National life. Traditional holidays of the Russian people
By the beginning of the 16th century, Christianity played a decisive role in influencing the culture and life of the Russian people. It played positive role in overcoming the harsh morals, ignorance and wild customs of ancient Russian society. In particular, the norms of Christian morality had a huge influence on family life, marriage, raising children. Is it true. theology then adhered to a dualistic view of the division of the sexes - into two opposite principles- “good” and “evil”. The latter was personified in a woman, determining her position in society and family.
U Russian peoples for a long time There was a large family uniting relatives along the direct and lateral lines. The distinctive features of a large peasant family were collective farming and consumption, common ownership of property by two or more independent married couples. Among the urban (posad) population, families were smaller and usually consisted of two generations of parents and children. The families of feudal lords were, as a rule, small, so the son of a feudal lord, having reached the age of 15, had to serve the sovereign and could receive both his own separate local salary and a granted estate. This contributed to early marriages and the formation of independent small families.
With the introduction of Christianity, marriages began to be formalized through a church wedding ceremony. But traditional Christian wedding ceremony(“fun”) persisted in Rus' for approximately six to seven centuries. Church rules did not stipulate any obstacles to marriage, except for one: the “possession” of the bride or groom. But in real life the restrictions were quite strict, primarily in social terms, which were regulated by customs. The law did not formally prohibit a feudal lord from marrying a peasant woman, but in fact this happened very rarely, since the feudal class was a closed corporation where marriages were encouraged not just with people in their own circle, but with peers. A free man could marry a serf, but had to obtain permission from the master and pay a certain amount as agreed. Thus, both in ancient times and in the cities, marriages, basically, could only take place within one class-estate.
Divorce was very difficult. Already in early middle ages divorce (“dissolution”) was allowed only in exceptional cases. At the same time, the rights of the spouses were unequal. A husband could divorce his wife if she cheated, and communication with strangers outside the home without the permission of the spouse was equated to betrayal. IN late Middle Ages(since the 16th century) divorce was permitted with the condition that one of the spouses was tonsured a monk.
The Orthodox Church allowed one person to marry no more than three times. The solemn wedding ceremony was usually performed only during the first marriage. A fourth marriage was strictly prohibited.
A newborn child had to be baptized in church on the eighth day after baptism in the name of the saint of that day. The rite of baptism was considered by the church to be a basic, vital rite. The unbaptized had no rights, not even the right to burial. The church forbade burying a child who died unbaptized in a cemetery. The next rite - "tonsuring" - was carried out a year after baptism. On this day, the godfather or godmother (godparents) cut a lock of the child’s hair and gave a ruble. After the tonsures, they celebrated the name day, that is, the day of the saint in whose honor the person was named (later it became known as the “day of the angel”), and the birthday. The Tsar's name day was considered an official public holiday.
All sources indicate that in the Middle Ages the role of its head was extremely great. He represented the family as a whole in all its external functions. Only he had the right to vote at meetings of residents, in the city council, and later in meetings of Konchan and Sloboda organizations. Within the family, the power of the head was practically unlimited. He controlled the property and destinies of each of its members. This even applied personal life children whom he could marry off or marry against their will. The Church condemned him only if he drove them to suicide. The orders of the head of the family had to be carried out unquestioningly. He could apply any punishment, even physical. "Domostroy" - an encyclopedia of Russian life of the 16th century - directly indicated that the owner should hit educational purposes wife and children. For disobedience to parents, the church threatened with excommunication.
In-house family life was relatively closed for a long time. However simple women- peasant women, townspeople - did not lead a reclusive lifestyle at all. Testimonies from foreigners about the seclusion of Russian women in the chambers relate, as a rule, to the life of the feudal nobility and eminent merchants. They were rarely allowed even to go to church.
There is little information left about the daily routine of people in the Middle Ages. The working day in the family began early. Mandatory meals ordinary people there were two - lunch and dinner. At noon, production activities were interrupted. After lunch, according to the old Russian habit, there was a long rest and sleep (which was very surprising to foreigners). then work began again until dinner. With the end of daylight, everyone went to bed.
With the adoption of Christianity, especially revered days became official holidays church calendar: Christmas, Easter, Annunciation, Trinity and others, as well as the seventh day of the week - Sunday. According to church rules holidays should be devoted to pious deeds and religious rites. working on holidays was considered a sin. However, the poor also worked on holidays.
Relative isolation home life diversified with receptions of guests, as well as festive ceremonies, which were held mainly during church holidays. One of the main religious processions arranged for Epiphany - January 6th Art. Art. On this day, the patriarch blessed the water of the Moscow River, and the population of the city performed the Jordan ritual (washing with holy water). On holidays, street performances were also organized. Traveling artists, buffoons, were known back in Ancient Rus'. In addition to playing the harp, pipes, and songs, the performances of the buffoons included acrobatic performances, competitions with predatory animals. The buffoon troupe usually included an organ grinder, a gayer (acrobat), and a puppeteer.
Holidays, as a rule, were accompanied by public feasts - fraternities. However, popular ideas about the supposedly unrestrained drunkenness of Russians are clearly exaggerated. Only during the 5-6 major church holidays was the population allowed to brew beer, and taverns were a state monopoly. The maintenance of private taverns was strictly persecuted.
Social life also included games and fun - both military and peaceful, for example, the capture of a snowy city, wrestling and fist fights, small towns, leapfrog, etc. . From gambling The game of dice became widespread, and from the 16th century - with cards brought from the West. The favorite pastime of kings and nobles was hunting.
