The second group of texts in the next period of grade six

When the sun sets and the stars move, looking back, history has left us too many thoughts and mysterious thoughts, and this "old custom" is one of them. For example, the custom of Spring Festival has become the largest traditional folk festival in China. People pay more attention to the Spring Festival in the ancient capital, thus forming a complete set of Spring Festival customs. The first day of the first lunar month is the Spring Festival, commonly known as "Chinese New Year". The Spring Festival originated from the activities of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors in the beginning and end of the Shang Dynasty. The ancient Spring Festival was called "January Festival" and "New Year's Day". After the Revolution of 1911, the first day of the first month was officially named Spring Festival.

Legend has it that in the Western Zhou Dynasty, there was an annual celebration of agricultural harvest. During the transition from the old year to the new year, ordinary people have to make a fire at home to keep warm and smoke away mice, and the whole family get together to kill chickens and sheep and raise a toast. In the Han Dynasty, there was a formal ceremony to celebrate the Spring Festival. On New Year's Eve, people will hold dancing ceremonies and beat drums to drive away ghosts and plagues.

In the long historical years, the content of annual customs activities has gradually become rich and colorful. As far as Beijing is concerned, from the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, every household has to soak Laba vinegar (garlic), and it has begun to have a "taste of the year". The folk song says, "Don't be sad, old lady. After Laba, it is the New Year. Laba porridge, how many days? Ber Ber La La 23rd ... ",the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month is also called" off-year ". There is a ballad that says, "Melons offer sacrifices to the stove. Chinese New Year, girls want flowers, boys want guns ... ". From this day on, Beijingers are busier, offering sacrifices to stoves, sweeping the floor, steaming steamed buns, buying new year's goods, putting up the word "Fu", putting up New Year pictures, cutting out window grilles and putting up couplets. Sticking to the door and sticking to the money, I have been busy until the New Year's Eve and started the New Year.

Beijingers always post "Fu" upside down at the door, wardrobe and water tank, indicating that Fu has arrived. Sticking Spring Festival couplets is also very particular. Generally, red Spring Festival couplets are posted at home, and "horizontal approval" is posted on the lintel. The palace and the royal palace are decorated with rice paper with white background and red edge; People who guard the system (people who have lost their parents) should use blue paper; Yellow paper for temples. The Spring Festival couplets first began in the Five Dynasties in Houshu. It is said that Prince Shu wrote on the door of this palace: "The sky is falling, and the ground is connected to Changchun." This is the earliest Spring Festival couplets in China. Beijingers posted "Look up and see happiness" in the inner courtyard, "Go out and see happiness" outside the house, and "Glory to the whole hospital" in the courtyard.

In the past, most people in old Beijing provided shrines or statues. By the 30 th of the year, the most important thing was to put nine offerings; Youtang's honey supply, Cheng Tang's set cakes and flower cakes are all fresh, Cheng Tang's fruits, Cheng Tang's dried fruits and flower cakes are all eight pieces in size, rice cakes and rice, vegetarian jiaozi (or steamed food) and vegetarian stir-fried food (or fried food). Those with poor families should also offer three or five offerings. Beijingers talk about eating, drinking and having fun in the New Year. These offerings are actually for people.

Beijing people's New Year's Eve (also known as reunion dinner) is essential and the most abundant New Year's Eve dinner in a year. On New Year's Eve, we should serve meat and vegetables together. There are cold meats, big items and green vegetables. Cold meat includes cold stewed pigs, mutton and cold stewed chickens and ducks. Major items include: braised pork, braised pork, rice flour meat, red and white balls, and Four Joy Meetballs. Clear mouth dishes are generally tofu, green vegetables, Roche, pickled bergamot and so on. The staple food is mostly vegetarian sleep.

Beijingers eat jiaozi on New Year's Eve and the first day of the first lunar month, which means "making friends when young". Jiaozi is always wrapped into an ingot, and sugar, copper coins, peanuts, dates, chestnuts and so on are put in the jiaozi. If you eat sugar, it means that life in the future is sweet; Eating copper coins means having money to spend; Eating peanuts means longevity, because peanuts are also called longevity fruit, and eating dates and chestnuts means early fruit. ...

The year of harvest has passed and a new year has ushered in. First of all, we should shoot guns to exorcise evil spirits and burn incense to worship our ancestors. Setting off firecrackers originated in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. Since the Song Dynasty, people in China began to make firecrackers with gunpowder wrapped in paper. People in Beijing began to set off firecrackers, which has been passed down to this day.

Old Beijingers have the custom of celebrating New Year's Eve, which originated in the Jin Dynasty. Keeping old has two meanings. The older one is to cherish time when you quit your old age. Young people guard their old age and have the intention of prolonging their parents' life. Therefore, those whose parents are alive must keep their age. Do some recreational activities. Old people play mahjong and women play Soho. Young people push "Paijiu", while children light lanterns, set off firecrackers and play "Promotion Map".

After receiving the gods on New Year's Eve, the whole family will have a group worship, which first appeared in the Han Dynasty as an official ritual to the emperor. Group worship in old Beijing has been popular since the Qing Dynasty. The whole family should kowtow to the ancestors' memorial tablets for the New Year, and then the younger generation kowtow to the elders. At this time, elders should give lucky money to minors. The custom of giving lucky money originated in the Qing Dynasty. In order to show the care of the elders for the younger generation, and to ward off evil spirits and make money, after the group worship, the whole family got together to meet jiaozi, a vegetarian stuffing, also called jiaozi.

From the first day to the fifth day, Beijingers will visit relatives and friends, pay New Year greetings to each other, treat guests and give gifts, visit temple fairs and visit factories and shops. On the fifth day, Beijingers called "Breaking Five", the people "sent the poor" and the businessmen "opened the market" (officially opened on the sixth day). On the fifth day of the fifth year, every household will pack jiaozi, which is called "squeezing the mouth of a villain", which means not to be a villain for a year. It was not until the fifteenth day of the first month that Beijing finished the Spring Festival.

The Spring Festival custom in old Beijing is actually an indelible folk culture, which contains the warmth of family reunion, the ease and expectation of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new. This is an ancient traditional festival, full of joy and beautiful ideals, which has been rooted in people's hearts, so it can last for more than 2,000 years. It will be handed down from generation to generation and spread this ancient national cultural information to the world!