The Folk Customs and Customs of Liukeng--Water and Land Conference

Release time:

2015-03-13 15:35


According to the old custom of Liukeng, a land and water conference is held every ten years. Its large scale and large number of people involve every household, shaking Yongfeng and Le'an counties and becoming one of the well-known folk customs.
The Water and Land Conference, also known as the Water and Land Dojo, originated in Buddhism. Buddhists call the dharma meeting in Shizhai to save all the ghosts on water and land as the "Water and Land Dojo. It is said that in the seventh year of Tianjian (508), Emperor Liangwu of the Southern Dynasty, the Dazai Gathering began to save all living beings on water and land. When did Liukeng's water and land dojo originate?" , there is no exact record. In the genealogy compiled in the tenth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, the ancestral hall has a special article "forbidding evil witches", which involves the customs:
Chu people are still ghosts, and it has been true since ancient times. Women who are knowledgeable and humble are especially fond of gods and blessings. I don't know that other people's failures are not due to this. The way of ghosts prevails, and the way of humanity declines, it is natural. Besides, it is forbidden to practice witchcraft and sorcery, and the law has clear rules.
It is then expressly stipulated that:
In the future, among the clan, those who do not spend too much money on praying for the New Year, praying for the death of the fire, and praying for mourning will be done according to people's feelings. In addition, such as super-recommended practice, chant scriptures, repentance, mantras, etc., all prohibitions. The monks and the Tao are different, and they are not allowed to come to the door for no reason.
It can be inferred from this that at least in the late Ming Dynasty, there was no such custom, or it was forbidden. Word of mouth also spread that at that time, "Master Rongshan" destroyed many "prostitution temples". Therefore, when it became popular, it was after the Qing Dynasty. According to scholars' research, in many areas in the south of the Yangtze River, in the old days, ancestral halls were used as the center to build ceremonies. The center of the Liukeng Water and Land Assembly is the ancestral hall, which is one of the obvious features. The Great Ancestral Hall has a special "land and water association" organization, that is, a kind of family property fund. Every time a land and water conference is held, the cost is as high as tens of thousands of yuan, all of which are paid by the "water and land meeting" fund.
The example that the village elder witnessed was the Land and Water Conference in the 30th year of the Republic of China (1941). After the harvest of rice in autumn, the dojo was set up in the Guilin ancestral hall, with terraces, halls, and overpasses. Invite monks and Taoist priests to have a ritual, and there are more than 20 monks. The Confucian Temple (on the side of the main ancestral hall) is decorated with various statues, such as bull-headed horse-faced, ghost king, Zhong Kui, Gong Cao, etc., all made of paper and bamboo. The image is lifelike, and when people walk in, it is like entering the underworld.
The ceremony that people see is that each of the three big house clans recommends a gentleman and couple, a total of six people, to carry them into the dojo in a sedan chair. For three days in a row, it was called "Meeting". Seven days later, it is forbidden to burn a large number of ghost papers, and the activities of the dojo are considered to be over. The villagers know that the biggest advantage of being a land and water dojo is that it can eliminate ghosts and disasters for the whole village.
However, during the Land and Water Conference, there are various activities, mainly two:
One is singing. A stage must be set up, please come to the troupe. Therefore, many relatives of Liukeng people came to watch the play at this time and watched various lively activities. The farthest can come from a hundred miles away.
The second is to "reshape the golden body" for the Bodhisattva. At the same time as the Land and Water Conference, all the Bodhisattvas in Yangshan Temple and Taizi Temple, and the Nuo surfaces on the gates of each room, need to be painted every ten years to make them look brand new, which usually takes ten days. After completion, "recruit" troops in the same place for seven days, and then take them back to the temple for positioning.
In addition, during the water and land conference, it was the time when Liukeng people let go of their hands and feet to gamble. When the village elders talk about it, they all call it bad habits, and they can't tell when it started. In the 30th year of the Republic of China, dozens of gaming tables were publicly set up in the former site of the Great Ancestral Hall, Wenguan, Wenhuang Ancestral Hall, and Tuntian Ancestral Hall. When the door was opened, the ancestral hall turned into a legal casino. Some of the gambling addicts in the village went bankrupt as a result, and this custom also brought a bad reputation to Liukeng.
Therefore, doing dojos, performing dramas, modeling Bodhisattvas, and public gambling together made Liukeng the activity center of Yongfeng and Le'an counties. For more than ten days before and after, there was a continuous flow of people from all sides, bustling, and several ancestral halls were crowded. The order and security in the village have also been chaotic due to the sudden increase of foreigners. Many elderly people in the village are critical of this.

Related news

10-17

2018

The General Office of the State Council has opened the "National Government Service Complaints and Suggestions" applet to widely receive clues and suggestions on government service issues

In order to implement the spirit of Premier Li Keqiang's important instructions on accepting complaints about various issues and strengthening supervision over government services, the General Office of the State Council has opened the "National Government Service Complaints and Suggestions" mini-program from September 20 to widely receive complaints from all walks of life about government services. questions and suggestions.

10-07

2018

Announcement on Adjusting the Ticket Price of Liukeng Scenic Spot

In order to implement the "Guiding Opinions of the National Development and Reform Commission on Improving the Ticket Price Formation Mechanism for State-owned Scenic Spots and Lowering the Ticket Prices of Key State-owned Scenic Spots", the document No. 951 [2018] of the Development and Reform Commission, from September 30, 2018, Liukeng Scenic Spot Tickets The price has been reduced, from the original ticket price of 60 yuan/person to 50 yuan/person.

08-20

2018

Liukeng Ancient Village was selected as the first batch of "Jiangxi Province Primary and Secondary School Students Research and Practice Education Base"

On August 14th, the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Education officially announced the "Evaluation Results of the First Batch of Research and Practice Education Bases for Primary and Secondary School Students in Jiangxi Province" to name 64 units as the first batch of "Jiangxi Province Primary and Secondary School Students Research and Practice Education Bases", and Liukeng Ancient Village in Le'an was selected. .

06-19

2018

Liukeng Administration further strengthens village renovation efforts

1. Environmental sanitation: The Liukeng scenic spot is divided into four working areas, and the environmental sanitation in each area is investigated in detail; the sanitary dead corners in the village are thoroughly cleaned; the open spaces on both sides of the entrance to the village are leveled, and masonry walls are adopted. Or paving cultural stone to build it; repairing the fine line pavement, so that the comprehensive environment of the entire scenic spot has undergone better changes.