Investigation on Folk Customs of Hengshui Spring Festival

Spring Festival is an ancient festival in our country, and it is also the most important festival in the whole year. How to celebrate this festival has formed some relatively fixed customs and habits in thousands of years of historical development, and many of them are still passed down to this day.

Sweep the dust

"Sweep the dust and sweep the house on the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month". According to Lu Chunqiu, China had the custom of sweeping the dust in the Spring Festival in the Yao and Shun era. According to the folk saying: Because of the homonym of "dust" and "Chen", sweeping dust in the Spring Festival has the meaning of "except Chen Buxin", and its intention is to sweep away all bad luck and bad luck. This custom is entrusted with people's desire to break through the old and establish the new and their prayer to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, every household should clean the environment, clean all kinds of appliances, tear down and wash bedding curtains, sweep the six yards, dust cobwebs and dredge open channels and culverts. Everywhere is filled with the joyful atmosphere of engaging in sanitation and welcoming the Spring Festival cleanly.

lucky money

When visiting the New Year in the Spring Festival, the elders should distribute the lucky money prepared in advance to the younger generation. It is said that the lucky money can suppress evil spirits, because "old" and "precious" are homophonic, and the younger generation can spend one year safely with the lucky money. There are two kinds of lucky money, one is to thread colored rope into a dragon shape and put it at the foot of the bed, which is recorded in Yanjing Year; The other is the most common, that is, parents wrap the money distributed to their children in red paper. The lucky money can be given in public after the younger generation pays New Year's greetings, or it can be put under the child's pillow by parents when the child is asleep on New Year's Eve.

It is believed by the people that if lucky money is given to children, when evil spirits or "Nian" harm children, children can use the money to bribe them and turn evil into good luck. In the poem "Lucky Money" by Wu Manyun, a Qing dynasty, it is said: "A hundred dollars is long in colored thread, and then it is collected from the pillow, and the price of firecrackers is discussed, which makes Jiao Er busy all night." From this point of view, the lucky money is tied to children's hearts, and children's lucky money is mainly used to buy firecrackers, toys and candy and other things needed for festivals.

At present, the custom of handing out lucky money to the younger generation by elders is still prevalent. The amount of lucky money varies from tens to hundreds. These lucky money are mostly used by children to buy books and school supplies. The new fashion has given new content to the lucky money.

posting Spring Festival couplets

Spring Festival couplets are also called door couplets, spring stickers, couplets, couplets, peach symbols, etc. They depict the background of the times and express good wishes with neat, dual, concise and exquisite words, which is a unique literary form in China. Every Spring Festival, no matter in urban or rural areas, every household should select a pair of bright red Spring Festival couplets and stick them on the door to add festive atmosphere to the festival. This custom originated in the Song Dynasty and became popular in the Ming Dynasty. By the Qing Dynasty, the ideology and artistry of Spring Festival couplets had been greatly improved. Liang Zhangju's monograph "The Story of the Spring Festival Couplets" discussed the origin of Spring Festival couplets and the characteristics of various works.

There are many kinds of Spring Festival couplets, which can be divided into door hearts, frame pairs, horizontal stripes, spring strips and square fights according to their usage places. The "door core" is attached to the center of the upper end of the door panel; The "frame pair" is attached to the left and right door frames; "Cross-dressing" is attached to the crossbar of the door; "Spring strips" are posted in corresponding places according to different contents; "Dou Jin", also called "door leaf", is a square diamond, which is often attached to furniture and screen walls.

stick grilles and the word "Fu" upside down

In the folk, people also like to stick various paper-cuts on the windows-window grilles. Window grilles not only set off the festive atmosphere, but also integrate decoration, appreciation and practicality. Paper-cutting is a very popular folk art in China, which has been loved by people for thousands of years. Because it is mostly stuck on the window, it is also called "window flower". With its unique generalization and exaggeration, window grilles show auspicious things and good wishes incisively and vividly, and decorate the festival with splendor.

At the same time of putting up Spring Festival couplets, some families should put large and small "Fu" characters on the doors, walls and lintels. Sticking the word "Fu" in the Spring Festival is a long-standing folk custom in China. The word "Fu" refers to good fortune and good fortune, which places people's longing for a happy life and wishes for a bright future. In order to fully reflect this yearning and wish, some people simply paste the word "fu" upside down, indicating that "happiness has arrived" and "blessing has arrived". There are also people who elaborate the word "Fu" into various patterns, such as longevity, longevity peach, carp jumping over the dragon gate, abundant grains, dragons and phoenixes, and so on.

