How do Putian people spend the Spring Festival?

● Always celebrate the New Year, because every year is one year old, so Puxian people pay special attention to the word "doing". In the twelfth lunar month, people begin to make preparations and do a good job in the "New Year" work, hoping for a good start in the new year. After a long time, Pu Xianren instilled his lifestyle and history and culture into the Chinese New Year custom.

● After the second day of the twelfth lunar month, housewives generally choose sunny days to "sweep the goods". In Xinghua dialect, "boat" and "patrol" are homophonic. Putian people used boats as their home in their early years, so the year-end cleaning was called "sweeping boats". On this day, brooms and other tools are brand-new, and sticking red paper indicates good luck; Also prepare a ten-foot-long bamboo pole, tied with reeds and straw, and specially clean the heights; Cooking utensils, such as steamer, are taken out for cleaning to refresh the mind for the new year.

● Red ball sweet potato is made of glutinous rice flour and edible red. After filling, use wood engraved with twins or harvest celebration patterns to shape it into a shape with an upper arch and a lower flat, and then steam it with banana leaves. Red balls are indispensable sacrifices in various sacrificial activities. The practice of "sweet potato starter" is similar to steamed bread: peeled and mashed the cooked sweet potato, stirred and fermented with brown sugar and flour, and steamed over high fire. Older people like to do it themselves for good luck.

● White-headed couplets paste a small piece of white paper on the red paper Spring Festival couplets. This custom originated from the Japanese invasion during the Spring Festival 300 years ago, and many families lost their loved ones. In order to mourn the dead, people left a blank sheet of paper at the Red Cross to express their grief. Since then, Putian people have formed a unique custom of posting "white-headed couplets".

● Thirty Putian people are commonly known as New Year's Eve. At noon that day, families traditionally eat miscellaneous powder. The New Year's Eve dinner should be rich and auspicious. Eight or twelve dishes should be served before serving, including ten-legged crab (symbolizing perfection), fried oysters (homophonic in dialect), fried crucian carp (homophonic in dialect with "Keppel"), beet balls, oranges and other auspicious dishes. The main meal is generally shrimp (homophonic with "harmony" in dialect) and braised pork.

On the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, firecrackers exploded everywhere in Xinghua. Legend has it that this day the land Lord will report to heaven, which means that the old year is about to pass. People will set up altars in front of their homes or on balconies, burn tribute silver to thank heaven and earth, bid farewell to the old year, and hope that the gods will say more good things in front of the Jade Emperor.

● The word "destiny" for eating noodles is homophonic in Puxian dialect. Noodles produced locally are slender and flexible. The cooking method is to put the fried kale at the bottom of the bowl, put the cooked noodles in boiling water, then pour the marinade, and then add seasoning dishes: scrambled eggs, scrambled peanuts, peas, laver and various marinades, which are all delicious. Eating noodles in the early morning of the first day of school means that you are one year older.

● The Spring Festival of five-year-old Putian people is from the first day to the fifth day, commonly known as "five years old". After eating noodles in the morning of the first day, men, women and children should put on new clothes, go out for a "spring outing" for entertainment, and visit relatives and friends to pay New Year greetings. If you don't enter the other door on the first day, you can't come to the door the next day. It is reported that before the Spring Festival in Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty, the Japanese army captured Xinghua City, and more than 30,000 people were killed. When Qi Jiguang led the army to recover, it was the New Year's Day. When people who took refuge in the mountains came home one after another, they saw blood spattered on their homes and bodies thrown in the street. How can they have the heart to celebrate the New Year? The second day of the lunar calendar is the day when immortals are forbidden, so the custom of not coming to the door on the second day of the lunar calendar is formed. On the fourth day of the fourth year, the family got together again to celebrate "Thirty Years" and "New Year". It is not until the fifth day that "old" is over. Xu Wen

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Putian and Xianyou, two counties under the jurisdiction of Putian City, belonged to Xinghua in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, so they were customarily called Xinghua only. The custom of Xinghua people is that relatives and friends visit each other from the first day of the first lunar month, which is called "New Year greetings" and say auspicious words. This custom is the same in China. However, in Xinghua, the custom of posting "Spring Festival couplets with white forehead" is still followed.

