In the blink of an eye, two days have passed, today is the second day of the second month of February, the day of the ancestral shrine. This day is a very grand event for the people nowadays.

Because on this day, it is necessary to sacrifice not only the Taisha, but also the ancestors. On this day, people also hold various folk activities to pray for good weather and express the people's yearning for a better life.

As a later generation, Wu Yong has never seen the scene of sacrificing to the Taishe, and he has not found any relevant experience through the memories of the original body. As for why this is the case, Wu Yong knows the reason, because the sacrifice is a very sacred thing, and people with physical defects cannot participate.

Wu Yong had no choice but to read the information by himself, and learned some details from Zhuo Wenxuan, so he had a certain understanding of the February Ancestral Temple.

It turns out that this Taisha has existed in ancient times, and it was originally a temple dedicated to the god of agriculture, the god of the land and the god of grains, but it is only a royal worship, and the emperors of all dynasties have taken it as a symbol of the spirit of the country and the foundation of the country.

In the early days of the Western Han Dynasty, in order to reassure the people and recuperate, the imperial court began to build the Houtu Temple on a large scale, and then the sacrifice of the Taishe began to become popular among the people. Due to the rise of the Taishe, the ancestral sacrifice has also changed from the previous temple sacrifice to the tomb sacrifice.

Therefore, the temple shrine in February is divided into two parts, one part is to worship the shrine, praying for good weather and abundant grains. The other part is to pay tribute to the ancestors and pray for the blessing of the ancestors and the prosperity of the descendants.

However, with the passage of time, although there are still two or three land temples in later generations, there are only a few, and they are not as lively as before. In addition, there are also different records in different historical sources.

At this time, there is no talk of worshipping ancestors on the Qingming Festival, but on the day of the ancestral shrine, go to the grave of the ancestors to repair it, and by the way, it has become a more popular practice.

Therefore, the February Ancestral Temple is a very grand event for people nowadays, and there are many things that need to be prepared.

Take Wu Yong's family as an example, the family has been busy in the past two days. Not only should all corners of the house be cleaned, but the furniture in the house should be wiped down and then placed neatly, and this is not the end, all kinds of cooking utensils in the house must also be cleaned, and finally sacrifices must be prepared.

At this time, the sacrifice was also an eye-opener for Wu Yong, it turned out to be leeks and eggs, but they had to be carefully selected. Choose leeks with thick rhizomes and eggs with large ones.

After doing this, you have to freshen up and get clean, and you have to show respect for the gods and ancestors, and there are a bunch of rules to follow. For example, you can't eat on the day of the sacrifice, because during this time, the ancestors must be fed first, and only after the sacrifice is completed, can you eat to show respect for the ancestors.

No, early in the morning, Guo called all the children in the family up, and while helping them tidy up and dress, they instilled various sacrificial rules. In particular, Wu Yong was ordered several times by Guo's ear, which caused the sisters to giggle.

"Brother is so stupid, I don't know these rules!"

Guo Shi couldn't help laughing, and it was only then that she realized that they were just children, so although they didn't understand the rules, it was nothing, and when they grew up, they would naturally understand that if they were too strict now, it would be a bit of a sprout.

Even the old lady got up early in the morning today, dressed up, and prepared to go to the sacrifice with everyone.

Today is different from the past, in the former ancestral shrine, the three members of the Wu family could only watch the lively scenes of other families because of Wu Yong's relationship.

Now if you want to say who is the most popular among the villagers in Fuwangli, it must be Wu Yong. Don't look at Wu Yong's age, but he is very respected.

Since Wu Yong returned to normal, he not only taught everyone to make Taixu food, so that everyone has made a lot of money in the past few days, but also let Fuwangli get the attention of the five family owners, no, on the day of this year's ancestral shrine, many villagers have been invited by the five family members to participate in the ancestral sacrifice, which they were not qualified to participate in the past.

So when a group of people from the Wu family came to the square, it was already full of people. They greeted each other, shushed the cold and asked for warmth, and their purpose was all for today's ancestral shrine.

When these people saw the old lady of the Wu family, they stepped forward to say hello one after another.

"I haven't seen her for a few days, my sister-in-law's complexion looks much better, this is the so-called people are in good spirits at happy events!"

"I thought my uncle wouldn't come today, and I was about to let my boy shout, but I didn't expect my uncle to come, and people really couldn't help but chatter."