New Year pictures

Hanging 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 lot of prosperous and happy festive atmosphere to thousands of families. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China, reflecting people's simple customs and beliefs and pinning their hopes for the future. New Year pictures, like Spring Festival couplets, originated from "door gods". With the rise of woodblock printing, the content of New Year pictures is not limited to monotonous themes such as door gods, but has become rich and colorful. In some New Year pictures workshops, classic color New Year pictures such as Three Stars of Fu Lushou, heavenly god blesses the people, Harvest of Five Grains, Prosperity of Six Livestock, and Greeting the Spring with Happiness have been produced to meet people's good wishes of celebrating and praying for the New Year. There are three important producing areas of New Year pictures in China: Taohuawu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong; Three schools of Chinese New Year pictures have been formed, each with its own characteristics.

China's earliest collection of New Year pictures in China today is the woodcut New Year pictures of the Southern Song Dynasty, which show four ancient beauties: Wang Zhaojun, Zhao Feiyan, Ban Ji and Lvzhu. The most popular among the people is a New Year picture of Marrying a Mouse. It depicts an interesting scene in which a mouse marries a bride according to human customs. In the early years of the Republic of China, Zheng Mantuo of Shanghai combined the calendar with the New Year pictures. This is a new form of New Year pictures. This new year's picture, which combines two into one, later developed into a calendar and has been popular all over the country.

observing new year's eve

observing new year's eve is one of the most important annual customs, and the custom of observing new year's eve has a long history. The earliest record was found in the "Local Records" in the Western Jin Dynasty: on New Year's Eve, all parties gave gifts, which was called "giving the year back"; Wine and food are invited, which is called "don't be old"; It is called "dividing the age" when the young and the old gather to drink and wish a complete song; Everyone stays up all night, waiting for the morning, which is called "keeping the old age".

"One night is even two years old, and the evening shift is divided into two days". On New Year's Eve, the whole family get together, eat New Year's Eve, light candles or oil lamps, sit around the stove and chat, wait for the time to say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new year, and keep vigil all night, which symbolizes driving away all evil diseases and epidemics and looking forward to good luck and good luck in the new year. This custom gradually became popular. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, wrote a poem "Shounian": "Cold resigns from winter snow, and warmth brings spring breeze". To this day, people are used to keeping the new year's eve and welcoming the new year.

In ancient times, observing the old age had two meanings: the old people's observing the old age means "resigning from the old age", which means cherishing time; Young people keep their age to prolong the life of their parents. Since the Han dynasty, the time when the old and the new years alternate is generally at midnight.

Firecrackers

There is a folk saying in China that "open the door to firecrackers". That is, at the arrival of the new year, the first thing for every household to open the door is to set off firecrackers to eliminate the old and welcome the new with the sound of firecrackers. Firecrackers are a specialty of China, also known as "firecrackers", "firecrackers" and "firecrackers". Its origin is very early, and it has a history of more than two thousand years. Setting off firecrackers can create a festive and lively atmosphere, which is a kind of entertainment in festivals and can bring happiness and good luck to people. With the passage of time, the application of firecrackers has become more and more extensive, and the varieties and colors have become more and more numerous. Every major festival and happy event celebration, as well as marriage, building a house, opening a business, etc., firecrackers should be set off to celebrate and make a good luck. At present, Liuyang in Hunan, Foshan and Dongyao in Guangdong, Yichun and Pingxiang in Jiangxi, Wenzhou in Zhejiang and other regions are famous hometown of fireworks in China. The firecrackers produced are of many colors and high quality, which are not only sold well in the whole country, but also exported to the world.

Happy New Year

On the first day of the New Year, people get up early, put on their most beautiful clothes, dress up neatly, go out to visit relatives and friends, and wish each other a happy New Year. There are many ways to pay New Year's greetings, some of which are led by the same clan leader to pay New Year's greetings door to door. Some colleagues invite several people to pay New Year greetings; There are also people who get together to congratulate each other, which is called "group worship". Because it took time and effort to pay a New Year call at home, some elites and scholars later used stickers to congratulate each other, thus developing the later "new year card".

During the Spring Festival, the younger generation should first pay New Year greetings to their elders, wishing them a long and healthy life. The elders can distribute the lucky money prepared in advance to the younger generation. It is said that the lucky money can suppress evil spirits, because "old" and "precious" are homophonic, and the younger generation can spend one year safely with the lucky money. There are two kinds of lucky money, one is to thread colored rope into a dragon shape and put it at the foot of the bed, which is recorded in Yanjing Year; The other is the most common, that is, parents wrap the money distributed to their children in red paper. The lucky money can be given in public after the younger generation pays New Year's greetings, or it can be secretly put under the child's pillow by parents when the child falls asleep on New Year's Eve. It is still popular for elders to distribute lucky money to younger generations.

An important activity in the Spring Festival is to celebrate the Spring Festival at the homes and neighbors of new friends and friends, formerly known as New Year greetings. The wind of the Han people's New Year greetings has existed in the Han Dynasty. It was very popular after the Tang and Song Dynasties, and some people who don't have to go in person can use famous cards to congratulate them. It was called "thorn" in the Eastern Han Dynasty, so the business card was also called "famous thorn". After the Ming Dynasty, many people put up a red paper bag at the door to collect famous cards, called "door book".

