The origin of these customs in Wang Anshi's Yuanri poems

Dynasty: Song Dynasty

Author: Wang Anshi

Original text:

The roar of firecrackers, the old year has passed; The warm spring breeze ushered in the New Year, and people happily drank the newly brewed Tu Su wine.

The rising sun sheds light on doors of each household, New peachwood charm is put up to replace the old.

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In the sound of firecrackers, the old year passed; The warm spring breeze ushered in the New Year, and people happily drank the newly brewed Tu Su wine.

The rising sun shines on thousands of families, who are busy taking off the old peach charms and replacing them with new ones.

To annotate ...

January 1st: The first day of the first lunar month, that is, the Spring Festival.

(2) Firecrackers: the sound made by the ancients when they burned bamboo. It was used to ward off evil spirits and later evolved into setting off firecrackers. One year old except: one year has passed. Except, passed away.

(3) Tu Su: "It refers to Tu Su wine, and drinking Tu Su wine is also the custom of ancient Chinese New Year. On the first day of the New Year, the whole family drinks this wine soaked in Tu Su grass to ward off evil spirits and avoid epidemic diseases, so as to live longer.

(4) Thousands of households: describe numerous portals and dense population. Bend: the bright and warm appearance at sunrise.

5. Peach: Fu Tao is an ancient custom. On the first day of the first lunar month, people write the names of Shen Tu and Lei Yu on a mahogany board and hang them by the door to ward off evil spirits. Also called Spring Festival couplets.

Origin of the Spring Festival

firecracker

Setting off firecrackers can create a festive and lively atmosphere, which is a kind of entertainment in festivals and can bring happiness and good luck to people. With the passage of time, firecrackers are more and more widely used, and there are more and more varieties and colors. Every major festival and happy celebration, as well as marriage, building, opening, etc. We should set off firecrackers to celebrate and make good luck. Liuyang in Hunan, Foshan and Dongyao in Guangdong, Yichun and Pingxiang in Jiangxi, Wenzhou in Zhejiang and other areas are all hometown of fireworks in China. The firecrackers produced have various colors and high quality, which are not only sold well all over the country, but also exported to all parts of the world.

Burning firecrackers

There is a folk saying in China that "open the door and set off firecrackers". That is, when the new year comes, the first thing for every household to open the door is to set off firecrackers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Firecracker is a specialty of China, also known as "Firecracker", "Firecracker" and "Firecracker". Its origin is very early, and it has a history of more than two thousand years.

Tu Su wine

Tu Su wine is a kind of wine drunk during the Spring Festival in ancient China, so it is also called Nian wine. Tu Su is an ancient house. Because it is brewed in this house, it is called Tu Su wine. According to legend, Tu Su wine was created by Hua Tuo, a famous doctor at the end of Han Dynasty, and its formula was made by soaking rhubarb, Atractylodes macrocephala, Cinnamomum cassia twig, Saposhnikovia divaricata, Zanthoxylum bungeanum, Radix Aconiti Lateralis and Radix Aconiti Lateralis in the wine.

paste up Spring Festival couplets

Spring Festival couplets

There are different opinions about the origin of the Spring Festival, among which there are several representative ones, such as the Spring Festival originated in La Worship, the Spring Festival originated in witchcraft ceremony, and the Spring Festival originated in Ghost Festival. However, it is generally believed that the Spring Festival rose during the Yu Shun period.

One day more than 2000 BC, Shun became emperor and led his men to worship heaven and earth. Since then, people have regarded this day as the beginning of a year. It is said that this is the origin of the Lunar New Year, which was later called the Spring Festival.

antithetical couplet

The custom of pasting Spring Festival couplets began in the post-Shu period about 1000 years ago, which is proved by history. Spring Festival couplets are also called door couplets, spring stickers, couplets, couplets and peach symbols. They depict the background of the times and express good wishes with neat, dual, concise and delicate words, which are unique literary forms in China. Every Spring Festival, no matter in urban or rural areas, every household should choose a pair of red Spring Festival couplets and stick them on the door to add festive atmosphere to the festival. This custom began in the Song Dynasty and was popular in the Ming Dynasty. By the Qing Dynasty, the ideological and artistic quality of Spring Festival couplets had been greatly improved. Liang Zhangju's monograph Poetry of Spring Festival couplets discusses the origin of couplets and the characteristics of various works. There are many kinds of Spring Festival couplets, which can be divided into door heart, frame pair, cross string, spring strip and bucket square according to the place of use. The "door core" is attached to the center of the upper end of the door panel; The "door frame pair" is attached to the left and right door frames; "Cross-dressing" is posted on the crossbar of the door; "Spring strips" are posted in corresponding places according to different contents; "Dou Jin", also known as "door leaf", is a square diamond, often attached to furniture and screen walls.

