It is necessary to choose a good day to go up to the beam, usually during the full moon or when the tide is high at the beach, which means perfection. But if we wait until the 15th of next month, the construction period will be delayed by nearly a month. Dozens of masters will be idle on the construction site, and everyone will have to pay for food and clothing every day, which will consume a lot of human and financial resources.
Many house builders know that this is very detrimental to the craftsmen, but they don't care and insist on setting a fifteenth day. Zhao Fafa mentioned this matter because his boss invited them to drink and eat meat today, and the atmosphere was quite lively.
"Master Zhao, you know more about this than I do. You can decide which day suits you best. It's best to keep these processes simple. It seems like no one still practices this custom anymore."
"Sanlang, look at what you said, how come no one does this now? It's just that He Lu is poor now and no one builds houses anymore. We don't dare to forget these procedures." He Baozheng still attaches great importance to it. Yes, he remembered that when his family was in the Liang Dynasty, everyone in the village came, just to support his grandfather.
"Then let Yi Niang take care of the preparations. The day after tomorrow will be the day after tomorrow." Liang Chuan was pointless, as long as he didn't cause trouble to Zhao Fafa and the others.
When Zhao Fafa and the others saw that Liang Chuan was so easy to talk to, they all looked at each other and heaved a sigh of relief. They really couldn't find such a good employer even with a lantern. Several master chefs took turns holding wine bowls to pay homage to Liang Chuan.
There was a saying in rural areas in the past: "If there are beams on the roof, there will be food in the house; if there are no beams on the roof, the livestock will not prosper." This shows the importance of beams in the minds of the people, so a grand ceremony must be held every time "beams are raised".
The entire beam-raising ceremony can be said to be carried out around the "main beam". In the early days of beam installation, if the owner attached great importance to it, he would personally select the beam wood. The conditions were also very strict. If it was fir, it should be straight and towering. The age of the tree should not be too long or too short. There should be many fir trees around it. A small tree, a single tree must not be used, which means to have many children and grandchildren.
The house in Liangchuan has nine bays and only five beams. This type of beam is more common in the south. The beam to be raised is the highest beam in the main hall.
Zhao Fafa privately asked the birthdays of everyone in the Liangchuan family. Coincidentally, none of them conflicted or conflicted with the time of Shang Liang. There are a lot of people in Liang Chuan's family, and he doesn't look down on others. He treats everyone as his own family. This kind of life is too rare.
On the day of the Liang Liang ceremony, Liang Chuan called everyone together, including He Baozheng, the third uncle who lived next door to Li Chuyi, their mother-in-law and daughter, Fan Dianyuan, Ma Dan and others who were helping Zheng Ruoying's family. Come up, all I want is to have some fun together. Even Fengshan's store was not going to open today, and everyone was invited to the new house's beam-laying ceremony.
Because after this ceremony, the progress of building the entire house will be faster. In ancient times, when building a house, the structure was first built. After the columns and beams were in place, there were many apprentices who could lay bricks and plaster the walls. They could do it. It didn't take long for dozens of people to complete the work.
And this house is my true home after I came to this world. Although the place where Yi Niang and the others are is my home, after all, I am living under someone else's roof, and I cannot live there for a long time.
Yi Niang also asked Zhao Fafa and the others if there were any special requirements on the altar table, but she didn't ask for them, and she was not afraid of violating the taboo of going to bed. Zhao Fafa said that there is no need to prepare too much. Just prepare a seven-color sacrifice on a red lacquer offering plate and place it on the offering table.
Yi Niang followed Zhao Fafa's instructions and prepared seven-color offerings of pig's head, chicken, duck, fish, tofu, eggs, and salt. Yang Xiu knew how to take care of the food, so he helped arrange the food together. Fengshan bought a lot of all kinds of fruits and placed them on the altar table.
Ye Xiaochai can write, and there are couplets posted on the pillars of the new house. On the left: Shang Liang Xin meets the zodiac day, and on the right: The pillar coincides with Ziweixing. Couplets cannot yet be written on red paper, only yellow or green paper. Ye Xiaochai even asked Zhao Fafa why he didn't use red paper to make it more festive. Zhao Fafa ignored her. This is the rule of the ancestors. Go ask the ancestors.
