What are the similarities or differences between Taiwan Province's Spring Festival customs and those of the mainland?

No matter how many festivals there are, the Spring Festival is always the most important in China's traditional culture. The new year is coming, and we are always busy creating the mood and color of the new year. It is a spiritual destination for family reunion, friends and relatives to celebrate the New Year and paste the word "Fu" ... We are full of expectations for the unknown coming year, hoping that more and more good things will go further and further. There have been many articles introducing the customs of the Spring Festival. Here I'd like to introduce some customs of Taiwan Province Province. These customs are not only inseparable from the mainland, but also slightly different. In Taiwan Province Province, just like in Chinese mainland, the Spring Festival, also known as the China New Year, is the most lively festival for people. The longest festival. Generally, it starts from "Tail Teeth" on the 6th day of the lunar calendar 1 February/kloc-0, and ends at the Lantern Festival (also called "Morning Festival") on the 15th day of the first month, lasting1month. Here are some important dates and customs. Every year, the first and fifteenth day of the month, or the second and sixteenth day of the month, is the day when Taiwanese businessmen worship the land god, which is called "tooth-making". February 2 is the first time to make teeth, called "head teeth"; 1February 16 The dentist was the last dentist, so it was called "tail tooth". Tail tooth is the "end" of the business's one-year activities and the "first sound" of the people's Spring Festival activities. On this day, ordinary people in Taiwan Province Province will burn land money to worship the God of Fortress (Land Lord), and set up benches for five-flavor bowls in front of the door, burn robes and silver paper to worship the owners (worship the foundation of the house). All business lines should also entertain employees today in return for their hard work in the past year. In the past, if the boss didn't plan to renew his employees in the coming year, he pointed his head at him at the banquet, implying dismissal. However, this custom has died out now. In addition to the increasingly popular tail tooth banquet in recent years, according to the traditional custom, the whole family get together to "eat tail teeth". The main food is moist cakes and steamed bread. Wrap bean sprouts, shredded bamboo shoots, beans, garlic, dried eggs, tiger moss, peanut powder, tomato sauce and other ingredients with wet cake skin. The food in the bag is three layers of meat, pickles, dried bamboo shoots, coriander and peanut powder, all of which are local delicacies. On the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, every household will hold an activity of offering sacrifices to the kitchen stove to bid farewell to the kitchen god and other gods. Kitchen God is commonly called "Kitchen God", and some are called "Siming Zhenjun", "Kitchen God" and "Hospital Protection". "Chef King" and so on. Its full name is "Oriental chefs point nine spirits, and Wang Yuan will be the God King", so some people call it "Nine-day Oriental chefs smoke the Lord". In early Taiwan Province Province, every kitchen had a fairly large "stove". Legend has it that there is a kitchen god in the kitchen. Every year 1 4, he is sent by the jade emperor to monitor the words and deeds of various families. Until1February 24th, he returned to heaven to report his work to the Jade Emperor and the merits and demerits of each family. There is no god in the kitchen god. On weekdays, he just sticks a supermom on the kitchen door. When sending the stove, take off the mother of God and incinerate it. In addition, burn a paper horse tied with bamboo as the mount of Kitchen God, and prepare some soybeans and grass as dry food and forage for Kitchen God's long journey. Then burn incense, kowtow, grab a few handfuls of straw ash on the stove kang, spread it on the ground in front of the stove, and exhort: "Heaven speaks well, and the world will be safe." Then light firecrackers and bid farewell to the kitchen god. People went back to the kitchen to see if there was a parting message from Kitchen God on the ground. Most of the offerings sent to the stove are sweet and sticky things such as glutinous rice balls, wheat candy and pig blood cakes, which are nothing more than sealing the mouth of the kitchen god and saying less bad things. Qingtun is also a general cleaning. After sending God away, every household began to hold a "clean-up". People in Taiwan Province Province believe that the household utensils are in charge of the gods at ordinary times, and sacred cases, shrines and incense burners are not allowed to move without authorization. Only after the gods return to heaven can the house be thoroughly cleaned. Of course, cleaning is to go to the old and welcome the new. In Taiwan Province Province, there is a proverb: "Only by cleaning the house can you get rich", that is, only by cleaning the house can you develop. If someone dies at home these days, it can't be cleaned. It is said that dust will