A little older

On April1year and1month in Jiajing, Ming Dynasty, the Japanese invaded Xinghua, killing and plundering, and did not retreat until the end of the following year. The city is full of corpses, which is terrible.

On the second day of the second lunar month, people who went out to take refuge came back one after another with mixed feelings of sadness and joy, both for the living and the dead. At this time, relatives and friends are anxious to visit each other first, then dry their tears, celebrate the Spring Festival, make up for their old age and celebrate their recovery.

Since none of them had a new year's day, they decided to make it up on the evening of the fourth day. In order to commemorate that painful history, people will get together on New Year's Eve. The fourth day of the first month is called "New Year's Eve", which is also called "New Year's Eve" (Xianyou is the "New Year's Eve" on the fifth day). The second day of the first month is considered as "visiting the dead", and people don't visit each other on this day to express their condolences to their dead relatives.

Later, because I thought it was inconvenient to visit each other during the Spring Festival, I changed it to the first day. If I visited my relatives and friends, I wouldn't have to be taboo on the second day.

White forehead spring festival couplets

Spring Festival couplets all over the country are all red, but Xinghua's Spring Festival couplets have two-inch long white couplets, which are particularly eye-catching

According to legend, after the Qing soldiers entered the customs, they implemented a high-handed policy and killed innocent people. Many people put up white couplets for the funeral. It was the Spring Festival, and the Qing court forced every household to stick red couplets to decorate "the country is peaceful and the people are safe". When someone posted a red couplet, he deliberately exposed a small piece of white couplet on the door to show his grief. The custom of "white-fronted Spring Festival couplets" came into being and has been passed down to this day.

the Lantern Festival

During the Spring Festival, the most anticipated is the Lantern Festival, which is another big festival in China after the Spring Festival, and its date is the 15th day of the first month. However, Putian people started the Lantern Festival on the sixth day of the first month, which lasted for more than 20 days. There are two main programs for the Lantern Festival: one is to eat Yuanxiao and the other is to watch lanterns. Putian people turned these two contents into a large-scale carnival.

Putian people's lanterns still maintain the shape of this ancient palace lantern. In Putian, the Lantern Festival is completely different from the mainland. People don't look at lights in fixed places, but everyone has to parade with lights. It is speculated that it may be because the ancient land here is vast and sparsely populated. After the Central Plains immigrants came here, they found that few people would come to see the lights in a fixed place, so they came up with a way to lift the lights and cruise. The route of a cruise ship is usually long, sometimes including several hills or villages. Perhaps this is a way for ancient Central Plains immigrants to show friendship to local aborigines.

Eating Yuanxiao in Putian is a grand exchange ceremony between several villages.

After the route is ready, the Lantern Festival parade will begin. Generally, people from several villages will gather in the public temple of the community and start marching to various villages from here. Some farmers, some company employees and some workers are in the team. Today, they all put down their work and gathered together to participate in this grand festival celebration. The cruising range is generally near the boundaries of several villages. The walking route is not always smooth, and sometimes it deliberately bypasses the main road, which means overcoming difficulties. No matter how difficult the route designated by the Bodhisattva is, we must go on. In the middle of the Lantern Festival parade, passing villages should prepare a lot of cauldrons of Yuanxiao for everyone to eat at rest. The team happily eats Yuanxiao together, which looks like a harmonious family.

Tiaozong bridge

Jumping brown sedan chair is a mysterious Lantern Festival custom and ceremony unique to Putian, which is usually held at the same time with festive programs such as lanterns and Puxian Opera. In rural Putian, the ceremony of jumping on the brown sedan chair is very grand, which is a national activity that almost every household must participate in. After careful selection, the boys danced around the fire barefoot, carrying seven or nine brown sedan chairs. This barefoot man is going to step on the fire for a while. In order to set foot on the fire safely, they had to make physical and mental preparations around the fire in advance. The climax of the ceremony of jumping brown sedan chair is jumping on the fire with your feet, which shows the heroism and courage of Putian people.