After the beam ceremony began and before the beam was put on, the old master Zhao Fafa began to sing Liang songs. It turned out that the Feng Shui master who presided over this ceremony was asked to do it, but on this day, the Feng Shui master went to attend another event. Unfortunately, Zhao Fafa and the others did it themselves.
Liang Chuan smiled as he watched so many people having fun with him. They were all familiar with each other, but standing beside him, he could only laugh dryly and could not help in any other way.
"The auspicious stars are shining high, and the blessed land is auspicious. The rising sun hangs above the ceiling, and the purple microscopic light surrounds the beams. The beams set up the house to gather auspiciousness, and the tile shop door receives auspiciousness. The eye of the sky shines on the house, and the sun supports the beams. The golden beams shine brightly, and the jade pillars hold up the sky. Buried The ground is used to lay new foundations, and the foundation is solid to support the beams..."
Liang Chuan didn't expect that Zhao Fafa was so good at talking, and he spoke in a lively and stylish manner. This long list of words didn't have the same meaning, and the rhymes were regular and neatly contrasted. Tsk, tsk, I'm afraid he's retired. Don’t worry about not having any work to do.
Zhao Fafa took a shower and changed clothes early in the morning, and then repeated the story again. Liang Chuan was the boss, and he didn't want to ruin his face.
After the congratulations were read, the memorial ceremony for Liang followed. Liang has God Liang. If the previous words are meant to flatter God Liang, then the following essays are said to God Liang and are his own prayer wishes.
"It's a good time and auspicious days, the sky and the earth are open, worship the beam, everything will be prosperous. Born in the deep mountains, my original surname is Fang and my given name is Jinniang. My disciple invites you to make the center beam. Immortal Master Luban makes it with his own hands. May you be safe and prosperous for thousands of years. A glass of wine to toast To Liangtou, generations of the master’s family will win the first prize. A glass of sake will be given to Liangwei, and generations of the master’s family will be full of people. A glass of sake will be toasted to Liang Zhong, and generations of the master’s family will be admitted to the farm.”
It is said that everyone who enters the temple is utilitarian. No one enters the temple just to see the Buddha and hopes that the Buddha can bless him. This ceremony of worshiping Liang Shangliang is no exception. Everyone's heart is filled with happiness and desire for a better life, hoping that these gods can bless them.
During Zhao Fafa's long prayer process, without realizing it, many people came around his new house. All the people in the village came at the same time, and each of the more than 100 people had a smile on their face. Men, women, old people and children seemed to come from every household.
Liang Chuan took a closer look and saw two carriages parked behind him. In the crowd, Zheng Ruoying and Shitou were also present! She also brought her sugar cane tenants, Fan Dian's elder Ma Ling Ma Dan and several other children also appeared together.
For a time, there was an unprecedented grand occasion in Helu. The originally lifeless little place at the foot of the mountain turned into a bustling and bustling market. Everyone looked at Liang Chuan's family with envy when they built a new house.
Liang Chuan tilted his head and said to He Baozheng: "Old He, why are all the big guys here today? I didn't say anything, so you give me face."
He Baozheng was very excited when he saw everyone coming. It has been many years since he saw people from He Lu doing something together. "You want to set up a school for the village and let the children in the village have a future. Please read this," he said. You're good. I can't help you with anything else. Today I learned that your new house was being renovated, so we all came together to help you."
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? If you had told me earlier, I would have asked Yi Niang to prepare more food. Let's have a banquet today and invite everyone to eat meat and drink wine together."
"Save your little money and spend it. Everyone has good intentions and is not here to eat or drink."
After the beam ceremony was over, Zhao Jinyu led Zhao Xiantingchang and several carpenter apprentices to pull the main beam up to the roof with a hanging rope. For a while, everyone in the village set off firecrackers in unison. Even Zheng Ruoying, Shitou and the others asked the tenants to set off firecrackers. These firecrackers were bought by the villagers at their own expense.
The beams were slowly pulled up to the roof amidst the roaring sound of firecrackers. Zhao Jinyu took the lead and shouted: "Go up, good luck and good luck, go up, good luck and good luck." With Zhao Jinyu taking the lead, all the Luocheng masters also shouted together: "Go up, good luck and good luck."
The formation of forty or fifty Luocheng masters shouting together was nothing short of earth-shattering. Everyone was full of energy, and their roars were like thunder from the sky. Master Luocheng shouted together, and all the villagers in Helu Village were not to be outdone. More than a hundred people also shouted together.
