Spring Festival customs

Sweeping dust

"On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, dust and sweep the house." According to "Lu Spring and Autumn Annals", my country had the custom of sweeping dust during the Spring Festival in the era of Yao and Shun. According to folklore: because "dust" and "chen" are homophonic, sweeping dust in the New Year means "removing the old and spreading the new", and its purpose is to sweep away all bad luck and bad luck. This custom entrusts people with their desire to destroy the old and establish the new and their prayers to say goodbye to the old and usher in the new. Every Spring Festival comes, every household has to clean the environment, wash all kinds of utensils, remove and wash bedding and curtains, sweep the Liulv courtyard, dust away dirt and cobwebs, and dredge open ditches and ditches. Everywhere is filled with the joyful atmosphere of doing hygiene and welcoming the New Year cleanly.

Spring couplets

Spring couplets are also called door pairs, spring posts, couplets, couplets, peach charms, etc. They describe the background of the times and express good wishes with neat, dual, concise and exquisite words. , is a unique literary form in my country. Every Spring Festival, every household, whether in urban or rural areas, selects a pair of red Spring Festival couplets and sticks them on the door to add a festive atmosphere to the festival. This custom began in the Song Dynasty and became popular in the Ming Dynasty. By the Qing Dynasty, the ideological and artistic quality of Spring Festival couplets had been greatly improved. Liang Zhangju’s Spring Festival Couplets monograph "Three Couples on the Threshold" has a detailed introduction to the origin of the couplets and the characteristics of various works. All discussed.

There are many types of Spring Festival couplets. According to the place of use, they can be divided into door centers, frame pairs, horizontal drapes, spring strips, bucket squares, etc. The "door center" is affixed to the upper center of the door panel; the "frame pair" is affixed to the left and right door frames; the "horizontal stripe" is affixed to the crossbar of the door; the "spring strips" are affixed to the corresponding places according to different contents; "Dojin" is also called "door leaf", which is square and diamond-shaped, and is often attached to furniture and screen walls.

Pasting window grilles and pasting the word "福" upside down

In the folk, people also like to put various paper-cuts - window grilles - on their windows. Window grilles not only enhance the festive atmosphere, but also integrate decoration, appreciation and practicality. Paper-cutting is a very popular folk art in my country and has been loved by people for thousands of years. Because it is mostly pasted on windows, it is also called "window flower". With its unique summary and exaggeration techniques, window grilles vividly express auspicious symbols and good wishes, decorating the festival with prosperity and splendor.

At the same time as pasting Spring Festival couplets, some families have to paste large and small "福" characters on their house doors, walls, and lintels. Posting the word "福" during the Spring Festival is a long-standing folk custom in my country. The word "福" refers to blessing and luck, expressing people's yearning for a happy life and their wishes for a better future. In order to more fully reflect this yearning and wish, some people simply paste the word "福" upside down to express "happiness has arrived" and "blessing has arrived". Folks also use the word "Fu" to make various patterns with detailed drawings, such as longevity star, birthday peach, carp jumping over the dragon gate, good harvest, dragon and phoenix showing auspiciousness, etc.

New Year Pictures

Posting New Year pictures during the Spring Festival is also very common in urban and rural areas. The thick black and colorful New Year pictures add a prosperous and joyful festive atmosphere to thousands of households. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in my country, reflecting the people's simple customs and beliefs and reposing their hopes for the future. New Year pictures, like Spring Festival couplets, originated from the "door god". With the rise of woodblock printing, the content of New Year paintings is no longer limited to monotonous themes such as door gods, but has become rich and colorful. In some New Year painting workshops, "Three Stars of Fortune, Luxury and Longevity", "Blessings from Heavenly Officials", "Five Grain" Classic color New Year pictures such as "Prosperous Harvest", "Prosperity of Six Animals", "Welcoming Spring and Bringing Good Luck" can satisfy people's good wishes of celebrating the good year. There are three important producing areas of New Year paintings in our country: Taohuawu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong. They have formed three major schools of Chinese New Year paintings, each with its own characteristics.

