The custom of Hakka celebrating the Spring Festival

On New Year's Eve, couplets are posted in the morning to worship the ancestors of heaven and earth and the gods of the past, and every household sets off firecrackers. After lunch, take a bath and put on new clothes. The Hakka custom is to bathe with evergreen grass, pine and cypress and orange leaves on New Year's Eve. Dinner is usually early, and the whole family gets together, which is grand and rich, commonly known as "reunion dinner".

As night falls, every household is brightly lit until after midnight. This is the so-called "receiving the god of wealth". When night falls, at least one lamp in every room should be on all night. This is the so-called "lighting year". The elders give their young children "lucky money", which varies in number, with the luck of "everyone has money".

The child is not finished yet, and everyone stays awake. This is called "guarding the age". At midnight, every household's firecrackers and fireworks exploded, deafening and dazzling, and the whole world was boiling for it. This is the so-called "Welcome New Year" and the festive atmosphere reached its climax.

On the first day of New Year's Day, everyone gets up early to pay New Year's greetings. The younger generation wishes their elders a long and healthy life. People of the same age congratulate each other on the New Year and say some auspicious words, such as Happy New Year and congratulations on getting rich. And don't quarrel, don't swear, don't swear, take good luck for a year. The Dragon Dance Team and the Lion Dance Team set out early in the morning, beating gongs and drums to pay New Year greetings to all households, and everyone greeted them cheerfully and presented red envelopes.

On the second and fourth day of the Lunar New Year, relatives and friends visit each other, women "turn to their younger sister's house" (go back to their parents' house) and new son-in-law come to the door, and people come and go in the streets, and everyone is beaming.

On the third day of the third year, "Poor Ghosts' Day", the Hakkas got up early in the morning to sweep the garbage without moving the broom on the second day of the first day, which was called "seeing off the poor ghosts and gods" and was blessed for one year.

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, the Spring Festival is basically over. When the market opens, everyone can go out and go their separate ways.

Extended data

Hakka Spring Festival taboo

The Spring Festival was originally out of the taboo of "Year". Deng Yunxiang's On the Customs of the Red Chamber (Zhonghua Book Company, 1987 edition) mentioned the word "nian", which is a pictographic character with a head and a tail, and its feet spread out in all directions, like a big gecko. It is said that it is a terrible reptile. People are not satisfied at the age of one. At best, they survived safely. Therefore, they make a fire and get something good to celebrate with. This is called "Chinese New Year". Later, the beginning of celebrating the New Year became today's "New Year" and "New Year".

As the Hakka saying goes, "Avoid many things in the new year". The taboos of Hakka people during the Spring Festival include: not beating and scolding children; It is forbidden to break utensils; Don't swear.

The first day of the first month is the beginning of a year, and people often regard it as a sign of good or bad luck in the new year. Don't use unlucky words on this day, such as disease, death, suffering, poverty, disaster, chaos, famine, killing, etc. The rice jar should not be empty, so as not to have the intention of not cooking for a year. Avoid sprinkling water, sweeping the floor and taking out the garbage. This is called "gathering wealth" to sweep away the garbage, so as to avoid "wealth" being swept down. On this day, creditors are not allowed to come to collect debts. People think that this day of debt collection is unlucky for both borrowers and borrowers, and they also avoid taking things from other people's pockets. People think that the pockets on the first day of the first month may be in danger of being "emptied" for a whole year. Don't go out to visit relatives and friends on the third day. On the third day, every family used to sweep out the garbage and send it to the open space outside the house or by the river, shouting to send it to the poor. So few people go out on this day; Avoid sewing, especially in the lobby.

Baidu Encyclopedia: Hakka Spring Festival