The origin and legend of New Year’s Eve_What are the customs of New Year’s Eve?

New Year's Eve is an important part of the Spring Festival. It, together with the New Year's Day and the First Day of the Lunar New Year, forms the backbone of the Spring Festival. So do you know the origin of New Year’s Eve? The following is the origin and legend of New Year's Eve compiled by the editor. Everyone is welcome to read, share and learn from it. I hope it will be helpful to everyone.

More New Year’s Eve related content recommendations ↓↓↓

The difference between New Year’s Eve and Spring Festival

Why is New Year’s Eve called New Year’s Eve

Beautiful sentences about New Year’s Eve Say

10 poems about New Year’s Eve

The origin of New Year’s Eve

In ancient times, there was a vicious monster named Xi, who would come out to harm people at the end of the year. Later, people knew that Xi was most afraid of the color red and noise, so on New Year's Eve, every household posted red Spring Festival couplets and set off firecrackers to drive away the New Year's Eve beast and seek peace in the new year. When the New Year is approaching, everyone will prepare dinner in advance and eat the "New Year's Eve dinner" at home. They also offer sacrifices to their ancestors before eating and pray for their blessings to spend the night safely. After dinner, people huddled together and chatted to strengthen their courage to prevent the monster from attacking again. Over time, the habit of staying up late on New Year's Eve has been formed.

This custom has been passed down since then, and the night of New Year's Eve is called New Year's Eve.

The legendary story of New Year's Eve

Story 1: The legend of Xi

It is said that in ancient times there was a four-cornered and four-legged evil beast-Xi, which was covered with heavy snow in winter. When there was a shortage of food, he often went to nearby villages to find food. Because of his huge body, bad temper, and ferocity, he brought great disasters to the villagers. Every year at the end of the twelfth twelfth lunar month, people pack their clothes, help the elderly and the young, and go to the nearby bamboo forest to escape the sunset.

This year, when people in the village were packing their things and fleeing, they encountered a child of about seven or eight years old, lying on the roadside due to hunger. A kind-hearted old woman rescued the child and asked the child to go up the mountain to avoid the evil beast Xi. The smart child and the old woman followed the people in the village to the bamboo forest behind the village.

Due to the freezing cold in the bamboo forest in winter, everyone cut down bamboo to build houses and light fires to keep warm. The child who was rescued by the old woman asked everyone curiously, "Our bamboo forest is so close to the village, aren't we afraid that Xi will come here?" An old man answered him: "When I was young, I followed the villagers. I came here to avoid Xi. During the years when the snow was heavy, I even chased him because he was very hungry, but every time he saw the villagers cutting bamboo in the bamboo forest, he hurried away."

The child thought for a while and told everyone, "I have a way to get rid of 'Xi' so that everyone will not have to flee every time in the twelfth lunar month." After hearing this, everyone was very happy and asked what to do? This clever man The children told everyone to cut more bamboo joints and take them with them, so that everyone in the village can go home tonight! Just hang a piece of red cloth outside the door of each of your houses, and the evening will never come again until dawn tomorrow.

The villagers listened to the child's words with suspicion, and the elders in the village took them back to their homes. It soon fell into the night, and no one dared to sleep because they were afraid that "Xi" would come. In addition to hanging red cloth strips outside their doors, they came to the open space in the middle of the village and guarded some people brought back from the bamboo forest. some broken bamboo knots. The weather was cold and everyone lit a fire to keep warm. When they were hungry, they brought out some food.

At midnight, a loud roar was heard, and everyone shrank in fear. At this time, the smart child suddenly stood up and told everyone: "I will lure him here, and then everyone will throw the broken bamboo knots that we have been guarding all night into the fire." Before he could wait, the kind-hearted old woman stretched out her hand to pull him. , the child has arrived at the entrance of the village. The child saw Xi Zheng rushing into the village and destroying a lot of things, so he shouted loudly, "You come every year and make the people unable to live and work in peace and contentment. Today I must give you something awesome!" !