When more than 20 days of lively lantern festival activities are coming to an end, there will be a big public temple in the community to take the lead and hold the last climax activity, literature and art stepping on the street. It is a cultural parade that brings together all kinds of unique folk musical instruments in Putian, and it is a large-scale cultural evening. Primary school students standing on the floats play the roles of some dramatic figures and historical heroes, which is quite fairy-like. They also played some contemporary hero model figures, such as space hero Yang Liwei and China women's volleyball team. They won the world championship and won glory for their country, showing people's positive attitude and love for their country and life.

According to legend, at the end of the battle of Linton, when the anti-Japanese hero Qi Jiguang hit the enemy hard, a ministry named Cao Dajin was ordered to intercept the fleeing enemy in a place called Yingxian Village in Putian. At the critical moment when he was seriously injured, he knocked on the sacrificial drum in the temple to encourage the soldiers to bravely kill the enemy. After hearing the drums, the villagers nearby rushed to help and finally wiped out the enemy. Later, in order to commemorate this battle, Putian people gradually developed the gongs and drums in the temple into an entertainment activity.

In the development history of about 300 years, Putian's car drums have gradually formed their own style and performance mode. Probably because the festival activities in Putian are often accompanied by large-scale parades, they usually put the drums that command performances on a flatbed car, push them while walking, and command the performance of the queue and the rhythm of music during the March, hence the name "Car Drum". Another reason is that this kind of car started from the war. In the past, it was usually performed by men, and the car and drum teams in various villages often held challenges called "fighting drums".

Since 1950s, with the changes of social system and the improvement of women's status in China, many rural women have also formed car and drum teams to compete with men. In the development of women's car drums, they added the flower umbrella in the temple to the car drum performance, making it more vivid and beautiful. In recent years, women's car and drum teams have spread all over Putian rural areas, and they have developed many new dance moves, making the car and drum performance not only masculine for men, but also heroic for women.

The Spring Festival of Putian people is both lively and lively. There are not only the pure happiness passed down by the ancient Central Plains people, but also some variations brought by the local geographical environment, as well as the emotional memories engraved by the unique historical experience of Putian people. During the Spring Festival in Putian, you can not only feel novelty and surprise, but also feel the richness and massiness of Chinese civilization with a long history.

Putian is the hometown of overseas Chinese. Being able to go home for the New Year has become the concern and expectation of overseas travelers in a foreign land.

Rural Folk Customs-Zuosui Hongtuan Sweet Potato Qi

During the Chinese New Year, Putian folks have the custom of making "red balls" and "sweet potatoes". One is to worship ancestors, the other is to eat seasonal food, and the third is to take the meaning of family prosperity, good luck, peace and harmony, and family reunion.

The production of "red ball" skin has certain skills. After soaking glutinous rice in water, take it out and drain it, pound it into rice flour (commonly known as "rice sacrifice") by hand, then sieve it, take the finest powder and dry it for later use. When in use, add a proper amount of boiled water and "edible red" and knead it into pink dough, knead it into a round strip, and then pick it into equal portions by hand.

The fillings of "red balls" are mostly sweet and salty. Sweet with brown sugar; Salty ones must be seasoned with chopped green onion, shredded mushrooms and fried peanut paste, which has local flavor. The stuffing of "red ball" is divided into three categories: one is mung bean (mung bean is washed and shelled). Commonly known as "mung bean stuffing"; One is to use glutinous rice as stuffing, commonly known as "glutinous rice stuffing"; First, dry sweet potato powder is used as stuffing, because rice was rarely produced in mountainous and coastal areas in the past, and the staple foods all year round are "sweet potato" and "dry sweet potato". When I was "old", I made a group of "sweet potato stuffing", but I didn't forget the simple folk customs of bitter days.

