Every year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month is my country’s folk “Qiao Qiao Festival” and Chaoshan people’s unique activities such as “Coming out of the Garden”, “Walking Children Festival” and “Parents and Mothers Giving Birth”. Among them, “Coming out of the Garden” In fact, it is the coming-of-age ceremony for Chaoshan people.
Families with 15-year-old boys and girls in the Chaoshan area should prepare three kinds of fruits for their children during the Qiqiao Festival on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month and the Ghost Festival on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, or on another day to bid farewell to the parents-in-law. When you grow up, you can go out of the garden, and you are no longer a child playing in the garden all day long.
Chaoshan people believe that children under 15 years old live in a "garden" and are protected by a pair of gods called "parents, mother-in-law, and mother-in-law." Whether a child can grow up or not depends entirely on these gods. Therefore, Chaoshan people have always attached great importance to worshiping "parents-in-law and mothers-in-law".
Children living in the "garden" must worship their "parents-in-law" on the seventh day of July every year to pray for healthy growth; while children who leave the "garden" are no longer in the care of their "in-laws". It's under control. From now on, we will no longer worship "father-in-law, mother-in-law and mother-in-law" on the seventh day of July.
On the day of "Out of the Garden", children have to wear new clothes and clogs sent by their uncle, usually in red. Moreover, on this morning, parents will let their children pin a "pomegranate" flower with auspicious meaning on their ears.
For breakfast on this day, 8 people are usually gathered together. The breakfast consists of a rooster, desserts, vegetables and other various kinds of dishes, which are made up of 8 or 12 dishes. The dining seats are also particular. The person who "goes out of the garden" sits in the upright seat with the chicken head facing him. The person who "goes out of the garden" eats it himself, and the chicken head becomes his patent. The meaning is that when you grow up, you will be able to stand out and prosper.
Only after the person who "comes out of the garden" picks up the food with his chopsticks can others eat. This is true for every kind of food. And when the person who comes out of the garden is a chicken, he should replace the chicken with a goose.
At noon this day, prepare a sumptuous lunch to entertain relatives and friends. During the dinner, family members and relatives wished the children good wishes. A few days before or on the day of "Out of the Garden", relatives will come to give gifts, either red envelopes or gifts. The gifts are given to the protagonist of "Out of the Garden", but they are usually arranged by the parents to give gifts in return.
In Jieyang, there is a saying that on the day out of the garden, children cannot run too far, or even cross the bridge. On this day, children only play and eat without doing any housework. They are pampered by their parents for the last time.
As a good sign, children’s words and requests will generally not be rejected unless it is absolutely necessary.
"Coming out of the garden" is a farewell ceremony, and it is also a beginning ceremony. From then on, the child jumps out of the garden wall and bids farewell to the fragrance of flowers and birds, innocence, carefree and ignorant childhood. , marking that he has entered adulthood and truly embarked on the road of life.