According to their social relations, the forms of people visiting each other to pay New Year greetings can be roughly divided into four categories:

First, visiting relatives. On the first day, you must go to your father-in-law and bring gifts. After entering the door, first bow down to the Buddha statue, ancestor image and memorial tablet, and then bow down to the elders in turn. You can stay for dinner and play.

the second is a courtesy visit. If you wish to pay a New Year call to your colleagues and friends, you should only bow to the Buddha statue when you enter the house. If you are equal to your master, you only need to bow. If you are older than yourself, you should still take the initiative to bow down. The master should step down from his seat to help you, and even say no ceremony to show humility. This kind of situation is generally not suitable for sitting for a long time, so you should leave after a few pleasantries. After the host is worshipped, he should pay a return visit on another day.

the third is a thank-you visit. Anyone who has been indebted to others (such as lawyers and doctors) for the past year will buy some gifts to send, and take the opportunity of paying a New Year call to express his thanks.

the fourth is a door-to-door visit. For the neighbors, we don't have much contact with each other in the past, but we can get along well when we meet. On the New Year's Eve, we just go to the courtyard and say, "Congratulations and make a fortune" and "Shun Shun Bai Shun" when we meet each other. We just sit in the house for a while without much etiquette.

In ancient times, there was a distinction between New Year greetings and New Year greetings: New Year greetings were to knock on the elders; The New Year is a time for peers to congratulate each other. Now, some organizations, groups, enterprises and schools get together to congratulate each other, which is called "group worship".

New Year greeting is a traditional folk custom in China, and it is a way for people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and express their best wishes to each other. In ancient times, the original meaning of the word "Happy New Year" was to celebrate the New Year for the elderly, including kowtowing to the elderly, congratulating them on the happy New Year, and greeting them about their lives. In case of friends and relatives of the same generation, we should also salute and congratulate them.

in ancient times, if there were too many relatives and friends in the neighborhood to visit all over the house, it was called "flying post" to send servants with business cards to pay New Year greetings. A red paper bag with the word "Jiefu" written on it was put in front of each house, which was the purpose of flying the post. This custom began in the upper class of the Song Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty's "The Moon Order of Yantai" describes the Beijing New Year Festival: "It's the moon, the film flies, and the car goes empty." Become fashionable. A large family has a special "door book" to record the guests' exchanges and flying photos. The front page of the door book has four virtual "relatives": one is a centenarian who lives in a centenarian lane; One said that he was rich and lived in Yuanbao Street; One is your infinite adult, living in the university archway; One day, Fu Zhao visited his master and lived in Five Blessingg Building. In order to get lucky. So far, giving new year card and New Year cards in the Spring Festival is the legacy of this ancient exchange of flying cards.

It is a custom for the upper-class scholars to congratulate each other with famous cards. Zhou Hui, a Song Dynasty poet, said in Qingbo Magazine: "During Song Yuanyou's reign, servants were often used to stab people in the name of the New Year." At that time, the scholar-officials had a wide circle of friends, so it would take time and energy to pay New Year's greetings everywhere. Therefore, some friends who were not closely related did not go there in person, but sent servants to take a card cut with plum blossom stationery, two inches wide and three inches long, with the name, address and congratulations of the recipient written on it. In the Ming dynasty, people paid a visit instead of paying New Year's greetings. Wen Zhiming, an outstanding painter and poet in the Ming Dynasty, described in the poem "New Year": "I don't want to meet each other, but I am fluent, and the famous papers are full of cover; I also throw a few papers with people, and the world hates being too simple and not too empty. " The "name thorn" and "name divination" mentioned here are the origins of today's new year cards. New Year cards are used to connect feelings and exchange greetings, which are convenient and practical, and are still popular today.

since the Qing dynasty, the form of "group worship" has been added to the New Year greetings. In Yu Tan on the Side Hat, the master of Qing people's art said: "At the beginning of the year, the capital will make a routine group worship, so as to unite the friendship of the New Year and to express the nostalgia", and "every year, guests will be booked by the book of the year, and a banquet will be held to celebrate the day".

With the development of the times, new contents and forms have been added to the custom of New Year greetings. Nowadays, in addition to following the previous New Year's greetings, etiquette telegrams and telephone New Year's greetings have sprung up.

But from the first day of the first month to the fifth day of the first month, most families do not receive women, which is called "taboo". It is only for men to go out to pay New Year's greetings, while women can't go out to visit until after the sixth day of the first month. The New Year's greetings will be extended for a long time until the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month. In the evening, visiting people to pay New Year's greetings is called "Night Worship Festival", and it is called "Lantern Festival" after the tenth day of the lunar calendar, so there is a joke that "it is not too late to have a cold meal".