Folk customs during the Spring Festival

Spring Festival customs: the 23rd/24th of the twelfth lunar month - offering sacrifices to the stove, sweeping the dust, and eating stove candies

Sacrifice to the stove my country's Spring Festival usually kicks off with a sacrifice to the stove. "Twenty-three, sugar melon sticky" in the folk song refers to the sacrifice to the stove on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month every year. There is a saying of "officials, three people, four boatmen and five", that is, on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the government, Generally, people hold sacrifices to the stove on the 24th, while people on the water hold sacrifices to the stove on the 25th.

Sacrificing stoves is a custom that has great influence among Chinese people and is widely spread. In the old days, almost every kitchen had a "Kitchen Lord" statue in the kitchen. People call this god "Si Ming Bodhisattva" or "Zao Lord Siming". Legend has it that he is the "Jiutian East Chef Si Ming Zao Wangfu Lord" conferred by the Jade Emperor. He is responsible for managing the kitchen fires of each family and is regarded as the protector of the family. worship. Most of the Kitchen King's niches are located on the north or east side of the kitchen room, with the statue of the Kitchen King in the middle. Some people who don't have a niche for the Kitchen King stick the statue of the god directly on the wall. Some statues only depict the Kitchen God alone, while others include two men and women. The goddess is called "Grandma Kitchen God". This is probably an imitation of the image of a human couple. Most of the statues of the Kitchen God also have a calendar for that year printed on them, with words such as "Master of the East Chef", "God of Human Supervision", "Head of the Family", etc., to indicate the status of the Kitchen God. The couplets "God says good things, and the lower realms keep you safe" are pasted on both sides to bless the whole family.

The Kitchen God has been staying at home since the last New Year’s Eve to protect and supervise the family; on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God will ascend to heaven to report the family’s good deeds to the Jade Emperor in heaven. Or evil deeds, the ritual of sending off the Kitchen God is called "Sending the Stove" or "Citing the Stove". Based on the report of the Kitchen God, the Jade Emperor handed over the good and bad fortunes that the family should receive in the new year to the hands of the Kitchen God. Therefore, for the family, the Stove Lord's report is indeed of great interest. Sending stoves is usually held at dusk and into night. The family goes to the kitchen first, sets the table, offers incense to the Kitchen God in the shrine on the kitchen wall, and offers sugar melons made with malt sugar and noodles. Then tie bamboo strips into paper horses and fodder for livestock. Offering caramel to the Stove Lord is to sweeten his mouth. In some places, sugar is spread around the Stove Lord's mouth, and while applying it, he says: "Say more good things, but don't say bad things." This is to stuff the Stove Lord's mouth with sugar to prevent him from saying bad things. In the Tang Dynasty book "The Chronicles of the Year under the Chariot", there is a record of "smearing