The origin of the Spring Festival? How did ancient people spend New Year's Eve and Spring Festival?

The Spring Festival, as its name implies, is the Spring Festival. Spring has come, Vientiane is renewed, and a new round of sowing and harvesting season is about to begin again. People have enough reasons to welcome this festival by singing and dancing. So, before the festival, a New Year message with red paper and yellow characters was posted on the frontispiece. When Miss Chun comes to the door, she will read a sentence to express her best wishes for the New Year. With this idea, good luck really came. The same moral things are hanging red lanterns, sticking the word "Fu" and sticking the statue of the God of Wealth. The word "Fu" must be posted backwards, and passers-by will say "Fu has fallen", which means "Fu has arrived".

Another name for the Spring Festival is China New Year. What is "year"? It is a fictional animal, which will bring bad luck to people. "Year" came, the trees withered and the grass stopped growing; A year has passed, everything grows and flowers are everywhere. How to spend the year? Firecrackers are needed, so there is a custom of setting off firecrackers. 1993, the Beijing Municipal People's Government promulgated a law prohibiting the setting off of fireworks and firecrackers, making this centuries-old custom a thing of the past.

The Spring Festival is a family reunion festival, which is very similar to Christmas in the West. Children who leave home will have to travel thousands of miles back to their parents' home at this time. The night before the real Chinese New Year is called Reunion Night, and the whole family will sit around and wrap up jiaozi. Jiaozi's practice is to mix dough first, and the word "harmony" means "combination"; Jiaozi in jiaozi is homophonic with "dumpling", and "harmony" and "dumpling" have the meaning of reunion, so jiaozi is used to symbolize reunion.

The festive atmosphere will last for a month. There are ceremonies such as offering sacrifices to stoves and ancestors before the first day of the first month; During the festival, there are ceremonies to give children lucky money and pay New Year greetings to relatives and friends. Half a month after the festival is the Lantern Festival. At that time, lanterns were all over the city and tourists were all over the streets. After the Lantern Festival, the Spring Festival is over.

Spring Festival: Modern folk custom calls Spring Festival China New Year. In fact, the origin of Chinese New Year and Spring Festival is very different.

So how did the year come from? There are two main folk sayings:

One way of saying this is:

According to legend, there was a monster named Nian in ancient China, with long tentacles and a ferocious face. Nian lived on the seabed for many years, and climbed ashore every New Year's Eve, devouring livestock and killing people.

Therefore, every New Year's Eve, people in the village fled to the deep mountains to avoid the harm of the "Nian" beast.

On New Year's Eve this year, people in Taohua Village were taking refuge in the mountains when an old beggar came from outside the village. He was leaning on crutches, carrying a bag on his arm, with elegant silver whiskers and staring at Matthew.

Some villagers sealed windows and locked doors, some packed their bags, some herded cattle and drove sheep, and people shouted hisses everywhere, which was a scene of panic. At this time, who still has the mind to take care of this begging old man?

Only an old woman in the east of the village gave the old man some food and suggested that he go up the mountain quickly to avoid Nian beast. The old man smiled and said, "If my mother-in-law lets me stay at home for one night, I will definitely drive Nian beast away.

The old woman looked at him carefully in surprise and found that he was handsome, energetic and different. But she continued to persuade and begged the old man to laugh without saying a word. My mother-in-law had no choice but to leave home and take refuge in the mountains.

At midnight, Nian beast broke into the village. It found that the atmosphere in the village was different from previous years: the old woman's house at the east end of the village had red paper on the door and a fire lit in the house. The beast Nian trembled and let out a long whistle.

Nian stared at her mother-in-law's house for a while, then screamed and rushed over. As we approached the door, there was a sudden explosion in the yard, and Nian trembled and dared not go any further. It turns out that Nian was most afraid of red, fire and explosion. At this time, my mother-in-law's door was wide open, and I saw an old man in a red robe laughing in the hospital. "Nian" was frightened to disgrace and fled in confusion.

The next day was the first day of the first month, and the people who came back from refuge were very surprised to see that the village was safe and sound. At this time, the old woman suddenly realized and quickly told the villagers the promise of begging for the elderly.