The earliest New Year paintings collected in our country today are the woodcut New Year paintings of the Southern Song Dynasty called "Slimming with the Dynasty and the Beauty of the Country", which depict four ancient beauties: Wang Zhaojun, Zhao Feiyan, Ban Ji and Luzhu. The most widely circulated among the people is a New Year painting of "Mouse Marriage". It depicts an interesting scene of a mouse marrying a bride according to human customs. In the early years of the Republic of China, Shanghai Zheng Mantuo combined the calendar with New Year pictures. This is a new form of New Year pictures. This two-in-one New Year picture later developed into a wall calendar, which is now popular all over the country.

New Year's Eve

The evening of the last day of the lunar year. In addition to removing the old and replacing the old with the new. The last day of the year is called "New Year's Eve" and that night is called "New Year's Eve". People often stay up all night on New Year's Eve, which is called staying up all night. Su Shi's "Shou Sui": "Children are forced not to sleep, but stay together all night and cheer.

"There is a legend about the origin of New Year's Eve: In ancient times, there was a ferocious monster named Xi. Our ancestors were threatened by this most ferocious beast. It came out to harm people at the end of the year. Later, people discovered that Xi They are afraid of three things: red color, fire, and noise. So in winter, people hang red peach boards on their doors, burn fires at the door, and stay up all night, banging and banging. On this night, "Xi" breaks in. In the village, when every house was illuminated with red lights and heard the loud noise, they were so frightened that they ran back into the mountains and never dared to come out again. As the night passed, people congratulated each other, put on lights, drank and held banquets to celebrate the victory. On the New Year's Eve, every household would put up red Spring Festival couplets and set off firecrackers to drive away the New Year's Eve beasts. This custom has been passed down since then, and the New Year's Eve is called New Year's Eve.

< p>Keeping the year old on New Year's Eve is one of the most important annual customs. The custom of keeping the year old has been around for a long time. It is called "feeding the new year"; inviting people to drink and eat together is called "farewelling the new year"; the elders and the young gather together to drink and give complete blessings, which is called "parting the new year"; everyone stays up all night waiting for the dawn, which is called "keeping the new year together" < /p>

"One night is two years old, five o'clock is divided into two days." On New Year's Eve, the whole family gets together, has New Year's Eve dinner, lights candles or oil lamps, sits around the fire and chats, waiting for the time to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Staying up all night symbolizes driving away all evil plagues and looking forward to good luck in the new year. This custom gradually became popular in the early Tang Dynasty. In the early Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin wrote a poem about "keeping up with the year": "Cold farewell". Winter snow brings warmth to the spring breeze." To this day, people are still used to staying up late on New Year's Eve to welcome the new year.

In ancient times, staying up late had two meanings: the older people staying up late meant "saying goodbye to the old year" and cherished it. The meaning of time; young people stay up late to prolong the life of their parents. Since the Han Dynasty, the time when the new year changes from the old year to the old year is usually at midnight.

There is a legend in rural areas of Yunnan: Children and adults can't sleep at 30, that is, everyone stays up all night to wait for dawn, which is called "staying awake". The difference is that why can't you sleep? Adults usually say to the children: If you fall asleep. The ground stalks in your field will fall in two years. If they fall, let the sleeping people repair them! It seems that if no one sleeps, the stalks will not fall down!

Firecrackers

There is a saying among Chinese people about "opening the door with firecrackers". That is, when every household opens the door, they set off firecrackers to drive away the old and welcome the new. Firecrackers are a specialty of China, also known as "firecrackers", "firecrackers" and "firecrackers". They have a very early origin and have a history of more than 2,000 years. Setting off firecrackers can create a festive and lively atmosphere and is a part of the festival. Entertainment activities can bring people joy and good luck. As time goes by, the use of firecrackers has become more and more widespread, and the varieties and colors have become increasingly diverse. During major festivals and happy events, as well as weddings, house construction, openings, etc. Firecrackers are set off to celebrate and for good luck. Now, Liuyang in Hunan, Foshan and Dongyao in Guangdong, Yichun and Pingxiang in Jiangxi, and Wenzhou in Zhejiang are famous hometowns of fireworks in my country. The firecrackers they produce are of various colors and high quality, and are not only sold well across the country, but also exported to the world.