enter the eyes of the dead. After cleaning, you should prepare for the annual ceremony, which must be before the 28th. There are "sweet", "fat", "salty" and "vegetable bags" every year. There is a rice cake in Taiwan Province Province-Guo Song, which vividly summarizes the meaning of rice cake: "Sweet rice cake, giving money, paying for vegetables, eating snacks with radishes." Sweet glutinous rice is the most important glutinous rice in Chinese New Year. You must do your hair well to become rich. Vegetable bags can be covered with gold because there is stuffing inside. Radish fruit means "good color-good omen" and can be used as a snack. Bereavement cannot be a grand New Year, nor can it be sweet. From relatives, most recipients use oranges as gifts. Like the mainland, New Year's Eve is also called New Year's Eve, which is the most important day among the annual customs in Taiwan Province Province. On New Year's Eve, the "hall head" will be arranged first, that is, new prints and couplets will be added in the hall dedicated to the goddess Guanyin and the gods. In the afternoon, an "annual resignation" ceremony was held. There are five sacrifices and various titles on the altar to worship the gods, then worship the ancestors, kneel three times and knock nine times to express gratitude to the gods and ancestors for their blessings this year, and pray for more blessings in the new year. There is also a kind of "spring rice" in front of the god table, which is a small bowl filled with rice with flowers made of red paper. Three bowls before Buddha, one bowl on the stove. These flowers are also called "spring flowers" or "rice spring flowers", and this kind of rice is called "Chinese New Year rice". In Minnan language, "spring" and "leftover" are homophonic, indicating that there are leftovers that can't be eaten. There are three piles of oranges and some red dates on the table. Jujube symbolizes good year after year. Oranges can't be picked until the Lantern Festival. There is a saying called "Go to Yuan Qing (night) to tear down the orange shed." Finally, we will burn gold paper and set off firecrackers to end the ceremony. Debt avoidance drama and debt collection lamp are holiday activities to prevent creditors from coming to collect debts in the new year. On New Year's Eve, all the temples in Taiwan Province Province will offer sacrifices to the gods and perform plays. Anyone who is in debt for the New Year will run to the stage in the temple and hide in the crowd to watch the play. According to custom, creditors can't ask him for debts. If the debt collector asks for money at the stage of "debt avoidance drama", it will cause public anger, be besieged by the masses and be annoying. The play will last all night until the first day of the next morning. Debtors will also spend the New Year smoothly. However, creditors also have ways to deal with it, that is, on the first day of the New Year's Day, they wear old clothes and carry lanterns at home to collect debts, pretending that they have been collecting debts since the night of the New Year's Eve, and they have not returned home yet, and the lanterns are still in their hands, which cannot be regarded as "collecting debts for the New Year". This kind of lamp is called "debt collection lamp" However, unless there is deep resentment, creditors generally will not easily use the "debt collection lamp". On New Year's Eve, all the families who go out to make a living will go back to their hometown for reunion. If they can't go back, they will vacate a seat to put that person's clothes to show their reunion. The whole family sat around the dining table, eating the most abundant dishes of the year. There is a burning stove under the table, and there are some copper coins beside the stove to show warmth and wealth. What you eat around the stove is usually symbolic. If you must eat "long-year-old vegetables" (made of mustard, which means longevity) and "leeks" ("leeks" and "long" are homophonic, you must eat them one by one, from beginning to end, without eating sideways or biting, in order to "live a long life"). In addition, you should eat radish (that is, the head of the vegetable) to look good; Eating "whole chicken" is a family portrait ("chicken" and "home" are homonyms); Eating "clam" means it can give birth. After eating, the mussel shell should be placed under the bed, indicating that it will give birth to clams and grandchildren. Eating fish balls, shrimp balls and meatballs means "ternary harmony" (pills are homophonic with yuan, and ternary means champion, meeting yuan and solving yuan); Don't eat all the dishes with knives, and the cooking is still the same. After the New Year's Eve, the old people will give young people "lucky money", and then the whole family will sit around the fireside, talking and laughing, and stay up all night. This is the so-called "keeping the old age". It is said that this can pray for parents' longevity, so it is also called "longevity night". The Minnan dialect of "no sleep" is a homonym of "not sleepy", "sleepy" and "sleepy", so "keeping the old age" is also waiting for the arrival of a "not sleepy and not poor" New Year. On the first day of the