The custom of setting off firecrackers during the Spring Festival

The custom of setting off firecrackers during the New Year began in the Han Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,000 years. Initially, it was mainly to drive away plague, that is, to drive away plague gods and ghosts. It was only in the Song Dynasty that today's meaning of getting rid of the old came into being. "With the sound of firecrackers, one year is removed, the spring breeze brings warmth to Tusu, and thousands of households are always replacing old talismans with new ones." This poem "Yuan Ri" by Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty is a true portrayal of this.

The Spring Festival in our country usually begins with the sacrifice of the stove on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, and the fireworks also start from this time.

There is a folk saying that "officials, three people, four boatmen and five" hold sacrifices to the stove on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, ordinary people hold sacrifices to the stove on the 24th, and people on the water hold sacrifices to the stove on the 25th. . The ritual of worshiping the Kitchen God is called "sending the stove" or "saying goodbye to the stove", and is usually held at dusk and night. The family goes to the kitchen, sets the table, offers incense and offerings to the Stove Lord who is located in the shrine on the kitchen wall, kneels down and kowtows, and sets off firecrackers, asking the Stove Lord to "speak good things to God and ensure peace in the lower world." Setting off firecrackers has become one of the important procedures for the Stove Lord to make his fortune.

There is a close relationship between worshiping the stove and celebrating the New Year, because on the New Year’s Eve night a week later, the Stove Lord will come to the world together with other gods with the good and bad luck that the family should receive. The Kitchen God is believed to lead the way for the gods in the sky. Other gods will go to heaven again after the New Year, but only the Kitchen God will stay in people's kitchens for a long time. The ceremony to welcome the gods is called "receiving the gods", and for the Kitchen God, it is called "receiving the stove". The stove is usually held on New Year's Eve, when you only need to put on a new stove lamp, burn incense and set off firecrackers in front of the stove niche, and that's it.

Every year on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the first round of firecrackers of the New Year will be set off in urban and rural areas of the Central Plains. Urban residents are busy buying sesame candy, fire-roasted and other foods for the stove sacrifice, while in the vast rural areas, preparations for the stove sacrifice and the grand stove sacrifice ceremony begin with the deafening sound of cannons. In the old days, there was a popular saying in Kaifeng: "Laba and sacrifice to the stove. When the New Year comes, the girls want flowers and the boys want cannons." Therefore, when "sacrifice to the stove" comes, urban and rural areas in my country will have a "New Year flavor".

After offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God, the next day is the 24th of the New Year, and the custom is general cleaning. Cleaning the house is not only to clean the environment for the New Year, but also to sweep away all bad luck and bad luck. The folk customs in some areas also want to get rid of the old and welcome the new, so as to welcome the God of Wealth. They clean the house, then burn incense, blow whips and set off explosives to welcome the arrival of God, thereby blessing their families with peace and wealth for the year.

After cleaning the house, it is the 25th day of the New Year. The custom on this day is to grind tofu. In addition to grinding tofu in preparation for the New Year, people in Beijing and Tianjin also welcome the Jade Emperor to earth on this day. When welcoming, firecrackers are set off, incense is burned and incense is burned. Every family should look cheerful and pray for the Jade Emperor's blessings, longevity, and elimination of disasters. You are not allowed to curse on this day, otherwise you will be blamed by the Jade Emperor, which will lead to endless troubles.

The folk custom of the 26th year is to cut meat. Another important custom in the Central Plains is steaming steamed buns. Steamed buns are not only for eating, but also for predicting the fortune in the coming year. If the steamed buns are puffy and smooth, it will naturally bring good fortune and good fortune in the coming year; if the steamed buns are too hard and uneven, there must be domestic ghosts or wild ghosts making trouble in the steamer, which will require a lot of trouble. Only by praying or cursing, or even setting off firecrackers to intimidate, will the situation improve. In short, you should avoid things going wrong before the year, which will affect your luck in the coming year.

On the 27th and 28th of the year, in traditional folk customs, haircuts and bathing are required. Zhengzhou has "Twenty-seven to pick the fine ones, and twenty-eight to pick the fools"; Beijing has "Twenty-seven baths" Guilt disease, twenty-eight to wash away sloppiness" is a slang term. It is a folk custom in the Central Plains area to kill chickens and ducks in these two days to prepare for the sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner. At this time, the sound of firecrackers can be heard everywhere in urban and rural areas, and colorful fireworks begin to bloom in the night sky.

On the 28th day of the 28th day in rural areas of northern Henan, it is customary to post "paintings", some call them "Ga (transliteration)", which means to write a couplet and stick to the door god. It is the custom in some places to set off firecrackers to add to the fun when pasting couplets. At this time, the gate courtyard is usually decorated with Zhu couplets and red silk, giving a strong festive atmosphere.

The folk custom on the 29th day of the year is to drink alcohol.

The fifth day of the lunar month is commonly known as the birthday of the God of Wealth (it also falls on the second day of the lunar month in the north). On this day, people who wish to have good fortune must prepare sacrifices to receive the god. Merchants and shops pay special attention to this. It was opened on this day to show auspiciousness. As it is said in "Qing Jia Lu": "On the fifth day, it is the birthday of the Lutou God. Gold gongs and firecrackers are used, and the milk of the animals is dried. In order to compete first for the benefit of the market, one must get up early to welcome it, which is called Lutou." Some people get rich. Enthusiastic merchants began to pick up the goods on the night of the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. Their golden gongs sounded, cannons fired, and they drank "road wine". They often had to wait until dawn to finish picking up the goods, which was called "grabbing the road head."

