon?" "Hmph, what's so fun, it's the same every year, especially the festival text is stinky and long, and I feel dizzy when I hear it, so why don't you go!"
Ye Yuantong knocked on the little sister's head and chuckled: "You, I'm going to set up a crown later, prepare here." I saw Ye Xiaoyi's eyes squinting and smiling, "Yes, you are twenty years old! I will show you how to write for you, you see that your name is Yuantong, and the word is called Jincheng." Then he looked forward to his brother's reaction.
Ye Yuantong just wanted to say something. I heard someone knock on the door and said, "Young master, the master asked the young master to go to the ancestral temple to prepare for the crown." Ye Xiaoyi heard this voice and shouted loudly to Fu Bo, Fu Bo, wait for me. Then he turned back to Ye Yuantong and said, "Brother, hurry up." I'm not going to wait for you. ”
Facing such a little sister, Ye Yuantong could only shake his head and sigh softly: "My life will be bitter in the future." ”