When a child is baptized on the third day of his life, the first ceremony is to worship the gods.
A red rooster and a hen were placed in front of Bai's bed. When the auspicious time came, Bai burned incense and worshiped the rooster and hen.
The next step is to worship various gods, all of whom are responsible for fertility. Among them, the well-known ones are the Goddess of Childbirth and the Goddess of Clouds.
After offering sacrifices to the gods, the midwife placed the statue of Guanyin, and Bai performed a final offering of sacrifice.
After the ceremony of worshiping the gods is over, the ceremony of adding basins begins.
The midwife brought a copper basin filled with mugwort leaves and placed it on Bai's bed. After the basin was placed, the midwife stood in front of the basin, holding the child.
The guests and relatives were arranged in order of age and seniority to add basins to the basin.
The oldest lady from the Gu family added thirty-nine golden peanuts. The midwife happily blessed the two children, saying, "May they live long and prosperous lives."
Some people behind added golden longevity locks, gold and silver bracelets and anklets, some threw in jade pendants, and some sprinkled coins in. The midwife was most happy about the coins, because according to the rules, the coins in the basin belonged to her.
If it were an ordinary family, they would at most sprinkle some copper coins in it, or add water, red dates and longans.
After everyone has filled the basin, the third ceremony begins: ringing the basin.
The midwife picked up a stick and stirred the copper basin, saying blessings as she stirred. After she finished saying the blessings, she could give the baby a bath.
When the basin sounded, the two wet nurses held the babies respectively. When bathing, the midwife washed Ye Ge'er first, saying the words "bath three" while washing him. When Ye Ge was touched by the warm water, he cried loudly. Everyone said that Ye Ge'er's loud crying made him strong.
Sister Can cried for just two times and then stopped. Everyone looked at her frail appearance and only said auspicious words.
The fourth step is dressing up. After bathing, you need to dress up your child. First, light moxa, then comb the hair, and finally roll the child's face with boiled eggs.
Once the women are dressed, the fifth ritual begins: blessing. The method varies from place to place, but this time, the midwife gently taps the woman three times with a scallion. Afterward, she throws the scallion onto the roof, symbolizing exceptional wisdom.
After the blessing ceremony, the bathing ceremony was also over. After the nurse took the two children away, all the guests went to the banquet hall. The clan lady served as the host and entertained the guests throughout the whole process.
The midwife would burn the tablets of the bed father and mother and the incense sticks that had been offered earlier in the courtyard, and after the ashes were reduced to ashes, she would wrap them in red paper and let Bai place the red paper package at the head of the bed to ensure peace for the family.
From then on, the ritual of bathing the third child was considered complete. The millet, oil, and other items used for the sacrifice were also taken away by the midwife. Holding the bundle full of things, the midwife felt that the Ningyuan Marquisate was indeed majestic. The coins here were enough for their family to eat for ten years.
In the banquet hall, the Fourth Lady and the others said sarcastically, "Look, we're such close relatives, but they didn't even bother asking the clan lady to help. My niece-in-law is really from a poor family and isn't very considerate."
Others didn't know what to say, so they just laughed it off and turned their heads away.
Seeing that no one agreed with her, the fourth lady poked the braised lion's head in the bowl angrily, and the lion's head bounced out and hit the fourth lady's face.
With a chuckle, the person sitting opposite the fourth lady couldn't help laughing.
The lion's head itself was juicy, and it hit the face of the fourth room's wife, who was hit so hard that she couldn't react.
By the time I reacted, my face was covered in sticky soup, and the place where I was hit was a little painful.
The fourth lady took out a handkerchief, wiped her face, and hurried away. When she left, everyone burst into laughter.
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