Eating rice cakes and making dumplings

In ancient agricultural societies, from about the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, housewives would be busy arranging food for the New Year. Because pickling cured meat takes a long time, it must be prepared as early as possible. Many provinces in my country have the custom of pickling cured meat, among which Guangdong Province’s cured meat is the most famous.

Steamed rice cake. Rice cake has become a must-have seasonal food for almost every household because of its homophonic pronunciation of "year high" and its varied tastes. The styles of rice cakes include square yellow and white rice cakes, which symbolize gold and silver and convey the meaning of getting rich in the new year.

The taste of rice cakes varies from place to place. Beijingers like to eat red date rice cake, mince rice cake and white rice cake made from glutinous rice or yellow rice. People in Hebei like to add jujube, red beans, mung beans, etc. to rice cakes and steam them together. In northern Shanxi and Inner Mongolia and other places, it is customary to eat fried rice cakes with yellow rice flour during the Chinese New Year. Some are also filled with bean paste, date paste and other fillings. Shandong people steam rice cakes with yellow rice and red dates. Northern rice cakes are mainly sweet and can be steamed or fried. Some people even eat them dipped in sugar. The rice cakes in the south are both sweet and salty. For example, the rice cakes in Suzhou and Ningbo are made from japonica rice and have a light taste. In addition to steaming and frying, it can also be sliced ??and fried or cooked in soup.

The sweet rice cake is made of glutinous rice flour with ingredients such as sugar, lard, rose, osmanthus, mint, and sujiang. It is carefully made and can be steamed directly or dipped in egg white and fried.

The night before the actual Chinese New Year is called Reunion Eve. People who have traveled far away from home have to rush home thousands of miles away. The whole family will sit together to make dumplings for the New Year. The dumplings are made by mixing the dough first. Make dumpling skins, and then use the skins to wrap the fillings. The content of the fillings is varied, including various meats, eggs, seafood, seasonal vegetables, etc. Eat with soy sauce of vinegar, minced garlic, and sesame oil as condiments. There are also ways to eat fried dumplings and baked dumplings (pot stickers). Because the word "和" in noodles means "合"; the characters "Jiao" and "Jiao" in dumplings are homophones, and "He" and "Jiao" also mean getting together, so dumplings are used to symbolize reunion and joy; they are also used to symbolize reunion. The meaning of Jiaozi is very auspicious; in addition, because dumplings resemble ingots in shape, eating dumplings during the Chinese New Year also has the auspicious meaning of "bringing in wealth and treasure". The whole family gathers together to make dumplings, talk about the New Year, and have fun.

Open the door and firecrackers

On the morning of the Spring Festival, when the door opens, firecrackers are set off first, which is called "opening the door and firecrackers." After the sound of firecrackers, the ground was filled with red, as bright as clouds and brocade, which was called "Man Tang Hong". At this time, the streets were full of auspiciousness and joy.

New Year's greetings

An important activity during the Spring Festival is to go to new friends' homes and neighbors to wish them a happy New Year, which was formerly known as New Year's greetings. The custom of paying New Year greetings among the Han people has been around since the Han Dynasty. It became very popular after the Tang and Song Dynasties. Some people who do not need to go there in person can send congratulations with name cards. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was called "thorn", so the business card was also called "famous thorn". After the Ming Dynasty, many families put a red paper bag on their door to collect name cards, called a "door book."

On the first day of the new year, people get up early, put on their most beautiful clothes, dress up neatly, and go out to visit relatives and friends, pay New Year greetings to each other, and wish good luck in the coming year. There are many ways to pay New Year's greetings. Some are led by the head of the same clan and several people go from house to house to pay New Year's greetings. Some are colleagues inviting a few people to pay New Year's greetings. There are also people who gather together to congratulate each other, which is called "group worship". Since it was time-consuming and laborious to pay New Year greetings at home, some upper-class figures and scholar-bureaucrats later used various stickers to congratulate each other, and the later "New Year's greeting cards" developed from this.