wine dregs on the stove to make Siming (Kitchen Lord) drunk". After people coated Stove Lord's mouth with sugar, they took off the statue, and the paper and smoke went up to heaven together. In some places, sesame straw and pine branches are piled in the yard at night, and then the Kitchen God statue that has been kept for a year is taken out of the shrine, along with the paper horse and straw, and set on fire. The yard was brightly illuminated by the fire. At this time, the family kowtowed around the fire and prayed while burning: It is the 23rd again this year, and we send the Stove Lord to the west. There are strong horses, there is fodder, and the journey is smooth and safe. The sugar melon offered is sweet. Please say good things to the Jade Emperor. When sending off the Kitchen God, in some places there are still several beggars who dress up in disguise and go from house to house singing songs and dancing to the Kitchen God, called "giving away the Kitchen God", in exchange for food. The custom of sending stoves is very common in the north and south of my country. Mr. Lu Xun once wrote the poem "Gengzi Sending Stoves to People": A chicken glues teeth with candies, and clothes are used to offer incense. If there is nothing growing in the house, there are only a few yellow sheep. He said in the article "Send the Stove Day Essay": "On the day when the Stove God ascended to heaven, a kind of candy was sold on the street, the size of an orange. We also have this kind of candy, but it is flat, like a thick candy. Small pancakes. That's the so-called glue-toothed cake. The original intention is to treat Zao Lord to eat it, so that he can't talk bad words to the Jade Emperor. The allusion comes from "The Book of the Later Han·Yin Shi Zhuan": "During the reign of Emperor Xuan, those in Yinzi Fang were extremely filial and benevolent. On the morning of the twelfth lunar month, when the kitchen god appeared, Zifang worshiped and celebrated again; there was a yellow sheep in the family, so he Since then, he has become extremely rich and prosperous, so he often sacrifices the yellow sheep to the stove during the twelfth lunar month. "Yin Zifang saw the stove god and killed the yellow sheep to sacrifice. good luck. From then on, the custom of killing yellow sheep to offer sacrifices to the stove has been passed down. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, offerings to the stove were quite abundant. Fan Chengda, a poet of the Song Dynasty, gave a very vivid description of folk sacrifices to the stove in his "Ci of Sacrifice to the Stove": According to ancient legend, on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Stove Lord looked up to the sky and wanted to say something. The clouds, the carriages, the wind, the horses, the little ones linger, and there are cups and plates in the house for the feast. The pig's head is overcooked, the fish is fresh, and the rice bait is round with sweetened bean paste and sweet pineapple. The man offers his daughter a drink to escape, and the king is happy to drink wine and burn money. Don't listen to your servants' fights, don't get angry when cats and dogs touch you. I'll send you to heaven's gate drunk and full. Don't return to the clouds with a long spoon and a short spoon, begging for profit and return points.

