Holiday customs of the Spring Festival

Spring Festival is the first day of the first lunar month, also known as the lunar year, commonly known as "Chinese New Year". This is the most grand and lively traditional festival among Chinese people. The Spring Festival has a long history, which originated from the activities of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors at the beginning and end of the Yin and Shang Dynasties. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the first day of the first month is called Yuanri, Yuanchen, Yuanzheng, Yuanshuo, New Year's Day, etc., commonly known as the first day of the first month, but it was thirty years ago. Hehe, it's probably the same level as Christmas Eve.

how should we spend the traditional Spring Festival?

the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month: Take the Jade Emperor to drive out the chaos and take care of the silkworm in the field

Take the Jade Emperor

It is old custom that the kitchen god went to heaven, and the Jade Emperor himself went down to the lower world on the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month to check the good and evil on earth and decide the fortunes of the coming year, so every family offered a blessing to him, which is called "Take the Jade Emperor". On this day, we should be careful in our daily life and words, and strive for good performance in order to win the favor of the Jade Emperor and bring good fortune to the coming year.

To drive away the chaos

It is called "to drive away the chaos" when the Kitchen God is sent to the kitchen until New Year's Eve, during which there is no god's jurisdiction on earth. In all is forgiven, people often marry. Luannian is a specific period designed by the people for themselves to adjust social life. At the end of the year, people have leisure and savings, which is a good opportunity for those who are rarely proficient in today's focus:

to do great things. Therefore, people invented this special time folk custom according to the needs of real life. It can be seen that in traditional society, people's living order is regulated by folk customs.

Zhaotian Silkworm

is also called "burning field silkworm", "Zhaotian Silkworm" and "burning field wealth", which is a popular folk custom of praying for the New Year in the south of the Yangtze River. On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, the long pole tied with the torch will stand in the field, and the flame will be used to predict the New Year, and the flourishing flame will herald a bumper harvest in the coming year. This activity is held in some places on New Year's Eve.

Thousand Lantern Festival

is a religious festival of Mongolian and Daur. Mongolian is called "Minggan Zhuola", which means Thousand Lantern Festival. On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, people make "Ming Gan Zhuo La" and light it in the temple, thinking that the more they order, the more auspicious they are. This festival custom is the most popular among Mongolians in Vilat, Xinjiang. On this day, local people eat roast beef and mutton and hold traditional sports and recreational activities.

twelfth lunar month: New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve

The day before New Year's Eve is called "New Year's Eve", and people call it "New Year's Eve" when they visit each other. Burning incense outdoors is called "Tianxiang", which usually takes three days.

New Year's Eve on the 31st of the twelfth lunar month: Stick up the door, stick up the Spring Festival couplets and set off firecrackers

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve refers to the evening of the last day of the twelfth lunar month every year, which is connected with the Spring Festival (the first day of the first month). The word "except" in "New Year's Eve" is "go"; Easy; The meaning of "alternate" is that New Year's Eve means "the month is poor and the old year is exhausted". People have to get rid of the old department and get rid of the old year, and the next year means to get a new year. It is the last night of the lunar year. Therefore, the activities during this period are centered on eliminating the old and renewing the new, eliminating disasters and praying for blessings.

At the end of each year in the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, a ceremony of "exorcising" was held in the palace to beat drums to drive away the ghosts of plague, which was called "exorcising", and later called "exorcising" the day before New Year's Eve, that is, New Year's Eve. New year's eve is the big one, that is, New Year's Eve.

Door-sticking deity

There is a custom of door-sticking deity all over China during the New Year. At first, the doorkeeper carved mahogany into a human figure and hung it next to people. Later, it was painted as a doorkeeper and posted on the door. The legendary shentu and Yu Lei brothers specialize in ghosts, and they guard the portal, so evil spirits dare not enter the portal to do harm. After the Tang Dynasty, Qin Qiong and Wei Chijingde, two valiant soldiers, were painted as gatekeepers, and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were painted as gatekeepers. There is one door god for each household, and later generations often paint a pair of door gods as a martial art. Door gods are divided into three categories: the first category is the "door gods", which are mostly attached to the door or the whole door, about four or five feet high and two or three feet wide. The second category is the "door gods of street doors", which are attached to small street doors, about two feet high and one foot wide. These two door gods are two deities with a black face and a white face. White left and black right, white good and easy, black and evil, each holding a slap in the face. The third category is the "Door-keeper", which is slightly smaller and limited than the Street-keeper. It is also a black-and-white Er Shen, but there are also black-and-white Er Shen sitting like a statue. At most, the door is plastered with a picture of "Kirin sending a child", and two dolls with rich powder and fat comb crown, each riding Kirin. This kind of door god should have been posted on the newly married door for good luck, and later it was also used as a New Year ornament for ordinary street doors.