Window grilles and the word "Fu"

In the folk, people also like to stick various paper-cuts on the windows-window grilles. Window grilles not only set off the festive atmosphere, but also integrate decoration, appreciation and practicality. Paper-cutting is a very popular folk art in China, which has been deeply loved by people for thousands of years. Because it is often pasted on the window, it is also called "window grilles". With its unique generalization and exaggeration, window grilles show auspicious things and good wishes incisively and vividly, and decorate festivals with colorful colors. While putting up Spring Festival couplets, some people have to put large and small "Fu" characters on doors, walls and lintels. Sticking the word "Fu" during the Spring Festival is a long-standing folk custom in China. The word "Fu" symbolizes good luck and wishes for a happy life and a bright future. In order to fully reflect this yearning and wish, some people simply put the word "Fu" upside down, indicating that "Fu has arrived" and "Fu has arrived". Others elaborate the word "Fu" into various patterns, such as longevity, longevity peach, carp yue longmen, abundant grains, dragons and phoenixes, and so on.

New Year picture

Hanging New Year pictures during the Spring Festival is also very common in urban and rural areas. Thick black and colorful New Year pictures add a lot of prosperity and festive atmosphere to thousands of families. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China, which reflects people's simple customs and beliefs and places their hopes on the future. New Year pictures, like Spring Festival couplets, originated from "door gods". With the rise of block printing, the content of New Year pictures is not limited to monotonous themes such as door gods, but has become rich and colorful. Some New Year pictures workshops have produced classic color New Year pictures, such as Fu Lushou's Samsung, God bless the people, abundant crops, prosperous livestock and welcoming the New Year, to meet people's good wishes of celebrating and praying for the New Year. There are three important producing areas of Chinese New Year pictures: Taohuawu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong; Three schools of New Year pictures have been formed, each with its own characteristics.

FloruitShow

The earliest collection of New Year pictures in China is woodcut New Year pictures of Southern Song Dynasty, which shows four ancient beauties: Wang Zhaojun, Zhao, Ban Ji and Green Pearl. The most popular folk painting is the Year of Marrying the Rat. It depicts an interesting scene in which a mouse marries a bride according to human custom. In the early years of the Republic of China, Zheng of Shanghai combined the monthly calendar with the New Year pictures. This is a new form of New Year pictures. This new year's picture, which was combined into one, later developed into a calendar and has been popular all over the country.

Time change

Yu Shun

The dates of the Spring Festival in China are not consistent:

The Xia Dynasty used January in Meng Chun as the first month.

The twelfth month (December) was the first month in Shang Dynasty.

After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, it was stipulated that October was the first month, and the Qin calendar was used in the early Han Dynasty.

In the first year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, that is, BC 104, astronomers Luo and others formulated a calendar, which changed the beginning of October to the beginning of the first month, and later generations basically improved it to the lunar calendar that we use today. Luo is also known as the "Spring Festival Old Man". Since then, China has been using the Gregorian calendar (also known as the lunar calendar) until the end of the Qing Dynasty, which lasted for 2080.

Name change

In different times, the Spring Festival has different names.

In the pre-Qin period, it was called "going to Japan", "January Day", "changing the year" and "offering the year". In the Han Dynasty, it was also called "Three Dynasties", "Sui Dan", "Zheng Dan" and "Zhengri". Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were called Chen Yuan, Yuan Ri, Fuehrer and Sui Dynasty. In the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, it was called New Year's Day, Yuan, New Year's Day and Singapore dollar. In the Qing Dynasty, it was always called "New Year's Day" or "Yuan Day".

It was not until after the Revolution of 1911 that the Lunar New Year was officially named Spring Festival. During the period of Beiyang government in the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai defined New Year's Day as Gregorian calendar 065438+1October 0 1 and renamed the first day of the first lunar month as Spring Festival.

Social customs and habits

Traditional folk custom

happy

Spring Festival is a new day to take off old cloth. Although it is arranged on the first day of the first lunar month, the activities of the Spring Festival are not limited to the first day of the first lunar month. From the beginning of the 23rd (or 24th) day of the twelfth lunar month, people began to "busy year": cleaning houses, washing their hair and bathing, and preparing new year's utensils. All these activities have the same theme, that is, "saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new".