When paying New Year greetings during the Spring Festival, the younger generation should first pay New Year greetings to the elders and wish them longevity and health. The elders can distribute the New Year's money prepared in advance to the younger generation. It is said that the New Year's money can suppress evil spirits, because "year" and "evil spirits" "Homophonous", the younger generation can spend one year peacefully after receiving the lucky money. There are two types of New Year's money. One is made of colorful ropes threaded into a dragon shape and placed at the foot of the bed. This record is found in "Yanjing Years' Notes"; the other is the most common, which is given by parents wrapped in red paper. Children's money. New Year's money can be given to the younger generation in public after paying New Year's greetings, or parents can secretly put it under the child's pillow when the child is asleep on New Year's Eve. Nowadays, the custom of elders distributing lucky money to younger generations is still popular.

The forms of mutual New Year visits between people can be roughly divided into four categories according to their social relationships:

The first is visiting relatives. On the first day of the new year, you must visit your father-in-law and bring gifts. After entering the door, first kowtow three times to the Buddha statue, the image of the ancestors, and the tablets, and then kneel down to the elders in turn. You can stay to eat and play.

The second is a courtesy visit. If you are wishing New Year greetings to colleagues or friends, as soon as you enter the house, you should only kowtow three times to the Buddha statue. If you are the same generation as the host, you only need to bow your hands and bow. If you are older than you, you should still take the initiative to kneel down and the host should get down from the seat and make a gesture of support. Even saying "no courtesy" shows humility. In this situation, it is generally not advisable to sit for a long time, and you will have to say goodbye after saying a few polite words. After the host has been worshiped, he should choose a day to return to worship.

The third is a grateful visit. Anyone who has been in debt to others over the past year (such as lawyers, doctors, etc.) should buy some gifts and send them to them as a way to express their gratitude during the New Year.

The fourth is door-to-door visits. We don't have much contact with our neighbors on weekdays, but we can always talk to each other when we meet. When New Year's Eve comes, we just go to the courtyard, hug each other's fists and say: "Congratulations on getting rich," "Everything goes well, everything goes well." Just sit there for a while, not much etiquette.

In ancient times, there were differences between New Year greetings and New Year greetings: New Year greetings were to kowtow to the elders; New Year greetings were to congratulate each other. Now, in some agencies, organizations, companies, and schools, everyone gathers together to congratulate each other, which is called "group worship."

New Year greetings are a traditional custom among Chinese people. It is a way for people to say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new year, and to express their best wishes to each other.

In ancient times, the original meaning of the word "bainian" was to congratulate the elders on the New Year, including kowtowing to the elders, giving wishes, wishing them a happy new year, and greeting them with well-being. When you meet relatives and friends of the same generation, you should also give congratulations.

In ancient times, if there were too many relatives and friends in the neighborhood and it was difficult to visit them all, servants would be sent to bring business cards to pay New Year greetings. This was called a "flying post". A red paper bag was posted in front of each house with the words " The two words "receive blessings" are used to inherit flying posts. This custom began in the upper class society of the Song Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty's "Yantai Moon Order" describes the Beijing New Year: "It's the moon, the movies are flying, and the empty carriages are driving away." It became fashionable. Rich families have a special "door book" to record the comings and goings of guests. There are four virtual "visitors" on the front page of the door book: one is an old man with a longevity of 100 years, who lives in Baisui Fang Lane; the other is a rich man named Yu. , lives in Yuanbao Street; one is called Mr. Gui Wuji, who lives in the University Scholar's Archway; the other is Mr. Fu Zhaolin, who lives in the Wufu Building. In order to seek good fortune and seek luck. To this day, giving out New Year's cards and greeting cards during the Spring Festival is a legacy of the ancient tradition of sending flying messages to each other.

