Siheyuan: Xu Damao corrects his evil ways

Chapter 157 157, Science or Pseudoscience?

Raising children is a difficult problem at any age.

If you don't raise children, you don't know your parents' kindness. Only those who have given birth to children know this sentence.

In later generations, six adults would surround one child, and there would always be problems like this.

What's more, this year? What's more, Lou Xiao'e is Miss Jiaojiao, not to mention Xu Damao is just a ray of soul of the social beast in later generations.

Fortunately, Xu's mother did most of the things for the couple. He also carefully taught the couple how to be parents.

But even so, the couple was still in a hurry.

Like Xu Damao and his wife, although they have the personal care of Xu's mother. But when it comes to children, there is no guarantee that it will happen at any time.

In the middle of the night, when the child is hungry, has a bowel movement, or is full of food, the child cannot express anything and can only cry to inform the adults.

Xu Damao's children are relatively well and have never been sick. It's going to be freezing cold and you have a headache and a fever, and that's the real suffering.

Especially for such a young child, he cannot take medicine.

Of course, the Xu family's baby is still worry-free in this regard, and he also knows how to love his mother.

Now Xu Damao wants to sleep with one eye open.

I didn't notice it at first, but the child started crying in the middle of the night. As a result, Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e, who were sleeping in the back room, were sleeping more soundly than the other.

Xu's mother, who was still setting up a bed in the main room, heard it. When she came in, she saw that the child was crying so hard that she had no energy left.

Xu's mother felt distressed, scolded Xu Damao, and even slapped Xu Damao several times.

Naturally, the daughter-in-law won't scold her. It's hard work to have a baby.

After Lou Xiao'e woke up, she saw Xu Damao still snickering after being scolded. This directly angered Xu's mother. She stretched out her finger angrily and tapped Lou Xiao'e's forehead.

That's it?

Xu Damao was stunned.

Is this his dear mother? Ever since he time traveled, he has never scolded Xu Damao.

As a result, after having a grandson, the son is worthless.

Xu Damao was really jealous of that little piece of meat. He wanted to eat or drink, and he just wanted to cry.

You don't have to say hello when you want to have sex or have sex.

When the waiter is satisfied, he smiles unconsciously at the adults, and the people who see him will be happy for a long time.

However, no matter how dissatisfied or dissatisfied he was, when it was Xu Damao's turn to serve him, he had to be careful, like a treasure.

When Xu Damao heard Lou Xiao'e ask about the topic of washing three, he saw his mother secretly put it in a basin.
  Xu Damao didn't quite understand this, so he could only turn his attention to Xu's mother.

When Xu's mother heard Lou Xiao'e ask about Xi San's words, she was afraid that Lou Xiao'e would think too much, so she explained it to her.

The matter of "washing children in three dynasties" can be said to be the first major event that one encounters in life.

For example, the babies born by Lou Xiaoe were basically washed by nurses in the hospital, so there was no sense of ritual.

Even if the Xu family wants to do it, they can only do the ninth and twelfth rituals, that is, on the ninth or twelfth day after the child is born, a make-up ceremony will be held, and then relatives and friends will have a meal and drink.

Some rituals have to be reduced.

This matter used to be taken seriously by those who had the conditions to deliver babies at home.

First, Wen Po was invited. At this time, she was no longer called Wen Po, but called Midwife Grandma or Jixiang Grandma.

The first step is for Wenpo to pay tribute to the gods and Buddhas of various places, and to offer the statues of the thirteen empresses on the main hall. The more interesting things here are the Acne Queen and the Eyesight Queen, which are obviously bribes to the Queen. The meaning is to ask these empresses to protect those who should be protected and let go of those who should be spared.

The statues of "Kang Gong and Kang Mother" are also placed on the Kang head or bed at home.

Then comes the official start of the third bath. The elders put a ladle of water into the basin in order of age. This water cannot be released in vain. If you go down the water, you will have to lose some gold and silver ingots.

Therefore, the most precious part of washing is right here. You have to spend real money to wash your child.

Of course, ordinary people would use other things with good meaning instead. For example, red dates, peanuts, longan, chestnuts, etc.

This is the importance of Wenpo, just like you need a tour guide when you visit a certain scenic spot.

When doing this kind of ceremony, there is always something missing if there is no stable woman to say a few auspicious words.

For example, when adding longan, Wen Po would be shouting "Longyuan, longan, three yuan in a row", which is much nicer.

Chinese people have given various meanings to most of the things that can be seen in life.

Some are homophones for objects, such as chestnut, which means "early birth". It is hoped that the children of this family will grow up early and start a family and start a career.

This is called Tianpen, which is the blessing given by elders to their children.

After all the "adding pots" are done, it's time for the child's performance.

Most children cry when they touch water. The louder the cry at this time, the happier the adults are.

This is called "ring basin".

At this time, as Wen Po sang, Wen Po also skillfully washed the child's parts with water.

