Yanling Chinese New Year custom

Let me talk about the custom of Chinese New Year in Yanling County. Yanling County is located at the eastern foot of Luo Xiao Mountains. Among the residents, 40% are immigrants from Jiangxi 500 years ago, 50% are Hakkas from Meizhou and Ganzhou, and 10% are others. The main cultural genes of more than a dozen counties on the Hunan-Jiangxi border are all derived from Ganjiang culture, and there is basically no religious belief. There is no unified sacrificial activity in folk festivals, and the gods to be sacrificed are their ancestors. Because it is deep in the mountains, traditional customs are well preserved. Here, I write down the custom of Chinese New Year and share it with you.

In fact, the New Year in China begins on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month. Making vermicelli, frying rice fruit, killing pigs, buying new year's goods, cleaning and washing household items, housewives are busy, and firecrackers and killing pigs begin to ring in the village bay. All this tells you that the Spring Festival is coming.

On the morning of New Year's Eve, the chicken was killed. Generally speaking, pigs are killed one or two days before New Year's Eve, and pond fish are ready. Therefore, after killing the chicken on this day, the pork-based dishes are basically ready. The first meal on New Year's Eve is breakfast, that is, chicken and pork are cooked in a large pot, and the broth in the pot is cooked with homemade rice noodles (usually vermicelli or noodles bought now). Cut the cooked meat and chicken into pieces, mix with some seasonings, serve in a big bowl, and serve the cooked vermicelli. The house smells everywhere. Before dinner, set off a long string of firecrackers, and then parents will light three incense sticks. Invite your ancestors home for the New Year. After the ceremony, the whole family had breakfast on New Year's Eve.

The second meal is a reunion dinner. Very particular. Generally, there are ten dishes, all of which are meat dishes, so they are called "ten bowls of meat dishes". They are all the best. Set off firecrackers before meals. The oldest person in the family sits first, and the younger generation toasts the old man. All family complaints are not mentioned. Serious father-son relationship is also relaxed, mutual respect and love, and peaceful. After that, the man went out to play cards and chat with his neighbors, and the woman sent a new year's meal to her relatives and neighbors who had added Ding, that is, four pieces of meat in half a bowl of rice, and then put a red envelope with lucky money. Others usually give back some homemade snacks when they receive the New Year's Eve dinner.

The New Year's Eve dinner is usually "ten bowls of meat", but because the first two meals are eaten too much, the symbolic meaning is greater, and the time for eating is relatively late, all after the lights are turned on. Parents give lucky money after meals, and adults after 18 generally do not enjoy lucky money. Then watch TV, have some tea and have some snacks. Parents wipe their mouths with paper and say it's an asshole, so that even if the child says something unlucky, it's okay. 12 set off firecrackers at midnight to welcome the arrival of the new year. At this time, parents usually sleep, and young people set off firecrackers before going to bed.

On New Year's Day, we must get up early. Usually, we get up at dawn. The housewife made a charcoal fire, heated rice wine, and set a table with rice cakes, rice fruits, fruits and sweets. The breakfast was mainly rice cakes and rice fruits. The whole family gathered in the hall from each bedroom, and parents accepted their children's New Year greetings. In fact, in a word, others are free to play: "Mom and Dad give you a New Year! I am healthy this year, earn more money and give me more pocket money. " Exchange blessings, then set off firecrackers and have dinner. In the south of the Yangtze River, every village is dominated by surnames, belonging to a ancestral hall, closely related by blood and orderly in rank. Therefore, before the Cultural Revolution, after breakfast on New Year's Day, all families would gather in family ancestral temple to pay New Year's greetings. The activities were very interesting: every family moved tables and benches, brought drinks and snacks, helped the old and brought the young to worship at the ancestral temple, and dozens or even hundreds of tables were placed in the lobby and outside the hall. Firecrackers and noise made the atmosphere very warm. The annual activities are generally hosted by each household in turn. The host first asked everyone to propose a toast to their ancestors, and then said some auspicious words and expectations for the New Year. Families toasted each other, wishing each other a happy New Year, and then gradually dispersed.

On New Year's Day, parents generally don't go out. They want to accept their descendants and neighbors to pay New Year greetings at home. Therefore, the New Year's Day activities are mainly aimed at young people and children. People who visit the neighborhood don't need gifts, they just need to put a string of firecrackers in front of others' houses, which means to inform them that "someone has come to pay a New Year call". Parents at home will greet them, and New Year greetings will shout, "Uncle, Happy New Year. Aunt, happy new year. " The host and guests usually bow. Soon, accompanied by my host, I was drinking tea in the hall, and all kinds of desserts and delicacies on the table were filled with large pots and small plates. Now, with abundant materials, all kinds of delicious food compete with each other and put the best food on the table. There is also drinking. No matter who you are, you must drink a glass of wine, or the host will say that you look down on him. In this case, it is difficult for family members to worship without getting drunk. Therefore, on New Year's Day, you can often see New Year's greetings who are drinking stagger on the village road. People and neighbors seldom go to other people's homes for dinner during the New Year, but a bowl of rice noodles must be eaten. There must be two fried eggs and some sliced meat in this bowl of rice noodles. You can refuse to eat fried eggs, but you must eat some rice noodles and sliced meat. Otherwise, the housewife of this family will say that you think she is not doing well, so "eating enough" is also the same feeling as New Year's greetings. The happiest harvest of New Year's greetings is red envelopes. On the first day of the new year, every family in the neighborhood will give out red envelopes, ranging from one yuan to ten yuan, regardless of the amount. Generally speaking, the time for a family to pay a New Year call will not exceed half an hour. When the village is big, go and worship at once. If some families have many children, they will worship separately and try to get them all done on the first day. When the family leaves, they say something auspicious to each other: "All parties benefit this year and get rich in four seasons", and so on.