It is a custom for upper-class scholar-bureaucrats to congratulate each other with name cards. Zhou Hui, a native of the Song Dynasty, said in "Qingbo Magazine": "During the Yuanyou years of the Song Dynasty, servants were often used to carry famous thorns to celebrate the New Year." At that time, the scholar-bureaucrats had many contacts, and it would take both time and energy to visit people from all over the world to pay New Year greetings. Therefore, some friends who were not close to each other did not go there in person. Instead, they sent servants to bring a two-inch wide, three-inch paper cut from plum blossom paper. An inch-long card with the name, address and congratulatory words of the congratulatory person written on it is sent to express New Year greetings on your behalf. In the Ming Dynasty, people paid homage instead of paying New Year greetings. Wen Zhengming, an outstanding painter and poet of the Ming Dynasty, described it in his poem "New Year's Greetings": "I don't ask for a meeting, but for a visit. Famous papers come from the dynasty and fill the house. I also throw in a few papers with others. The world hates them for being simple but not for being empty." The "Ming Ci" and "Ming Ye" mentioned here are the origins of today's New Year's cards. New Year's cards are used to connect feelings and exchange greetings. They are convenient and practical and are still popular today.

Since about the Qing Dynasty, New Year greetings have added the form of "group worship". Qing Dynasty native Yi Lanzhu said in "Side Hat Yu Tan": "At the beginning of the year, the capital routinely performs group worship to connect the New Year. "Friendship, to strengthen the nostalgia", "Every year, guests are booked by the New Year Book Red, and they have meals and banquets to enjoy the day."

With the development of the times, the custom of New Year greetings has constantly added new content and forms. Nowadays, in addition to following the previous methods of New Year greetings, people have also developed ceremonial New Year greetings via telegrams and telephone calls.

However, from the first to the fifth day of the first lunar month, most families do not accept women, which is called "taboo". Only men can go out to visit the New Year, while women must wait until after the sixth day of the first lunar month to visit. The New Year greeting activities will be extended for a long time, until around the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month. Visiting people to pay New Year greetings in the evening is called the "Ye Bao Festival", and after the tenth day of the Lunar New Year, it is called the "Lantern Festival", so there is a joke that "if you are willing to pay New Year greetings, it is not too late to eat cold food."

If for some reason you fail to follow the rituals and make up for it in the future, it is called "paying homage to your old age".

Accounting for the year

In the old days, the weather in the first few days of the New Year was cloudy and sunny to calculate the year's success. The theory begins with "Sui Zhan" written by Dongfang Shuo of the Han Dynasty, which states that eight days after the end of the year, one day is the chicken day, the second day is the dog day, the third day is the pig day, the fourth day is the sheep day, the fifth day is the cow day, the sixth day is the horse day, and the seventh day is the horse day. One day is a great man, eight days is a valley. If the day is sunny, the object will flourish; if the day is cloudy, the object will not prosper. Later generations followed this custom and believed that the weather from the first to the tenth day of the lunar month was auspicious with clear weather, no wind and no snow. Later generations developed from accounting for age into a series of sacrifices and celebrations. There is a custom of no killing of chickens on the first day of the lunar month, no killing of dogs on the second day of the lunar month, no killing of pigs on the third day of the lunar month, and no execution on the seventh day of the lunar month.

Chicken Stickers Zhuxian Town Wooden New Year Pictures

In ancient times, chickens were painted on doors and windows during the Spring Festival to drive away ghosts and evil spirits. The "Xuanzhong Ji" written by the Jin Dynasty talks about the aforementioned rooster on Dushuo Mountain. It is said that when the sun just rose and the first ray of sunlight shone on this big tree, the rooster appeared. It cried. As soon as it crows, all the chickens in the world will crow. Therefore, the chicken cut during the Spring Festival actually symbolizes the rooster. However, in ancient mythology, there is also a saying that the chicken is the transformation of the Chongming bird. It is said that during the reign of Emperor Yao, the friendly countries that passed over paid tribute to a Chongming bird that could ward off evil spirits. Everyone welcomed the arrival of the Chongming bird. However, the tribute envoys did not come every year, so people carved a wooden Chongming bird or cast a Chongming bird. Placing the bird on the doorway or painting the Chongming bird on the doors and windows can scare away demons and ghosts so that they do not dare to come again. Because the Chongming birds resemble chickens, people gradually changed to painting chickens or cutting window grilles and pasting them on doors and windows, which became the source of paper-cut art in later generations. In ancient my country, chickens were particularly valued and were called “the bird of five virtues”.