first lunar month, the etiquette is also called Xinzheng. Friends and relatives pay New Year greetings to each other, which is called "Worship Zheng Zheng" and "Congratulations to Zheng Zheng". The host invited the guests to eat sweet materials and drink sweet tea, and then said auspicious words: Say to his wife: Eating sweet will give birth to your offspring (a son). For the elderly, eating sweet food will be healthy. Eat 120 (live to 12O). Say to the businessman: Eating sweets will make you rich. Say to the child: Give you sweets, big man (grow up quickly). Say to the young lady: Shi Tian will marry you as a good husband. Most friends say: make a lot of money in the new year. The first day is also the day when Buddha and Maitreya were born, and it is also the day when Nikum turned evil. In addition to worshipping their own gods and buddhas, believers also bring their own sacrifices to the temple to burn gold, burn incense and offer sacrifices for worship. When the whole family goes out in new clothes, this is called "outing" or "spring outing". The more they walk, the more they save money. According to folk tradition, the direction of travel must find out the auspicious time according to one's birth date and almanac. The first step taken in the first day of junior high school must be towards Kyrgyzstan. There are many taboos in grade one. For example, eat vegetarian dishes in the morning, don't eat meat and don't cook. The food eaten at the New Year's Eve must be prepared in advance, which is the so-called "next year's meal". It means that there was some left over from last year's meal. Eat dry rice instead of porridge on the first day of school, or you will get caught in the rain or be surprised when you go out this year. You can't sweep the floor or shovel fertilizer from the first day to the fifth day. If you have to clean, leave the garbage at home, and don't take it out to throw it away, otherwise it will be like throwing away the gold and silver treasures at home, leaving the family destitute. No swearing, no fighting, no debt, no harm. If you are injured, it is "painful for the New Year", which is extremely unlucky. Don't break or damage porcelain bowls and plates. If you accidentally break it, wrap it in red paper and wait until the fifth day of separation before throwing it into the river. Say something comforting, such as "break porcelain and pay a lot of money", so that you can save the day. But now these feudal rituals are gradually weakening. The custom of "offering sacrifices to bridge gods" is still popular in the central provinces of Taiwan Province. That is, people who drive out during the Spring Festival will prepare a lot of money and land money. Every time they pass a bridge or tunnel, they will leave some at the bridge head or tunnel mouth, praying for safe driving all the year round. In the past, people had to prepare incense and gold paper and burn incense and gold at the bridge head to offer sacrifices to the bridge god, in order to thank and pray for the safe passage of the bridge god. Some places only burn incense, tie gold paper with silk thread and put it on the bridge head, commonly known as "pressing gold", which means replacing the bridge with new glory. Now in Miaoli, Taichung, Xinhua, Nantou and other counties; Although this habit is still maintained, drivers don't stop and throw away the gold paper when they meet the bridge. There is no respect at all, and each stack of gold paper is quite large, which often causes environmental pollution on the bridge and has attracted the attention of relevant people. The 15th day of the first lunar month is the traditional Lantern Festival in China. Taiwan Province Province still retains the traditional belief in southern Fujian, which holds that the 15th day of the first month is the birthday of Emperor Tianguan. Emperor Tiangong is one of san huang. San huang refers to Wei Zi, the emperor who prayed for the dead in Shang Dynasty, Qing Xu, the emperor who committed crimes in the middle of Yuan Dynasty, and Dongyang, the emperor who saved water in the lower part of Yuan Dynasty. Therefore, the fifteenth day of the first month is also called no festival. There are also some names, such as "Lantern Festival", "Yuan Festival" and "Little Chinese New Year". Taiwan Province Province also has many customs and etiquette to celebrate the Lantern Festival, which is as grand as the Spring Festival. For example, eating Yuanxiao, visiting Yuanxiao Lantern Festival, welcoming Lantern Festival, solve riddles on the lanterns, visiting the Three Realms and welcoming Master Tan Xuan. Lantern Festival is decorated with lanterns, dragons and lions, fireworks and dragon lanterns. Some places also hold Nanyin concerts, poetry competitions and flower competitions. Stay up all night, singing and dancing; Incense fills the air in large and small temples, and gongs and drums make the Spring Festival activities reach a new climax. The Lantern Festival in Taiwan Province Province will last for three days. From the 13th day of the first month, it is called "Lantern Festival", also called "Little Three-Night Lantern Festival". On the first day, it will be "lighting", and on the third