When making "red balls", housewives should have a clever division of labor. The dough should be moderate in thickness, neither too thick nor too thin; The size of the dough stuffing should be even, neither too big nor too small, and the two should be properly matched. Otherwise, the face bag will be crushed after it is stuffed, and sometimes the "red seal" will be too small to look good. When making "Red jiaozi", housewives demonstrate and guide women and children to roll jiaozi, knead jiaozi, print and line "Kuiye" (scientific name "He Kun"), cut off the extra corners, put them neatly in the cooker, cover the lid and steam for about 25 minutes, then they can be taken out.

The block printing used by "Red Group" is commonly known as "Red Group Printing". This is an exquisite handicraft. The stamps are engraved with the words "rich", "expensive", "longevity" and "happiness", and flowers and birds are also engraved around them. Sweet potato is the main raw material. First, peel fresh sweet potatoes, wash them, cut them into pieces, steam them, pick them up, and chop them into pure and soft sweet potato paste. "A little red" means a prosperous family, and "Qi" (dialect) means developed and prosperous. "Sweet potato" is characterized by its strong flavor, soft fragrance and delicious taste. It is a seasonal and economical farm dish.

"Red ball" and "sweet potato rising" are the unique food culture of Putian people during the New Year.

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Putian City has become "old" after the Spring Festival.

The custom of "getting old" in the first month is distributed throughout Putian, as well as in the villages where Puxian dialect is popular, such as Fuqing Xincuo and Hui 'an Suanling, which are adjacent to Putian. Only people in Wuzhai Village, Youyang Town, Xianyou County remain "old" in the first month. This is because on the fifth day of the first month of Jiajing forty-two years, Wu, a native of Wuzhai (then the governor of Xinghua), died heroically in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. In order to commemorate him, the villagers set the fifth day of the first month as a mourning day, and held a ceremony to pay homage to the gods every year.

The reason why Putian people celebrate the New Year is different is that it has a long history. According to Records of Putian County and Records of Xianxi, the people of Puxian were immersed in the joy of preparing for the Spring Festival in April1year of Ming Jiaqing (AD 1562). Suddenly, the Japanese invaded, and Putian and Xianyou were captured by the Japanese, and the civilians rebelled. When the beautiful Spring Festival and Daqing turned into bloody disasters, people fled to the deep mountains. It was not until two months later that Qi Jiguang's army defeated the enemy that the people came back to collect the remains of their relatives and rebuild their burnt-out homes. Since then, in order to commemorate this painful history, the people of Putian have always remembered national hatred and family grievances in a unique folk form, and chose the day when Qi Jiajun regained the city for the Spring Festival, commonly known as the "New Year" to distinguish it from the "New Year".

Because the custom of "getting old" of Puxian people has special historical significance and profound connotation, it was handed down from generation to generation in the forty-second year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty (AD 1563), and it has been 445 years since then. This unique phenomenon of folk culture shows the national feelings of Puxian people who love their motherland, their hometown and foreign invaders. This folk activity is a vivid patriotic education activity, which can only be passed down to this day if it is unanimously recognized by Putian people.

"New Year's Eve" is called "New Year's Eve", "New Year's Eve" and "Surrounding the Kitchen" by Putian folks. Even on December 29th of the lunar calendar, it is called "New Year's Eve", and the day before New Year's Eve is called "New Year's Eve".

Puxian people "celebrate the New Year" on a night between the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month and the Lunar New Year's Eve, usually as many as twenty-eight or twenty-nine. Before the New Year in China, we should do a lot of preparatory work. In order to make the new year lively and prosperous, Puxian people, especially people in rural areas, should prepare "red jiaozi", "sweet potato cake" (made by mashing cooked sweet potatoes with rice flour, brown sugar and dough), pancakes, fried tofu, red oranges, tea wine and so on. And kill chickens, ducks, pigs, sheep, and cut fish, which is called ". At noon that day, everyone ate "miscellaneous powder" (sweet potato powder, longevity noodles, fried tofu, shredded pork, etc.).