When "Xi" heard the child's cry, it followed the sound and came over. However, when it saw the red cloth strips hanging on the door walls of every house, it did not dare to enter, so it followed the child's footsteps. The sound endured the hunger and came to the open space in the center of the village. At this time, the child said loudly, "Folks, throw broken bamboo sticks into the fire!", but everyone had already stood there and stopped because of fear. At this moment, "Xi" picked up the child heavily with his horns. Thrown to the ground.

The villagers reacted when they heard the sound of the child falling to the ground, and threw bamboo sticks into the fire.

Because it had just been cut down, the wet bamboo joints exploded one after another when exposed to the strong fire, making a crackling sound! "Xi" heard the sound and turned around and scurried away, without damaging anything in the village.

It was dawn, and "Xi" was scared away by the sound of the bursting bamboo joints that people threw into the fire. The residents' homes were saved because of the red strips hanging in front of the door, so Xi did not enter. People But I couldn't be happy in my heart. Because the smart kid who saved the village was picked to death by "Xi". And this day is the first day of the first lunar month. This smart boy's name is "Nian".

Because "Xi" is not dead, every year on the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, everyone waits at the Broken Bamboo Festival, hoping to get rid of "Xi" as soon as possible. But year after year, no one has seen "Xi" again. There are only firecrackers set off by everyone to prevent the arrival of "Xi" and red cloth strips hung in front of the door. However, this legend and Chinese New Year are left to us. customs.

Story 2

According to legend, in ancient times there was a scholar named Han Wenyu. When he was young, his family was very poor. One year, on the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month of the lunar calendar, all the neighbors celebrated the New Year happily, but he was too poor to have any meat to eat. The neighbor's baby came out to play, holding greasy chicken and bacon in his hands to chew; his baby saw it and went home crying and begging for meat from him. His wife had no choice but to borrow two lumps of meat from a neighbor's house to cook. Unexpectedly, just after the meat was cooked, the neighbor's head came back. He was afraid that the Han family would not be able to pay back the money in the future, so he forced Mrs. Han to pick up the meat. Han Wenyu coaxed the baby, and the family managed to spend the Spring Festival.

It is getting dark, and the neighbors have already lit up the New Year lanterns. The whole family gathered around the fire, talking and laughing, and began to keep the New Year's Eve together. At this time, Han Wenyu was still chopping firewood on the mountain to light a fire to keep the New Year's Eve. His wife spent the afternoon sewing rags, and then went to the back of the house to collect firewood for cooking. A kind-hearted old woman saw it and said to Mrs. Han: "We still have a bunch of chili sticks for you, which can cook for a few days." She thanked the kind old woman and went to carry the chili sticks back. At this time, Han Wenyu also dug a big tree head on the mountain and brought it back. Mrs. Han burned chili sticks to cook rice. The smoke was very choking. After eating, she lit a fire to keep the New Year's Eve. She also used the chili sticks as kindling. At this time, it was Haishi. The fierce gods in the sky followed the orders of the Jade Emperor and went to the human world to bring disasters. The impermanent ghosts in the underworld also followed the orders of Lord Yama to come to the human world to determine life and death for people. The evil god left the Nantian Gate and just arrived in the mortal world. The smell of chili pepper made them sneeze and make them burst into tears. The evil god said: "Mortals are so crooked! I haven't gone down yet, but I have been tortured enough. If I really go down, I wonder if I still have enough legs to go back to heaven!" Thinking of this, he was so frightened that he hid in the sky and did not dare to come down. The ghosts of Impermanence also huddled in the underworld and did not dare to come out.

As for the tree head that Han Wenyu dug, it turned out to be a ten thousand-year-old agarwood tree. It was on fire, and the fragrance overflowed and reached the heaven. The Jade Emperor was overjoyed when he smelled the agarwood, and praised the mortals for burning such a strange incense as an offering. He sent good gods to come down to earth, and reduced the sins of the people in the world by seven points, and spread nectar all over the world to bless the world. At the same time, Wenqu Xingguan was sent down to earth to secretly help Han Wenyu pass the No. 1 Scholar exam

In the second year, the world was in good weather, the grain was plentiful, and people lived a good life. Han Wenyu also passed the No. 1 Scholar exam. From then on, people would burn chili pepper sticks every time they celebrated the New Year, hoping to drive away evil spirits and avoid disasters. Then they burned the agarwood tree heads, hoping that the good gods would bless the world.