The Spring Festival is also a time to pray for the year. The ancients said that when millet is ripe, it is "year", and the harvest of grain is "big year". In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, there was an annual harvest celebration. Later, New Year greetings became one of the main contents of the annual customs. Besides, the Kitchen God, Door God, God of Wealth, XiShen, Well God and other gods. Everyone enjoys human incense during the Spring Festival. People take this opportunity to thank the gods for their care in the past and pray for more blessings in the new year.

Spring Festival is also a time for family reunion and family reunion. On New Year's Eve, the whole family get together to have a "reunion dinner". The elders give "lucky money" to the children, and the family sit around and "watch". At the turn of the New Year's Day, firecrackers exploded, and the activities to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new reached a climax. Every family burns incense to worship the heavens and the earth and ancestors, then pays tribute to the elders in turn, and then congratulates relatives and friends.

The Spring Festival is a festival for people to entertain and revel. After the January Festival, a variety of colorful entertainment activities were launched, such as playing with lions, dragon lanterns, yangko dancing, walking on stilts and juggling, which added a rich festive atmosphere to the Spring Festival.

Therefore, the Spring Festival, a grand ceremony of praying for the New Year, celebrating and entertaining, has become the most solemn festival of the Chinese nation. Today, in addition to offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors, the main customs of the Spring Festival have been well inherited and developed.

sweep the dust

On the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, dust sweeps the house. According to Lu Chunqiu, China had the custom of sweeping the dust during the Spring Festival in the Yao and Shun era. According to the folk saying: Because of the homonym of "dust" and "Chen", sweeping dust in the Spring Festival means "getting rid of the old and not being new", and its original intention is to sweep away all bad luck and bad luck. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, every household should clean the environment, clean all kinds of electrical appliances, remove and wash bedding curtains, sweep six yards, dust cobwebs and dredge culverts in open channels.

Everywhere is filled with the joyful atmosphere of cleaning and welcoming the Spring Festival cleanly.

stay up late or all night on New Year's Eve

Keeping the Lunar New Year's Eve is one of the most important activities, and the custom of keeping the Lunar New Year's Eve has a long history. The earliest record can be found in the Local Records of the Western Jin Dynasty: on New Year's Eve, all parties give gifts to each other, which is called "the year of giving back"; Wine and food are invited, which is called "not old"; Young and old get together to drink and wish a complete song called "age division"; Everyone stays up all night, waiting for dawn. This is the so-called "shou sui".

Since the Han Dynasty, the time for the alternation of the old and new years is generally at midnight.

Pay new year's call

New Year cards, which are popular in modern society, have been implemented in ancient China. As early as the Song Dynasty, New Year greeting cards, as a special way of greeting the New Year, were used between the families and relatives of imperial nobles and literati, and were called "famous thorns" or "famous stickers". It is to cut plum blossom stationery into cards about two inches wide and three inches long, and write your name and address on them. A red paper bag called "door book" is attached to each door, with the owner's name written on it to receive the name thorn (name sticker). The worshippers write their names on the door book to express New Year greetings, which has the same meaning as modern New Year cards.

Purchase new year's goods

Families in China have to buy a lot of "new year's goods", Spring Festival couplets, blessings, new clothes and food during the Spring Festival (most markets are closed during the Spring Festival). Celebrating the Spring Festival is an important activity for China people. Compared with the past, China people's way of buying new year's goods has become more modern, and they are not constrained by tradition.

Shanxi has a special new year's goods: brushes and chopsticks must be bought every year, which means' quick hair'.

National custom

China is a multi-ethnic country, and each ethnic group has different ways to celebrate the New Year.

Zhuang people

The Spring Festival of Zhuang nationality lasts for three days from the 30th to the first and second days of the first month. On New Year's Eve, everyone kills chickens and ducks, steamed braised pork, lean meat powder and barbecued pork. The rice on New Year's Eve should be steamed a lot, which symbolizes wealth. There should be boiled chicken on the dining table, families with old people, stewed pig's trotters and whole chicken. Zongzi is an indispensable food for Zhuang people during the Spring Festival, but it is not eaten on the evening of the 30th. Zongzi of Zhuang nationality is a noble food, one or two kilos big and only two or three ounces small. In addition, there is another kind called "Feng Mo", which means extra-large zongzi, weighing ten or twenty Jin. Zongzi is delicious. On the first and second days of the first month, guests will eat zongzi. During the Spring Festival, cultural and sports activities such as singing, spinning, dancing and ball games will be held.

right

According to Tibetan scholars, in ancient times, the Spring Festival in Tibet was not celebrated at the turn of winter and spring, but in summer. "Wheat ripens at the beginning of the year", "Under the snow-capped mountains, wheat turns yellow and a happy New Year is coming." Now, in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, there is a tradition of "looking for fruit" before the autumn harvest. People wear ancient costumes, ride horses, pray in circles along the harvested highland barley, ride horses and shoot arrows, dance around the bonfire, and entertain themselves and the local patron saint. According to legend, this is a relic of the Chinese New Year in June in ancient Tibet.

