About the folk customs of the Spring Festival

The Spring Festival is also known as Yuan Day, New Year's Day, Wu Zheng, Yuan Chen, Yuan Shuo, Sui Dan, Sui Shuo, Sui Chao, Xinzheng, Shouzuo, Sanyuan or Nian, and New Year. It is the symbol of the Lunar New Year. Day one. Due to different calendars, the first day of the first lunar month in each dynasty is not consistent: it is the first day of the first lunar month in the Xia Dynasty, the first day of the twelfth lunar month in the Shang Dynasty, the first day of the eleventh lunar month in the Zhou Dynasty, and the first day of the tenth lunar month in the Qin Dynasty. It returned to the first day of the first lunar month during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. and continues to this day.

"Spring Festival" also means different things in different generations. In the Han Dynasty, it referred to the day of the beginning of spring, while in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it referred to the entire spring. In modern times, it only refers to the first day of the first lunar month. It is a traditional festival with the longest history, the richest activities, the most solemn etiquette, the most spectacular scenes, and the most exquisite food in China. 53 of the 56 ethnic groups in the country (excluding Tibetan, Bai, and Dai ethnic groups) hold grand family celebrations. It is a banquet or family banquet to celebrate, so it is also called the "Yuan Day Qing Banquet".

The origin of the Spring Festival

According to historical records, the Spring Festival was called "Zai" in the Tang and Yu Dynasties. It was called "Sui" in the Xia Dynasty, "Si" in the Shang Dynasty, and "Nian" in the Zhou Dynasty. The original meaning of "nian" refers to the growth cycle of grains. Millet is hot once a year, so the Spring Festival comes once a year and has the meaning of celebrating abundance. It is also said that the Spring Festival originated from the "December Festival" at the end of primitive society. At that time, when spring came after the end of the twelfth lunar month, the ancestors would kill pigs and sheep to offer sacrifices to gods, ghosts and ancestral spirits, praying for good weather and avoiding disasters in the new year. They painted their faces with cinnabar, wore bird feathers, sang, danced, ate and drank, making it a lively event. As for

giving each other New Year greetings and banquets, it started in the early Han Dynasty, and this is recorded in "Tongdian".

Food customs during the Spring Festival in the past

※During the Eastern Han Dynasty, ancestor worship was an important activity and custom during the Spring Festival. According to Cui Ti's "Four People's Monthly Orders": "The first day of the first lunar month is the official day. I will lead my wife and children to worship the ancestors. After worshiping the day, I will drink wine to trance the gods. This is the honor of the family, no matter how big or small." , ranked before the ancestors, the children, wives and great-grandchildren each served pepper wine to their parents, drank wine to celebrate their birthdays, and were very happy."

※During the Southern Dynasties, the whole family would congratulate each other, have a banquet, and have a feast during the Spring Festival. Carry out recreational activities. According to Liang Ren Zongmao's "Jingchu Years' Records": "On the first day of the first lunar month... the elders and the young all dress up and pay their respects to each other. Add Jiaobai wine and Qintao soup. Add Tusu wine, Jiaoya glutinous rice and add five spicy ingredients. There are also games such as drawing a chicken, lighting firecrackers, hanging ropes, and begging for wishes.

※In the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, the etiquette component of Spring Festival food customs gradually increased. According to the records in "Mengliang Lu" collected by Wu Zi in the Southern Song Dynasty: "The local officials all congratulated each other, and the men and women of the lower class also wore fresh clothes and went to and fro to pay homage to each other." When children go out to visit relatives and friends, they may also send their children to congratulate them, which is called New Year greetings." "Qingbo Magazine" records: "During the Yuanyou years of the Song Dynasty, servants were often used to greet the New Year with famous thorns." When relatives and friends pay New Year's greetings, the host's family must host a banquet in which there is an unusually rich feast of wine and meat. According to "Jiatai Kuaiji Chronicles": "On New Year's Day, men and women get together early. The head of the family sets up wine and fruits as a libation. The men and women pay homage in order. Afterwards, they dress in grand clothes and pay congratulations to relatives. They set up wine and food to commemorate each other. The New Year's holiday is completed in five days. "In the Qing Dynasty, "Records of Successes in the Imperial Capital" says: "In the homes of scholars and people, they should add clothes and hats, wear ceremonial clothes, worship gods and ancestors; after burning silk, it tastes good, and the whole family will worship together, offer pepper plates, pour cypress wine, and support people. Steamed cakes, sipping rice flour soup. When going out to celebrate the occasion, visit the medicine temple, visit the shadow hall, and greet relatives and friends on the road, they will bow to each other and wish them a happy new year. Even if you are not friendly, you will still have to drink three glasses of wine. If you forget about your feelings, why not get drunk! As the saying goes, it is better to visit thousands of families than to sit together and enjoy the day. It can be said to be a momentary victory. ".