day, it will be "Xie Deng". Salt water bee cannon The salt water bee cannon in Tainan Salt Water Town can be regarded as the most distinctive Lantern Festival celebration in Taiwan Province Province. A popular saying in Tainan is "salt water on Lantern Festival, watching bees and firecrackers." It is said that the salt water bee cannon originated from expelling plague and evil spirits. When Zheng successfully landed in Tainan, the increasingly prosperous salt water town suffered from plague. The townspeople, who lack medical care and medicine, have to pin their hopes on Shen Guanjun, the most revered person in Yishui. The townspeople chose the 13th day of the first lunar month (Guan Shengdi's birthday) to welcome Master Guan to exorcise evil spirits, and designed a beehive-shaped "bee cannon" to cheer, so as to scare away the plague god. For three days in a row, the plague was indeed suppressed. People thank God for thinking and praying for peace, so they set off bee cannons at the Lantern Festival every year. It has been 180 years now, which is not only the custom of Yanshui town, but also the characteristic of Yanshui town. Lantern Festival It's hard to see lanterns in Yanshui Town. However, in the shop in front of the temple, there are a number of bee gun racks, which are covered with celestial cannons with outward gun heads to welcome the Lantern Festival. Soon after lunch, the celebration began. First of all, the citizens carried more than 30 statues and marched in a mighty procession under the leadership of Guan Jun. After walking through the streets of the town, people have a rest and have dinner. At 6 o'clock in the afternoon, the motorcade carrying Shenyu set off again. At this time, people, gods and cannons revel together. Wherever Shen Yu went, the master burned incense and worshipped Guan Dijun, and then lit the "Om Gun City". In an instant, their nests, bee cannons, flew around and burst on all sides, only to see sparks everywhere, only to hear the whistle of bee cannons, whew, whew ... accompanied by the crazy cry of the crowd: "bees! The bees are coming! " Eyes, soles of feet, body, back, head and whole body seem to be tightly wrapped by bee cannons, and there is nowhere to escape. The whole town of salt water, the fire tree honeysuckle, is boiling up. Under the onslaught of such a bee cannon, the bee watcher must be fully armed-motorcycle helmet, wool hood, diving goggles, masks and earplugs, and the whole head is wrapped tightly. You must also wear leather jackets, jeans, cloth shoes and gloves, and you can't let yourself be naked. A great man carrying sacred land should be brave and agile. According to the custom, wherever the firecrackers ring and the bee cannon is fierce, we must rush there, take risks and make trouble, and rush all the way to the "bee", suddenly advancing and retreating, stopping and stopping, which is thrilling. In those shops where business is booming, the "Bee Gun City" they built is just like the city gate, with hundreds of thousands of hair, celestial cannons, and even pairs of bees, water lilies, fire lions, Tianma, gophers and air beauties, which are colorful. It takes more than a dozen people to build it in three or four days. When Shen Yu's team passed these shops, a whistle sounded, and they took this "Bee Gun City" to Jialan Temple Square to dedicate it to Guan. After the service, the shopkeeper lit the fuse. In a flash, bees and cannons with fireworks, sounds, lights and colors opened fire around the Galand store. The gunfire of bees and cannons filled with smoke was deafening. Everyone has the feeling of carnival and is full of fun. It's like a bee gun carnival. However, on this day, the fire engines in Salt Water Town had to patrol the streets from time to time. Interestingly, the saltwater man fired a bee cannon for 18O years, but there was no fire all the time. Therefore, the salt water people think that this is the blessing of the gods, so they call the bee cannon a "peace cannon." After a night of hard work, most people's "armed" have been riddled with holes and their masks have been blackened. Picking your nose with your fingers is also black. It is estimated that nearly 10 million yuan of firecrackers will be set off on the night of Lantern Festival, but salt water people are not distressed. They firmly believe in "more and more". Ten million yuan was released this year, and it will be doubled next year. Their belief is that "the longer firecrackers ring, the more prosperous they will be." I introduced so many folk customs of Spring Festival in Taiwan Province Province, and finally ended this article with a New Year's song in Taiwan Province Province. I hope you can have a chance to visit Taiwan Province Province, a treasure island, and feel the atmosphere there. The first day is early, the second day is clever, the third day is clever, the fourth day is full, the fifth day is separated, the sixth day is fat, the seventh day is 77 yuan, the eighth day is full, the ninth day is public, the tenth day is full, the tenth day is almost full, the twelfth day is full of shit, the thirteenth day is full of heliotrope, the fourteenth day is bare, and the fifteenth day begins.