There is also the "wheat harvest is the beginning of a year" on the first day of October in the Tibetan calendar. The Kampot (Linzhi) area, 400 kilometers east of Lhasa, is surrounded by snow-capped mountains and virgin forests. It is still the first day of October in the Tibetan calendar and is called Kampot Lotha. According to the history of Tibet, the Kampot region has a very long history. Bonism, the primitive religion of Tibet, was very popular here long before the establishment of the Tubo Dynasty. The Tibetan calendar celebrates the New Year in October, which originated in those ancient times.

Around the 3rd century A.D./KLOC-0, when the sagar Dynasty ruled Tibet, Tibetans celebrated the New Year in the first month of the Tibetan calendar. However, farmers usually celebrate the New Year on the first day of1February, which is called "Solang Losa". Because of the first month of the Tibetan calendar, the spring is budding and the farming is busy, farmers are not in the mood for the New Year.

Put on the most beautiful clothes and the most precious jewelry in the new year. Even people with poor economic conditions should prepare a robe or one or two rough decorations for the New Year, which is called "Saju" in Tibetan, that is, new clothes. These, of course, come from the nature of Tibetans who love beauty. But there is also a saying that Qu Jie, the god king Xin, wants to observe human life through a bronze mirror. Everyone is dressed up beautifully. He is happy, giving some benefits to the world. Wearing rags, he is depressed and brings disaster and plague. Therefore, wearing new clothes during the Spring Festival is to please the king of God. On the third day of the first month, Lhasa people walked out of the noisy market in droves and came to the Aquarius Mountain in the eastern suburbs and the Wangyaoshan Mountain in the western suburbs, planting flags and hanging banners to worship the mountain gods and water gods.

On the fifth day of the first month of the Tibetan calendar, farmers in the suburbs of Lhasa will hold a grand ploughing ceremony. The farmers put on their holiday costumes, and the strong cows are dressed more beautifully, with ghee patterns on their foreheads, red flags and colorful feathers on their horns, colorful satin on their shoulders, shells and turquoise on the satin, and colorful ribbons on their tails. It is no exaggeration to describe them as "beautifully dressed".

the Mongol nationality

The Mongolians always advocate white, so they call the first month of the lunar calendar "Bai Yue" and the Spring Festival "White Festival". Preparations for the Mongolian New Year began on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. In addition to cleaning, bathing and arranging yurts, people have to put on new clothes, Ma Peihong tassels and new saddles. Give the whole cow and sheep to their closest relatives and friends with Hada. Eat "hand-grabbed meat" on New Year's Eve to show family reunion. In the early morning of the first day of the first lunar month, we first propose a toast to our elders and then propose a toast to our peers. Friends and relatives exchange Hada to congratulate you on your good luck in the new year. The first day to pay New Year greetings to elders must be in the morning.

Bai (ba)

Bai people began to worship each other and give each other gifts on New Year's Eve. After midnight, young men and women rushed to fetch water as a sign of thrift. In the morning, the whole family drinks rice candy water. May the days be sweeter than honey. After breakfast, the children, led by adults, go to relatives and friends' homes to pay New Year greetings to their elders. Playing dragon lanterns, lion dances and whipping the overlord are essential activities in the festival.

Cloth (BY)

Buyi people should prepare festival foods such as Baba and rice wine before New Year's Eve, and stay up until dawn on New Year's Eve. As soon as the cock crowed at dawn, the girls ran to the river to fetch water. Whoever takes the first sip of water shows that she is the most hardworking and happy.

Korean nation

On New Year's Eve, the Han family stayed up all night, and the ancient music of Gayeqin and flute brought people into the New Year. During the festival, men, women and children indulge in singing and dancing, and hold competitions such as springboard pressing and tug-of-war. A traditional celebration was held on the evening of the fifteenth day of the first month. Several elected old people boarded the "moon-watching frame" to see the bright moon first, which symbolizes the health, progress and all the best for future generations. Then, everyone danced around the lighted "moon viewing frame", accompanied by long drums, flutes and suona music.