The sacrifice to the stove on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month is closely related to the Chinese New Year. Because, on the eve of the New Year’s Eve a week later, the Kitchen God came 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. The other gods ascend 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 ceremony of taking over the stove is usually on New Year's Eve, and the ceremony is much simpler. At that time, you only need to put on a new stove lamp and burn incense in front of the stove niche. There is a saying that "men do not worship the moon, women do not worship the stove". In some places, women do not offer sacrifices to the stove. It is said that the Stove Lord looks like a pretty boy and is afraid of women offering sacrifices to the stove. As for the origin of Stove Lord, it has a long history. Among the Chinese folk gods, the Kitchen God is considered to be very old. As early as the Xia Dynasty, he was already a great god respected by the people. According to Kong Yingda Shu in the ancient book "Book of Rites·Etiquette": "The Zhuanxu family had a son, Rili, who was Zhurong and was worshiped as the Kitchen God." "Zhuangzi. Dasheng" records: "The stove has a bun." Sima Biao commented: "The bun, The Kitchen God is dressed in red and looks like a beautiful woman. "Baopuzi. Wei Zhi" also records: "On a dark night, the Kitchen God also goes to heaven to commit crimes." These records are probably the source of worshiping the Kitchen God. Also, it may be said that the Kitchen God is the "Suiren clan" who drills wood to make fire; or it is said to be the "Fire Officer" of the Shennong clan; or it is said to be "Sujili" who "the Yellow Emperor makes the stove"; or it is said that the Kitchen God's surname is Zhang, list, name Ziguo; opinions vary. There is a rather interesting story circulating among the people. It is said that in ancient times there was a family named Zhang, two brothers, the elder brother was a plasterer and the younger brother was a painter. My brother's specialty is cooking pots. He invites guests from East Street and West Street, and they all praise him for his skill in setting up the stove. He became famous for a long time, and people from thousands of miles around called him "King Zhang Zao". It's strange that the Kitchen King Zhang always likes to meddle in other people's affairs no matter whose house he goes to build a stove. When he meets a noisy wife, he tries to persuade her. When he meets a fierce mother-in-law, he also tries to persuade her. He seems to be an elder. From now on, the neighbors would come to him if anything happened, and everyone respected him. King Zhang Zao lived for seventy years and died late at night on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. After the death of King Zhang Zao, the Zhang family was in chaos. It turned out that King Zhang Zao was the head of the family, and everything in the house was obeyed by his orders. Now that the eldest brother has passed away, the younger brother only knows poetry, calligraphy and painting. Although he is already sixty years old, he has never taken care of it. housework. The daughters-in-law of several houses were clamoring for separation, and the painter was helpless and looked sad all day long. One day, he finally came up with a good idea. On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the first anniversary of the death of King Zhang Zao, late at night, the painter suddenly called out to wake up the whole family, saying that the eldest brother had appeared. He led his son, daughter-in-law, and the whole family to the kitchen, where they saw the faces of Stove King Zhang and his late wife looming on the dark stove wall, and the flickering candlelight. The whole family was shocked. The painter said: "When I was sleeping, I dreamed that my eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law had become immortals. The Jade Emperor named him the Chef of the East of the Nine Heavens and the Lord of the Kitchen Palace. You are usually lazy and lazy, and your sisters-in-law are at odds with each other. You are disrespectful and unfilial, which makes the family gods uneasy. My eldest brother knows You are having a family separation, you are very angry, and you are going to tell the Jade Emperor that he will come to the lower world to punish you on the night of New Year's Eve." After hearing this, the children, nieces, and nephews were horrified, and immediately knelt down and kowtowed, and hurriedly fetched Zhang Stove King. He offered his favorite sweets on the stove and begged the Stove Lord for forgiveness. From then on, the often noisy uncles, brothers and wives no longer dared to act out, the whole family lived in peace, and young and old lived peacefully. After this incident was known to the neighbors, they spread the news to tens of thousands, and they all came to Zhang's house to find out the truth. In fact, the Stove King on the kitchen wall on the night of the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month was drawn in advance by the painter. He pretended that his eldest brother appeared as a ghost to scare his children, niece and daughter-in-law, but unexpectedly, this method was really effective. So when the villagers came to the painter to inquire about the situation, he had no choice but to fake it and give the painted Stove King portraits to his neighbors. As time went by, it spread along the countryside, and every household's kitchen was pasted with a statue of the Kitchen King. As time went by, the custom of making offerings to the Stove Lord on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month to pray for the safety of the family was formed. After the custom of worshiping stoves spread, starting from the Zhou Dynasty, the imperial palace also included it in sacrifice ceremonies, and the rules for worshiping stoves were established across the country, and it became a fixed ritual. Due to different customs in different places, there are also folk activities such as "Dancing the Stove King" and "beating the Stove King". "Tiao Zao Wang" is a form of folk activity developed from the ancient "Driving Nuo". It is mainly an activity of beggars. The days from the 1st to the 24th of the twelfth lunar month are the days of "Tiao Zao Wang". After entering the twelfth lunar month, beggars gather in groups, pretending to be the kitchen god and the kitchen lady, holding bamboo branches and making noise in the courtyard, begging for money. They are called "jumping the kitchen king", which also means to ward off evil spirits. This activity is mainly carried out in the southeast of our country.