"Auntie is really guarding the clouds and seeing the moon, now that Wu Yong is so famous, she will wait to enjoy happiness in the future!"

With a smile on her face, the old lady answered their questions one by one, so that the group walked very slowly.

He Ye was still more sharp-eyed, and when he saw Zhuo Wenxuan's family in the crowd at a glance, he took his sister He Ye and He eldest sister to go to Zhuo Jing and Zhuo Ji to play.

It's only been a few days, and a few people are already quite familiar with it. They talked and laughed, and after greeting each other, they huddled together and chatted and whispered.

Guo was worried about their safety, so he led everyone to follow.

When Zhuo Wenxuan saw everyone coming, he hurriedly saluted the old lady, and asked warmly: "Aunt is also here, but her body is all right?" ”

The old lady smiled, "Thanks to you some time ago, otherwise our family would have broken up long ago." My health is much better now, thanks to the recent care from Guo. ”

"Aunt said this, Wen Xuan is really ashamed, if it wasn't for Brother Wen Guang's life-saving grace back then, there would not be my current achievements." Zhuo Wenxuan hurriedly said.

"Let the past pass, it's not easy for you all these years!"

The two of them talked about some previous things, and they were full of emotion.

Here, the Li family also pulled the Guo family to ask the east and west, and the two didn't know what to say. From time to time, he pointed at Wu Yong to cover his mouth and chuckled.

Wu Yong quietly approached He Lian, leaned close to her ear, and asked in a low voice, "Sister, why do you use leeks and eggs in the sacrifice?" Is there any allusion to this? ”

He Lian glanced at him sideways, and said softly: "I don't know very well, I only saw a record in the "Book of Rites: The Royal System": The sacrifice of the temple of the great doctor and the priest, if there is a field, it is sacrificed, and if there is no field, it is recommended. Shuren recommends leeks in spring, wheat in summer, millet in autumn, and rice in winter. Leeks are eggs, wheat is fish, millet is dolphins, and rice is geese. Sacrifice the cow of heaven and earth, horned cocoon chestnut; The ox of the temple, the horn grip; The cow of the guests, the ruler. ”

Wu Yong lowered his head and thought for a while, feeling that he still didn't have any clue, so he didn't think about it anymore, anyway, he knew that the spring sacrifice would use leeks and eggs. Just like the people of later generations, the sacrifice will burn paper money, and people nowadays worship their ancestors and eat leek eggs for their ancestors.

This little episode did not attract anyone's attention. Everyone's attention was focused on the ancestral shrine at this time, and although they were talking and chatting, their eyes were always looking at the shrine.

At this time, a group of strong men brought a brand-new offering table and placed it in front of the Taisha. Knowing that the shrine was about to start, people's voices gradually became quieter.

It is said that it is a Taishe, but in fact, it is a Houtu Society, and there is only a sculpture of Houtu Niangniang in it.

Suddenly, the crowd was restless, Wu Yong followed everyone's gaze and looked forward, it turned out that Zhu Lidian and Li Tiandian had arrived.

I saw Zhu Lidian holding a tray with all kinds of grains on it. And Zhu Lidian is holding a large wine jar, without thinking that it must be filled with wine. And the reason why the square is restless is also because of the aroma of wine.

You must know that this wine is a good thing, and ordinary people can only taste it during sacrifices. On weekdays, there is not enough food to eat, how can it be possible to make wine, not to mention that the koji of wine is monopolized by the government, and if you want to make koji, you must first report to the government. Even if ordinary people have money, it is impossible to buy koji.

Then someone is going to say, I don't make wine, I can buy wine and drink it, and that's not good.

The "Han Law" stipulates: "If more than three people drink in groups without reason, they will be fined four taels", which is also a legal prohibition of "group drinking", which can also be said to be one of the prohibitions in ancient China.

On the one hand, it is to prevent people from drinking too much and making trouble, and on the other hand, it is also to prevent food from being wasted.

Like Wu Yong a few days ago, he just wanted to take a sip, but he didn't expect to drink a few more sips when he couldn't control it for a while, and he got drunk, which caused his sisters at home to laugh at him for several days.

Thinking of this, Wu Yong unconsciously licked his lips, he didn't expect that the wine at this time was really as good as the elixir and jade liquid, and there was no feeling of spicy throat in later generations. Whoever wants to tell him that distilled liquor tastes good again in the future must spit on him.