The villagers flocked to the old woman's house together, only to find red paper on her mother-in-law's door, a pile of unburned bamboo still exploding in the yard, and several red candles still glowing in the house. ...

In order to celebrate the arrival of Youxiang, ecstatic villagers put on new clothes and hats one after another and went to their relatives and friends' homes to congratulate and say hello. The story soon spread in the surrounding villages, and people all knew the way to drive away the "Nian" beast.

Since then, every year on New Year's Eve, every family has posted red couplets and set off firecrackers. Every household has a bright candlelight, so it is better to wait for the New Year. In the early morning of the first day, I want to say hello to my relatives and friends.

This custom has spread more and more widely, and has become the most solemn traditional festival among the people in China.

Another way of saying it is:

In ancient China calligraphy, the word "Nian" was placed in the Grain Department, indicating that the weather was favorable and the crops were plentiful. Because cereal crops are usually harvested once a year. "Year" is extended to the name of the year.

Although there was a custom of Spring Festival in ancient China, it was not called Spring Festival at that time. Because the Spring Festival referred to at that time refers to the "beginning of spring" among the 24 solar terms.

The Northern and Southern Dynasties generally referred to the Spring Festival as the whole spring. It is said that the Lunar New Year was officially named Spring Festival after the Revolution of 1911. Because the solar calendar was used at that time, the first day of the first lunar month had to be renamed as "Spring Festival" in order to distinguish between farmers and farmers.

Lantern Festival: It is a big festival among the traditional festivals in China, which is quite prominent. Lantern Festival is named because its festival activities are held on the fifteenth night of the first month of each year.

Lantern Festival is also called "Lantern Festival" and "Lantern Festival", because the main activity of this festival is to light lights at night, hence the name. In addition, the Lantern Festival is also called "Shangyuan" and "Shangyuan Festival", which is borrowed from Taoism.

There are different opinions about the formation of the Lantern Festival custom, but it was roughly formed in the Han Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty offered sacrifices to a god named Taiyi. It is said that Taiyi was a very prominent god at that time, ranking above the five emperors and owing to the Han emperor, so he was greatly worshipped. According to legend, another Emperor Wendi of the Han Dynasty was also related to the Lantern Festival.

Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty was a general, Zhou Bo. He succeeded to the throne and quelled the "Zhu Lu rebellion". The day when the rebellion was quelled was the fifteenth day of the first month. Therefore, every night on the fifteenth day of the first month, Emperor Wen of Han would go out to play in the palace and have fun with the people. This day was designated as the Lantern Festival. But there is no record of lighting or setting fire on the fifteenth night of the first month, which is related to these two Han emperors. Another Han Emperor, Emperor Hanming, ordered the Lantern Festival to be lit, thus forming the custom of lighting and watching lanterns in later generations.

On Celebrating the International Year

On New Year's Eve, it is a common custom for the whole family to get together, have New Year's Eve dinner, chat around the stove, bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year.

According to historical records, this custom originated in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. "It's night, it's forbidden to set off firecrackers in the mountains, and voices can be heard outside. The scholar's home, sitting around the furnace group, Da Dan does not sleep. " Then it gradually became popular. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, wrote a poem: "Cold words and winter snow, warm with spring breeze."

In ancient times, observing the age was also called "wasting light". People light candles or oil lamps to keep vigil all night, which symbolizes driving away all evil diseases and epidemics and looking forward to good luck in the new year. This custom has been handed down from generation to generation.

To this day, people in China are used to keeping vigil on New Year's Eve, setting off firecrackers outside, sitting around the fire or watching TV indoors, talking and laughing.

New Year greeting custom.

New Year greeting is a traditional folk custom in China, and it is a way for people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and express their best wishes to each other.

In ancient times, the original meaning of the word "Happy New Year" was to pay New Year greetings to the elderly, including kowtowing to the elderly, congratulating them on a happy New Year and greeting their lives. In case of friends and relatives of the same generation, you should also salute and congratulate.