"Han Shi Wai Zhuan" says that it has a crown on its head, which is a virtue; it has a distance behind its feet and can fight, it is a martial virtue; it dares to fight in front of the enemy, it is a brave virtue; it has food to greet its kind, it is a benevolent virtue; it keeps vigil without losing sight of others. When the day dawns, it is faith. Therefore, people not only cut chickens during the Chinese New Year, but also designate the first day of the New Year as Rooster Day.

Gathering Wealth

It is said that the first day of the first lunar month is the birthday of the broom. You cannot use a broom on this day, otherwise it will sweep away luck, lose money, and attract the "broom star", causing bad luck. . If you must sweep the floor, you must sweep from the outside to the inside. It is also not allowed to pour water or take out garbage outside on this day, for fear of losing money. Today, many places still have a custom of cleaning up on New Year's Eve. On New Year's Day, no brooms are taken out, no garbage is taken out, and a large bucket is prepared to hold wastewater, and no spilling is allowed on that day.

Sacrifice to the God of Wealth

Southerners worship the God of Wealth on the fifth day of the first lunar month. According to folklore, the God of Wealth is the God of Five Ways. The so-called five roads refer to east, west, south, north, and middle, which means that you can get wealth in any of the five ways.

Qing Jia Lu written by Gu Lu in the Qing Dynasty said: "The fifth day of the first lunar month is the birthday of the Lutou God. Gold gongs and firecrackers are used, and the sacrifices are finished. In order to compete first for the benefit of the market, we must get up early to welcome it. It is called "Jielutou." He also said: "Today's Lutou is the walking god in the Five Sacrifice. The so-called five roads should be the east, west, south, and middle ears." There was a custom in Shanghai in the old days. On the midnight of the fourth day of the first lunar month, prepare sacrifices, cakes, fruits, incense and candles, etc., and worship with gongs, drums and incense, piously and respectfully to the God of Wealth. According to popular legend, the fifth day of the Lunar New Year is the birthday of the God of Wealth. In order to compete for market profits, it is first received on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, which is called "grabbing the road head", also known as "receiving the God of Wealth".

The five sacrifices are the household gods, kitchen gods, earth gods, door gods, and walking gods. The so-called "Lutou" refers to the gods among the five sacrifices. Whenever you receive the God of Wealth, you must offer a sheep head and a carp. Offering a sheep head means "auspiciousness", and offering a carp is a homophone of "fish" and "yu" in the picture. The poem is auspicious. People firmly believe that as long as they can get the God of Wealth to appear, they can get rich.

Therefore, every Chinese New Year, people open their doors and windows at 50:00 on the first lunar month, burn incense, set off firecrackers, and light fireworks to welcome the God of Wealth. After receiving the God of Wealth, everyone also eats Lutou wine, often until dawn. Everyone is full of hopes of getting rich, hoping that the God of Wealth can bring gold and silver to their homes and make them rich in the new year.

Sending the poor to the poor

"Sending the poor to the poor" on the fifth day of the first lunar month is a very unique folk custom in ancient my country. On this day, women in each household are made of paper, called "Sweeping Qing Niang", "Five Poor Women", and "Five Poor Women". They carry paper bags, sweep the dirt from the house into the bags, and send them outside to blast them with cannons. This custom is also known as "sending the poor to the poor" and "sending the poor daughter-in-law out". In the Hancheng area of ??Shaanxi Province, people are not allowed to go out on the fifth day. Fresh meat must be roasted in a pot, and madou must be stir-fried to make it crackle and make a sound. It is believed that this can eliminate poverty and bring wealth. In addition, in the old days, people had to eat very full on New Year's Eve or the fifth day of the first lunar month, which was commonly known as "filling the poor hole." The widely popular folk custom of sending the poor away reflects the traditional psychology of the Chinese people who generally hope to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, bid farewell to the old poverty and hardship, and welcome a better life in the new year.

Opening of the market

It is an old custom that during the Spring Festival, all shops of all sizes will be closed from the beginning of the new year, and the market will open on the fifth day of the first lunar month. It is customary to regard the fifth day of the first lunar month as the holy day of wealth. It is believed that choosing this day to open the market will definitely attract wealth