Since drinking it once, Wu Yong has never forgotten it. If it weren't for Guo's tightly hidden remaining wine, the small half jar of wine would have been drunk by him long ago.

Wu Yong was thinking about these things in his mind, but his eyes kept staring ahead. He knew that after the ancestral shrine today, he would share the wine and drink.

This will be served to the table with cereals and wine, and Zhu Lidian will light a handful of incense and insert it in the incense burner.

At this time, the crowd automatically quieted down, and their faces looked a little solemn, and even the children stopped playing and stayed quietly around their parents.

"Kneel!" With Zhu Lidian's shout, everyone, men, women, and children knelt on the ground.

"Bye!" Zhu Lidian shouted again, and everyone instantly knelt down and kowtowed. After the prayer, he bowed again.

"Today's day of the ancestral shrine, I, Zhu Yu, as the Lidian of Fuwangli, led all the villagers in Fuwangli to bow to Houtu Niangniang, praying that I Fuwangli will have smooth weather and abundant crops this year."

"Up!" After three bows and nine bows, Zhu Lidian raised his head and said, and everyone stood up solemnly.

Although the scale of this kind of sacrifice is not large, it has a strong sense of ceremony, and every link and every detail is very particular. Only a person like Zhu Lidian, who often leads the sacrifice, can successfully complete all the processes.

At this time, Li Tiandian spoke, "Fellow villagers, on the day of today's ancestral shrine, we must remember the bittersweet and sweet, and never forget the love of the sky." When you divide the wine for a while, you should estimate it according to your own amount of alcohol, don't drink too much, don't get drunk at that time, cause trouble, and lose face. ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone couldn't help laughing, and the original heavy mood was swept away because of this laugh.

"Start distributing wine" With Zhu Lidian's order, everyone applauded, and the heads of each family came over with clay bowls happily.

In fact, Li Tiandian's words are completely redundant, and the family will share a bowl of wine at most. There are more than a dozen people in each family, and there are five or six people less, how can there be as many people as there is a bowl of wine, and only one person can get drunk.

At this time, the wine was similar to the drink of later generations, and it was not only liked by adults, but also by children. After all, something with a sweet taste is rarely drunk by ordinary people.

In this way, each family received a bowl of wine, and both men and women, young and old, would take a sip.

Of course, Wu Yong's family is the same, when he brings wine, he first gives his grandmother and mother a sip, and then all the sisters and He Damei take a sip each, and finally the rest is laughed at by him. Fortunately, there wasn't much left, and I didn't get drunk this time.

At the beginning, the atmosphere was not bad, and everyone was polite. But as some of them drank, they began to sing:

There is no rain in the spring society, and there is no rain in the autumn society.

Buckwheat and white dew vegetables in the summer, sesame seeds and melons in the head.

Qingming planted all the eggplant melons and amaranth, and the valley rain sowed seedlings as soon as possible.

The poor don't listen to the rich people, and the paulownia blooms before it is planted.

……

There is no sense of rhythm at all, Wu Yong frowned and listened to it for a while, feeling that this is not so much a song as a proverb about the season.

Just because he doesn't like it doesn't mean that others don't like it. As the man sang, the others joined in, not only the men, but also the women and children.

At this time, everyone seemed to let go of the burden on their bodies and began to release themselves to the fullest.

Wu Yong didn't understand this feeling, but when he, like his family, tried to integrate into it, he found that this was a yearning for life, and it was also a kind of wisdom summarized by his predecessors.

At this time, Wu Yong seemed to understand the meaning of the ancestral shrine, which is not only a spiritual sustenance for the people, but also the people's understanding of life. To be a man must conform to the will of God, to know how to respect nature, and not to be arrogant.

The adults were tireless, singing over and over again. As for the young people, their minds are lively, and after singing for a while, they feel bored and bored, and begin to chase and frolic, and the adults are too lazy to pay attention to them at this time.

Today, many children are wearing new costumes, just like Wu Yong. But they don't have an adult soul like Wu Yong, they know how to hide, so they begin to show off proudly.

This led to many children getting together and arguing about who had the best clothes and who had the best stitching.

It was so noisy and noisy, and when the sacrificial ceremony was over, it was already noon, and everyone who got up early was exhausted, and Wu Yong felt that he was about to lose his position.