Customs of Spring Festival in Taiwan Province Province

The Spring Festival is a traditional festival of the Chinese nation. No matter where you are, as long as you are a descendant of the Chinese people, it is regarded as the most important festival in a year. The folk custom of celebrating the Spring Festival in Taiwan Province is almost the same as that in Chinese mainland, starting with "giving away the stove" on December 23rd of last year's lunar calendar and ending with "turning off the lights" on January 18th.

In fact, as soon as the twelfth lunar month arrives, the atmosphere of New Year in Taiwan Province Province is getting stronger and stronger.

The 16th day of the twelfth lunar month is the "tail tooth". Because of the hard life in the early years, it is the custom in Taiwan Province Province that every family should try to improve their food once a month 16, which is called "tooth making", while1February 16 is the last tooth making in a year, so it is called "tail tooth". On this day, every household will put on big fish and meat to offer sacrifices to the land father-in-law, thanking him for his blessing over the past year.

The next step is "sending the stove", also called "quitting the stove", that is, the kitchen god. Legend has it that Kitchen God is a god sent by God to live in every household. At the end of each year, he will return to heaven to "report on his work" to the Jade Emperor, so that the Jade Emperor can decide the rewards and punishments for every household in the past year, and the good and bad luck in the coming year will also be decided accordingly, which is very important to the people. Therefore, in order to make the kitchen god "speak well in heaven and keep peace in the next world", people worship the kitchen god with rich sacrifices.

On New Year's Eve in Taiwan Province Province, "Shounian" and "Lucky Money" are the same as those in Chinese mainland.

However, the New Year's custom in Taiwan Province Province is best reflected by the New Year's songs that are almost identical to those in southern Fujian. This New Year song reflects the lively scene of people in Taiwan Province Province celebrating the Spring Festival, and it is a vivid folk picture scroll.

Minnan: glory on the first day, stop the next day, and have no posture mother on the third day; On the fourth day, the gods descended to earth, on the fifth day, the gods descended to earth, and on the sixth day, there was nothing; The first seven or seven yuan, the eighth reunion; On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, the tenth day is blue and the eleventh day is a son-in-law; Twelve to worship, thirteen chyme with mustard; Fourteen light sheds, fifteen yuan.

Taiwan Province Province: The first day is early, and the second day is clever. On the third day, the mouse married the bride and announced the four gods. Separate on the fifth day and fatten on the sixth day; The first seven or seven yuan, the eighth reunion; On the ninth day of the ninth day, there is food on the tenth day; Eleven, please get married; Twelve tea sons invited to worship, thirteen chyme with mustard; Fourteen light sheds, fifteen yuan.

On New Year's Eve, the whole family, old and young, sit around the round table and eat hot pot, which is called "around the stove". When you are around the stove, every dish on the table has a certain meaning. Such as rice balls and meatballs. Fish circle means' three yuan', symbolizing family reunion; Radish is called "vegetable head" in Taiwan Province Province, which means "good color head", meaning auspicious; The "chicken" of the whole chicken, the homonym of Taiwan Province dialect is "home", which means "starting from eating chicken"; Food fried in oil and fire means "family prosperity". People who take part in the kitchen, regardless of gender or age, should eat something on the table. Besides, everyone should drink a little wine for good luck. The dishes eaten around the stove should be washed and cooked one by one, and eaten slowly from beginning to end. I wish my parents a long life.

The custom of "watching the brazier behind the stove" still exists in rural areas of Taiwan Province Province. A pot of straw was lit in front of the door, and the whole family, men, women and children, jumped out of the brazier in turn, taking the auspicious meaning of "prosperity as fire". Jumping and mumbling some auspicious words. After the fire goes out, send the ashes to the kitchen stove, pray for the blessing of the gods and make a fortune.

In some villages in Taiwan Province Province, there is also an interesting custom: from New Year's Eve, some temples began to perform, and people who were unable to repay their debts years ago would go to temples to avoid being urged by creditors. Because if the creditors chase after the temple to force debts, they will cause public outrage and will rise up and attack them. The play lasted from New Year's Eve to the morning of the first day of junior high school. After watching the play, the debtor can go home safely and reunite. This custom is called "debt avoidance drama", which is a product of society, but it is very human. However, creditors also have ways to deal with it, that is, they put on old clothes and carry lanterns to collect debts on New Year's Day, pretending that they haven't been home since the thirtieth night of the lunar calendar, and the lanterns are still in their hands, which can't be regarded as "debt collection for the New Year". This kind of lamp is called "debt collection lamp" Creditors generally don't use "debt collection lamps" unless they have deep grievances.