Spring Festival Customs: The 23rd/24th of the twelfth lunar month--sacrifice the stove, sweep the dust, and eat stove candy (2)

After the stove sacrifice is held by sweeping the dust, it officially begins Make preparations for the New Year. Every year from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to New Year's Eve, Chinese folk call this period "Spring Day", also called "Dust Sweeping Day". Sweeping dust is the year-end cleaning. It is called "house sweeping" in the north and "dust dusting" in the south. Sweeping dust before the Spring Festival is a traditional habit of our people. 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. From north to south, everywhere is filled with the atmosphere of joyful hygiene and cleanliness to welcome the New Year. Interestingly, there is a rather strange story about the origin of sweeping dust in ancient times. Legend has it that the ancients believed that there was a three-corpse god attached to each person's body. Like a shadow, he followed the person's whereabouts and was inseparable. The Three Corpse God is a guy who likes to flatter and gossip. He often spreads rumors and causes trouble in front of the Jade Emperor, describing the human world as ugly. Over time, in the Jade Emperor's impression, the human world was simply a dirty world full of sin. once. The three corpse gods secretly reported that the world was cursing the Emperor of Heaven and wanted to rebel against the Heavenly Court. The Jade Emperor was furious and issued an edict to quickly find out the chaos in the world. Anyone who resented the gods or despised the gods would have their crimes written under the eaves. Then let the spider build a web to cover it as a mark. The Jade Emperor also ordered Wang Lingguan to go down to the realm on New Year's Eve. Anyone who met a marked family would be killed and no one would be spared. Seeing that this plan was about to succeed, the three corpse gods took the opportunity to fly down to the mortal world. Regardless of the crime, they viciously marked the eaves and corners of each house so that Wang Ling Palace would kill them all. While the Three Corpse Gods were doing evil, the Kitchen Lord discovered his whereabouts and was shocked. He hurriedly found the Kitchen Lords of various families to discuss countermeasures. So, they came up with a good idea. From the day when the stove is delivered on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month to the New Year's Eve, every household must clean the house. If the household is not clean, the Stove Lord will refuse to enter. Home. Everyone followed the Stove Lord's instructions before he ascended to heaven, sweeping away the dust, dusting away the cobwebs, cleaning the doors and windows, and making their homes look brand new. When Wang Lingguan went down to inspect the world on New Year's Eve, he found that the windows of every house were bright and clean, the lights were bright, people were reunited and happy, and the world was extremely beautiful. Wang Lingguan couldn't find any sign of bad deeds, and felt very strange. He rushed back to heaven and reported to the Jade Emperor about the peace and happiness in the world and praying for a happy new year. The Jade Emperor was greatly shocked after hearing this, and issued an edict to imprison the three corpse gods. He ordered that they should be slapped three hundred times and imprisoned forever in the heavenly prison. This human disaster was saved thanks to the Kitchen God's rescue. In order to express gratitude to the Stove Lord for helping people eliminate disasters and blessing Zhang Xiang, the people always start sweeping the dust after delivering the stove, and they are busy until New Year's Eve. The custom of "dusting and sweeping the house on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month" has a long history. According to "Lu's 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 homophones, sweeping dust in the New Year means "removing the old and spreading the new", and its purpose is to sweep away all "poor 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. "Three Corpse Gods" Taoism refers to the "gods" worshiped in the human body. According to the "Tai Shang Three Corpses Zhong Jing": "The upper corpse is named Peng Guo, and it is in the human head; the middle corpse is named Peng Zhi, and it is in the human belly; the lower corpse is named Peng Jiao, and it is in the human foot." It is also said that every time Geng Shen is born, On that day, they went to heaven to report human sins to the Emperor of Heaven; but as long as people stayed up all night on this night, they could avoid it, which was called "Shou Geng Shen". Eat Zao Tang Zao Tang is a kind of maltose, which is very sticky. When it is drawn into a long candy stick, it is called "Guandong candy", and when it is drawn into an oblate shape, it is called "Tanggua". Put it outside the house in winter. Because of the severe cold weather, the sugar melon solidifies and has some tiny bubbles inside. It tastes crispy, sweet and crispy, with a unique flavor. Real Kanto candy is extremely hard and cannot be broken when dropped. It must be split with a kitchen knife when eating. The material is very heavy and fine. The taste is slightly sour, and there is absolutely no honeycomb in the middle. Each piece weighs one tael, two taels, or four taels, and the price is also more expensive. There are two kinds of sugar melons, those without sesame seeds and those without sesame seeds. They are made of sugar into the shape of melon or pumpkin. The center is hollow and the skin is less than five minutes thick. Although the sizes are different, the transaction is still calculated based on the weight. Large sugar melons have It weighs only one or two kilograms, but it is used as a cover, and few people buy it.