Thus, although the life of a Russian person in the Middle Ages, although it was relatively monotonous, was far from being limited to the production and socio-political spheres, it included many aspects of everyday life, to which historians do not always pay due attention
In historical literature at the turn of the 15th - 16th centuries. rationalistic views on historical events. Some of them are explained by causal relationships caused by the activities of people themselves. Authors historical works(for example, “Tales of the Princes of Vladimir,” late 15th century) sought to affirm the idea of the exclusivity of the autocratic power of the Russian sovereigns as the successors of Kievan Rus and Byzantium. Similar ideas were expressed in chronographs - summary reviews of general history, in which Russia was considered as the last link in the chain of world-historical monarchies.
It was not only the historical ones that expanded. but also the geographical knowledge of people of the Middle Ages. In connection with the complication of administrative management of the growing territory of the Russian state, the first geographic Maps("blueprints"). This was also facilitated by the development of Russian trade and diplomatic ties. Russian navigators made a great contribution to geographical discoveries in the north. By the beginning of the 16th century, they explored the White, Icy (Barents) and Kara Seas, discovered many northern lands - the Bear Islands, New Earth, Kolguev, Vygach, etc. Russian Pomors were the first to penetrate the Arctic Ocean and created the first handwritten maps of the surveyed northern seas and islands. They were among the first to explore the Northern sea route around the Scandinavian Peninsula.
Certain progress was observed in the field of technical and natural scientific knowledge. Russian craftsmen learned to make quite complex mathematical calculations when constructing buildings and were familiar with the properties of basic building materials. Blocks and other construction mechanisms were used in the construction of buildings. For the extraction of salt solutions it was used deep drilling and laying pipes through which the liquid was distilled using a piston pump. In military affairs, the casting of copper cannons was mastered, and battering and throwing weapons became widespread.
In the 17th century, the role of the church in influencing the culture and life of the Russian people intensified. At the same time, state power penetrated more and more into the affairs of the church.
The purpose of penetration of state power into church affairs was to be served by church reform. The tsar wanted to obtain the sanction of the church for state reforms and at the same time take measures to subordinate the church and limit its privileges and lands necessary to provide for the energetically created army of the nobility.
All-Russian church reform was carried out at the Stoglav Cathedral, named after the collection of its decrees, which consisted of one hundred chapters ("Stoglav").
In the works of the Stoglavy Council, issues of internal church order were brought to the fore, primarily related to the life and everyday life of the lower clergy, with the performance of church services by them. The flagrant vices of the clergy, the careless performance of church rituals, moreover, devoid of any uniformity - all of this aroused a negative attitude among the people towards the ministers of the church and gave rise to freethinking.
In order to stop these dangerous phenomena for the church, it was recommended to strengthen control over the lower clergy. For this purpose, a special institution of archpriests was created (an archpriest is the main priest among the priests of a given church), appointed “by royal command and with the blessing of the saint, as well as priestly elders and tenth priests.” All of them were obliged to tirelessly ensure that ordinary priests and deacons regularly performed divine services, “stood with fear and trembling” in churches, and read the Gospels, Zolotoust, and the lives of the saints.
The Council unified church rites. He officially legitimized, under penalty of anathema, the double-fingered sign of the cross and the “great hallelujah.” By the way, these decisions were later referred to by the Old Believers to justify their adherence to antiquity.
The sale of church positions, bribery, false denunciations, and extortion became so widespread in church circles that the Council of the Hundred Heads was forced to adopt a number of resolutions that somewhat limited the arbitrariness of both the highest hierarchs in relation to the ordinary clergy, and the latter in relation to the laity. From now on, taxes from churches were to be collected not by foremen who abused their position, but by zemstvo elders and tenth priests appointed in rural areas.
The listed measures and partial concessions could not, however, in any way defuse the tense situation in the country and in the church itself. The reform envisaged by the Stoglavy Council did not set as its task a deep transformation of the church structure, but only sought to strengthen it by eliminating the most blatant abuses.
With its decrees, the Stoglavy Council tried to put the stamp of churchliness on all folk life. Under pain of royal and church punishment, it was forbidden to read the so-called “renounced” and heretical books, that is, books that then made up almost all secular literature. The Church was ordered to interfere in the everyday life of people - to turn them away from barbering, from chess, from playing musical instruments, etc., to persecute buffoons, these carriers of folk culture alien to the church.
Time for Grozny - time big changes in the field of culture. One of the most significant achievements of the 16th century was printing. The first printing house appeared in Moscow in 1553, and soon books of church content were printed here. Among the earliest printed books include the Lenten Triodion, published around 1553, and two Gospels, printed in the 50s. 16th century.
In 1563, the organization of the "sovereign Printing House" was entrusted outstanding figure in the field of book printing in Russia to Ivan Fedorov. Together with his assistant Peter Mstislavets, on March 1, 1564, he published the book “Apostle”, and the following year “The Book of Hours”. We also associate the name of Ivan Fedorov with the appearance in 1574 in Lvov of the first edition of the Russian Primer.
Under the influence of the church, such a unique work as “Domostroy” was created, which was already noted above, the final edition of which belonged to Archpriest Sylvester. "Domostroy" is a code of morality and life rules, intended for the wealthy urban population. It is permeated with sermons of humility and unquestioning submission to authorities, and in the family - obedience to the householder.
For the increased needs of the Russian state, literate people were needed. At the Council of the Stoglavy, convened in 1551, the question of taking measures to spread education among the population was raised. The clergy were offered to open schools to teach children to read and write. Children were educated, as a rule, in monasteries. In addition, home schooling was common among rich people.