posting Spring Festival couplets

Spring Festival couplets, also known as "door couplets" and "spring couplets", are a kind of couplets, hence the name because they are posted during the Spring Festival. One source of Spring Festival couplets is Taofu. At first, people carved figures in mahogany and hung them by the door to ward off evil spirits. Later, they painted the door gods on the mahogany, and then simplified them to write the names of the door gods on the mahogany board. Another source of Spring Festival couplets is spring stickers. The ancients posted the word "Yichun" more and more in beginning of spring, and it gradually developed into Spring Festival couplets. The real popularization of Spring Festival couplets began in the Ming Dynasty, which was related to Zhu Yuanzhang's advocacy. According to Chen Shanggu's Miscellaneous Notes on Maoyun Building in the Qing Dynasty, one year when Zhu Yuanzhang was preparing for the New Year, he ordered that a picture of Spring Festival couplets should be posted on every door to celebrate. Originally, the Spring Festival couplets were inscribed on the mahogany board, and later rewritten on paper. The color of mahogany is red, which means auspiciousness and avoiding evil, so most Spring Festival couplets are written in red paper. However, the temples are made of yellow paper, and the shouzhi (mourning is not full) is made of white, green and Huang San. In the first year, white paper is used, in the second year, green paper is used, in the third year, yellow paper is used, and in the fourth year, red paper is restored after mourning is full. Because Manchu is still white, Qing court Spring Festival couplets are wrapped in white paper, with blue edges outside and red stripes inside.

Posting blessings, stick grilles, New Year pictures, and hanging thousands

All these have the folk functions of blessing and decorating the residence. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China. They reflect the customs and beliefs of the people and place their hopes on the future. New Year pictures, like Spring Festival couplets, originated from "door gods". Spring Festival couplets developed from the names of shentu and Yu Lei to characters, while New Year pictures still developed along the direction of painting. With the rise of woodblock printing, the content of New Year pictures is not limited to the door gods, but gradually invites the god of wealth to the home, and then in some New Year pictures workshops, colorful New Year pictures such as Three Stars of Fu Lushou, heavenly god blesses the people, Harvest of Five Grains, Prosperity of Six Livestock, Greeting the Spring and Blessing the New Year are produced to meet people's good wishes of celebrating and praying for the New Year. Because Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of Ming Dynasty, advocated sticking couplets on the Spring Festival, New Year pictures became popular, and three important producing areas of New Year pictures appeared in China: Taohuawu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong. Formed three schools of Chinese New Year pictures. 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 two-in-one New Year picture was later developed into a calendar. Hanging a thousand is engraved on red paper with auspicious words, with a long ruler and a zhi, which is stuck in front of the door and reflects the peach symbol. Those with the Eight Immortals on them are hung in front of the Buddha. Hanging thousands of households use it more, and aristocratic families use it less. Its yellow paper is three inches long and red paper is more than one inch long, which is a "small hanging thousand" and is used by shops. The earliest hanging of thousands of coins was linked by making money (copper coins), which, like lucky money, had the effect of overwhelming victory.

set the table for heaven and earth

This is a temporary table for offering, which is specially designed for New Year's Eve. Generally, the house without a big Buddhist temple pays special attention to the table of heaven and earth, because there are few sacrifices to the Buddha at ordinary times, and the Buddha is rewarded once at the end of the year. In addition, this table is mainly used for receiving gods. The contents of the Heaven-Earth Table are different from those of the perennial Buddhist temples. Apart from hanging money, incense sticks, five offerings and big offerings, most of its idols are temporary, such as "Percent", which is a woodcut version of the idol album; "Eighteen Buddhas and Gods in the Three Realms of Heaven and Earth" is a full-length code for color printing with large yellow fringed paper wood engraving. Fu Lushou's Samsung portrait, etc. Some of the above images are incinerated after receiving the gods, such as "percentage". Others will not be burned until the fifth or even the Lantern Festival. The location of the table is not uniform. If the room is spacious, it can be placed in the house. If there is no land in the house, it can be placed in the courtyard. Legend has it that this night is the time when the gods in the sky are in the lower bound, so the people have this custom of receiving gods.