Food customs in various places during the Spring Festival

The food customs of the Han people during the Spring Festival generally include rice cakes, dumplings, glutinous rice cakes, glutinous rice balls, poached eggs, meatballs, whole fish, wine, oranges, apples, Peanuts, melon seeds, candies, fragrant tea and delicacies are the main ones; it is also accompanied by dusting, washing bedding, preparing New Year's goods, pasting Spring Festival couplets, pasting New Year pictures, pasting paper-cuts, pasting blessing characters, lighting candles, lighting fires, setting off firecrackers, keeping the New Year's Eve, Giving New Year's money, paying New Year greetings, visiting relatives,

visiting ancestral graves, visiting the flower market, having social gatherings and many other activities are all a family joy. For example, the New Year's Eve dinner is particularly important: firstly, the whole family must gather together, and those who have not returned for some reason must leave a seat and a set of tableware to reflect the meaning of reunion; secondly, the meal is sumptuous, and "mouth color" is emphasized, and the rice cake is called "bubugao". The dumplings are called "Wanwanshun", the wine is called "Changliushui", the eggs are called "Big Yuanbao", and the goldfish is called "Nian Nian Yu"; this fish is not allowed to be eaten, it is called "Kan Yu" and must be reserved for the first day of the new year edible. In areas in the north where there are no fish, fish are often carved out of wood as a substitute. Third, the seats are arranged in an orderly manner, with the ancestors often at the top. The grandchildren are in the middle and the parents are at the bottom. Everyone, regardless of gender, old or young, drinks alcohol.

Close the door when eating, and the excitement will stop.

Every country has its own characteristics in New Year’s Eve family banquet dishes. In the old days, most people in Beijing and Tianjin would make dry rice, stew pork, beef and mutton, stew chicken, and make a few stir-fry dishes. Shaanxi family banquets generally consist of four large plates and eight large bowls. The four large plates are mainly stir-fried and cold dishes, and the eight large bowls are mainly stewed and cooked dishes. Meat dishes in southern Anhui include braised pork, tiger skin meat, meatballs, muxu pork, steamed pork, stewed meat and pork liver, pig heart, pork belly products, as well as various fried pork slices, fried shredded pork, etc. In the eastern part of Hubei, there are "three steams", "three cakes" and "three pills". "Three steams" are steamed whole fish, steamed whole duck and steamed whole chicken; "three cakes" are fish cakes, meat cakes and mutton cakes; < /p>

The "Three Balls" are fish balls, meat balls, and lotus root balls. In Harbin, people usually fry 8, 10, or 12 or 16 dishes. The main ingredients are nothing more than chicken, duck, fish and vegetables. The New Year's Eve dinner in southern Gansu usually consists of 12 dishes. In some places in Zhejiang, it is usually served as "Ten Big Bowls", which means "ten blessings". It mainly consists of chicken, duck, fish and various vegetables. In Nanchang, Jiangxi, there are usually more than 10 dishes. Dishes include four cold dishes, four hot dishes, eight major dishes, and two soups.

There are one or more essential dishes at New Year's Eve family banquets in various places, and these dishes often have some auspicious meanings. For example, in the Suzhou area, there must be green vegetables (Anle vegetables), soybean sprouts (Ruyi vegetables), and celery (Qinqinchen) on the table. In the central and southern Hunan area, there must be a carp of about one kilogram, which is called "Tuan Nian fish". A pork knuckle of about 3 kilograms is called "Tuannian knuckle". There are two fish on the dining table in central and southern Anhui. One is a complete carp, which can only be looked at but not eaten. It not only respects the ancestors but also means that there is more than enough every year. The other is. Silver carp can be eaten, symbolizing the succession of descendants and prosperity. The first bowl of rice at the Qimen family banquet is "Zhonghe", which is made of tofu, mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, dried shrimps, fresh meat, etc., which means "harmony." "Making money".

There is a bowl of "Chicken Claws" on the dining table in Hefei, which means "grasping money and getting rich." The housekeeper wants to eat a chicken leg, which is called "Catching Money Claws", which means "grabbing money and making money". To bring wealth and wealth, the head of the family in Anqing will eat a bowl of noodles called "Qianchuanzi" before meals. In Nanchang area, they must eat rice cakes, braised fish, fried rice noodles, eight-treasure rice, and boiled glutinous rice soup. There will be fish every year, a good harvest, rice in bunches, eight treasures to bring wealth, and prosperity every year.

