What etiquette should we pay attention to during the Spring Festival?

The original meaning of the word "Happy New Year" is to pay New Year greetings to the elderly, including kowtowing to them, congratulating them on their health and happiness in the new year and greeting their lives. When you meet friends and relatives of your peers, you should also greet each other. So far, this etiquette has not changed, but has become more diversified in form.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, people get up early, put on the most beautiful clothes, dress neatly, go out to visit relatives and friends and wish each other good luck in the coming year.

Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, China people have formulated unwritten rules for New Year greetings, in a certain order: first, worship the gods of heaven and earth, then worship the true shadow of ancestors, then worship the elders of Gaotang, and finally the whole family worships each other in the order of generations. Give gifts to elders and reward children. When paying a New Year call, the younger generation should first pay a New Year call to their elders and wish them a long and healthy life. The elders can distribute the lucky money prepared in advance to the younger generation. It is said that lucky money can kill evil spirits, because "old" and "special" are homophonic, and the younger generation can spend a year safely with lucky money.

Paying homage to relatives and friends also pays attention to the order: paying homage to family members on the first day; The next day, the third day, I visited my mother's uncle, uncle, father-in-law and so on. Until 16. This custom was popular as early as the Song Dynasty. 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 Qing Dynasty, the New Year greeting etiquette was sublimated. 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 ... "Generally speaking, it is enough for our peers to pay a New Year call.

First of all, worship the elders at home. On the first morning, after the younger generation gets up, they should first pay a New Year call to their elders. Of course, after the elders worship, they will definitely distribute the "lucky money" prepared in advance to the younger generation. What you can't forget is to pay New Year greetings to your neighbors and elders. There is an old saying in China: A distant relative is better than a close neighbor. Therefore, it is second only to our own elders to pay New Year greetings to our neighbors and elders. Generally speaking, neighbors and elders will also give "lucky money".

The second is to visit relatives and friends for the New Year. Be sure to go to your parents-in-law's house on the first or second day, and bring gifts. After entering the door, you should bow down to the Buddha statue, ancestor statue and memorial tablet, and then bow down to your elders in turn.

Then there is a courtesy New Year greeting. If you want to pay a New Year call to your friends, all you have to do is bow to the Buddha when you enter the room. If you are equal to your master, you just have to bow your head. If you are older than yourself, you should still take the initiative to bow your head. The host should get down from his seat to help you, or even say that he is not polite to show his humility. Under normal circumstances, it is not advisable to sit for a long time, and leave after greeting. After the host worships, he should also pay a return visit another day.

And grateful New Year wishes. Anyone who owes someone a favor in the past year, such as someone who has helped himself or a teacher, master, doctor, etc. You should buy some gifts for them and take the opportunity to express your gratitude.

The most solemn New Year greeting custom is collective worship. Group worship has now become a national etiquette activity, even international. Some countries friendly to China will call the China government to celebrate the New Year. China's diplomatic envoys abroad will also hold Spring Festival group worship activities. The form of "group worship" probably originated in the Qing Dynasty. In "Jade Tan on the Side Hat", the Qing master once said: "At the beginning of each year, the capital will hold a routine group worship to unite the friendship of the New Year and express the nostalgia." Every year, he will book guests, have a banquet and create a surprise day. "

Nowadays, there are various ways to pay New Year greetings, such as sending short messages, greeting cards, courtesy calls and telegrams. When you send a greeting card, you will also send your own business card.

In ancient times, if neighbors had too many relatives and friends, it was difficult to walk around the whole house. It's called "flying mail", and let the servant take the business card to pay a New Year call. There is a red paper bag with the word "Fu Jie" written on it in front of each house, which is the purpose of posting flying cards. This custom began in the upper class of the Song Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, the Yantai Moon Order described the Beijing New Year Festival: "It's a fashion that the moon is flying and the sky is empty." Every household has set up a special door book to record the guests' contacts and flying photos. The front page of the door book is mostly the virtual relatives of four people: one is a centenarian who lives in centenarian lane; One said he was rich and lived in Yuanbao Street. One day, you promised someone and lived in the university archway; One day, Fu Zhao visited his master and lived in Five Blessingg Building. For good luck. So far, the gift of New Year cards and greeting cards during the Spring Festival is the legacy of this ancient exchange of flying cards.