The intense struggle with numerous external and internal enemies contributed to the emergence of a vast war in Russia. historical literature the central theme of which was the question of the growth and development of the Russian state. The most significant monument of historical thought of the period under review was the chronicle vaults.
One of the major historical works of this time is the Face (i.e. illustrated) chronicle: it consisted of 20 thousand pages and chalked 10 thousand beautifully executed miniatures, giving a visual idea of different sides Russian life. This code was compiled in the 50-60s of the 16th century with the participation of Tsar Ivan, Alexei Alexei Adashev and Ivan Viskovaty.
The achievements in the field of architecture were especially significant in the late 15th and 16th centuries. In 1553-54, the Church of John the Baptist was built in the village of Dyakovo (not far from the village of Kolomenskoye), exceptional in the originality of its decorative decoration and architectural design. An unsurpassed masterpiece of Russian architecture is the Church of the Intercession on the Moat (St. Basil's Church), erected in 1561. This cathedral was built to commemorate the conquest of Kazan.
In every Orthodox home, rich and poor, there were icons - it could be a modest shelf or an entire iconostasis. The icons were family heirlooms and were placed in the front red corner - it was also called the holy corner or shrine. There was also a lamp with oil and Holy Bible- lives of saints, prayer books. In richer houses there was an icon case - a special cabinet for icons. And the inhabitants of the house read prayers in the morning and in the evening.
I remember how, as a girl, I visited my grandparents, and how my grandfather prayed - he was from a family of Old Believers. He did not sit at the table without crossing himself. In the house there were also the lives of saints, written in Old Church Slavonic script, which I did not understand at first, but my grandfather showed me several times, and I began to read a little. I remember that I was especially interested in the life of Simeon the Stylite, who stood on a pillar for many years, fasting and praying. It seemed incredible to me...
In the old days, life in villages was full of work. In log huts and half-dugouts, our ancestors literally fought for life. They worked as beekeepers, plowed new lands and raised livestock, hunted and defended themselves from dashing people. Often a house and property burned down in a fire - then new housing had to be built.
Russian people built their house after carefully choosing a place: it was impossible to build a house on the spot former road or a cemetery - it was believed that happiness would soon leave such a house. Having chosen a place for your future home, did you carefully check it to see if it was dry? To do this, place the frying pan upside down overnight. If dew accumulates under the frying pan overnight, then the place is good. And it was possible to build a new hut.
The cat was allowed into the new house first - it was believed that evil spirits could enter the house during construction. And the cats helped drive them out. Therefore, the cat and cat always spent the first night in the new house. By the way, this custom has survived to this day. It is customary to bring a cat into the house for housewarming.
The stove was of great importance in the house. The stove and stove fire were in second place among the Russian people after the holy corner. It was forbidden to say bad words near the stove. The diagonal – the stove – the red corner was preserved in the home. The huts were heated in black, it was smoky in them.
The stove corner or “kut” was traditionally a women’s space. The main sacred activity was performed here - baking bread. The kuti contained dishes and kitchen utensils - cast iron, grips and gingerbread boards - in Rus', women have been baking gingerbread for a long time. They were a favorite delicacy of peasant children. In the corner of the stove there was a spinning wheel and a loom.
The spinning wheel was especially valued in peasant house, because all Russian women spun and wove, dressed the whole family, wove towels and tablecloths.
The spinning wheel was a desired gift; it was kept and passed on by inheritance. The guy gave a painted spinning wheel to his bride, and she boasted a beautiful gift at gatherings where girls were spinning.
Peasants wore long homespun shirts and, of course, bast shoes - right up to the 20th century!
The townspeople wore boots and shoes. And both of them wore fur coats, single-row coats and caftans. Women had a sundress, a scarf and a belt. The clothes were festive and casual.
Russian girls wore dresses with embroidery on the sleeves and hem, married women wore skirts and ponies with ornaments and amulets. Children under 12 years of age wore a long linen shirt that reached to their toes - they were not separated by gender until that time.
In festive clothing, two colors of ornaments predominated - white and red, which emphasized the light of the soul and spiritual purity.
The girls braided one braid; after the wedding, a married woman unbraided it and braided two. For men, a beard was considered a symbol of courage. And when Peter the Great issued a decree to cut beards, there was even an uprising in Siberia. Since ancient times, peasants believed that by cutting a person’s hair, their health could be taken away.
Peasants lived in small houses. In the North, these were tall huts with several small windows. The carved frames often featured a rosette - a symbol of life and happiness. In the North, there was often a barn and a storage room under one roof.
In Siberia, too, such buildings are still found. For example, in Suzun, Novosibirsk region, many houses were built according to this type. Enclosed courtyards are very convenient in cold weather. And the descendants of the Old Believers have lived there since time immemorial.
Half of the peasants had a hut and a cage - a canopy, two or three windows and a door. Livestock also found shelter in the cold winter hut. Chickens were located in the basement - underground.
Inside the house, in the front corner under the icons, there was a large table for the whole family, and there were wide benches along the walls. Above it were shelves for dishes and a storage cabinet.
On holidays, the table was set and painted and carved dishes were placed - ladles of various shapes with honey and kvass, a light for a torch, salt shakers in the shape of skates, birds, clay bowls and wooden spoons. The ladles were in the shape of a rook and a duck. An inscription approximately as follows could have been carved on the ladle: “Dear guests, stay and don’t get drunk, don’t wait for the evening.”
In the home, the space at the entrance was male territory. Here were working tools and a bunk, which in a peasant hut had special meaning. Here the owner went about his manly business: repairing harness and harness in the winter.