Dumplings are popular in northern areas during the Spring Festival, which symbolizes unity, good luck and farewell to the old year and welcome the new year. Atmosphere and fun, people in the past dynasties have put a lot of effort into the filling of dumplings. People wrap money in dumplings, whoever eats them will make a fortune in the coming year; wrap honey in dumplings, whoever eats them means a sweet life in the coming year, etc.

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Spring Festival, as the name suggests, is a spring festival. With the arrival of everything, a new round of sowing and harvesting is about to begin. People have enough reason to sing and dance to welcome this festival. Therefore, before the festival, they put red paper and yellow characters on their doors to celebrate the arrival of the Spring Festival. When you enter the door, you will recite a sentence that expresses your good wishes for the new year. With this recitation, good luck will really come. Things with the same meaning include hanging red lanterns and posting the word "福" and the statue of the God of Wealth. The word "福" is also used. It must be posted upside down, and passers-by think "luck has arrived", which means "luck has arrived".

What is the "New Year" that brings bad luck to people? Imaginary animals. When the "year" comes, the trees wither and no grass grows; when the "year" passes, everything grows and flowers are everywhere. How can the "year" pass by using firecrackers? The custom of firecrackers. In 1993, the Beijing Municipal People's Government promulgated a law banning fireworks and firecrackers, making this centuries-old custom a thing of the past.

The Spring Festival is a festival for family reunions, which is very similar to Christmas in the West. Children who have left home have to travel thousands of miles to return to their parents' home. The night before the actual Chinese New Year is called Reunion Eve, when families sit around and make dumplings. The method of making dumplings is to mix the noodles first, and the word "harmony" means "合"; the word "dumpling" in dumplings is a homophony of "Jiao", and "He" and "Jiao" also mean getting together, so dumplings are used to symbolize reunion.

The festive atmosphere will last for a month. Before the first day of the first lunar month, there are rituals such as offering sacrifices to stoves and ancestors; during the festival, there are ceremonies such as giving lucky money to children and paying New Year greetings to relatives and friends; in the second half of the festival, there is the Lantern Festival, when the city is full of lanterns and the streets are full of tourists. It is an unprecedented event. After the Lantern Festival, The Spring Festival is finally over.

Spring Festival: In modern folk custom, the Spring Festival is also called the Chinese New Year.

In fact, the origins of the New Year and the Spring Festival are very different.

So where does "year" come from? There are two main theories among the people:

One theory is:

According to legend, in ancient China there was a monster called "Nian" with long tentacles on its head and it was extremely ferocious. "Nian" lives deep on the bottom of the sea all year round, only climbing ashore every New Year's Eve to devour livestock and harm people.

Therefore, every New Year's Eve, people in villages and villages help the old and young to flee to the mountains to avoid the harm of the "Nian" beast.

On New Year's Eve this year, people in Taohua Village were helping the elderly and young to take refuge in the mountains. An old man begging came from outside the village. He was holding a cane, a bag on his arm, a silver beard flowing, and eyes like Long star.

Some of the villagers sealed their windows and doors, some packed their bags, and some drove their cattle and sheep. People everywhere shouted and horses neighed, creating a scene of panic and panic. At this time, who still has the heart to take care of this old man begging.

Only an old woman in the east of the village gave the old man some food and advised him to go up the mountain quickly to avoid the "Nian" beast. The old man stroked his beard and said with a smile: "If my mother-in-law lets me stay at home all night, I will definitely take care of him." The "Nian" beast drove him away.

The old woman looked closely and saw that he was a boy with fair hair and a strong spirit. However, she continued to persuade him, but the old man smiled and said nothing, so she had no choice but to leave the house. , went up the mountain to seek refuge.

In the middle of the night, the "Nian" beast broke into the village. It found that the atmosphere in the village was different from previous years: the old woman's house at the east end of the village had a red paper on the door and a bright fire in the house. "The beast trembled all over and screamed strangely.

"Nian" glared at her mother-in-law's house for a moment, then screamed and rushed towards it. When it was near the door, there was a sudden "bang bang bang bang" explosion in the courtyard. The sound made "Nian" tremble all over, and he didn't dare to move forward. It turned out that "Nian" was most afraid of red, fire and explosions. At this time, the door of the mother-in-law's house opened and an old man in a red robe was seen in the courtyard. Laughing loudly. "Nian" was shocked and ran away in confusion.

The next day was the first day of the first lunar month. The people who had returned from the refuge were surprised to see that the village was safe. At this time, the old woman suddenly realized that she hurried to the villagers. They told the beggar old man's promise.