On New Year's Eve, every household began to "pay New Year's greetings" and firecrackers exploded in the countryside. There was a table offering in front of the hospital, and a table skirt was embroidered with gold thread, on which were "Five Fruits", "Six Rites" and "Three Sacrifices", as well as the trunk line of red paper flowers marked "Happiness, Luck and Longevity". The whole family, led by the old man, burned incense, worshipped heaven and earth, worshipped ancestors and prayed in turn. Then burn "tribute silver" and "silver paper" in front of the altar, set off firecrackers again, and declare the end of "farewell to the old year".

"Around the stove" on New Year's Eve is the most common folk custom in China. However, there are many unique customs in the "surrounding furnace" of Puxian people.

On New Year's Eve, the hall of every household in Puxian is brightly lit, and the whole family, men, women and children, eat and drink at the same table. Everyone gets together, talking and laughing, and enjoying family happiness. In some villages in Puxian, people who pay more attention to ancient examples will put charcoal in the oven and put it under the dining table, indicating that a family is like a family and people are prosperous. This may be the origin of "surrounding the furnace".

When Puxian folk "surround the stove", most of the dishes on the table are auspicious and very rich. Among the dishes, crucian carp (common name "female crucian carp", homophonic "jubao"), crab (meaning perfection) and shrimp (homophonic "harmony", a family is harmonious. Other dishes, depending on the economic situation of each family, generally include pork, chicken (duck) meat, mutton, stewed tofu, stewed and fried tofu, fried rice noodles and so on. In the kitchen tank, we need to raise a few live crucian carp with water, which means "more than one year". Puxian people attach great importance to family relations. On weekdays, everyone is busy outside, but during the Chinese New Year, the family will try their best to get home for reunion. New Year's Eve is a time for family reunion. Therefore, in order to miss their loved ones, if someone really can't go home, prepare a pair of chopsticks for him at the dinner table.

After "surrounding the stove", the older generation gave/kloc-unmarried men and women under the age of 0/6 lucky money; There are also children who give lucky money to their parents, grandparents; The husband gave the unemployed wife lucky money. The original intention of distributing lucky money is: first, to increase the child by one year; The second is filial piety to the older generation; Third, the wife is the love of husband and wife; Fourth, according to age, its homophonic meaning is "according to the special", that is, the meaning of exorcism; Fifth, it is also a kind of subsidy in economy. On New Year's Eve, Puxian also has the custom of "observing the age". In the old society, some poor people went to the Chenghuang Temple to see a play on New Year's Eve in order to avoid debts. In this way, creditors dare not collect debts in front of Huang Cheng's grandfather. This custom is called "watching Lu Opera", and Puxian has the saying of "watching Lu Opera for 30 nights". But now, most families will spend 30 nights sitting together, eating melon seeds and watching the wonderful "Spring Festival Gala" intently until late at night.