Spring Festival customs: On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month - pick up the Jade Emperor to attend the Silkworm Thousand Lantern Festival

After sending the Kitchen God to heaven, he will not welcome him back until New Year's Eve. During this period, there is no divine jurisdiction in the world and there are no taboos. , there are many people getting married, which is called "chaotic year".

Chaosui is a specific period of time designed for the people to adjust their social life. At the end of the year, people have leisure and savings. This is a good time for people who rarely have the energy to take care of big things. The old custom of Jie Jade Emperor believed that after the Kitchen God ascended to heaven, the Heavenly Emperor Jade Emperor personally descended to the world on the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month to inspect the good and evil in the world and determine the good and bad fortune of the coming year. Therefore, every family offered sacrifices to pray for blessings, which is called "Jie Jade Emperor". ". On this day, you must be cautious in your daily life and words, and strive to perform well in order to win the favor of the Jade Emperor and bring blessings to you in the coming year. The God of Chaos is not allowed to return until New Year's Eve after he sends the Kitchen God to heaven. During this period, there is no god in the world, there are no taboos, and many people get married, which is called the "Churching New Year". Chaosui is a specific period of time designed for the people to adjust their social life. At the end of the year, people have leisure and savings. This is a good time for people who rarely have the energy to take care of big things. Therefore, people invented this special time folk custom according to the needs of real life. It can be seen that in traditional societies, the order of people's lives relies on folk customs for regulation. Zhaotian silkworm, also called "Shaotian silkworm", "Zhaotian silkworm", "Shaotian wealth", is a folk custom of praying for good luck in the Jiangnan area. On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, long poles tied with torches are erected in the fields to use the flames to divine the new year. If the flames are strong, they will herald a good harvest in the coming year. Some places hold this event on New Year's Eve. The Thousand Lanterns Festival is a religious festival of the Mongolian and Daur people. In Mongolian, it is called "Mingganzhuola", which means Thousand Lanterns Festival. On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, people make "mingganzhuola" and light them in the temple. It is believed that the more lights they light, the more auspicious they will be. This festival custom is most popular among the Virat Mongolian people in Xinjiang. Local people eat roast beef and mutton and hold traditional sports and entertainment activities on this day.

Spring Festival customs: Bathing customs on the 27th/28th of the twelfth lunar month

In traditional folk customs, bathing and laundry should be concentrated on these two days to get rid of the bad luck of the year and prepare for the coming year. During the Chinese New Year, there is a proverb in Beijing: "Twenty-seven will wash away guilt and twenty-eight will wash away sloppiness." Taking a bath on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month is "washing fortune and fortune". Bathing: According to traditional folk customs, people should bathe and wash clothes intensively during these two days to get rid of the bad luck of the year and prepare for the coming New Year. There is a proverb in Beijing that "twenty-seven will wash away guilt and illness, and twenty-eight will wash away sloppiness." Taking a bath on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month is "washing fortune and fortune".

Spring Festival Customs: The 29th day of the twelfth lunar month/Little New Year’s Eve to catch up with the new year

The day before New Year’s Eve is called “Little New Year’s Eve”, families hold banquets, and people visit each other called “Farewell” . Burning incense outdoors is called "tianxiang" and usually takes three days. Little New Year's Eve The day before New Year's Eve is called "Little New Year's Eve". There is a banquet at home and people call it "farewell". Burning incense outdoors is called "tianxiang" and usually takes three days. Celebrating the New Year is a traditional festival of the Tujia people, also called the "New Year Meeting". The Tujia people celebrate the Spring Festival one or several days earlier than the Han people. The legend about Tujia people’s “celebration of the New Year”: 1. In the Ming Dynasty, Tujia soldiers were dispatched to the southeast coast to fight against the Japanese. When the military order was urgent, they celebrated the New Year in advance and rushed to the front line. The soldiers fought bravely and achieved "the first military exploit in the southeast." To commemorate this expedition, later generations moved the New Year's Day forward as a custom. 2． The ancestors of the Tujia Nationality were poor, so they had to work for the rich on the 30th of the New Year, and celebrate the New Year in advance so that they could reunite with their families. 3． In the old days, every New Year's Eve, officers and soldiers came all over to drive away the people. Tujia people celebrated the New Year in advance and had a reunion dinner in order to escape. 4. The Tujia ancestors fought against foreign aggression and had New Year's dinner in advance to face the battle.