The villagers rushed to the old woman's house. They saw red paper on the door of her house and a pile of unburned bamboos in the yard. , a few red candles in the house were still glowing...

To celebrate Youxiang's arrival, the overjoyed villagers put on new clothes and hats and went to the homes of relatives and friends to say hello. The story soon spread in the surrounding villages, and people all knew how to drive away the "Nian" beast.

From then on, every New Year's Eve, every family posted red couplets and set off firecrackers; every household lit candles and kept watch. In the early morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, people also visit relatives and friends to say hello.

This custom has become more and more popular and has become the most solemn traditional festival in my country.

Another. One way of saying this is:

In ancient Chinese calligraphy, the word "年" was placed in the "He" department to indicate good weather and good harvests. Since grains are generally harvested once a year, "Nian" is called "Nian". It was extended to the name of the year.

Although ancient Chinese people had already had the custom of celebrating the New Year, it was not called the Spring Festival at that time because the Spring Festival at that time referred to the "beginning of spring" among the 24 solar terms. ".

The Southern and Northern Dynasties generally referred to the Spring Festival as the entire spring. It is said that the Lunar New Year was officially named the Spring Festival after the Revolution of 1911. Since the Gregorian calendar was switched to the Gregorian calendar at that time, in order to distinguish between agricultural and solar calendars Festival, so the first day of the first lunar month had to be renamed "Spring Festival".

Lantern Festival: It is a major festival in my country's traditional festivals. It is quite important because of its festive activities. It is held on the 15th day of the first month of the year (Lantern Festival).

The Lantern Festival is also called "Lantern Festival" or "Lantern Festival" because the main activity of this festival is night lighting. Lantern, hence the name. In addition, the Lantern Festival is also called "Shangyuan Festival" and "Shangyuan Festival", which are borrowed from Taoism.

There are many opinions on the formation of the Lantern Festival customs, but The general change began to take shape in the Han Dynasty. According to historical records, during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty wanted to worship a god named "Tai Yi". It is said that Taiyi was a very prominent god at that time, his status was higher than the Five Emperors, and he was benevolent to the Han Emperor, so he was worshiped more prosperously. According to legend, another Han Dynasty emperor, Emperor Hanwen, was also related to the Lantern Festival.

This Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty was proclaimed emperor after the general Zhou Bo pinged the "Zhu Lu Rebellion". The day when the rebellion was quelled was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, so Emperor Wenwen of the Han Dynasty would leave the palace every night on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Play, have fun with the people, and determine this day as the Lantern Festival. However, there are no records of lighting lanterns or setting fires on the 15th night of the first lunar month to worship Taiyi and play games related to these two Han emperors. Another emperor of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty, ordered the lighting of lanterns during the Lantern Festival, thus forming the practice of lighting lanterns in later generations. , the custom of viewing lanterns.

Taboos during the Spring Festival (only for *** reference, not to promote superstition)

Chinese people in the past and in some places now have many taboos when celebrating the Spring Festival, mainly to ensure safety and safety in the coming year. Everything goes well and everything goes well. The taboos from the first to the tenth day of the lunar month are:

The first day of the lunar month: Rooster Day. In the old days, chickens were posted on New Year's Day to ward off evil spirits and pray for blessings (rooster is homophonic to "ji").

The second day of the Lunar New Year: Dog Day, go out to pay New Year greetings or worship ancestors.

The third day of the Lunar New Year: Sheep day, it is easy to have quarrels, so it is not suitable to pay New Year greetings.

The fourth day of the Lunar New Year: Pig Day, sacrifice to the God of Wealth.

The fifth day of the lunar month: Ox Day, "breaking the fifth day" can break many taboos: "Send the poor on the fifth day". The garbage from the first to the fourth day of the lunar month cannot be thrown away to avoid losing wealth. The garbage on the fifth day of the lunar month is regarded as poor soil. If you throw it out, you will be sent out of poverty.

The sixth day of the lunar month: Horse Day, the day to send gifts to the gods. Burn the paper horses sent to the God of Wealth on New Year’s Eve, and the store begins to reopen.

The seventh day of the lunar month: Ren's Day, a person's birthday. It is also the custom of having dinner and drinking together, and setting off fireworks and fireworks. It is the birthday of fire.

The eighth day of the lunar month: Grain day, the stars descend to the lower realm, so it is necessary to worship the stars. Temples often set up altars to worship the stars on this day.

On the ninth day of the lunar month: the birthday of Heaven and the Jade Emperor, a grand ceremony to worship Heaven is held.

The tenth day of the lunar month: Stone’s birthday. It is forbidden to use any stone tools such as grinders, mills, and mills to make the stone immobile, or even burn incense to worship the stone tools.