Puxian area "has the good customs of Qilu in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, but it is left behind". Historically, Puxian area is one of the gathering places and spreading places of "crossing Nanguan, like the eight families of Fujian people". Therefore, it has become a colorful traditional custom of Puxian people for thousands of years. Up to now, there are still very unique customs among Puxian people, such as not using knives on New Year's Eve, for fear of inviting murderous look; You can't sweep the floor on the morning of the first day of the first month, for fear of sweeping away the god of wealth; On the second day of the first month, relatives and friends do not visit each other for fear of bad luck, and the agreement has become a "taboo." There is also a special custom in Puxian, which is "getting old on the fourth or fifth day of the first month". Every year on the fourth or fifth day of the first month, Putian folks say that every household "redoes the year", commonly known as "getting old". This custom has always maintained a tragic history in Putian. According to the Records of Putian County, in Jiajing 4 1 year (A.D. 1562) of Ming Dynasty, Japanese invaders invaded Fujian, successively occupied Yuheng in Ningde, Tian Niu in Fuqing and Linton in Putian, set up settlements, and set about burning, killing and looting. Putian City was captured by the Japanese on the 29th midnight of the lunar calendar (165438+ 10) and occupied for two months. Putian city was completely burned down and more than 10 thousand people were killed. At that time, men, women and children in Putian were cut off, burned and crucified by the Japanese army for resisting atrocities, and their inhuman atrocities shocked both at home and abroad. In mid-February of 65438+, due to the uncleanness of the dead bodies in the city, the Japanese army had to temporarily retreat to Pinghai until the arrival of the anti-Japanese hero Qi Jiguang, and Putian City was recovered. At this time, people who fled to the mountains went home on the second day of February. On the one hand, we bury the bodies of relatives and friends, on the other hand, we clean up the broken homes. At this time, the New Year's Day has passed, people will visit each other on the second day of February, and "do it again" on the fourth day of February. In the following year, in order to commemorate this tragic day in Putian, Putian folks celebrated New Year's Eve on December 30th of the lunar calendar as usual. Due to the busy farming in February of the lunar calendar, the fourth day of February is too long to be "old", so Putian folk agreed to change the fourth day of the lunar calendar to the fourth day of the first month, with the 30th night called "young" and the fourth night called "old". Because the second day of February (later changed to the second day of the first month) is an ominous day to visit relatives and friends, Putian people do not pay New Year greetings to each other or visit relatives and friends every year. It is also agreed that the second day of the first month is a "no-date". It is precisely because of this history that the custom of pasting white-fronted Spring Festival couplets is also popular in Pufairyland. Originally, on the second day after Pu Xian's death, every family posted white couplets, but on the fourth day (Xianyou is the fifth day), it was customary to post red Spring Festival couplets. In the contradiction between mourning for relatives and auspicious festivals, people choose to compromise. Just above the newly pasted white Spring Festival couplets, the red Spring Festival couplets are covered, but the red Spring Festival couplets (about 3 inches) are exposed. Since then, the custom of pasting white Spring Festival couplets has become popular in Puxian area during the Spring Festival. The customs of Xianyou County, which is also in Putian City, are slightly different from those of Putian City (formerly Putian County). Putian is the "old" on the fourth day of the first month, and Xianyou County is the "old" on the fifth day of the first month. This is because when the enemy captured Putian City, they divided their troops and invaded Xianyou County on a large scale, killing and plundering everywhere. The people in Xianyou city fled everywhere and were displaced, so they could not reunite for the New Year. It was not until the fifth day of February that the enemy fled and the people reunited. Later, they agreed to be "old" on the fifth day of the first month, which was one day different from Putian County. In Xianyou County, I only visit Yangzhai Village and don't want to be "old" in the first month. This is because on the fifth day of the first month in the 42nd year of Jiajing, Wu, a member of the Wu family (Xinghua government army), died in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. In order to commemorate him, the villagers designated the fifth day of the first month as a mourning day, so the Wu family had the custom of being young on the fifth day of the first month. The custom of "getting old" on the fourth and fifth day of the first month in Puxian area has been passed down to this day.

In addition to "getting old", in most places around Putian Xianyou and Huating, birthdays are celebrated on the third day of the first lunar month every year. This custom also originated from the Japanese rebellion in Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty. In order to avoid chaos, Pu Xianren went home to bury the victims on the second day of the first month, celebrated the surviving elders on the third day, and later evolved into a customary birthday. Some villages celebrate their birthdays every year on the tenth day of the first lunar month; Some choose bimonthly and bimonthly birthdays, and some can celebrate their birthdays all year round as long as they choose an auspicious day.

For more than 450 years, Puxian's "getting old" has formed an established custom. "Getting old" is a sacred festival, which is more important to every household than the Chinese New Year. When you are old, the prestigious elders in the village often organize cultural activities such as Puxian Opera performances, ten tones and eight music. In the past, the rattan dance imitating War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's period was also popular in Duwei Peak of Xianyou County. In many places, when they are old, they will organize villagers to hold a grand worship ceremony at the Qigong Temple to remember the achievements of Qi Jiguang's army in recovering lost land.

Puxian's "Older" is a grand festival attended by all the people. All the immortals who work or live in other places will also go all the way back to their hometown to "spend their old age safely". In recent years, due to the convenient transportation, many compatriots from Taiwan and Hong Kong and overseas Chinese of Puxian nationality also rushed back to their hometowns at the beginning of the first month to participate in the "New Year".

