On the Changes of the New Year Festival

traditional festivals have historical origins, wonderful legends, unique tastes and a broad mass base. They reflect the traditional habits, moral fashions and religious concepts of the nation, and entrust the vision of the whole nation. They are a happy event in the long distance from generation to generation for thousands of years. The Spring Festival is the most important traditional festival for China people, with a beginning and an end, thoughts and ceremonies, memories of the distant past, and prospects for a beautiful vision. Through the unification of countless forms and contents, it has written a chapter of family reunion, saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new.

In the last hundred years, great changes have taken place in the custom of Spring Festival, which is not unrelated to social changes. In the second half of the twentieth century, with the alternation of political power, the change of social values and the influence of political movements, the changes of Spring Festival customs were particularly dramatic. This paper will take Yongdu village as a case, and observe the changes of Spring Festival customs since the 194s from the perspective of personal and family practice according to oral materials.

generally speaking, in the 194s and 195s, it was difficult for local farmers to get through the New Year's Eve, but they attached great importance to worshipping their gods and ancestors, reflecting the rural economic ruin and people's helplessness and expectation at that time. In the early 196 s, the Spring Festival customs were intertwined with the old and the new, which reflected the rapid social changes. From the late 196s to the 197s, the society was pan-politicized, and revolutionary discourse was full of life. The traditional Spring Festival custom withdrew from the rural society. In the 198s and 199s, the cultural tradition of the Spring Festival revived, but with the acceleration of the modernization process of reform and opening up, the ideological and material basis of the traditional Spring Festival customs is undergoing dramatic changes. In recent years, the annual flavor of the Spring Festival in rural areas has faded, which is the result of the changes in rural social and economic development and the changes in the living style and ideas of a new generation of farmers.

1. Changes of Spring Festival customs in Yongdu Village since the founding of the People's Republic of China

1. In the 194s and 195s

In the impression of most interviewees, the customs of Spring Festival in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China were no different from those before liberation. Therefore, this short period can be regarded as an important positioning axis: before this, the local Spring Festival customs have not changed much for thousands of years. People should be busy explaining to the gods and ancestors who blessed them; There must be a settlement of the current accounts for the past year; We should give holiday condolences to relatives and neighbors so that we can get along better in the future. Summarize the family affairs and personal affairs in the past year, so that in the new year, individuals can make more progress and their family business will be more prosperous.

"Don't be greedy, boy. After Laba, it will be the year; Laba porridge, drink for a few days, and pull it for twenty-three; Twenty-three, candied melons are sticky; Twenty-four, sweep the house; Twenty-five, paste the window; Twenty-six, stewed pork; Twenty-seven, slaughter the rooster; Twenty-eight, flour hair; Twenty-nine, steamed buns; Stay up all night for thirty nights; Twisted on the street on New Year's Day. " In my investigation, I recorded this long-standing ballad. Ballads describe the activities during the Spring Festival in the past. In fact, Yongdu Village, Anjing Town, Pixian County, which is not far from Chengdu, was still a village with a natural economy of "men plowing and women weaving". The local farmers are very poor, and the real situation of the Chinese New Year is far less abundant than described.

(1) (1) Preparation years ago

The Chinese New Year custom in the 194s and 195s almost completely continued the tradition. As the most solemn and lively traditional festival among the people, people must eat and dress well in these days to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. At that time, people were looking forward to the Chinese New Year and saved the best food for the Chinese New Year.

the new year's goods are prepared early. After drinking Laba porridge on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, I went to the market to prepare for the new year's goods. At that time, we couldn't do all the necessities at once. Today, we change some spices with food, and later we change some cloth ... The Chinese New Year is very tight. There was no money to buy much oil at that time. First of all, Chinese New Year's necessities are indispensable vegetables, mainly radishes, cabbage, cabbage and green onions, while most poor people can't afford vegetables such as white gourd and potatoes. Buying firecrackers, Spring Festival couplets, New Year pictures, fruits, sugar, wine, vegetables and other items, as well as condiments, soy sauce is also a luxury, and meat was from home farming at that time. In the late 195 s, the state gave one or two pieces of white sugar or brown sugar to everyone during the Spring Festival. In addition, years ago, I pickled bacon and ground glutinous rice flour to make dumplings. In the middle of the twelfth lunar month, every household began to grind glutinous rice balls to prepare for the whole family to eat brown sugar glutinous rice balls symbolizing sweetness and roundness on the first day of the New Year. Tangyuan is wrapped in brown sugar, sesame seeds and peanuts, mainly brown sugar tangyuan. Local people seldom eat pasta, so there is no custom of steaming steamed buns for the New Year.

pack the cotton spinning cart on December 22nd and 23rd. On weekdays, "men plow and women weave", and women spin and weave at home all day, sewing clothes and embroidered shoes. The local area is the birthplace of Shu embroidery, and local women are skilled craftsmen in various cities, busy here every day. When I get to the Spring Festival, I will pack up my work for one year and have a good rest for half a month.