The diet on the first day of the lunar new year is not particularly particular, just chicken, duck and fish. But some people will cook a vegetarian meal, which is really a scientific meal. Think about it, for two days in a row, this high-fat and high-protein diet, burps are all alcoholic and meaty. Eating a simple vegetarian diet at this time is really the best dietary adjustment, which is worth promoting. The rice cakes made by the Hakkas in Yanling are unique and tender. If you spend the New Year in a Hakka village, this kind of food is very special, and so are other customs.

On the second day of New Year's Day, I began to visit relatives in distant places, and I went out for the first time in the New Year to call a trip (Nianhang) to pay a New Year call. Seek a smooth process and be happy. Grandfather-in-law, uncle, menstruation, uncle, uncle and aunt are the first target sequence, and the sparse cousins can be arranged after the fourth day. What is particularly grand is that the newly-married daughter and son-in-law come to her house to pay a New Year call, commonly known as "Huimen", which is quite particular. Early family members are looking forward to it. When the daughter and son-in-law arrived in front of the village, the village chief's children flew back to report that the elders at home had gone out of the house for dozens of meters to meet them. The daughter and son-in-law came with two baskets full of gifts, and the family took over the burden. Parents led their daughter and husband into the house and set off firecrackers at the door. Not only their parents, brothers and sisters, but also their uncles and aunts greeted them. The house was full of charcoal fire and warm. My daughter and husband gave red envelopes to their families one by one, then sat down to eat fruit and vegetable snacks, drink ginger tea, and then served fried eggs and soup powder. After use, we will go into the room to keep warm, and dinner will be ready soon. In addition to family members, we will also invite close relatives to come over for company, ranging from three or four tables to seven or eight tables. The most abundant Chinese food is "ten bowls of meat", and dinner is "stir-fried", usually six cold dishes and ten hot dishes. Not very full, but very elegant, highlighting the color and fragrance. Going back to the door is also a time to test the son-in-law's alcohol consumption. The people who accompany him to dinner take turns toasting, and the new son-in-law will be 100% drunk. At this time, all the daughters came to protect her husband and drink for him. At this point, the family naturally won't embarrass their girls, and the wave of toasting will subside.

When you get home, you have to accept the invitation of your relatives in Five Blessingg. This is called "Please answer the door". Relatives on the other side of the family have to eat all the time, and wherever they go is arranged in advance. It is disrespectful not to go, so the first visit often lasts until the fifteenth day of the first month. The second visit was when my daughter returned home to pay a New Year call after giving birth to her first child, but it was a little more grand than the first visit. As for the future New Year greetings, they gradually become dull and normalized. When the children grow up, the former new brother-in-law becomes the old uncle now. It turns out that the new brother-in-law pays New Year greetings to his father-in-law and the grandson pays New Year greetings to his grandfather, so people say that "the new brother-in-law died and the old uncle starved to death", but times have changed.

In the past, when the material conditions were poor, there were some frugal practices and some unwritten rules for inviting guests to dinner. For example, fish is not suitable for farming in mountainous areas, so it is expensive and inconvenient to buy. So there was a dish called "Muyu", which was carved into the shape of a fish with camphor trees and put in a pot, topped with red pepper powder, lobster sauce and shredded ginger, just like crispy fish. Although the host tried to persuade the guests to eat fish, everyone knew that this fish could not be eaten, and it was hard to say that it was a wooden fish. Nuo Nuo had to promise that "we ate food and vegetables". Now, with abundant materials and convenient transportation, you can buy specialties from all over the world. Today, entertaining guests is not what it used to be. I only hope that the "ten bowls of meat" in my hometown can be preserved. Of course, some dishes can be changed, such as "bowls with meat", which can be reduced. It is suggested to cancel ten pieces of meat around the bowl, because it is too much and too wasteful.

After the sixth day of the first month, the New Year is coming to an end. There is a folk song that says, "On the eighth day of the seventh day of the first month, tofu dregs are all (not) smashed (read QIA, meaning to have dinner together)". The fifteenth day of the first month is the Lantern Festival. There are no festivals and folk customs in my hometown, but every household makes jiaozi, which is fried with dried red pepper shreds, garlic leaves, bacon, oil tofu and so on. Wrapped in rice flour skin, made into triangle or half moon shape, steamed and eaten, characterized by rich aroma and full taste. After the fifteenth day of the first month, we began to work in the fields, build canals and level the fields, and the new year's farming began.