Spring Festival customs: The 30th day of the twelfth lunar month - New Year's Eve/posting door gods/posting Spring Festival couplets/staying up late/eating New Year's Eve dinner/New Year's money/

The word "Chu" in "New Year's Eve" is "go" New Year's Eve means "the end of the month and the end of the year". People have to get rid of the old and replace the old with the new. It means to get rid of the old and replace it with the new in the coming year. It is the last night of the lunar calendar. Therefore, the activities during this period are centered around eliminating the old and bringing in the new, eliminating disasters and praying for blessings. New Year's Eve New Year's Eve refers to the night of the last day of the twelfth lunar month every year, which is connected with the Spring Festival (the first day of the first lunar month). The word "Chu" in "New Year's Eve" means "to go; to change; to change". The meaning of New Year's Eve is "the end of the month and the end of the year." People have to get rid of the old and replace the old with the new. means, it is the last night of the whole year in the lunar calendar. Therefore, the activities during this period are centered around eliminating the old and bringing in the new, eliminating disasters and praying for blessings. During the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, at the end of each year, the palace would hold a "Da Nuo" ceremony, beating drums to drive away the ghosts of plague and disaster, which was called "Zhuchu". Later, the day before New Year's Eve was also called Xiaochu, that is, Little New Year's Eve; New Year's Eve is New Year's Eve, that is, New Year's Eve.

Sticking to the door god

There is a custom of sticking to the door god during the New Year in various parts of my country. The original door god was carved into a human form of peach wood and hung next to the person. Later, the portrait of the door god was painted and posted on the door. The legendary brothers Shen Tu and Yu Lei specialize in controlling ghosts. With them guarding the door, evil spirits big and small dare not come in and cause harm. After the Tang Dynasty, there were paintings of the fierce generals Qin Qiong and Yuchi Jingde as door gods, and there were also paintings of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei as door gods. There is one door god statue on the left and right door respectively. Later generations often painted a pair of door gods as civil and military. There are three types of door gods: the first type is the "door god", which is usually posted on the car door or the entire door. It is about four or five feet high and two or three feet wide. The second type is the "street door god", which is usually posted on the small street door. It is about two feet high and one foot wide. These two door gods are two gods, one with a black face and one with a white face. White left and black right, white good and easy, black ferocious and evil, each holding a yue. The third category is the "house door god", which is slightly smaller and more limited than the street door god. It also has two gods, black and white, but there are also two gods, black and white, who are seated. The most common thing on the door of the house is a picture of "Qilin delivering his son", two dolls painted with powder and grease and combed with crowns of princes, each riding a Qilin. This kind of door god was supposed to be posted on the door of the newly married house to bring good luck, and later it became a New Year decoration on ordinary street doors.

Spring Festival customs: Pay New Year greetings/divine fortune/gather wealth on the first day of the first lunar month