And in the summer, the men made sleighs - after all, there’s nowhere in the village without sleighs. Everything was made of wood - benches, cradle, baskets. And they painted everything to make the soul happy. The huts were built from wood; they even tried not to use an ax or nails. IN as a last resort- wooden crutches.
In the evenings they listened to epics and fairy tales, drank intoxicating mead, and sang songs. On Saturdays the bathhouse was heated.
The families were large and strong. They lived according to the commandment of Domostroy: “Preserve your family unions, sanctified by the Gods, in joyful times, in sorrowful times, and may the bright Gods help you, and your ancient generations will multiply.”
A family union is a continuation of life. The bride had to be at least 16 years old. The wife had to take care of her husband. A pregnant wife covered her husband with a zipun so that her husband's strength would protect her womb and child during sleep. The umbilical cord of the born child was tied with a thread woven from the father's hair.
Children were raised to love faith, to their clan, family, to mother nature, to the land of their ancestors and were told to live according to their conscience. A 12-year-old girl was given a spindle and a spinning wheel and taught needlework.
In Ancient Rus', the people had their own way of life and their own customs; not observing them, not knowing them, was considered a great sin. In one of the chapters of Domostroy I read: “It is a great misfortune for the direct son of the Fatherland if he does not know the morals and customs of his people.” And the main custom in Rus' was to have as many children as God gives...
Russian people knew how to work, and they knew how to relax. Christmas was celebrated in January. New Year (old style), caroling and baptism, mummers went on Christmastide - they smeared their faces with soot, turned their fur coat inside out, dressed up as a gypsy, a hussar, drove a goat, acted out skits, had fun.
My favorite holiday was Maslenitsa - we walked for a whole week. From Thursday, all work stopped, and noisy fun began - they rode on troikas, went to visit, and ate generously of pancakes, pancakes, pies, and wine.
Then they observed a grueling fast and celebrated Easter - the bright resurrection of Christ. Young people gathered separately, danced in circles on the outskirts, near the forest, on the river bank, walked along the streets, and swung on swings.
On Radunitsa, parent's day, we visited the graves of the dead and brought food to the graves of relatives. On Trinity Sunday they went into the forest, sang songs, wove wreaths and threw them into the river; if it stuck, the girl was supposed to get married soon, and if the wreath sank, it was a very bad sign.
In autumn and winter, gatherings were held. In the summer they played games, danced in circles, sang, and danced until late. The main figure in the village was a good accordion player. Oh, what accordion players there were in every village! What tunes they played! Each locality has its own.
In Ancient Rus', it was customary to visit each other and help each other, especially when building a new hut. At the end of work, the owner fed us lunch and treated us to wine. Everyone sang and danced, despite being tired.
The families were large. Not only parents, children and grandchildren lived together, but also several brothers, a sister and her husband and other relatives. Often there were twenty or more people in one family. Patriarchal principles reigned in the family. The leader was the father or older brother - the Bolshak. Among the women is his wife. The wife had to obey her husband unquestioningly. The daughter-in-law worked hard and obeyed her elders. After the abolition of serfdom large families began to disintegrate, received land and lived separately.
The eldest son remained with his parents.
Weddings were held in the fall or after Epiphany. A matchmaker came to the bride’s parents with jokes: “You have a chicken, we have a rooster, let’s bring them into one barn.” After the bride's viewing there was an agreement - a handshake. And then the wedding preparations went on for a whole month.
The groom bought gifts for the bride. Friends gathered at the bride's house for a bachelorette party, helped prepare the dowry and always sang songs - sad, majestic, comic, farewell. Here is one of them:
Didn't they blow the trumpet early in the dew?
Should Katerina cry over her braid:
- From childhood, mother wove this scarf,
And when she was older, she wove the scarf herself,
And in the morning the matchmaker’s scarf will be broken,
They cut her scarf into six pieces,
They will braid her scarf into two braids,
I'll wrap her brown shoes around my head,
They will put on a woman’s collection for Katerina.
- Show off, Katerinushka, in a woman’s collection!
Even a woman’s beauty - you can’t hear it behind the wall,
A girlish beauty- you can hear it a hundred miles away!
The wedding could last a week, everyone was treated to food, and pies - kurniks - were always baked. The day after the wedding, the son-in-law went to his mother-in-law for pancakes.
In general, in Russian cuisine - the richest cuisine in the world, there were a lot of baked goods. After all, in Rus', wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet have long been sown - the Russians had a lot of flour, and therefore they baked pies, pancakes, gingerbread pancakes, pies and kulebyaki, even larks from dough in the spring. And in Siberia they loved to bake shangi. My mother was also a great master at baking shanezhki. They also cooked all kinds of porridges, oatmeal jelly, and peas.
Turnips dominated among vegetables until the end of the 18th century - remember famous fairy tale“About turnips” and another, no less famous - “Tops and Roots”. Many dishes were prepared from turnips: steamed, boiled, put in pies, and made into kvass. They also planted cabbage, horseradish, and rutabaga—vegetables that are very healthy. My mother and grandmother planted rutabaga, as well as beans, broad beans and peas.
The Russians did not have potatoes for a long time. And only in the 19th century did potatoes make a real revolution in Russian cuisine.
Since ancient times, they have also used the gifts of the forest, and there is a lot of it in Russia. There were often nuts, honey, mushrooms and berries on the table. Gardens began to be planted much later. And the first cultivated tree was the cherry. Hence the famous cherry orchards. In Rus' they also loved to feast on fish and even caviar, because we have many rivers.
