Lujiazhuang is a very simple and typical northwest courtyard that retains many ancient courtyards. It is home to hundreds of families with the surname Lu, and none of them have outsiders or mixed surnames.
Lu Nianzi introduced to Ye Ming in the car: The ancestors of the Lujiazhuang people moved here from other places during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. After hundreds of years of reproduction, many people with the surname Lu came to Huguang. After going down to Sichuan and taking the west entrance, many branches moved away. Only the Taizu branch of Secretary Lu has been thriving in Lujiazhuang without moving away, and has developed into the current city with a population of several thousand and hundreds of households. The surname of Lu is Dazhuangyuan.
As for the lineage of Secretary Lu’s family, their great ancestor Chongyuan Gong was once a Hanlin official in the Xianfeng Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, and later he became the right minister of the Ministry of Rites. Until Secretary Lu’s father’s generation, their lineage has always been the heirloom of farming and studying. , is also the only scholarly family in Lujiazhuang.
However, starting from Secretary Lu's grandfather, their family line had not been prosperous. By the time Secretary Lu came, it was already a single generation of two generations.
However, because Secretary Lu and others have been kind to people for generations, often helping poor tribesmen, and have a very good relationship with the tribesmen, and they are unanimously supported and respected by the tribesmen, therefore, Secretary Lu’s great-grandfather, great-grandfather, grandfather, and father are all He was the patriarch elected by the people of the Lu clan in Lujiazhuang. Originally, the people of Lujiazhuang also wanted to elect Secretary Lu as their clan leader, but because he had been working as an official in the capital and rarely had the chance to return to his hometown, another one was elected. An old man with the closest blood relationship to Secretary Lu’s clan became the clan leader.
Since Secretary Lu is the largest official in Lujiazhuang for hundreds of years, even bigger than his great ancestor, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, Chongyuan Gong, therefore, the people of Lujiazhuang are proud of him. This time, Secretary Lu’s father’s eightieth birthday was celebrated by the clan members very seriously and they made preparations for offering sacrifices and visiting the grave early.
Therefore, when Ye Ming and the others walked to the entrance of Lujiazhuang, the village folk band had already been waiting there. The moment Ye Ming and the others stepped into Lujiazhuang, drums were blaring, firecrackers were deafening, and the village cadres and The elders of the clan came out to greet them, bowed to Secretary Li, Ye Ming and others, and welcomed them into the village according to traditional customs.
Secretary Lu’s old house was built by his grandfather. It is a courtyard with blue bricks, gray tiles and white walls. It is antique and elegant. At the gate of the courtyard squats a pair of mighty bluestone lions, hanging high in the middle of the gate. On the black lacquer plaque, there are three large gilt characters engraved: "Rong Yi Tang". Under the plaque is a couplet: "Loyalty is passed down to the family, and poems and books will last forever". The horizontal inscription is four characters: "Cultivation of goodness and virtue".
After entering the courtyard, there is a small garden inside, with a stone corridor leading to the main hall at the back. This main hall is now actually the ancestral hall of Secretary Lu and his tribe. There is also a couplet at the door: "Never forget your filial piety to your friends as a housekeeper." , I also hope to write the ancestral whip for poems and books,” and the horizontal comment is “Pursue the distance with caution in the end.”
Lu Nianzi told Ye Ming: These couplets were all inscribed by grandpa, and the central meaning is one: I hope that my children and grandchildren will pass down the world with poems and books, not to fall into the secular way, and not to forget the roots of farming, reading and passing down the family.
When Ye Ming entered this ancient courtyard house, he had a very strange feeling in his heart. He always felt as if he had been to this place before. He always felt that the things in this courtyard were very familiar to him, just like a man who had been away from his hometown for many years. He felt the same as a wanderer who came back to visit his ancestral temple. This feeling of déjà vu made him extremely surprised, but he didn't know why.
So, he secretly said to Lu Nianzi: "Sister, why do I feel as if I have been to this big house? Many things in it seem familiar to me, as if I have seen them in my dreams. It’s the same thing, what’s going on,”
Lu Nianzi was shocked when he heard these earth-shattering words suddenly coming out of his mouth, thinking that this could be the legendary telepathy.
So, she quickly concealed a smile and said: "Xiao Yezi, our big house, you can see similar houses in many movies and TV shows, so I guess you are thinking of the scenes in movies and TV shows, It feels like you have been here before, so stop thinking about things and go into the main room quickly."
After saying that, she took his hand and came to the main room, pointed to the photo of her grandfather on the shrine in front of the main room and said: "Look, that's grandpa. You first go to kneel down and worship him, kowtow to him a few times, and let him First recognize your grandson,"
Ye Ming saw that a large altar table had been set up in the center of the main room, which was filled with various sacrifices: a whole pig, a whole sheep, a chicken, a liter of rice, a plate of glutinous rice cakes, and three plates of fruits.
Several old men stood solemnly on both sides of the table, with their hands hanging down and staring closely at Ye Ming. There was also a set of musical instruments on both sides of the hall, including gongs and drums, suonas, flutes, and cymbals. Several musicians sat on both sides. On the bench, he is always ready to play music to support mourning.
Ye Ming walked to the shrine first, knelt down on a mat, and kowtowed three times respectfully. Then, Lu Nianzi and Zhang Linjiang also went over and kowtowed. Next, Chen Mengqi, Li Wuan and others went to the portrait of Mr. Lu. Kneel down in front.
After Ye Ming returned to the door of the hall, he carefully looked at the sacrifices on the table and guessed that what he was going to hold today was the most grand "Pig and Sheep Sacrifice", which meant that there would be a whole pig among the sacrifices. , whole sheep, this is the most solemn ceremony in ancient times to pay homage to ancestors.
After everyone knelt down and worshiped, an elder of the officiating clan came over, bowed to Ye Ming, and shouted in a strong local accent: "Please take your seats and play music,"
Following this shout, the clocks and drums rang in the hall, and the music was melodious. The chief priest guided Ye Ming to stand beside a mat in front of the altar table, and then shouted again: "Le Zhi, please kneel down. ,"
Ye Ming hurriedly knelt down on the mat, lowered his head, and listened to the chief priest, in a long tone, read aloud an eighty-year-old memorial poem written by Secretary Lu specifically for his father.
After reading the sacrificial text, the officiant shouted again: "Bow,"
Ye Ming hurriedly bent down and bowed down. Hearing the officiant shouting "Xing," he straightened up, and then said "Bow,, Xing," and continued to worship Xing three times. Then the officiant shouted: "Ping Shen, The officiating guest enters the shrine from the west steps and kneels,"
Ye Ming quickly stood up, came to the shrine from the west, knelt down again, bowed three times, and then returned from the east.
After praying like this three times in a row, the sacrifice came to an end.
Lu Nianzi had already prepared two thousand yuan in cash for him. After he completed the sacrificial ceremony, he stuffed the money into his hand and motioned him to put it into the red lacquered wooden plate containing rice on the altar table. This was for the chief priest. people and the band’s “sacrifice fees”.
After the sacrificial ceremony, the clan elders took Ye Ming to the ancestral grave outside Lujiazhuang and instructed him to place Mr. Lu's grave according to etiquette. The entire sacrificial ceremony came to an end.