Daur

The Daur people call the Spring Festival "Agne". On the morning of New Year's Eve, every family cleaned the courtyard and made a tall crib with sundries and livestock manure in front of the gate. After the chimney is lit at night, the air is filled with faint smoke, and the festive atmosphere is everywhere. Old people throw large pieces of meat, steamed stuffed buns, jiaozi and other foods into the fire, wishing people and animals good health and abundant crops. In the evening, the whole family eats hand-grabbed meat and carries out various activities to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. People plant incense in the snow on the west side of the house and bow to the west to show their memory of their ancestors. On New Year's Eve, everyone eats jiaozi, and jiaozi is wrapped with a white line, which means longevity. During the Spring Festival, there are hockey games, masquerade parties, listening to books and singing games.

Gaoshan (GS)

During the Spring Festival, people of Gaoshan ethnic group wear gorgeous national costumes and gather in groups at the edge of the village to drink and enjoy songs and dances accompanied by musical instruments. Some villages also hold harpoon competitions and carry out sports activities, such as lifting basketball and pole ball.

Hezhe ethnic group

The Hezhe Spring Festival is the happiest program of the year. On New Year's Eve, everyone cooks New Year's Eve, cuts window grilles and puts up lanterns. On New Year's Day, girls, women and children all put on new clothes embroidered with clouds and go to relatives and friends' homes to pay New Year's greetings. Fish banquet is a delicacy for Hezhe people to entertain guests. It has a sour and spicy taste of "stepping and stretching" (raw fish), a crispy taste of "fried fish hair" and transparent and bright red salmon seeds. Skiing, shooting grass targets and passing grass balls are the entertainment activities that Hezhe teenagers are obsessed with.

Lahu people

The Lahu people celebrate the New Year from the first day to the fourth day of the first month, and from the ninth day to the eleventh day of the first month. On the 30 th night of the twelfth lunar month, pigs are killed to make glutinous rice, and each family makes a pair of big Baba, which symbolizes the stars, indicating the new year, good weather and good harvest. Lahu people also have the custom of getting together to support the elderly.

Manchu

Manchu people need stick grilles, couplets and the word "God" to celebrate the Spring Festival. This year, the whole family will buy jiaozi, jiaozi pays attention to pleating, and jiaozi, the monk's head, can't be pinched off, for fear that he will be "bald" all his life. Jiaozi should be packed in rows, symbolizing the wealth of the new year extending in all directions. Jiaozi can't let it go, for fear that there is no way out.

She ethnic group

She nationality should adopt homophonic characters in the Spring Festival, wishing them good luck in the new year and sticking to them every day. On the first day of New Year's Day, the She people paid homage to Pan Hu's ancestor, and the whole family paid homage to the "Pan Gu Zutu" (a portrait drawn according to the legend of Pan Hu), telling the hardships of their ancestors in starting a business.

Tujia nationality

Tujia people want to dance "wave" in the New Year. In the past, when dancing and shaking hands, three cages were hung in the "wave hall", in which the heads and hooves of pig heads, pork, incense sticks and wild boar were hung. Then, the old toast in red cassock and crown, holding musical instruments, waved and shouted, and all men, women and children participated. After worshipping God, they danced. Now, Tujia people not only dance with their hands, but also play dragon lanterns, play lions, perform drama and martial arts.

Department of Veterans Affairs

Wa people congratulate each other on New Year's Day, especially the elders in the stockade. During the New Year's greetings, the two sides gave each other plantains, glutinous rice Baba and sugar cane, symbolizing unity and harmony. Wa men and women in Cangyuan and other places gather in the square to dance in a circle on holiday nights, while elderly women wear long skirts. Dozens of people are in a team, with their hands on the shoulders of their predecessors, singing ancient songs and moving lightly.

summary

The customs and habits of the Han nationality, Manchu nationality and Korean nationality for the Spring Festival are similar. The family is reunited. People eat rice cakes, jiaozi and various sumptuous meals, set off firecrackers and wish each other well. In some areas, people follow the activities of worshipping ancestors and gods in the past and pray for good weather, peace and good harvest in the new year. Ancient Mongols called the Spring Festival "White Festival" and the first month was Bai Yue, which means good luck. Tibetans celebrate the Tibetan calendar year. Hui, Uygur, Kazak, etc. Celebrate Eid al-Adha. The Spring Festival is also a grand festival for Miao, Yi and Yao people.