There is a local ballad: "A lazy woman can't wipe away her tears after 23", which means that at that time, there were many children and people were poor, and there was nothing to do. The Chinese New Year was coming soon, which made her feel sad and helpless. Starting from the 23rd, we are officially preparing for the Chinese New Year.

"Send the Kitchen God" on the night of December 23rd. Legend has it that the Kitchen God will ride to heaven this day. Kitchen God is in the kitchen all the year round, serving the whole family to eat and drink, and watching the behavior of men, women and children. On the 23rd, God reported to the Jade Emperor. Therefore, there is a folk saying that he should be smeared with sugar, and in some places he should be smeared with distiller's grains to make him drunk and not talk nonsense. The local people took down the portrait of the kitchen god posted in the kitchen and wrapped it in wormwood, in order to prepare dry food for the horse and burn it with fire. While burning, I chanted, "Don't be too suspicious, Master Zao, and send Artemisia grass to heaven." "It's twenty-third this year, and I'd like to send Master Zao to the West. There are strong horses and forage, and you will arrive safely. The candied melons are sweet and sweet. Please speak kindly to the Jade Emperor. "

December 24th and 25th: Making clothes, sewing shoes and socks for children. Limited by economic conditions, many adults don't have new clothes and shoes to wear during the New Year. Even so, they still have to make a new dress for their children during the New Year. According to the words of the local elderly, "Chinese New Year is for children."

December 26th and 27th: Dust, that is, dust sweeping. On this day, housewives will take their children to clean all corners of the house. In addition to the places they usually clean, they will also move furniture and clean up the sanitary corners. Brush furniture, floors, windows, clean the ceiling with a special broom, and clean up the dust and scale accumulated for one year. In addition to thoroughly cleaning the ground and corners, it is also necessary to "diffuse the wall" on the wall, that is, wipe the wall again with the prepared mud. At that time, every family was a hut with walls made of mud and weeds. Tear off the New Year pictures and wallpaper that have been pasted for one year, apply a new layer of mud, dry them and paste the new wallpaper.

cook the meat on December 29th. A box of matches was a penny at that time. People are poor. After killing pigs, 9% of the pork is sold, leaving their own pig heads and internal organs for the New Year.

(2) Festive ceremonies and activities

December 3th: Chengdu people don't eat on New Year's Day, because "rice" and "crime" have the same pronunciation. In order to avoid taboo, they eat glutinous rice balls or dried noodles to pray for family reunion, and their longevity is long. Eat glutinous rice balls early and noodles at noon. After breakfast, adults usually prepare to buy food for the Chinese New Year. Then go to the grave to burn incense. Post Spring Festival couplets and New Year pictures in the afternoon after lunch. Portraits of Qin Qiong and Jingde are also posted on the gate. The contents of New Year pictures are varied, including "Liang Shanbo Zhu Yingtai" and "Wang Zhaojun's departure from the fortress", as well as various fairy portraits such as Fu Xing. In addition, put up new gods, including Kitchen God, Cang Shen God, Earth God, Heaven and Earth God and God of Wealth. Stick up the portrait and light a wick to pray for the blessing of the gods. In the afternoon, it was also called "Receiving the Kitchen God". After the Spring Festival couplets were pasted, the family gathered at the gate to shoot guns to welcome the Kitchen God back from the sky.

Before the New Year's Eve, adults always give their children a bath, and at the same time repeatedly tell them not to talk nonsense, not to swear, but to say good things. Adults rarely scold children during the Spring Festival. In the evening, families get together to have a reunion dinner, which is the richest food in a year. At dusk, a table is placed on the north wall of the main guest hall, on which are ritual supplies (incense sticks, incense burners, candles and two candlesticks, etc.). When the dining table was put away, and the scrolls with portraits of family ancestors and scenes of family prosperity were hung up, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became serious, adults walked carefully and regularly, and children kept quiet. After dinner, the father and the youngest son went to the ancestral grave to invite their ancestors' souls home. Then, a ceremony was held at the entrance of the hall to greet the god of wealth, the gods, the earth gods, the kitchen gods and other unknown relatives. "One night is even two years old, and the five shifts are divided into two days." According to local people's oral accounts, on New Year's Eve, the whole family get together, eat New Year's Eve, light candles or oil lamps, sit around the stove and chat, wait for the moment to say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new year, and keep vigil all night. Older people keep their old age as "saying goodbye to the old year", which means cherishing time; Young people keep their age to prolong the life of their parents. It symbolizes driving away all evil diseases and epidemics and looking forward to good luck in the new year. Although it is an all-night vigil, I usually go to bed at 11 or 12 in the middle of the night. Since the Han dynasty, the time when the old and the new years alternate is generally at midnight.

