New Year customs of various ethnic groups

Bai people’s Spring Festival customs: The Bai people’s New Year activities are very interesting. Before New Year's Eve, every family cleans the inside and outside of the house to prevent dust from remaining until the new year. On New Year's Eve, the whole family reunites to celebrate the new year. After midnight, young men and women compete to carry water to symbolize hard work and happiness. Early in the morning on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the whole family, young and old, drinks rice krispies sugar water to show that they can live a life as sweet as nectar in the new year. During the festival, the Bai people have traditional entertainment programs such as playing lanterns and dragons, lion dances, and dancing. During the New Year, the Bai people also carry out a traditional activity - "shooting high": take a whole big bamboo, fill the bamboo joints with gunpowder, and after lighting it, shoot the whole bamboo into the sky, as high as 100 meters. Domi. This activity with a history of more than a thousand years has a strong national flavor and reflects the brave and strong character of the Bai people.

Tibetan Spring Festival customs: Tibetan people celebrate the Tibetan New Year according to their own calendar. The Tibetan calendar is similar to the Han lunar calendar. The Tibetan New Year usually comes within a few days after the Han Chinese New Year. On the day before New Year's Eve, when the sun is about to set, every household dumps dirty water and sewage to the west, letting the dirty things be removed as the sun sets, to show farewell to the old and welcome the new, and to hope that people will prosper and all things will grow.

On New Year's Eve, a grand and grand "God Dance Party" will be held. People wear colorful costumes and strange masks, and sing and dance wildly to the accompaniment of conch shells, drums, suona and other musical instruments to show that they are getting rid of the old and welcoming the new, driving away evil spirits and bringing blessings. On New Year's Eve, Tibetans like to eat oil cakes, milk cakes, blood sausages, finger meat, etc. On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, women first go to the river or well to carry "auspicious water", which symbolizes good fortune, health and longevity for the whole family. Then, every household places a symbolic offering "Zhu Su Qima" on the eye-catching red table. "Zhusu Qima" is a large long colored basin in the style of Yuanbao (similar to the grain bucket in the Han area). One end is filled with wheat grains, and the other end is filled with pastries made of white sugar, butter and highland barley noodles. A few bunches of dyed wheat ears and highland barley ears are inserted on it to wish for a good harvest and prosperity for people and animals. Happy people gathered around the house with "Zhu Su Qima", served each other highland barley wine, presented Hada, sang and danced to their heart's content, and celebrated the New Year.

During the Spring Festival, relatives, friends and neighbors pay New Year greetings to each other, give each other khatas, and wish each other happiness and happiness. And entertain guests with highland barley wine, butter tea and cakes. The square and the fields were even more lively. Young people gathered together to hold competitions and shooting competitions, with singing and cheers coming and going. After the game, everyone gathered together, lit a bonfire, played and sang unity blessing songs, danced "Guozhuang" and Xianzi dance, and caroused into the night.

The New Year customs of the Dai people: According to the Dai calendar, the New Year is approximately the seventh day after the Qingming Festival of the lunar calendar. During the festival, Dai compatriots held lively water-splashing, dragon-boat racing, and high-flying activities. The water-splashing activity is the climax of the Dai people's New Year celebrations and the most exciting scene in the Dai calendar year. Therefore, it is usually called the "Water Splashing Festival".

On this day, people splash water on each other and use water to express sincere friendship, pure love and blessings in their hearts. Splashing water can be divided into Wen splashing water and Wu splashing water. Wen splashing water is for the elders. He scoops up a spoonful of clean water, says blessings, pulls open the other person's collar, and lets the water flow down the spine. The person who was splashed happily accepted the blessing and was not allowed to run away. There is no fixed form for Wu splashing water. You can use ladles, basins or buckets to chase each other and splash each other head-on. The more water someone throws at you, the more blessings you receive, and the happier the person is.