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, some businesses also drink "God of Wealth Wine". In Beijing, firecrackers are set off when shops open after the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, which is called "Gui Benggui". It is also very popular for businesses in some northern areas to set off firecrackers when they open their shops after the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. Everyone hopes that firecrackers can eliminate the bad luck of the past and usher in a prosperous new year.

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, merchants in Shanghai hung a new portrait of General Zhao in the middle of the hall. Except for the three animals, the rest of the offerings were extremely rich. The incense candles were lit, filling the hall with light. Then firecrackers were set off indoors and outdoors, one after another, the whole city roared, and the sound shook hundreds of miles. And it goes on and on, and its sound and momentum are even louder than the dawn of the first day of the Lunar New Year: "The firecrackers can't keep up the sound, and the God of Wealth is busy fighting to welcome them. I just hope that business will be good this year, so why not wait until the fifth watch for pick-up and drop-off."

Tianjin people call the fifth day of the lunar month "Powu". On this day, every household eats dumplings, and the chopping board must make a clanging sound for the neighbors to hear, to show that they are chopping "little people." Tianjin people attribute unsatisfactory things to "villains". Only by getting rid of "villains" can they have good fortune and success. Setting off firecrackers on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year also means to avoid evil and avoid disasters.

In some places, the sixth day of the lunar month is the day for married daughters to return home. On this day, sons-in-law and daughters will come to pay New Year greetings. The customs of celebrating and setting off firecrackers are roughly the same as those on the second day of the Lunar New Year.

The seventh to tenth days of the lunar month are very important days in the old calendar. According to Dongfang Shuo's "Book of Divination": "Eight days after the age of the year, there will be chicken on the first day, dog on the second day, hog on the third day, sheep on the fourth day, ox on the fifth day, horse on the sixth day, people on the seventh day, and grain on the eighth day. The day will be clear. , the main thing is nourishment, and Yin brings disaster." Gu Lu's "Qing Jia Lu" also has the saying of nine heavens and ten earths: "Seven days are regarded as human days, eight days are grain days, nine days are heaven days, and ten days are. People regard these four days of cloudy and sunny days as auspicious disasters throughout the year. "On these days, people pray for God to bring prosperity and good harvests, and celebrate the birth of the Jade Emperor (the ninth day). Burning firecrackers, setting off firecrackers and various sacrificial activities have become more and more popular.

In addition to the fifth day of the first lunar month, the most lively Lantern Festival is the Lantern Festival. In some places, the Lantern Festival starts on the twelfth or third day of the first lunar month and does not stop until the 11th day of the lunar month. Its meaning is similar to that of New Year's Eve, in which incense and cannons are burned to worship ancestors and gods. Eating Yuanxiao on the fifteenth day has been a custom in the Song Dynasty, and the custom of lighting lanterns followed the Tang Dynasty and became popular in the Song Dynasty. On this day, in addition to lighting up the streets and alleys, various chambers of commerce will also set off fireworks and firecrackers, which last from eight o'clock to ten o'clock. It can be said that it is very popular and the streets are empty.

The northern folk custom of celebrating the Lantern Festival is "Fifteen flat, sixteen yuan", that is, eating dumplings on the fifteenth day and eating Yuanxiao on the sixteenth day. It is very popular for people to set off fireworks (also called fireworks) these two days. Folks commonly call fireworks "flowers", setting off fireworks is called "huahua", and they and firecrackers are collectively called "firecrackers". Fireworks can be roughly divided into categories such as jet, rotating, aerial, spitting beads, incense, ground fireworks, smoke, shaped toys, small fireworks and bombs, etc. There are thousands of varieties, which are the most popular types during the Lantern Festival. A favored plaything.

It has been a custom for people to set off fireworks since the Song Dynasty. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the emperor often came to watch the fireworks to show his joy with the people. The scene of setting off fireworks is also extremely grand and brilliant, which is rare in modern times.

Fireworks are described in "A Dream of Red Mansions": "A screen frame was set up in the courtyard, and all the fireworks were set up and hung. These fireworks are all tribute items from various places. Although they are not very big, they are extremely exquisite and have various stories. , sandwiched with various fireworks. While talking, there were many scattered fireworks outside, such as "Stars in the Sky", "Nine Dragons Entering the Clouds", "A Thunder on the Ground", and "Ten Thunders in the Sky". "Little firecrackers." From here you can also see the grand fireworks display in the old days and the New Year.

When I was a child, setting off fireworks during the New Year was a very desirable thing. Colorful bamboo tubes, dripping gold, gypsophila, goddesses scattering flowers, and five blessings are all very popular varieties. Beautiful fireworks, carrying childhood dreams, fly into the sky and turn into colorful brilliance, decorating the festive night sky with colorful purples and reds, which is particularly enchanting. When I recall it now, I still have endless aftertaste.

Set off firecrackers and usher in the new with the beeping sound of firecrackers, which can create a festive and lively atmosphere and bring joy and luck to people. It is one of the important entertainment activities of the festival. With the passage of time, the application of firecrackers has become more and more widespread, and the varieties and colors have become more and more numerous. During major festivals, happy events, weddings, house construction, openings, etc., firecrackers must be set off to celebrate and for good luck. Now, Liuyang and Liling 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. They are not only sold well all over the country, but also exported to other parts of the world. countries and regions.

The loud firecrackers and bright red Spring Festival couplets show people's enthusiasm, yearning and desire for a new life, and also embody a national psychology, dreams and wishes. Although there is still frost and snow in the north at this time, people are awakened to spring by the rumbling sound of firecrackers; they can see the golden wheat fields from the crystal snow; they can smell the fragrance of peaches and plums from the fragrance of wintersweet. The time sequence has since turned to Yangchun, and the universe is full of vitality. People thus welcome the arrival of the New Year with joy, optimism, and confidence.