observing the new year

Chinese people have the habit of observing the new year's eve, which is commonly called "endure the new year". Watching the New Year begins with eating New Year's Eve. This New Year's Eve dinner should be eaten slowly, from the time when the lantern is lit, and some families have to eat it until late at night. According to Zonggu's Record of Jingchu's Years Old, it was customary to have New Year's Eve dinner at least in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The custom of observing the old age not only contains feelings of farewell and nostalgia for the years that have passed away like water, but also expresses good hope for the coming New Year.

set off firecrackers

At midnight, the New Year bell rings, and the sound of firecrackers reverberates all over China. In this "three-yuan" moment of "the yuan of the year, the yuan of the month and the yuan of the time", some places still set up "Wang Huo" in the courtyard to show that Wang Qi is soaring and prosperous. Around the blazing fire, the children set off firecrackers and danced happily. At this time, there were bright lights in the house, bright sparks in front of the court and deafening noises outside the house, which pushed the lively atmosphere of New Year's Eve to the climax. Poets of all ages always praise the coming of the New Year with the most beautiful poems.

Wang Anshi's poem "January Day":

The sound of firecrackers makes one year old, and

Spring breeze warms Tu Su.

every household has a pupil day.

Always change new peaches for old ones.

depicts the grand festive scene of Chinese people celebrating the Spring Festival. The sound of firecrackers is a sign to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and an expression of festive mood. Businessmen. Setting off firecrackers has another meaning: they set off firecrackers on New Year's Eve to make a big profit in the new year. However, according to the old custom, respect for the god of wealth should be the first, and setting off firecrackers should be the last. Legend has it that if you want to make a fortune, the firecrackers will ring until the end.

Eating New Year's Eve

When the children are playing and setting off firecrackers, it is also the busiest time for housewives in the kitchen. The New Year's Eve dishes are all cooked a few days ago, and the New Year's Eve is always cooked by the chef on the 3th. In the north, jiaozi on the first day of the Lunar New Year will also be packed out on the 3th night. At this time, everyone's chopping boards are busy chopping meat and vegetables. At this time, the sound of chopping boards coming from every household, firecrackers coming from streets and alleys, the sound of "crackling" abacus and the cadence of reimbursement coming from shops and shops, mixed with laughter everywhere, are one after another, echoing with joy, interwoven into a cheerful movement on New Year's Eve.

Eating New Year's Eve is the most lively and enjoyable time for every household in the Spring Festival. On New Year's Eve, a table was filled with rich new year's dishes, and the whole family was reunited, sitting around the table, and having a family reunion dinner, the sense of fulfillment in my heart was really unspeakable. People not only enjoy the delicious food on the table, but also enjoy the happy atmosphere. There are big dishes, cold dishes, hot fried dishes and snacks on the table. Generally, two things are indispensable, one is hot pot, and the other is fish. The hot pot is boiling, steaming, warm and sultry, indicating that it is booming; "Fish" and "Yu" are homophonic, which is a symbol of "more than auspicious celebration" and also a metaphor for "more than every year". There are also radishes, commonly known as vegetable heads, wishing you good luck; Lobster, fried fish and other fried foods, I wish my family prosperity, such as "cooking oil with fire". Finally, I will have a dessert, wishing the days to come to be sweet and sweet. On this day, even if I can't drink, I will drink a little.

There are many kinds of New Year's Eve dinners, which are different in north and south, including jiaozi, wonton, long noodles, Yuanxiao, etc., and each has its own emphasis. Northerners are used to eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival, which means "making friends at a younger age". And because the white-flour jiaozi is shaped like a silver ingot, a pot of pots on the table symbolizes the meaning of "making a fortune in the New Year, and the ingot rolls in". Some wrapped jiaozi, but also wrapped a few coins sterilized by boiling water, saying that whoever ate first would make more money. The custom of eating jiaozi was handed down from the Han Dynasty. According to legend, Zhang Zhongjing, a medical saint, saw that the poor people's ears were frozen rotten in the cold winter, so he made a kind of "Quhan Jiaoer soup" to treat frostbite for the poor people. He used mutton, pepper and some herbs to dispel cold and warm, and made ear-like "jiao-er" with a flour bag, cooked it in a pot and distributed it to the poor. After eating it, people felt warm all over and their ears were hot. Since then, people have followed suit, which has been passed down to today. Eating wonton in the new year is based on its original meaning. Legend has it that the world was in a chaotic state before it was created, and Pangu created the universe with four sides and long faces, also called longevity noodles. Eating noodles in the new year is to wish you a long life.