The Zhuang people’s Spring Festival customs: In addition to celebrating the Spring Festival, the Zhuang people also celebrate an “old age” on the 30th day of the first lunar month. Both festivals are equally grand. On the morning of the festival, when the sky is getting brighter, women rush to the rivers and wells to fetch new water. On this day, the water used for drinking cannot be the water stored the day before. In the past, in some areas, new water was weighed immediately after being retrieved and compared with the same amount of old water. If the new water was heavier, it would indicate a good harvest. During the festival, young men and women gather on the roadside or on the hillside in the village to sing folk songs. Sometimes they have to sing for three days and nights. In some areas, young men and women also like to team up to throw embroidered balls (made of various colored cloths, decorated with five tassels on the four corners and bottom, and tied with colorful ropes in the middle) during the festival. The center of the ball is filled with rice bran and weighs about half a kilogram. .

Little New Year and Big New Year of the Mongolian people: The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is the "Little New Year" for the Mongolian people. This day is the day to send "New Year's Fire" to the "God of Fire". Incense is burned in front of the niche, and offerings such as beef, mutton, butter, milk skin, cheese, milk cakes, and candies are offered, which is called "Zhai Zao".

On this day, the most important thing is to reunite the whole family, eat reunion dinner and drink reunion wine, which is very lively. In the evening, when the gods of society are sent to heaven, people have to light firewood or pieces of cattle and sheep dung prepared in advance, and then take out some from various offerings and throw them into the fire to help the fire burn. At this time, the whole family prayed to the God of Fire in front of the flames. Generally, before the 15th day of the twelfth lunar month, every household will slaughter their cattle and sheep. In addition to keeping them for their own consumption, they also need to prepare some meat to give to relatives and friends. At the same time, we need to make a beautiful Mongolian robe for adults and children, buy new boots, new hats, purchase milk buckets, felts, pots, bowls, basins and spoons and other utensils, and then take good care of the horses for the festival. The Spring Festival, known to Mongolians as "White Festival" and "New Year", is a traditional program for Mongolians and falls on the first day of the first lunar month. The Mongolian people living in rural areas, cities, and industrial and mining areas have similar Spring Festival customs to the Han people, but pastoral areas have many different characteristics. On New Year's Eve, the whole family sits on the floor around a low table in a yurt. On the table is a plate of fragrant meat and dairy products, as well as candies, cigarettes, wine and other items. Some of them are also placed on the low table. There is a large piece of paper on the table with the names of the ancestors written on it. At midnight, people start drinking and eating New Year’s Eve dinner, or eating New Year’s Eve dumplings. According to the rules, a lot of food, wine, and meat should be eaten at the reunion banquet, and the table should be filled with food utensils. If you can't finish it, leave as much as possible, which symbolizes that you will have endless food and drink in the new year and will have more than you need every year. Young people in the family should toast their elders with "farewell wine". What is particularly interesting is that the whole family eats a large round cake made of butter, sugar, and white flour. This is called eating New Year cake. Each person only takes one bite, which means that the whole family will never be separated, will be reunited forever, and will live a sweet life forever. day. On New Year's Eve, people play "galamu" (playing with sheep bones), tell stories, sing, and dance all night long, making it a lively night. During the New Year, it is customary to pay New Year greetings. On the eve of the New Year's Eve, it is a farewell ceremony to the old year, and on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, the younger generation kowtows, toasts, and offers khata to their parents and the elderly, wishing the elderly good health and happiness in their later years! The old people hug their grandchildren and pour a bowl of fresh milk, wishing their children happiness and being as pure as milk. Before liberation, some families even invited lamas to chant sutras at home to eliminate the unlucky disasters of the new year and pray for prosperity for the family in the new year. The whole family went to the lamasery with their children and elders to burn incense and worship, asking for the living Buddha's blessing. After breakfast on the first day of the Lunar New Year, men and women dressed up in groups of three or five go to Haote (villages and towns) and go from house to house to pay New Year greetings to relatives and friends. When guests enter the house, they first kowtow to their elders and wish them good health and longevity. It is customary for the host's son-in-law to toast to each guest one by one, and he must drink after each toast, or he may sing or dance while drinking. In the village, you can choose a piece of grassland for horse racing, wrestling, camel racing, etc.