The dishes were prepared mainly in a Russian oven - hence their originality, incomparable taste and spirit. In the North they cooked more cabbage soup, in the South - borscht, on the Volga they baked wonderful pies with fish, and in the Urals and Siberia, as I already said, shangi and dumplings. In Rus' they ate black rye bread, white was on holidays.
After meals, it was customary to serve snacks for sweets: berries, jelly, soaked lingonberries, steamed turnips. It was customary to treat guests to the best - the tradition of Russian hospitality was respected. They said this: “A man eats at home, but when he is away he enjoys himself.” They also loved to drink tea from the samovar, as usual, with pies and shangas - After all, from time immemorial in Rus' it was customary to treat guests to pies.
Pie is a symbol of Russian hospitality. Pie is a holiday. And its very name comes from the word “feast”. For every special occasion, they baked their own cake, and “the eyes helped to eat it,” so they baked it intricate and beautiful.
Pie with mushrooms and onions was served as an appetizer with a shot of vodka, hot kulebyaka also with vodka, shangi with sour cabbage soup, and tea. In the North of Russia, wickets were baked from unleavened rye dough. Women in the old days used to say: “The wickets are asking for eights.”
To make them you need rye flour, water, milk, curdled milk, butter, salt, sour cream and filling. And the filling can be mushrooms, all kinds of berries - blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, as well as cottage cheese, potatoes, millet porridge. The shape of the gates can be oval, round and polygonal. They are served with soup and tea.
It would seem, why was it necessary to put so much effort into the pie? But pie is not only a delicious food, but also has long been a real spiritual holiday, and on a holiday everything should be beautiful. In the old days they said: “You are welcome to our hut: I will crumble the pies. I’ll ask you to eat!”
We can talk endlessly about Russian traditions and customs, but I am finishing my modest work, hoping to return to it someday.
editor, 12/24/2011Not one year, but several millennia took shape Russian life subject to historical changes and additions. It was formalized and supported in various social strata by certain means. Let's talk a little about this.
Russia in the 19th century consisted of 80% village residents, so, first of all, we should dwell on the life of this particular part of society.
The peasant's house was a complex of wooden, ax-hewn household buildings. The residential building, “cross-walled” or “five-walled”, was covered with straw, planks or shingles. It was surrounded by goose sheds, cowsheds and other outbuildings, cages, and sheds. The richer he lived Russian man, the stronger, more solid and neat his home was.
The interior decoration of the house was subject to unwritten rules. A certain part of the furniture (benches, beds) was, in modern terms, “built-in” - that is, forming part of the structure of the hut. The center of the hut, often consisting of only one room, was rightfully considered to be the Russian stove. They cooked food in it, heated the house, dried berries and mushrooms, and used it as a sleeping place for the elderly and children. Near it was located china shop– the eldest woman in the house was in charge there. In the “kutny” “red” corner there were icons and lamps. home stuff was stored on shelves, “shelves”, clothes hung on pegs driven into the wall. The Russian people decorated the ceiling and walls of their homes in accordance with their taste, skill and wealth: the walls and ceiling were painted and decorated with wood carvings.
The main food of the peasant is rye and oat bread, wheat and buckwheat pancakes, rolls, pies with various fillings. Porridge - oatmeal, millet, millet - was present daily in the everyday life of Russian people. Peasants could afford meat no more than 2 times a week, or on holidays; they mainly ate fish - salted, dried, boiled. Mushrooms, berries, and vegetables, carefully grown in their gardens, were a good help for the peasant table.
Peasant life was subject to church laws and holidays. Days and months of the year free from fasting were allocated for marriage, conception and children.
At the end of the 19th century, the noble Russian life was a bizarre mixture of native Russian customs and traditions of other countries. The only tradition that remained unchanged was hunting. Otherwise, except for animal hunters, the widespread fashion for traditionally Russian samovar tea parties was combined with cocaine-fueled riotous parties. On Maslenitsa, French champagne and Italian lobsters sat side by side on the table with real Russian pancakes, which were baked by a village woman specially brought for this occasion. Lunch from noon moved to European time: 5-6 o'clock in the afternoon, however, the table was set as prescribed: dishes were brought out as they were prepared, and not all at once, as in England or Germany. Among young people, tennis and going “to the people” are extremely popular in order to get in touch with the original Russian way of life.
The life of the nobility prescribed spending the autumn abroad, in Nice, Cannes, on the picturesque shores of the Mediterranean, celebrating cheerfully from Christmas to Epiphany in Russia, in the winter, at balls, looking for profitable parties for their children and concluding commercial alliances. In the summer, according to tradition, the nobles and their households moved to country estates or rented a dacha for the entire season. Clothing is one of the components of everyday life; among the nobles it was sometimes a strange and bizarre combination of elements of Russian national costume and Western fashion models. Home upbringing and education of children replaced boarding schools and schools. Modernity replaces eclecticism in the interior of home furnishings.
A. Tereshchenko
Life of the Russian people
INTRODUCTION
It is impossible to imagine all the variety of our amusements: they are so numerous and changeable that it is difficult to collect them into one, to bring them under one level of amusements in order to draw a general conclusion about them. The common people, preserving the beliefs and customs of their ancestors, merged them with their own habits. Foreigners portrayed our games very wrongly; not knowing our language and caring little about the accuracy of the presentation, they included everything indiscriminately in their diaries. It is enough to look at several modern news from foreigners to be convinced of their ignorant description. Surrounding themselves with foreign books that are not trustworthy, they copy out of them whatever they please and say,<будто>you saw everything yourself. The fun of our people, a reflection of their true and genuine joy, can only be described from a real picture of their life.