New Year greetings usually begin at home. On the morning of the first day, after getting up, the younger generation should first pay a New Year call to their elders, wishing them a long and healthy life and all the best. After the elders worship, they should distribute the "lucky money" prepared in advance to the younger generation. After greeting the elders at home, you should also greet people with a smile when you go out to meet them, and exchange auspicious words such as "Congratulations on getting rich", "Best wishes in the four seasons" and "Happy New Year". Neighbors, relatives and friends also visit each other or invite them to drink and entertain. Mr. Meng described the cloud of Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty in Volume 6 of Dream of China in Tokyo: "On October 1st, Kaifeng House was released for three days, and scholars celebrated each other early." In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Lu Rong said in Volume V of Miscellanies in the Garden that "on New Year's Day in Beijing, those who cross the road for a few days from the official to Shu Ren are called' Happy New Year'. However, everyone in Shu Ren worships his relatives and friends. The more official contact, the more universal love is not specialized ... ". Gu Tieqing, a Qing man, described in Jia Qinglu that "men and women pay homage to their parents, and the master leads them to visit their neighbors, or sends their children to congratulate them, which is called' Happy New Year'. Even if we don't meet at the end of the year, we will worship each other at this time ... "

In ancient times, the literati in the upper class used the custom of greeting each other with famous cards. Hui Zhou, a poet of the Song Dynasty, said in Qingbo magazine: "During the Song Dynasty, servants were often used to stab people in the name of the New Year." At that time, the scholar-officials had a wide circle of friends, and it took time and energy to pay New Year greetings everywhere. Therefore, some close friends did not go in person, but sent their servants to take a card cut with plum blossom stationery, two inches wide and three inches long, with the recipient's name, address and congratulations written on it. In the Ming dynasty, people visited instead of paying New Year's greetings. Wen Zhiming, an outstanding painter and poet in the Ming Dynasty, described in the poem "New Year": "I don't want to meet each other, but I want to be fluent, and my famous articles are full; I also throw a few pieces of paper at people. The world hates being too simple and not too empty. " The "name thorn" and "name" mentioned here? Quot This is the origin of today's New Year cards. New Year cards are used to connect feelings and exchange greetings, which are convenient and practical and still popular today.

From about the Qing Dynasty, the form of "group worship" was added to the New Year greetings. In "Jade Tan with a Side Hat", the Lord of the Qing Dynasty said: "At the beginning of the year, the capital must make regular group worship to unite the friendship of the New Year and show the nostalgia", and "book guests, have a banquet and enjoy the day every year".

With the development of the times, the custom of New Year greetings is constantly adding new contents and forms. Nowadays, in addition to following the previous way of greeting the New Year, etiquette telegrams and telephone greetings have mushroomed.

The legend of upside-down blessing

During the Spring Festival, every household should put the word "Fu" on doors, walls and lintels. Sticking the word "Fu" during the Spring Festival is a long-standing folk custom in China. According to Liang Lu's Dream, "When I was young, I would visit department stores, draw door gods and spend the Spring Festival ..."; "Scholars, big or small, must sweep the floor, clean the family, change the door gods, hang Zhong Xu, nail peaches, stick spring cards and worship their ancestors." The "spring card" in this article is the word "fu" written on red paper.

The word "fu" is now interpreted as "happiness", but in the past it meant "good luck" and "good luck". No matter now or in the past, the word "Fu" posted in the Spring Festival has pinned people's yearning for a happy life and wishes for a better future. In order to fully reflect this yearning and wish, the people simply turn the word "blessing" upside down, indicating that "blessing has fallen" and "blessing has arrived" There is also a legend that the word "fu" is posted upside down among the people. Ming Taizu used the word "Fu" as a code word to prepare for murder. In order to eliminate this disaster, kind Ma Huanghou asked all the families in the city to put "Fu" on their doors before dawn. Naturally, no one dares to go against Ma Huanghou's will, so the word "Fu" is posted on every door. If one of the families can't read, turn the word "fu" upside down. The next day, the emperor sent people to the streets to check and found that every family had posted the word "Fu", and another family had posted the word "Fu" upside down. When the emperor heard the news, he was furious and immediately ordered the body guard to cut down the house. Seeing that something was wrong, Ma Huanghou quickly said to Zhu Yuanzhang, "My family knew that you were visiting today and deliberately put the word' Fu' upside down. Isn't this the meaning of "blessed road"? " When the emperor heard the truth, he ordered his release, and a great disaster was finally eliminated. Since then, people have turned the word "Fu" upside down for good luck and in memory of Ma Huanghou.