Story 3: Spring Couplets Door God

In ancient Chinese mythology, it is said that there is a world of ghosts. There is a mountain in it, and there is a big peach tree covering three thousand miles on the mountain. There is a golden rooster on the top. Whenever the golden rooster crows in the morning, the ghosts who wandered out at night will rush back to the ghost land. The gate of the ghost realm is located in the northeast of the peach tree. There are two gods standing by the gate, named Shen Tu and Yu Lei.

If a ghost does something harmful to nature at night, Shen Tu and Yu Lei will immediately discover it and catch it, tie it up with a rope made of awning reed, and send it to feed the tigers. Therefore, all the ghosts in the world are afraid of Shen Tu and Yu Lei. So people carved their images out of peach wood and placed them at their doorsteps to avoid evil and harm. Later, people simply engraved the names of Shen Tu and Yu Lei on peach boards, believing that doing so could also suppress evil and eliminate evil. This kind of peach wood board was later called "Peach Run".

In the Song Dynasty, people began to write couplets on peach boards, one without losing the meaning of peach wood to suppress evil, the other to express their good wishes, and the third to decorate the door for beauty. Couplets are also written on red paper, which symbolizes joy and auspiciousness, and are pasted on both sides of doors and windows during the New Year to express people's best wishes for good luck in the coming year. In order to pray for the good health of the family, people in some places still retain the habit of sticking to the door god.

It is said that if two door gods are posted on the door, all monsters and ghosts will be intimidated.

In the folk, the door god is a symbol of righteousness and force. The ancients believed that people with strange looks often have magical talents and extraordinary abilities. They are upright and kind-hearted, and it is their nature and responsibility to catch ghosts and demons. Zhong Kui, the ghost-hunting master that people admire, has such a strange appearance. Therefore, the folk door gods always have angry eyes and ferocious looks, holding various traditional weapons in their hands, ready to fight any ghosts who dare to come to the door. Since the doors of Chinese houses usually have two doors opening opposite each other, door gods always come in pairs.

After the Tang Dynasty, in addition to the previous two generals Shen Tu and Yu Lei, people also regarded the two Tang Dynasty generals Qin Shubao and Yuchi Gong as door gods. According to legend, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty was ill and heard ghosts calling outside his door, making him restless all night. So he asked the two generals to stand guard by the door with weapons in hand, and the next night there were no more ghosts to disturb them. Later, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty asked people to draw the images of these two generals and paste them on the door. This custom began to spread among the people.

What are the customs of New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve dinner

Eating New Year's Eve dinner is the most lively and happy time for every household during the Spring Festival. On New Year's Eve, the table is filled with sumptuous New Year dishes, and the whole family gathers around the table to have a reunion dinner. Family reunions often bring spiritual comfort and satisfaction to the head of the family. The elderly see their children and grandchildren in the house, and the whole family enjoys their family life. What a happiness it is.

There are big dishes, cold basins, hot stir-fries, and snacks on the table. Generally, two things are indispensable, one is hot pot and the other is fish. The hot pot is boiling, steaming, warm and sultry, indicating that it is booming; "fish" and "yu" are homophonic, which symbolizes "abundance in auspicious celebrations" and also means "abundance every year".

New Year’s Eve dinners vary from north to south, including dumplings, wontons, long noodles, Yuanxiao, etc., and each has its own specialties. Northerners are accustomed to eating dumplings during the Chinese New Year, which means "Geng Sui Jiao Zi" (Geng Sui Jiao Zi), the transition between the old and the new. And because the white flour dumplings are shaped like silver ingots, serving them on the table symbolizes "making a fortune in the new year, and the ingots rolling in". When making dumplings, some people also wrap a few coins that have been sterilized in boiling water, saying that whoever eats them first will make more money.