"Wash your hair first, and you will become a prince; wash your waist next, and you will be taller than the previous generation; wash your eggs, and you will become a county magistrate; wash your ditches, and you will become a state magistrate..."

Basically, after singing, the action of taking a bath is also completed.

In fact, every custom has certain science in it. This third bath is similar to the physical examination after the child is born. Check the child's vision and hearing, and see if there are any defects in any part of the child.

Don’t underestimate this, as in the past, most of the babies were delivered by stable mothers.

Is the fetal position normal? Did Mrs. Wen use excessive force when delivering the baby? This can damage the child's joints. And whether the child has any birthmarks or anything like that.

After all, Po Wen is a semi-professional, and after completing most of the procedures, she will be able to know exactly how the child is doing.

Whether the child is normal after birth can mostly be checked in this wash.

Moreover, Chinese people are always romantic, so a baby's physical examination is such a ritual.

This is the beginning. The next moxibustion is to roll the eggs, hit the child's back twice with a green onion, and then use a weight to press the child's small hands on both sides.

These naturally have their own auspicious lyrics and their own meanings.

For example, the first bath is to check whether the child's appearance and speech are normal.

Moxibustion and disinfection are also necessary, because at that time, the umbilical cord was cut with scissors at home.

If this disinfection is not done properly, infection is inevitable.

Although moxibustion and disinfection were a ritual, it was also the only remedy available at that time.

The weighing weight is used to test whether the child's hands are strong and normal.

The next step is to put the gold and silver in a large tea tray, and put the gold and silver ingots under the child's armpits.

This is to check the child's upper limb joints.

I'm not sure about the others, but they probably have their own purposes.

Then use the mirror to look at your buttocks. Po Wen sang, "Use a precious mirror to look at your buttocks. If you poop during the day, your bottom will be clean."

This is all clear, genital examination and excretory organ examination.

At this point, the child's task is completed.

Then we say farewell to the gods, burn some ingots or something like that to the gods, and pray for peace with the Kang God. There must be something to this~ "Mr. Kang, Mrs. Kang's real name is Li. I will leave the adults and children to you. Send more boys, less girls..."

Wait until Wen Po packed the burned paper money in a cloth bag and placed it under the pillow.

At this time, a red envelope is given to Po Wen, and the ceremony is over.

.........

Therefore, basically the so-called third bath is a ritual, but it is actually a baby physical examination.

However, there was little digitization or standardization in those days, so stable ladies could only judge based on their own experience.

But these have nothing to do with Lou Xiao'e's baby. These days, no matter rich or poor, everyone has taboos about gods and Buddhas.

Especially living in such a large courtyard, the Xu family does not have a good relationship with their neighbors. These rituals can only be avoided if possible.

However, although most of the rituals were avoided, the Xu family still washed the child at home on the third day after his birth.

It was Xu's mother who boiled some mugwort water and simply scrubbed the child.

Lou Xiao'e was sleeping at the time and didn't see it, so it's not to blame.

After listening to this, Lou Xiao'e looked a little dull. She didn't hear a word of those lyrics.

Therefore, women's concerns are very different. For example, when Lou Xiao'e was in the delivery room, she scolded all eighteen generations of Xu Damao's ancestors, saying that she would never give birth to a child for Xu Damao again.

Lou Tan's face looked a little bad when he heard it, feeling embarrassed for his daughter.

But now Lou Xiao'e is thinking about how she will bathe her child if her second and third children are born in the future and the adults are away.

So Lou Xiao'e took Xu's mother and taught them all the rituals and lyrics.

"Three combs, two combs, and a red hat when you grow up;..."

Xu Damao felt a little frightened when he heard his wife's words.

In fact, Lou Xiao'e said it unintentionally, but Xu Damao felt that Lou Xiao'e was preparing to leave.

This may be Xu Damao's overthinking. He always thinks that Lou Xiao'e will go to Hong Kong Island one day, so when he hears something, he always leans there.

Life is like this, it seems like things are of no use. In fact, it is the most feasible method that our ancestors have studied over a long period of time.

When we get to the next generation, we will care more about playing with children. The so-called third day, full moon day, and one year old day have all become festivals for adults to socialize and play with children.

Eat, drink, take a few video photos, store them and call it a day.

But nothing is passed down without reason.

Just like Xi San, although Wen Po women are less literate. But they all have their own methods for learning lyrics, understanding the meaning of things, and various inspection methods.

Because they are illiterate, they cannot explain their respective functions to the outside world for things like these.

Various histories from ancient times to the present have recorded princes, generals, and the collapse of the earth, but there is very little history to record these events in life.

After hundreds of years and thousands of years, future generations will only see the meaning represented by those rituals. No one cares about the science involved.

As time goes by, coupled with the development of medical technology, these rituals that have accompanied us for a long history have truly become rituals.

(End of this chapter)