Others elaborate the word "Fu" into various patterns, such as longevity, longevity peach, carp yue longmen, abundant grains, dragons and phoenixes, and so on. In the past, there was a folk saying that "on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, every family wrote big characters". The word "fu" used to be handwritten, but now it is sold in markets and shops.

the God of Wealth

According to folklore, the fifth day of the first month is the birthday of the God of Wealth, so after the first day of the first month, the next most important activity is to welcome the God of Wealth-the night before the arrival of the God of Wealth's birthday, every household will hold a banquet to celebrate the God of Wealth.

There are many legends about the god of wealth:

During the Song Dynasty, Cai Jing was very rich. According to folklore, he was born a god of wealth. He happened to be born on the fifth day of the first month, so people regard him as a god of wealth. After Cai Jing was demoted, people converted to the God of Wealth. At that time, the national surname of the Song Dynasty was Zhao, and this mysterious word was an integral part of the word "Lan", so he gave a new name to show his worship.

On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, Zhao Xuantan is the most respected. Many shops and houses are dedicated to his woodcut statues: the Xuan altar looks like the bottom of a pot, holding Strafe in his hand and riding Hei Hu, which is extremely powerful.

In addition to Zhao Xuantan being honored as "God of Wealth", there are also folk sayings that "God of Wealth is partial", "God of Wealth" and "Wu Caishen" are heavenly emperors.

The belief in the God of Wealth is popular in Yuan Qiu, Dexing, Jiangxi. The initials of the titles of the five brothers are all "immortals", so they are called "five immortals". Rob the rich and help the poor before death, punish the evil and promote the good after death, and bless the poor. There are five temples of God of Wealth outside Andingmen in Beijing.

The "literary god of wealth" is also called the "god of wealth". His paintings are often juxtaposed with "Fu", "Lu", "Shou" Samsung and XiShen. Together, they are Fu, Lu, Shou, Cai and Fu. The rich star gentleman has long white hair and a cornucopia in his hand, from which the word "lucky money becomes treasure" comes. Most people will hang this painting in the main hall during the Spring Festival and pray for good luck.

"Wu Caishen" Guan Sheng Dijun is Guan Yu's Yunchang. It is said that Guan Yunchang managed the military horse post station and was good at counting, which made his invention increasingly thin and stressed credit and loyalty, so he was worshipped by merchants. Generally speaking, businessmen regard Guan Gong as their patron saint, and Guan Gong is also regarded as the god of wealth.

On the fifth day of the first month, shops open. In the early morning, golden gongs, firecrackers and sacrifices are used to welcome the god of wealth. Gu Tieqing, a poet in A Qing, quoted a poem by Cai Yun Zhuzhi in Jia Qinglu, describing the scene of Suzhou people welcoming the god of wealth on the fifth day of May: "Seek financial resources for five days, and be willing to give a reward for one year; Beware of meeting God early elsewhere and rushing to hold the road all night. " "Holding the road" means "welcoming the God of Wealth". Businessmen who believe in Guan Di Sheng Jun will sacrifice, set off firecrackers and burn gold paper for Guan Gong on the fifth day of the first month, and ask Guan Di Sheng Jun to bless a prosperous year.

New year firecrackers.

There is a folk saying in China that "open the door and set off firecrackers". That is, when the new year comes, the first thing for every household to open the door is to set off firecrackers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.

Firecracker is a specialty of China, also known as "Firecracker", "Firecracker" and "Firecracker". Its origin is very early, and it has a history of more than two thousand years.

Now, most of us think that setting off firecrackers can create a festive atmosphere, is a kind of entertainment in festivals, and can bring happiness and good luck to people. However, if we trace the origin of firecrackers, we will understand the original intention of the ancients to set off firecrackers and its evolution history.

"The Chronicle of Jingchu" said: "On the first day of the first month, chickens crow and firecrackers are set off in front of the court to avoid evil spirits." This record shows that firecrackers were an acoustic tool to drive away plagues and evil spirits in ancient times, which made the custom of setting off firecrackers have a certain superstitious color from the beginning. In fact, this is entirely caused by the misunderstanding of the ancients. According to Nerve, in ancient times, people camped through deep mountains and lit bonfires at night, one for cooking and keeping warm, and the other for preventing wild animals from invading. However, there is an animal in the mountains, which is not afraid of people or fire, and often steals food while people are unprepared.