It is very popular for ancient scholars to pay New Year greetings to each other. The New Year drill is today's New Year card, which evolved from ancient business cards. According to Zhao Yi's research in the Qing Dynasty, there was no paper in the Western Han Dynasty, so bamboo was cut into thorns, and the book was named "Ming Thorn". Later, people embroidered the words "business card" on the brocade with red wool. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, wood was replaced by paper, which was called "famous paper". In the Six Dynasties, it was called "Ming" for short, and in the Tang Dynasty it was called "door-shaped". Song dynasty was also called "hand stab" and "door stab".

As early as the Song Dynasty, friends and relatives exchanged greetings, which was the early New Year cards. Hui Zhou, a poet of the Song Dynasty, said in Qingbo magazine: "During the reign of Emperor Yuanyou of the Song Dynasty, the servants were often stabbed with famous names." 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.

According to the Miscellaneous Notes of Lu Rongyuan in Ming Dynasty, the custom of welcoming the New Year was first implemented in Kyoto in Ming Dynasty. Lu Rong wrote in Miscellanies of Tang Garden: "After the capital is returned to Yuan, people who cross the road in a few days from the imperial court to Shu Ren are called New Year greetings. However, Shu Ren worships his relatives and friends, which is more solid. The communication between officials is more universal than specialized. For example, East and West Chang 'an Avenue, officials live the most. So far, those who stab the doorman without asking knowledge and ignorance, some don't dismount, some don't take business cards from their own doors, and the servants answer the door, all refuse or some don't accept them behind closed doors. An official in Beijing walks together when he retires, and returns when he is more drunk. After three or four days, I began to worship my parents. "When dealing with officials, whether you know them or not, you should worship each other, and the people worship their relatives and friends.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people used "Inch Chu" and "Red Sheet" to vote for the New Year. At this time, the design of the New Year card is more perfect and exquisite. Not only the sender's name and address are printed on the email, but also "Happy New Year" and "Good luck". Wen Zhiming, an outstanding painter and poet in Ming Dynasty, described in his poem Happy New Year:

Don't ask to meet, just talk,

That famous paper is full of covers;

I also throw some paper at people.

The world hates simplicity, but it is not empty.

The "famous thorn" and "famous divination" mentioned here are the origins of today's New Year cards. In the Qing Dynasty, it was popular to send "greeting boxes" during the Spring Festival, that is, to send New Year cards to relatives and friends in exquisite and beautiful decorative boxes to show solemnity. New Year cards are used to connect feelings and exchange greetings, which are convenient and practical and still popular today.

People in China pay great attention to New Year greetings during the Spring Festival. The core of stress is the concept of time.

First of all, we must choose the right time to pay New Year greetings, which is the first element of paying New Year greetings.

Because of their hard work, people usually get up very late during the Spring Festival. If you visit your home too early, you will often catch your host off guard. Some people like to choose to pay New Year greetings in the evening. Sitting for several hours will inevitably affect the rest of the host. Generally speaking, it is advisable to stay as a guest for half an hour to 40 minutes, which is polite and does not affect the host's reception of other guests. When you come in to say "Happy New Year" and leave in a hurry, it will also give people the feeling of "lack of sincerity".

Gifts are also very particular, which is also one of the elements of giving gifts to celebrate the New Year.

Gifts must be given properly. When giving New Year greetings to elders, teachers and teachers, you should bring some gifts appropriately. Gifts should not be too expensive and luxurious, but also "approachable". Holding a bunch of flowers and sending a beautiful greeting card has become a romantic and warm way for modern urban people to pay New Year greetings in recent years.

Pay attention to hygiene and safety in New Year gifts. For example, the cake given to you by others should not be transferred to others, otherwise the food will inevitably rot and deteriorate in the process of "traveling"; Give new year greetings to the elderly or patients, and send fruits that are beneficial to each other's health so as not to cause waste or even misunderstanding; If you send fireworks or something, don't buy fake and shoddy products.

In addition, pay attention to thrift when giving gifts.

If you make a beautiful little gift for your classmates, lovers, colleagues, etc. You can express your sincere friendship and show your talents.

You must also pay attention to etiquette and etiquette when you pay New Year greetings. Sitting in the neighborhood, classmates' parties and friends' parties should all be "saying good things and auspicious things in the New Year". Even if you have grievances on weekdays, you shouldn't mention them. As for chatting, it is common sense and common sense not to say vulgar things or boring low-level words.