In warm weather, men and women, young people and girls gather in front of the house. First, men greet each other by removing their hats from their heads, and the female gender greets them with a smile or a question about health; then they sit next to each other on a bench near the house. If there was not enough space for women, then the old men themselves would stand up and ask them to sit down. Women are respected everywhere, in all conditions. The young people whisper among themselves, the old people grin and tell them with simple-hearted laughter that they were overheard. Then the conversation begins more lively, the conversation is more frank and they stop being aloof and approach closer friend to a friend and do general circle. The balalaika appears and everyone moves apart. The girls are looking forward to the invitation. Everywhere girls start first, and everywhere they<имеют>your rights.
The bravest fellow comes forward and, taking off his hat, asks the beauty to have fun with him. The whole society is in festive attire: men in caftans, a red shirt with cuffs and a hat on one side. Girls in sundresses, white shirts with long sleeves and a white scarf in their hand. The dancing has not yet begun, but they are only eager for it. Here the boys disturb everyone: they distract general attention with its running around and games, in which adults often take part. The girls disperse, form their own circle and plot their own amusements; married people separate from them and go aside; only the old ones remain in front of the house and talk about their activities: everyone disperses and, it would seem, the fun is over. This is it<и>It begins: playful and carefree rascals are starting their horses and launches, guys are knocking down towns, girls are jumping on boards. When they are having fun, then general games are started, which only children are not allowed to play; the latter do not regret it, because they have their own, belonging to them alone. But girls and men, in addition to common fun, also have their own separate ones: then guys do not interfere in girls’ games, and girls in men’s games. Gender and age are separated from each other, and therefore there is a natural division of games in itself.
CHILDREN'S GAMES
Children love simple, simple games, but they contain either a lesson or an expression of their age.
MAGPIE
Magpie is a ubiquitous amusement. It is used to amuse babies and small children. Mothers or nannies, having sat the child on their laps or placing him next to them, finger the child and caress it so that it does not cry, saying: “The magpie, the crow, cooked porridge for the children: she gave it to one, she gave it to another,” and tickled him under the armpit. , they say soon, but didn’t give it to the third. The magpie has flown away!” In Little Russia they say: “The magpie, the crow, sat on the hook, cooked porridge for the children; She gave to one, she gave to another, she gave to this, she gave to this, but she didn’t give to this - hell! guy! The magpie snatched." Having tickled the child, they awaken laughter in him and then force him to repeat the same thing. If repeated successfully, the children kiss him every time. This fun is continued until the child is happy.
In some places they say: “The magpie, the crow, cooked porridge for the children, and chilled on the doorstep. She gave it to this one, she gave it to that one, she snatched the neck of that one, and flew away! “Dry, dry!..” They also amuse me like this; “The magpie, the magpie, cooked porridge, jumped on the threshold, braved the guests. Guests in the yard - porridge on the table; guests from the yard - porridge from the table. She gave to this, she didn’t give to that; this one got it, that one didn’t get it: who was small, who didn’t carry firewood, who didn’t light the stove, who didn’t cook cabbage soup, who didn’t fetch water. Shu, it flew! And she twirled her tail.”
“Okay, okay! Where were you?" - "By Grandma! We ate pancakes.” - “What did you eat?” - “Porridge.” - “What did you drink?” - “Brazhka.” - “The porridge is sweet (sweet), the brew is drunk.” When rocking children, they sing in a drawn-out voice:
Coo, coo, darling,
Coo, little blue one.
You fly through the yard, cooing;
You fly in a tent and listen.
Who's talking in the tent?
Speaks in the tent
Brother and sister
Darling with darling.
- My dear sister!
Let's go for a walk in the green garden.
Let's pick a flower in the garden,
Let's give ourselves a wreath.
Let's take the wreaths to the priest,
To my dear mother.
- You are my sir, father,
You are my madam, mother,
Which wreath is next?
Which one of us is cuter?
- My dear child!
All the wreaths are scarlet,
All children are cute.
Sometimes they amuse children with lamentations:
At the cat, at the cat,
There was a stepmother;
She beat the cat
Sentenced;
On all sides
She turned the cat around.
Give the cat a dad
On the hind legs.
- Eat, cat, don’t crumble;
Don't ask daddy again
HORSE
On holidays, especially in the summer, you will always and everywhere meet boys with ropes in their teeth, running in twos or threes, holding hands, pretending to be horses. They are ruled by the fight - the coachman, who incessantly slams his whip and shouts at them. This game is one of the favorites for peasant children. In the village, as soon as a boy begins to walk, he is already carrying a trampled bast shoe or riding on a stick; He waters his horse, puts him in the stable, gives him oats and cleans him. When he can already run along the street, then he enthusiastically equips a troika, which is sometimes harnessed to a cart, and a coachman fits on it. The troika runs at first at a quiet trot, then rushes, hits and overturns the cart. The injured coachman forgets about his pain: he runs after the horses, stops them, strokes each one on the head and carefully examines: is any one pinched? He wets their feet with water, but doesn’t think about himself. This game expresses the coachmen's passion for their occupation.
They play horses even more simply: boys and girls sit astride a stick and, imagining that they are riding a horse, tie it with a lace or rope, whip it with a whip, and in the absence of one, with a thin twig, turn their head to the side, gallop or at full speed and shouting: “Go! Fall!” Girls are not as willing to ride horses as boys, discovering from childhood that this is not characteristic of their sex, so they leave the ride to men.