In order to deal with this animal, people thought of setting off firecrackers in the fire and using the crackling sound of bamboo to drive it away. The animal mentioned here is called "sister-in-law". The ancients said that it can make people cold and hot, and it is ghosts that make people get cold and hot, scaring away mountains, that is, driving away evil spirits and making people lucky and safe.

In the early Tang Dynasty, plagues were everywhere. A man named Li Tian put saltpeter in a bamboo tube and lit it to make it emit louder sound and stronger smoke. As a result, the miasma in Shan Lan was dispelled and the epidemic was stopped. This is the earliest prototype of firecrackers. Later, when gunpowder appeared, people filled bamboo tubes with saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal and burned them, resulting in an "explosion war". In the Song Dynasty, people began to make "guns" (that is, firecrackers) with paper tubes and hemp sticks wrapped in gunpowder. Regarding the evolution of firecrackers, Excellent Popular Arrangement records: "Ancient firecrackers. They are all popular with real bamboo, so Tang poetry is also called explosive pole. Later people roll paper for it. It's called firecrackers.

With the passage of time, firecrackers are more and more widely used, and there are more and more varieties and colors. Liuyang in Hunan, Foshan and Dongyao in Guangdong, Yichun and Pingxiang in Jiangxi and Wenzhou in Zhejiang are the famous "hometown of fireworks" in China. The firecrackers they produced not only sell well all over the country, but also are exported to other countries and regions in the world.

Setting off firecrackers has become an entertainment activity with national characteristics. People not only set off firecrackers to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year in the Spring Festival, but also set off firecrackers to celebrate major festivals and happy events, such as Lantern Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, marriage, building houses and opening businesses.

Eat jiaozi during the Spring Festival.

Jiaozi is a folk food with a long history and is deeply loved by people. There is a folk saying "delicious but not as good as jiaozi". During the Spring Festival, jiaozi has become an indispensable delicacy.

According to "Guangya" written by Zhang Yi, wei ren of the Three Kingdoms, there was a crescent-shaped food called "Wonton" at that time, which was basically similar to the shape of jiaozi now. By the time of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, wonton had been "shaped like a crescent moon, and it was delicious all over the world". Presumably, when jiaozi cooked it, he didn't take it out and eat it alone, but put it in a bowl with the soup, so people called jiaozi "wonton" at that time. This way of eating is still popular in some areas of our country. For example, when people from Henan and Shaanxi eat jiaozi, they should put some small ingredients such as coriander, chopped green onion, shrimp skin and leek in the soup.

By about the Tang Dynasty, jiaozi had become exactly the same as jiaozi now, so it was fished out and put on a plate to eat by itself.

Jiaozi was called "Joule" in Song Dynasty, which is the etymology of the word "Jiaozi" in later generations. This kind of writing can still be seen in the following Yuan, Ming, Qing and Republic of China.

Jiaozi was called a "flat food" in the Yuan Dynasty. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Shen Bang's Miscellaneous Notes on Ten Thousand Parts recorded: "New Year's Day, New Year's Day ...... as a patch food". Liu Ruoyu's "Proceedings" records: "Eat fruit snacks on New Year's Day and eat a plaque immediately." The "plaque" of the "plaque food" in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties is now commonly used as "ping". A kind of "flat food" may come from Mongolian.

Some new names about jiaozi appeared in Qing Dynasty, such as "jiaozi", "Water Snack" and "Boiled Bean". The increase of Jiaozi's names shows that its geographical spread is expanding.

The folk custom of eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival was quite popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Generally, jiaozi should wrap it up before New Year's Eve 12, and eat it at midnight. At this time, it is the beginning of the first day of the first lunar month. Eating jiaozi means "making friends when you are young", and "Zi" is homophonic with "jiaozi", which means "reunion" and "good luck".