This day is the first day of the year, the first day of spring, and the first day of the first month, so it is called " "Three Yuan"; this day is also the dynasty of the year, the dynasty of the month, and the dynasty of the sun, so it is also called "Three Chaos". In different historical periods, China has changed the time of the first day of the first lunar month according to its own cultural traditions and customs. The Spring Festival is commonly known as "Chinese New Year", formerly known as "New Year's Day". Du Taiqing of the Sui Dynasty said in "Five Candles": "The first month is the Dragon Moon, and its first day is the Yuan Day, which is also the Zhengchao and Yuan Shuo." "Yuan" The original meaning of "head" was later extended to "beginning", because this day is the first day of the year, the first day of spring, the first day of the first month, so it is called "Sanyuan"; because this day is also the dynasty of the year, The moon is in the dynasty and the sun is in the dynasty, so it is also called the "Three Dynasties"; and because it is the first lunar day, it is also called the "Yuan shuo". The first day of the first lunar month is also known as Shangri, Zhengchao, Sanshuo, and Sanshi, which means that the first day of the first lunar month is the beginning of the year, month, and day. China is an ancient multi-ethnic country. Different nationalities in different historical periods have determined their own New Year's Day based on their own cultural traditions and customs, that is, changing it to "Zhengshuo" and correcting the time of the first day of the lunar month. Emperor Zhuanxu and the Xia Dynasty both used the first lunar month of Mengchun as the Yuan Dynasty, that is, using the Xia calendar of the Jian Yin period, the first day of the first lunar month was New Year's Day; the Shang Dynasty used the Yin calendar, and the Yin calendar Jian Chou took the first day of the twelfth lunar month as the New Year's Day; the Zhou Dynasty used the Zhou calendar, and the Zhou Dynasty used the Zhou calendar. The first day of the 11th month of the lunar calendar was used as New Year's Day; the Qin Dynasty used the Qin calendar, which marked the first day of the 11th lunar month as New Year's Day; the Qin calendar was still used in the early Western Han Dynasty, and was switched to the first year of Taichu in the Han Dynasty (AD 104). The Taichu calendar created by Sima Qian and Luo Xiahong reused Jianyin's Xia calendar, with the first day of the first lunar month as New Year's Day. From then on, except for Wang Mang and Emperor Ming of Wei who once switched to the Yin calendar of Jian Chou, and Empress Wu and Su Zong of the Tang Dynasty switched to the Zhou calendar of Jian Zi, all dynasties used the Xia calendar until the end of the Qing Dynasty. The Revolution of 1911 overthrew the monarchy, and the day before Sun Yat-sen traveled from Shanghai to Nanjing to take office, the Nanjing Senate decided to switch to the Gregorian calendar and use the Republic of China to mark the year. However, the lunar calendar has been in use for a long time and is helpful for arranging farm work. Therefore, people still prefer the lunar calendar. On the morning of the Spring Festival, when the door opens, firecrackers are set off first, which is called "opening the 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 "name thorn". After the Ming Dynasty, many families put a red paper bag on their door to collect name cards, called a "door book". The forms of mutual New Year greetings between people can be roughly divided into four categories based on their social relationships: First, 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 long periods of time. You can only say a few polite words before leaving. After the host has been worshiped, he should choose a day to return to worship.

The third is a thank you 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 among peers. 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 bid farewell to the old year, welcome the new year, and 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, which was called "flying invitations." A red paper bag was posted in front of each house with the word "Receive blessings" written on it, that is, For the purpose of 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 who lives a hundred years, and 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 Grand Scholar 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 too 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. Around the time of the Qing Dynasty, the form of "group worship" was added to the New Year greetings. Yilanzhu, a Qing Dynasty man, said in "Si Mao Yu Tan": "At the beginning of the year, the capital routinely conducts group worship to bond the New Year's friendship and strengthen the nostalgia." "Every year, guests will be booked by the New Year's Booklet, and they will have dinner and banquets to enjoy themselves every year." 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 "Ye Bao Festival", and after the tenth day of the Lunar New Year, it is called "Lantern Festival", so there is a joke that "it is not too late to eat cold food if you are willing to pay New Year greetings". If for some reason you fail to perform the rituals in time and make up for it in the future, it is called "paying homage to the old age." In the old days, people used the cloudy and sunny weather in the first few days of the New Year to calculate the annual success of the year. 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 that no chickens are killed on the first day of the lunar month, dogs are not killed on the second day of the lunar month, pigs are not killed on the third day of the lunar month... no executions are carried out on the seventh day of the lunar month. Chicken Stickers 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 you will sweep away luck, lose money, and attract the "broom star", which will bring 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.