Posting Spring Couplets

Spring couplets describe the background of the times and express good wishes with neat, dual, concise and exquisite words. It is a unique literary form in my country. Every Spring Festival, every household, whether in urban or rural areas, selects a pair of red Spring Festival couplets and sticks them on the door to add a festive atmosphere to the festival.

There are many types of Spring Festival couplets. According to the place of use, they can be divided into door centers, frame pairs, horizontal drapes, spring strips, bucket squares, etc. The "door center" is affixed to the upper center of the door panel; the "frame pair" is affixed to the left and right door frames; the "horizontal stripe" is affixed to the crossbar of the door; the "spring strips" are affixed to the corresponding places according to different contents; "Dojin" is also called "door leaf", which is square and diamond-shaped, and is often posted on furniture and screen walls.

Affix window grilles

People also like to put various paper-cuts - window grilles on their windows. Window grilles not only enhance the festive atmosphere, but also integrate decoration, appreciation and practicality. With its unique summary and exaggeration techniques, window grilles vividly express auspicious symbols and good wishes, decorating the festival with prosperity and splendor.

Pasting the Chinese character "福"

At the same time as pasting Spring Festival couplets, some families have to paste large and small "福" characters on their house doors, walls and lintels. The word "福" refers to blessing and luck, expressing people's yearning for a happy life and their wishes for a better future.

New Year pictures

Hanging New Year pictures during the Spring Festival is also very common in urban and rural areas. The thick black and colorful New Year pictures add a prosperous and joyful festive atmosphere to thousands of households. New Year pictures are an ancient Han folk art in my country, which reflect the people's simple customs and beliefs and express their hopes for the future.

Lighting firecrackers

When the New Year arrives, the first thing every household does when they open the door is to set off firecrackers to ward off the old and welcome the new with the beeping sound of firecrackers. Firecrackers are a specialty of China, also known as "firecrackers". It originated very early and has a history of more than 2,000 years. Setting off firecrackers can create a festive and lively atmosphere. It is a festive entertainment activity that can bring people joy and good luck.

Ancestor worship

Due to different etiquette and customs in different places, the forms of ancestor worship are also different. Some go to the wild to visit the ancestor tombs, some go to the ancestral hall to worship the ancestors, and most of them worship at home. The ancestral tablets are placed in the main hall one by one, and the offerings are displayed. Then the worshipers offer incense and kneel down in order of elder and younger.

When the Han people worship their ancestors, they usually make fish and meat bowls, which are served in high bowls, which is quite similar to eating with bells and cauldrons.

In some areas of our country, there is a custom of visiting graves on New Year’s Eve, which is called New Year’s Eve food. Grave-going time is usually in the afternoon of New Year's Eve. People send the cooked New Year's Eve dinner to the graves of their deceased relatives, so that the deceased relatives can enjoy the New Year's Eve delicacies with the living, thus expressing people's grief for their deceased relatives.

Hanging lanterns

Chinese lanterns are also collectively called lanterns. It originated in the Western Han Dynasty more than 1,800 years ago. Every year around New Year's Eve, people hang up red lanterns symbolizing reunion to create a festive atmosphere. On New Year's Eve, red lanterns are hung at the door, a blazing red fire is burning in the main room, candles or oil lamps are lit, and the family talks around the table.

New Year's money

New Year's money is given by the elders to the younger ones. In some families, after the New Year's Eve dinner, everyone sits at the table and is not allowed to leave. When everyone has finished eating, The elders give it to the younger generation and encourage their children and grandchildren to learn and make progress in the new year and be a good person.

Keeping the year old on New Year’s Eve

After the New Year’s Eve dinner, there is a custom of keeping the year old on New Year’s Eve. The whole family gathered together happily, sat around the fire, reminisced about old times, talked about new things, talked about good wishes, and placed their hopes on the new year, so they stayed up all night. The word "shou" in keeping up the old year means nostalgia for the old year that is about to pass away, and also means hope for the upcoming new year.

The origin and legend of New Year’s Eve