There are many legends about eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival. One is to commemorate the creation of Pangu and end the mixed state. The other is to use it as a homonym of "wonton", which means "five grains are abundant" In addition, it is said that eating jiaozi's folk language is related to Nu Wa's making people. When Nuwa soil caused people, the ears of loess people were easily frozen off because of the cold weather. In order to prevent the ear from being fixed, Nuwa put a small eye on the ear, tied it with a thin thread, and put the other end of the thread in the mouth of the loess man to bite, so that the ear would be fine. In order to commemorate the achievements of Nu Wa, ordinary people wrapped jiaozi, molded adult ears with flour, wrapped them with stuffing (thread) and ate them with their mouths.

Jiaozi has become an indispensable program food for the Spring Festival. The reasons are as follows: First, jiaozi is shaped like an ingot. During the Spring Festival, people eat jiaozi, which sounds like "making money into treasure". Secondly, jiaozi has stuffing, which is convenient for people to put all kinds of auspicious things into stuffing and place their hopes for the new year.

When wrapping jiaozi, people usually wrap Jin Ruyi, sugar, peanuts, dates and chestnuts into stuffing. Eat the best and sugar, life will be sweeter in the coming year, eat peanuts, live a long and healthy life, eat dates and chestnuts, and have a baby early.

In some areas, when people eat jiaozi, they have to match some non-staple food to show their good luck. If you eat tofu, it symbolizes the happiness of the whole family; Eating persimmons symbolizes all the best; Eat three fresh vegetables. It symbolizes that Sanyang opens Thailand. People in Taiwan Province Province eat fish balls, meatballs and seaweed, symbolizing reunion and wealth. Jiaozi has various fillings and making methods. Even the same kind of jiaozi has different ways of eating: Daur people in Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang want to cook jiaozi with vermicelli broth. Then even the soup with jiaozi to eat; In some areas of Henan, jiaozi is cooked with noodles, which is called "gold thread penetrates gold ingot".

Jiaozi cuisine not only brings joy to people, but also becomes an important part of China's food culture.

Exploration of Spring Festival couplets

Spring Festival couplets originated in Fu Tao. "Fu Tao" is a rectangular red wooden board hanging on both sides of the door in the Zhou Dynasty. According to the Book of Etiquette in the Later Han Dynasty, the peach symbol is six inches long and three inches wide, and the words "Shen Tu" and "Lei Yu" are written on the mahogany board. "On the first day of the first month, I made a peach symbol for this family and named it Xianmu. All ghosts are afraid of it." Therefore, the Qing Dynasty's "Yanjing Shi Sui Ji" said: "Spring Festival couplets, that is, Fu Tao."

In the Five Dynasties, in the court of West Shu, someone wrote couplets on peach symbols. According to the records in the History of Song Dynasty and the Family History of Shu, Meng Chang, the master of the latter Shu Dynasty, ordered Zhang Xun, a bachelor, to write a poem about mahogany boards, which said, "This is not a job, so he pretended to write a poem about mahogany boards:' It's the New Year, and this is China's first Spring Festival couplets.' . Until the Song Dynasty, Spring Festival couplets were still called "Fu Tao". There is a saying in Wang Anshi's poem that "thousands of households are the narrowest, and new peaches are always replaced with old ones". In the Song Dynasty, the peach symbol was changed from mahogany board to paper, which was called "Spring Sticker".

In the Ming Dynasty, Fu Tao changed its name to "Spring Festival couplets". In the Ming Dynasty, Chen wrote in Mao Yunlou's Miscellaneous Paintings: "The creation of Spring Festival couplets began with. Jinling, the imperial capital, suddenly issued a decree before New Year's Eve: Spring Festival couplets must be posted at the gates of public officials and scholars' homes. "Zhu Yuanzhang not only went out of the city incognito to see the laughter in person, but also personally wrote Spring Festival couplets. He passed a house and saw that the Spring Festival couplets had not been posted on the door. He went to ask, knowing that it was a castrated pig, and had not asked anyone to write it for him. Zhu Yuanzhang specially wrote Spring Festival couplets for the castrated pig man, which read "Split the road of life and death with both hands and cut off the root of right and wrong with one knife". Relevance and humor. After Ming Taizu's advocacy, Spring Festival couplets became a custom, which has been passed down to this day.