Give lucky money

Lucky money is given to the younger generation by the elders. In some families, after dinner, everyone is not allowed to leave at the table. When everyone has finished eating, the elders give it to the younger generation, and encourage their children and grandchildren to learn and make progress in the new year and be good people. In some families, parents put them under their pillows after their children fall asleep at night, and in more families, children gather in the main hall, shouting happy New Year to grandparents and parents, and lining up to bow down; Then reach for a red envelope. They even recovered their grandparents' bedrooms and ran to the edge of the bed together, shouting, "lucky money, lucky money!" The old man didn't think it was lively enough, so he pretended to be stingy. He went from bargaining to besieging and groping, and finally dug up the red envelopes of his ancestors. Everyone looted them and roared away. The old man was overjoyed at this scene and thought it was a good sign that everything would go well in the New Year. Giving lucky money in the New Year reflects the care of the elders for the younger generation and the respect of the younger generation for the elders. It is a folk activity that integrates family ethics.

There is a nursery rhyme:

Samsung is in the south, and every family pays a New Year call;

the younger generation kowtows, and the older generation gives money.

if you want money, just turn your face and leave.

receiving god

receiving god is to divide the old and new years, but the time of receiving god is not uniform. Some people begin to hold ceremonies as soon as the child arrives, some begin to pick up the gods at midnight when the child is "right", and some do so after the child is "right". After the sacrifice, all the gods returned to the Heavenly Palace, ignoring worldly affairs, and after the New Year's Eve, that is, when the new year came, they came to the human Council. The ceremony of receiving the gods was held at the table of heaven and earth, presided over by the oldest person in the family. Because the gods live in different directions of heaven, the lower bound naturally comes in different directions. As for who to meet and where to come from, it is necessary to check the "constitutional book" in advance and then lead the whole family to hold incense in the courtyard to meet the gods according to their directions. For example, Xin Weinian's "Constitution Book" indicates that "the God of Wealth is due east, the God of Fortune is due south, the northeast of your God, the southwest of XiShen, and the southwest of Tai Sui God". After kowtowing in the direction, stand still until the incense is exhausted, then kowtow. Finally, take down the fragrant roots, statues and ingots, and put them into the money and grain pots already prepared in the courtyard for burning. When burning, pine branches and sesame stalks are burned together. When receiving the gods, firecrackers exploded and the atmosphere was extremely strong.

after stepping on the fetish

, spread sesame stalks from the street door to the door of the house, and people walk on it, making noises, which is called "stepping on the old age", also called "stepping on the fetish". Because "broken" and "precious" are homonyms, it means that the new year begins to drive away evil spirits.

ancestor worship

In ancient times, this custom was very prosperous. Due to the different manners and customs in different places, the forms of ancestor worship are also different. Some go to visit the ancestral graves in the wild, and some go to the ancestral halls to worship their ancestors. Most of them put their ancestral tablets in the main hall in turn at home to display their offerings, and then the worshippers offer incense and bow down in order of age. Han people worship their ancestors, and most of them make fish bowls, which are filled with high bowls, which is quite a bell ringing.

People from the south live in Beijing, especially for offering sacrifices to their ancestors. Most of them are eight bowls of big dishes, with hot pot in the middle and cups and chopsticks according to their spiritual position. On New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and Lantern Festival, the hot pot is fanned out and dishes are changed at any time. Manchu and Mongolian people offer sacrifices to their ancestors. Mongolian banners offer butter to fry yellow wheat, and when they withdraw their offerings, they fry it with sesame oil and dip it in white sugar, which has another flavor. Manchu banners offered sacrifices to their ancestors, offering walnut cakes, hibiscus cakes, apples and plain wax sandalwood, which was quiet and unusual. On New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, vegetarian cakes are cooked, and Yuanxiao is served on the last night. Every morning and evening, incense is burned and kowtows are offered, and new tea is offered. Although the forms of ancestor worship are different, most of them are hanging shadows on New Year's Eve, and the confession is withdrawn on the last night of the Yuan Dynasty. They are close to their relatives and friends. When they pay a New Year call, they must also knock on the ancestral hall, not only cautiously pursuing the future, but also preserving their virtue of respecting their ancestors.

Send the God of Wealth

In the old days, from