How do people in Qinghai generally celebrate the New Year?

"If you have money or not, celebrate the New Year with a bald head"

This is a saying that was said during the New Year in the past, indicating that before the New Year, we should pay attention to hygiene and men should shave their heads. Nowadays, few people shave their heads, but their hair still needs to be trimmed. The heads are shaved, the children wear new clothes, red paper Spring Festival couplets are hung at the gate, a tic-shaped "pine canopy" is built in the courtyard, and a large patterned paper with dragons, winds, money and horses is posted in front of the altar in the main room. , which is called "sticking to dragon and phoenix money and horse".

At the same time, starting from the twelfth lunar month, people began to demand debts lent out this year. However, on the afternoon of the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, if other people’s homes had posted Spring Festival couplets, they could no longer press for debts. Because during the twelfth lunar month, there are many vendors on the street selling stove sugar, and before the 30th year of the new year, they started selling sweet fermented grains, so there is a saying: "When the stove sugar is shouted, war will start, and when the sweet grains are shouted, peace will be settled."

The second stage: celebrating the New Year in a prosperous manner

This stage mainly lasts for three days: the first day of the Lunar New Year, the second day of the Lunar New Year, and the third day of the Lunar New Year. Eating dumplings in the morning is in the shape of an ingot, which means: good luck and prosperity. Then the men of the family start visiting relatives and friends. On the afternoon of the third day of the Lunar New Year, they visit the graves and set off cannons to pay homage to the gods.

The third stage: literary and artistic activities

The distant "Peace Song"

The third stage of the New Year celebrations on the fourth and fifth day of the Lunar New Year is It started with beating gongs and drums and dancing in the streets and alleys, commonly known as "Taiping Song". It was sung every night until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Most of the songs were: stories of the Three Kingdoms, generals of the Yang family, etc., as well as some funny and interesting things. A short paragraph, praying for good weather, good harvest, and happy family life in the coming year. Of course, there are no theaters or other entertainment venues in rural areas, so we can only organize these self-entertainment activities. However, in today's rich material life, this "peace song" has long disappeared!

From the 13th day of the first lunar month to the 15th day of the first lunar month, sign lanterns will be hung in the streets and alleys to light up the lights. The two sides of the sign lanterns are painted with classics such as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin", "Journey to the West" and "Dream of Red Mansions" The story of the novel is accompanied by pictures. There are revolving lanterns (turning lanterns) and dragon lanterns placed in front of the shop. The green dragon represents good weather and the yellow dragon represents a good harvest. According to folk custom, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, newlyweds must bring gifts to their parents' home to hide from the lights, but they are not allowed to stay overnight.

Many traditional Chinese folk customs are very warm and affectionate. However, with the continuous progress of society and the acceleration of the pace of modern life, through gradual evolution, some traditional customs have gradually become more and more popular in people's hearts. For example, for New Year's Eve dinner, many people now eat in restaurants in order to save time and effort. In order to protect the environment and safety, it is forbidden to set off firecrackers, etc. This is also an inevitable law of social development. However, pasting Spring Festival couplets is still well preserved and should be preserved. This is a very unique way of inheriting China's excellent cultural customs, as well as lanterns, social fires, etc., which should be preserved and continued to be innovated. customs.