Taiwan Province compatriots call New Year's Day a "new meaning", indicating that the new year will have a decent start. The first important thing in the morning is to worship ancestors at home, and to sacrifice ancestors with homemade red and white rice cakes. This is the so-called "Ryan". The ceremony of "Opening Righteousness" was very grand. The hall was brightly lit, and the door was decorated in red, so that oranges, rice cakes, sacrifices, tea wine, four fruits and incense sticks were placed on the table. Every household sets off firecrackers, and the whole family, old and young, get together to worship their ancestors and gods, and then salute their elders in turn.

The most interesting thing about Chinese New Year is to go out to pay New Year's greetings, which is also called "spring", "spring" and "congratulations". Where there are guests, the host uses scarlet wooden boxes to pack candy and presents "sweet tea" to entertain the guests; Give a banquet to treat guests, socialize with each other, and name it "please spring wine"; The guests gave each other red envelopes when they left. As every household goes out to pay New Year's greetings, it is inevitable that someone will not be at home, so two interesting customs are derived: when people go out to pay New Year's greetings, they always carry a stack of red notes with their names on them, and once the owner is not at home, they will leave one, which is called "leaving a post"; It is impossible for a person with a large official position and a wide range of friends to visit the New Year in person, so he sent servants to pay homage with red posts. This is called "flying post".

"The third day mouse marries the bride" in Taiwan Province Province and "the third day girl without posture" in South Fujian all mean that the third day is a rest day, and even the mouse chooses this day to marry the bride. According to the custom, every household should go to bed early that night, so as not to disturb the happy event of mice, and take out some food from all corners of the room as a "gift" for mice, so as to have a good relationship with mice and reduce the rat damage in the coming year. The saying that "the mouse marries the bride" comes from the mainland. There is a colored stone New Year picture of "a mouse marries a bride", which was once widely circulated among the people. From the "bride" wearing a red handkerchief on her head to the deacon blowing the horn in the sedan chair, they are all rats. They are lively, cheerful and very pleasing, adding a lot of joy to the festival. Nervous for a year, even the mouse got married on holiday, let alone people.

The fourth day is "receiving God Day". Fujian and Taiwan Province both call this day "God descended to heaven". On that day, every household should offer sacrifices, fruits, sweets and so on. Set off firecrackers, burn gold paper and horses in the hall, respectfully welcome the gods to the earth, and continue to perform their duties of being in charge of good and evil on earth.

The "departure" of the fifth day means that the Chinese New Year has come to an end, just like the mainland. The next day, shops opened, farmers went to the fields, and all walks of life began to return to normal life and work. It is said that this day is also the birthday of the "Five-Road God of Wealth", which is called "Divine Descent" in Minnan and "Road God" in Taiwanese. In order to make a fortune, shops burn incense in the street on this day and seek the blessing of the god of wealth.

"77 yuan" and "reunion on the eighth day" are the same in Fujian and Taiwan. China folks call the seventh day "Seven Yuan Festival", also known as "Men's Day". It is said that heaven and earth created man and man was born on this day. Therefore, in Taiwan Province Province, every household should eat noodles (that is, longevity noodles) and seven kinds of fresh vegetables, such as celery, spinach, mustard, shepherd's purse, onion, garlic and Artemisia. Among them, mustard is a kind of vegetable with long stems and leaves and slightly bitter taste. Because its leaves and silk are very long, it symbolizes longevity. Eating these seven kinds of dishes is actually a legacy of China's ancient "five coriander". Du Fu once wrote a poem: "Fine Lettuce in Spring", which is exactly what he said. "Reunion on the eighth day" means that the daughter-in-law who goes back to her mother's house for the New Year returns to her husband's house for "reunion" and starts to work on the eighth day. Otherwise, it will be considered as deliberately embarrassing her husband's family and not doing well, and her husband's family will even "criticize" it.

Born in nine days, born is the jade emperor, born is the jade emperor's birthday. The jade emperor is the manager of the gods in the sky, so the sacrifice is particularly grand. The day before, the whole family fasted and bathed, and the altar was located in the main hall. After midnight, the whole family dressed up, from the dragon to the young, offering incense, kneeling three times and knocking nine times. Then we burned earthenware paper and set off firecrackers until four o'clock in the morning. In the past, when offering sacrifices to the gods, altars were elaborately decorated. In addition to the original altar, there is also a small altar (commonly known as the "top table"). On the top table, there are noodles with five fruits and six vegetables tied with red ropes and three cups of green tea to worship the Jade Emperor. There are three sacrifices and five gifts, raising red turtles and so on. On the table below, this is a obedience to God. The gold foil burned to God is specially made and called "God Gold".

In China's traditional folk customs, the son-in-law is favored by the Yue family, commonly known as "charming guest", which is the case all over China, and Fujian and Taiwan are no exception. Therefore, there is a custom of "inviting son-in-law in November", which is called "son-in-law day", that is, the day when the Yue family specially banquets for son-in-law.