In an instant, nearly two hundred people at the foot of the mountain shouted loudly from their Dantian: "Come on, good luck!" There were more than two hundred people. The momentum shook the mountain behind. The sound wave reached the front of the mountain, and the echo rolled back again, rolling towards the south bank of Nanxi River!
People from many villages on the south bank of Nanxi River, as well as Liangan and Xianshui on the north bank, were farming in their fields. Suddenly, a loud sound rolled in, which made them startled and dropped their farm tools, thinking that the mountain god had appeared.
Liang Chuan and his party burst into tears when they saw this majestic momentum. Everyone gave them their best wishes from the bottom of their hearts. Yi Niang was even moved to tears. She remembered that the helpless two finally found this place to stay and settled down. At that time, no one would look at these two little beggars, but now the villagers respect them.
During the process of raising the beam, Zhao Jinyu and others were in full swing, not daring to relax at all. This process required the beam to be lifted up smoothly and steadily, and it was taboo to move up and down in tandem. In some places, the east end of the beam is required to be higher than the west end, because the east is the green dragon and the west is the white tiger, and the white tiger cannot be higher than the green dragon.
Amidst the cheers of the crowd, Zheng Liang was lifted up steadily. He Jinyin, an old man in the village, as a representative of the villagers, sent a bag of 'grain colorful bags' to He Baozheng, "Jialuo, Sanlang, we are not familiar with him and have never spoken to him, but today we all came with our hearts in mind. This Bring the colorful bag of grains to Saburo."
Zheng Ruoying Stone and the others also gave each of them a bag. The colorful bag of grains symbolizes a bumper harvest. He Baozheng conveyed the villagers' thoughts to Liang Chuan. These colorful grain bags must be moved to the roof by the owner and placed in the middle of the beam, and then a red cloth is draped over the beam.
These red cloths were prepared by Zhao Fafa and others. The red cloths were not originally used for worshiping gods. They must have never been used for incense. A pair of cloth shoes is also sewn on the hem of the red cloth, which means that it will pave the way for the owner of the new house.
Liang Chuan is in pretty good health now. There are many wooden frames in the house, which makes it easier to put up beams now and put up tiles and walls in the future. He can get up to the roof in a few moments.
When Liang Chuan went up, he brought a bamboo basket made by Li Erhua. Zhao Fafa told him that there would be a bag-receiving ceremony later, and he had to prepare a bamboo basket containing some steamed buns, copper coins, red dates, and dried longans. Other things need to be prepared in advance. Aren’t these bamboo baskets all over the courtyard now?
Zhao Fafa and the others were below, wrapping some fruits, red dates, and copper in red cloth. They said good wishes and threw the red cloth bag onto the roof, and threw it into the bamboo basket held by Liang Chuan as leaves. Liang Chuan was very agile, and he still caught several red envelopes that were thrown crookedly, without losing any of them. All the villagers watched happily.
The most lively ceremony after receiving the package is tossing the beam. Liang Chuan throws the longan, steamed buns, copper coins, etc. from the beam to the surroundings for the men, women, old and children who come to watch the excitement to compete, which means "wealth is rolling in." When "throwing the beam", Liang Chuan was throwing it above, and Zhao Fafa from below followed up: "Throw the beam to the east, and the sunrise in the east will be full of red; throw the beam to the west, and the unicorn will bring you double happiness; throw the beam to the south, and the descendants will be born." Become the number one scholar on your behalf; throw the beam to the north, and hoard white rice every year."
The child below was very happy. The longan and red dates were sweet and delicious. He threw it on the ground, picked it up, wiped it, blew it, peeled off the dry shell, and ate it directly in his mouth. As for the copper plate, this is money, and I will be even happier if I find it.
Liang Chuan brought a large basket of things and threw them down from the roof. Hundreds of people below were happy for a long time, picking up things and getting lucky, feeling happy. The whole activity lasted for less than half an hour before Liang Chuan stepped back from the roof.
The ceremony of throwing the beam onto the beam was almost over, and the crowd slowly retreated after congratulating Liang Chuan. Zheng Ruoying and Shitou stayed behind, while everyone else had almost left.
The new beams need to be exposed to the sun for a while, which is called sun-drying beams. Yi Niang, Yang Xiu and the others collected the offerings and planned to hold a banquet to entertain these Luocheng masters and their friends tonight.
