Festival
As the hometown of folk culture and art, the hometown of Hui opera, and the source of Hui cuisine, Fuling Town, Jixi County, has a profound cultural heritage and rich folk activities. The Beicun Sacrifice is a dazzling star. The folk belief of sacrifice began in Beicun, Fuling Town, Jixi County in the early Ming Dynasty. It is held from the early morning of New Year's Eve to the first day of the new year. This activity has a lot of Huizhou cultural elements, and it concentrates on showing the folk customs of ancient Huizhou. It is a typical and representative folk belief activity in Huizhou. In the early morning of New Year's Eve, the three animals are slaughtered as tributes, and then the three animals are dressed up. In the afternoon, the "She Pig", "She Sheep", "She Chicken" and other tributes are sent to the ancestral hall to welcome the She God (the tablet of the God) into the ancestral hall. On the morning of the "Spring Equinox", the She God is sent back to the temple, and at the same time, "She Man" is distributed to men over 20 years old. Generally, a grand "Sacrifice to the She" ceremony is held in the afternoon of the "Spring Breeze". The sacrifice to the She activities are carried out according to fixed procedures, work procedures and rules. The ritual procedures include "sequence", "descending gods", "laying silk and performing the first ceremony", "drums and music", "right food", "right music", "reading blessings", "saying goodbye to gods and bowing", "transforming wealth", "looking for fire", "removing food", and "ending the ceremony". On the second day of the "Spring Equinox", all the three animals and "Qiong bowls" are placed in the ancestral hall for one day. In the early morning of the next day, the 40-year-old man placed the three animals and other tributes in the "Shegong Temple" to worship the "Shegong". The sacrificial items include: the image of the mother of the Shegong, the record of the Cheng family, the tablet, etc., which are handed over to the next 40-year-old man. At night, all the 36-year-old men in the village play the bench dragon dance. After the sacrificial activities started in Beicun, they have continued to this day and have been well protected and inherited. The folk custom of sacrificing to the community is to pray for good weather, good harvests, longevity, and peace and prosperity for the country and the people. This is the purpose of the local people's folk religious activities. The sacrificial ceremony is held by men of the Cheng clan in Beicun who are 40 years old, while the "Dragon Lantern" activity is held by all men in the village who are 36 years old, forming a good pattern of participation by the whole village. Information source: Anhui Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center Information source: Anhui Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center