《甲辰龍年。十月初一。送寒衣。2024》
「農曆十月初一日」，【道教文化】及【民間習俗】稱之為「寒衣節」或「送寒衣」。
「古時」的這一天，【道眾】會為自己【堂上歷代祖先】，化上「紙衣」，以便讓【祖先】們「過冬」。
除此之外，也會為「無主孤魂」化衣及紙錢，希望出點薄力，不要「孤魂眾」在【冬天】「受寒」。
因此，【寒衣節】也就被納入「中華三懷思節」之一，與【清明節】及【中元節】同等。
相傳，【寒衣節】始源於「孟姜女千里尋夫」，因而也代表了淒美的真愛與貞潔。
在此簡單分享，供大家明瞭。
Offering of Winter Clothing to the
Wanderings 2024
In
Taoist Culture, there are 3 Major Days for the Taoists to show their Filial
Piety, Gratitude and Thanksgiving to the Ancestors/Pass-on Members and also, to
perform a Minor Concern to the Wanderings or Un-attended Souls. These 3 Major
Days in Taoist Culture is known as The Three Gratitude Days for the Souls or
San Da Ming Jie in Chinese (三大冥節).
So which
are the 3 Days?
There
are,
1 – Qing Ming Period aka The Tomb-sweeping Festival (清明節)
2 – The Seventh Month Celebration aka Zhong Yuan Festival (中元節)
3 – The Offering of Winter-clothing Day aka Han Yi Day (寒衣節)
For Qing
Ming Period, usually it will falls in the Lunar 2 Month till Lunar 3 Month,
whereas the Seventh Month Celebration will starts on the 1st Day till the Last
Day of Lunar 7 Month.
And so,
when is the Date for Winter-clothing Offering?
It
actually falls on the 1st Day of Lunar 10 Month and this is why, in the Ancient
Chinese Records, it is also known as Shi Yue Shuo Jie (十月朔節),
meaning the Starting of the Lunar 10 Month or the starting of the Winter
Season.
To know
more on the Origin of the Offering of Winter Clothing Day, you all may wish to
proceed to this Link (寒衣節的由來):
http://javewutaoismplace.blogspot.sg/2009/11/offering-of-winter-clothing-for-pass-on.html
For Year
2024, it falls on 01 Nov.
So how
was this Offering of Winter Clothing being carried-out in the Ancient China?
According
to the Ancient Records, the Offering of Winter Clothing are being categorised
into 2 types,
1 – Home-based Offering (家中祭奠)
2 – Official/Governmental Offering (公眾祭奠)
For
Home-based Offering, Descendants/Family Members must prepared the necessary
Offerings (as below) for the Honouring of the Pass-on Members at Home or at the
Graves,
1 – Incenses & Candles (香燭)
2 – Paper Offerings (including the Paper-bag of Winter-clothing
紙料/寒衣包袱)
3 – Scriptures (or engaged Taoist Masters for the Chanting 經懺)
4 – Seven Cooked Dishes (七道熟食)
5 – One bowl of Soup (湯料一碗)
6 – The Three Sacrificed Meat Offerings (Pig, Fish,
Chicken/Duck 三牲)
7 – Cooked Rice (米飯)
8 – Wine/Chinese Tea (茶酒)
9 – Four sets of Bowls/Spoons/Chop-sticks (四副碗筷)
Once
after All the Offerings are being prepared and placed in order on the Altar,
the whole Family has to make 3 Kowtows to the Ancestors and after 3 rounds of
Offering of Wine & Tea, the Burning-off of the Paper-offerings and
Winter-clothing will be done. On the Paper-bag of Winter-clothing, the Names of
Three Generations Ancestors will be indicated –
meaning, Father, Grandfather & Great-grandfather (寒衣包袱之上書有祖上三代名諱).
After
the Honouring of Ancestors, the Family Members will then gathered a bowl of
Rice and some dishes from the Ancestor Honouring and then throw the bowl of
Rice and the dishes onto the Main Road or at some Grass-areas nearby the House,
this is to Offer the Food to the nearby Wanderings. For some Families, they
will also burn some Paper-offerings at the Road-side, hoping that, after the
Wanderings got the Offerings, they will “Blessed” on the People staying in the area. In Taoism, this is known
as Ji Gu (濟孤).
For
Official/Governmental Offering, this is usually being carried-out by the Area
Officers or Magistrate Office (地方官/知縣/等) – The Offering reaches Peak in
Ming Dynasty.
In the
Morning of the 1st Day of Lunar 10 Month (農曆十月初一日早晨),
the Officer will arrived at the Temple dedicated to Lord Cheng Huang aka City
Deity (城隍尊神) and made a report on the Objective of the
Day’s Event and then, the Constables (衙差)
will shift the statue of Lord Cheng Huang onto a prepared Sedan-chair and on
the Sedan Chair (大紅轎), there are 1 or 2 plaque(s) with
the words written on it – Feng Zhi Si Gu (匾書有 - 奉旨祀孤), meaning this Offerings
to the Wanderings is being Authorised and Granted by the Emperor. In Ming
Dynasty (明朝), The Lunar 10 Month Procession of Lord
Cheng Huang is also known as Fang Gui Shou Ji Ri (放鬼受濟日),
meaning Releasing of Souls for Salvation.
Once the
statue of Lord Cheng Huang is being invited on the Sedan-chair and secured
firmly, the Officer will lead the way and starts the Procession of going round
the whole Village/Town/City (遊境濟孤).
During
the Procession, the Officer will stop at certain areas/corners and ordered the
Constables to burn some Paper-offerings, this is to show the “Concern” for
those un-attended Souls or Suffering Wanderings in the Area. By doing so, the
Officer hopes that the Wanderings will not disturb the Mortals living in the
Area.
After
the whole Procession was done, the Officer will lead the Sedan-chair back to
the Temple and ushered Lord Cheng Huang back onto the Altar and on the very
night, simple Dinner will be held at the Area/Village/City for the People
staying around, this is to celebrate that Harvesting had completed and a Year
is about to end.
In
Summary
Due to
lost of Interest in Chinese Culture, lost of Recognition in Root-Culture and
the Down-fall of Taoist Culture, many such Traditional Practices are gone or
being forgotten by a lot of the Taoists/Chinese.
Shall
Oneself still continue such a Culture?
Is
Oneself doing it for Fun?
Is this
Culture important to Oneself/Us?
I think
this is something that worth many of us to sit down and ponder over it.
Last of
All, hope to see more Taoists/Chinese get involved in this Culture before it is
gone.
Theme
Song for Han Yi Festival (寒衣節主題曲﹕孟姜女):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKuy_0zkBaw&feature=colike