DISTILLATION
Older children's favorite pastime is racing. The players outstrip each other, and whoever outstrips whom boasts with self-satisfaction. Girls take part in this game. Distillation serves to strengthen the body and develop agility. This game is called vyperedki in Little Russia.
Dumplings
Children who are forbidden to leave home gather near the gate and play dumplings. Having formed from a large and index finger circle and pass their saliva through it. Anyone who, while letting saliva fall, drops it on any finger is called a dumpling. Then everyone starts teasing him: “Dumpling, dumpling; sour dumpling, dumpling!” He runs after them and catches them; whoever he catches becomes a dumpling, who then catches them in the same way as the first one. The game continues until there is enough running around. She makes up one of the children's pranks.
Children of both sexes climb new huts that have only one ceiling, or some other building with one ceiling. Having climbed the stairs, four stand in the corners, and the fifth, standing in the middle, jumps on both legs and sings:
Stump, stump, give me hemp.
Trochka, peas -
Spoonful of oil.
At last word everyone changes places, the stump tries to take someone else's place, and the one who loses it plays the stump. The game continues until it gets boring; but whoever remained as a stump for the last time bears this name for a long time. Although the game of stump is a childish playfulness, it is nevertheless the expression of a fool.
PULL YOUR NOSE
Naughty children, bored with some kind of game, rush at each other, push, scream, run, fall, hurt themselves - this is not enough, this is not enough for them: they are looking for other sensations. Those who are more frisky invite them to a new fun - pulling their nose. They stand opposite each other and shout: “Begin!” - “No, you start.” Then one begins to ask, and the other answers him: “Whose nose?” - “Savin.” - “Where were you?” - “Slavil.” - “What did you send out?” - “A penny.” - “Where are you going?” - “I bought some gingerbread.” - “Who did you eat with?” - "One". At this word, the questioner grabs his nose, tugs it in all directions, saying: “Don’t eat alone, don’t eat alone.” If the person twitching then says: “I ate with you,” then his nose is left alone. It happens that persistent naughty people stick their noses on so much that they remember them for a long, long time. And who forgets noses? Many are led by their noses, and many pull them so long - that’s your German!
According to the famous scientist Yu. M. Lotman, “everyday life is the usual course of life in its real-practical forms; everyday life is the things that surround us, our habits and everyday behavior. Everyday life surrounds us like air, and like air, it is noticeable only when it is missing or deteriorates. We notice the features of someone else's life, but our own life is elusive to us - we tend to consider it “just life,” the natural norm of practical existence. So, everyday life is always in the sphere of practice; it is the world of things, first of all” (Lotman 1994, 10).
The phrase “traditional life” literally means the flow of a person’s daily life in forms determined by tradition - in a society where accepted and established rules of behavior, skills, and a system of ideas are passed on from generation to generation. Naturally, traditional life always has an ethnic connotation. That is why the phrase “traditional life” is often replaced with the words “folk life”, “national way of life”, “traditional everyday culture”, etc. The book deals mainly with the everyday way of life of peasants and the population of small provincial towns who have retained connections with countryside. This is due to the fact that in Russia XVIII- first quarter of the XIX V. it was the peasantry that was the bearer traditional forms culture and life.
The Russian nobility, most of the merchants, workers of large industrial enterprises lived within the framework European culture, urban in its core and supranational in its essence. The lifestyle of a nobleman and a peasant was so different that this allowed us to talk about the presence of two different civilizations among the Russian people: noble and peasant. According to the famous historian A. A. Zimin, “the differences between civilizations in the 18th and 19th centuries was so striking that one could get the impression of two worlds, each living its own life” (Zimin 2002, 11). Such a gap in the everyday culture of the Russian people occurred in the era of Peter the Great, at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries. Until this time, representatives of all strata of Russian society lived within the framework traditional culture, the characteristic features of which were staticity, isolation, and loyalty to antiquity.
Reforms of Peter the Great and his successors in the economic and political spheres of life, development of industry, trade, establishment of strong contacts with European countries revolutionized cultural consciousness countries. The renewal of Russian life was associated with a focus on secular culture Western Europe- the upper strata of Russian society and townspeople turned out to be ready to perceive and assimilate it. The Russian peasantry, on the contrary, for the most part gravitated towards the traditional patriarchal way of life life. Archpriest Avvakum in the 17th century. expressed this attitude like this: “I hold it until death, as if I were dying; I don’t set the limit of the eternal, it’s laid before us: lie there forever and ever!” The desire to live as our fathers and grandfathers lived was supported by faith in the once and for all acquired “truth-truth” of Orthodoxy, adopted by Russia in the 10th century.
The appearance of any innovations was considered as a rollback, a violation of the world order established by God. The isolation of the Russian medieval consciousness, the unpreparedness to communicate with other cultures grew out of the belief in the special mission of Russia, in the chosenness Orthodox people. Among the peasants, a gradual departure from traditions began in the middle - second half of the 19th century. New trends that originated in trading and craft villages, whose population had strong contacts with the city, then reached many villages, including those most remote from large industrial centers. Nowadays, the way of life of Russian peasants is based on the urban model, but they also have many “remnants of sweet old times” that have irretrievably disappeared from the life of city dwellers.
The world of the Russian village is presented in the book through description peasant dwelling and things that people used in their daily practice. This approach is quite legitimate. Both the house and any household item are endowed with “memory”, and therefore, by studying them, you can learn a lot about the social, religious, and economic aspects of the lives of their owners. The home was the center vitality man, here he was protected from bad weather and enemies, from the dangers of the outside world. Here generations of ancestors succeeded each other, here he continued his family, here Russian traditional life was formed over centuries, which included many items necessary for a person to live and work.