The custom of "being old" in Puxian County has specific and distinct local roots, historical significance and profound connotation. This folk cultural phenomenon embodies valuable national spirit, struggle spirit, harmonious spirit and educational spirit. From the analysis of its contents, "Don't go to the door on the second day", "Birthday on the third day" and "Old at the fourth or fifth day" review history year after year, and educate future generations to cherish happiness, love peace and never forget to defend their country. The project has the following characteristics:

First, it is unique, and the custom of "getting older" is unique in the country.

Second, it is instructive and enlightens future generations.

Third, to value harmony, advocate unity, internal harmony and affinity, and * * * resist foreign enemies.

Fourth, it is inherited, popular in Puxian area and passed down from generation to generation.

Fifth, the historical custom of "getting old" contains painful local history and national history.

Sixth, it is recognition. This festival has been recognized by Puxian people, and its special value and significance have also been highly recognized by historical folk experts.

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Putian people celebrate the New Year: be old, be red and be sweet.

During the Chinese New Year, Putian folks have the custom of making "red balls" and "sweet potatoes". One is to worship ancestors, the other is to eat seasonal food, and the third is to take the meaning of family prosperity, good luck, peace and harmony, and family reunion.

The production of "red ball" skin has certain skills. After soaking glutinous rice in water, take it out and drain it, pound it into rice flour (commonly known as "rice sacrifice") by hand, then sieve it, take the finest powder and dry it for later use. When in use, add a proper amount of boiled water and "edible red" and knead it into pink dough, knead it into a round strip, and then pick it into equal portions by hand.

The fillings of "red balls" are mostly sweet and salty. Sweet with brown sugar; Salty ones must be seasoned with chopped green onion, shredded mushrooms and fried peanut paste, which has local flavor. The stuffing of "red ball" is divided into three categories: one is mung bean (mung bean is washed and shelled). Commonly known as "mung bean stuffing"; One is to use glutinous rice as stuffing, commonly known as "glutinous rice stuffing"; First, dry sweet potato powder is used as stuffing, because rice was rarely produced in mountainous and coastal areas in the past, and the staple foods all year round are "sweet potato" and "dry sweet potato". When I was "old", I made a group of "sweet potato stuffing", but I didn't forget the simple folk customs of bitter days.

When making "red balls", housewives should have a clever division of labor. The dough should be moderate in thickness, neither too thick nor too thin; The size of the dough stuffing should be even, neither too big nor too small, and the two should be properly matched. Otherwise, the face bag will be crushed after it is stuffed, and sometimes the "red seal" will be too small to look good. When making "Red jiaozi", housewives demonstrate and guide women and children to roll jiaozi, knead jiaozi, print and line "Kuiye" (scientific name "He Kun"), cut off the extra corners, put them neatly in the cooker, cover the lid and steam for about 25 minutes, then they can be taken out.

The block printing used by "Red Group" is commonly known as "Red Group Printing". This is an exquisite handicraft. The stamps are engraved with the words "rich", "expensive", "longevity" and "happiness", and flowers and birds are also engraved around them. Sweet potato is the main raw material. First, peel fresh sweet potatoes, wash them, cut them into pieces, steam them, pick them up, and chop them into pure and soft sweet potato paste. "A little red" means a prosperous family, and "Qi" (dialect) means developed and prosperous. "Sweet potato" is characterized by its strong flavor, soft fragrance and delicious taste. It is a seasonal and economical farm dish.

"Red ball" and "sweet potato rising" are the unique food culture of Putian people during the New Year.

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Traditional folk customs are full of charm.

The land of Puyang is full of scenes of preparing for the New Year. According to traditional customs, many old people are busy preparing sacrifices, making new year's sacrificial ceremonies, paying homage to heaven and earth and thanking their husbands and mothers. Some are busy making "red balls" and "sweet potatoes". Everyone hopes to bring good luck to their families in the traditional customs handed down from generation to generation. This strong Chinese New Year flavor has become a unique custom in our city. Xu Wen/map