First of all, these were tools of labor: arable and for harrowing the soil, harvesting and further processing of crops, with the help of which daily bread was obtained; livestock care equipment; tools used in crafts and trades. Winter and summer transport were of considerable importance. Life took place in a house, the interior of which was organized for work and leisure. The house was filled with things used to decorate it, give it comfort, objects of religious worship, as well as various utensils. A person could not do without clothes: everyday and festive, without shoes, hats, etc. All these items folk life were created either by the peasants themselves, or by village or city artisans, taking into account the needs and tastes of their customers.
The things that came out of the master’s hands were well thought out and often amazed with their amazing beauty. V. S. Voronov, a famous specialist in the field of Russian folk decorative creativity, wrote: “The whole diverse abundance of everyday monuments - from a powerful carved frame and painted sleighs to a carved pointer, a colored clay toy and a top-length copper figured castle - amazes with the richness of the mature creative imagination, wit, invention, observation, decorative flair, constructive courage, technical dexterity - in its entirety artistic talent, in which it was easy and simple for a peasant artist to variously design and richly decorate any household item, turning everyday life into a deep and quiet celebration of living beauty" (Voronov 1972, 32-33).
The subject world of Russian peasants was relatively uniform throughout the entire Russian space they occupied. This especially applies to agricultural and craft tools, vehicles, furnishings and home decoration, which, with rare exceptions, were the same everywhere, which is explained by similar natural and climatic conditions, agricultural type peasant farm. Items that had little connection with production activities people, such as, for example, clothing or holiday utensils. Thus, the costume of a married peasant woman from the Vologda province was not similar to the costume of a woman from the Kursk province; the vessels for serving beer from the Vyatka province were not the same as in the villages of the Voronezh province.
Local differences were determined by the vast spaces of Russia, the disunity of its individual territories, the influence of neighboring peoples, etc. A characteristic feature of the objective world of the Russian peasant was its relative immutability and stability. In the XVIII - early XX centuries. it was basically the same as in the 12th-13th centuries: the same were a plow with two coulters and a crossbar, a wooden harrow, a sickle, a scythe, a bucket, a rocker, a clay pot, a bowl, a spoon, a shirt, boots, a table , shop and many others needed by a person of things. This is due to the centuries-old stability of the living conditions of Russian peasants, the immutability of their main occupation - agriculture, which determined their material needs. In the same time objective world peasant farmers was not once formed and frozen.
Over the centuries, new things were gradually included in it, the need for which was determined by technological progress and, as a consequence of this, the inevitable, although relatively slow, change in lifestyle. So, in early XV-XVI V. The Lithuanian braid appeared in the 17th-18th centuries. In peasant everyday life, such an arable implement as the roe deer began to be used in the 19th century. peasants began to drink tea from a samovar, cook food in a cast-iron frying pan, women began to tie a square scarf around their heads instead of the ancient ubrus, and put on a skirt with a blouse instead of a shirt and sundress. What once seemed alien gradually took root and became its own, traditional. In parallel with this, things that had become obsolete were leaving use.
In the first half of the 19th century. They stopped using headrest chests to store money and valuables on the road. At the end of the 19th century. The stapler, which since the 12th century, has disappeared from festive use. served for serving beer to the table. The change of objects occurred imperceptibly; Some things were parted with without regret, others, losing their functionality, turned into ritual items, and others were left “for the wake” of people who had left this world. Each object of Russian traditional life had a dual nature: in everyday practice, things were used for their direct, utilitarian purpose, in ritual practice they manifested the meaning of symbols.
For example, a broom was used to sweep a hut; on Holy Thursday, a broom was used to protect the house from evil spirits: the woman sat astride her and with certain spells went around her house. Cereal grains were pounded in a mortar with a pestle; in the hands of a matchmaker, the mortar and pestle turned into a symbol of male and female intercourse. A fur coat was worn during the cold season - a fur coat, spread out on a bench for the newlyweds, became a sign of their fertility in marriage. The pot was an indispensable attribute of wedding and funeral rituals; it was broken as a sign of a person’s status change. After the wedding night, his friend broke him up on the threshold of the newlyweds’ room, thereby, as if showing those present that the night had gone well. In the funeral ritual, the pot was broken when the deceased was taken out of the house, so that the deceased could not return to the world of the living. The kokoshnik remained a women's festive headdress and a symbol of marriage. “Thingness” and “significance” were present in all objects of folk life.
Some objects had a greater semiotic status, others - less. For example, towels - sheets of ornamented fabric intended for interior decoration - were endowed with a high degree of symbolism. In birth-baptismal, wedding, funeral and memorial rituals, they acted primarily as signs of a person’s belonging to a certain family - “clan-tribe”. In some situations, some objects, turning into symbols, completely lost their material nature.
So,. Yu. M. Lotman in the same book gave examples when bread from our usual sphere of use passes into the sphere of meaning: in the words of the famous christian prayer“Give us this day our daily bread” bread turns into food needed to sustain life; in the words of Jesus Christ quoted in the Gospel of John: “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me will not hunger” (John 6:35), bread and the word denoting it form a complex symbolic combination. Traditional Russian life is so rich and vibrant that it is virtually impossible to present it in its entirety in one book. This encyclopedic dictionary combines articles on the structure of peasant housing, transport, tools and basic peasant household items, which make it possible to talk about the bygone life of many generations of people.