According to the old custom, it is necessary to "eat incense" from Yinshi to Maoshi (3: am to 7: am), that is, to respect the heavens, the gods and the ancestors, wish the family peace and all the best in the new year, and then set off firecrackers to welcome the first day of the new year. Some people in the village went to the nearby temple to burn incense and worship Buddha, expecting peace and security in the new year. In fact, most local villagers went to sleep around 11 pm. Put new clothes and shoes on the bedside before going to bed, so that children can start a new year and have a better year.

the first day of the first month: stay at home all day instead of visiting relatives and friends. Get up early in the morning, put on new clothes and shoes, and the younger generation kowtows to their elders to pay New Year's greetings. Then the whole family ate noodles together. The food at noon is also richer than before. All day long, families and neighbors get together to put on a dragon gate array. In addition, there are various taboos. For example, a married girl can't go back to her parents' home, otherwise she will eat her poor family and can only go back to her parents' home in the second or third day. It means that the married daughter will serve her in-laws in her husband's house on the first day of the lunar new year. Avoid eating porridge, meat and medicine for breakfast. In the past, poor people only ate porridge, and the morning of the first day of the New Year was called the God's Fair. Therefore, to show respect, first of all, don't eat meat, and it is unlucky to take medicine during the New Year. Avoid calling other people's names to wake people up, which means that the other party needs to be urged to do things all year round. Don't pay New Year greetings to people who are still sleeping, because it will keep them in the hospital bed for a whole year. Avoid washing clothes on the first and second day of the day: water has a water god, whose birthday is on the first and second day, so don't wash clothes these two days.

from the second day of the first month to the eighth day of the first month. Bring bacon after breakfast at home in the morning, and relatives get together to have a dragon gate array, then have a hearty lunch and leave in the afternoon. On the second day of the first month, we should "go home", that is, married women go home with their husbands and children to celebrate the New Year. There is a local folk song: "There is a filial daughter on the second and third day of the first month, and an unfilial daughter bears the burden on the second and third day of the first month", that is, the filial daughter returns to her parents with her husband as a guest and pays a New Year call to her parents. The unfilial daughter didn't return to her family until the fifteenth day of the first month.

according to the description of traditional festivals, the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month means the end of the Spring Festival, but the local people don't celebrate the Lantern Festival, and there are no related customs such as lighting lanterns and eating Lantern Festival, so it basically means that people will resume their daily lives after the New Year.

(2) The late 195s-early 196s

The period from the late 195s to the early 196s was in the period of "People's Commune", "Great Leap Forward" and three years of natural disasters. Yongdu Village, Anjing Town, Pixian County, like most rural areas in China at that time, was in the period of eating public canteens. Because the country has advocated a "revolutionary Spring Festival", hunger, physical fatigue and shortened leisure time make most people have no intention of celebrating the Spring Festival, and the collectivized life also makes it impossible for them to accumulate surplus materials for the Spring Festival. According to local old people's memories, crops could not grow normally at that time, and people were so hungry that they shaved weeds and ate bark.

Although ancestor worship and worship are suppressed, they are not strictly prohibited in most areas, so there are many local villagers who secretly perform ceremonies. At that time, most of the couplets praised the people's commune, the Great Leap Forward, Chairman Mao and the Party. According to the newspaper, during the Spring Festival, more reports are: consolidating accelerated literacy learning in rural areas, publicizing marriage law, carrying out patriotic health campaigns, striving for production, saving money, and farmers striving for the overall goal of national industrialization. The traditional custom of Spring Festival began to suffer a strong political and ideological impact.

(3) During the Cultural Revolution from the late 196s to the 197s, the economic situation improved a little, but materials were still scarce. During this period, all Chinese New Year ceremonies will be cancelled, and no ceremony will be allowed when the old man dies, and he will be buried quietly.

the biggest feature of this period is that the political atmosphere is very tense, and everyone is afraid of himself. Worship of ancestors and gods is strictly prohibited. Many people give up the activities of worshipping ancestors and gods, but some people still secretly worship ancestors and gods at home. Lucky money and firecrackers are also banned as "four olds", but very few families still secretly give lucky money to their children, generally giving 1 or 2 cents. Only couplets are not affected much, and they can still be posted, but they are all revolutionary statements.

(4) 198s-199s

In the early 198s, the social economy improved, but it was still in the early stage of reform and opening up, and there was no great change. The control of ideology has been relaxed, and the activities of offering sacrifices to ancestors and gods have resumed. People are willing and able to offer more sacrifices to ancestors and gods. However, some families, due to the change of ideas and other reasons, voluntarily gave up the ritual of offering sacrifices to their ancestors and gods. Lucky money and firecrackers have flourished again, and families with loose hands generously give their children lucky money. Printed couplets began to appear in the market, mainly praising reform and opening up, the party's policies and a better life. The types of new year goods that can be purchased have increased, and the purchasing power has gradually increased. The adobe house in the home has also been renovated into a brick house, and the tradition of "over the wall" was eliminated when sweeping dust years ago. Everyone started walking around again. With the development of social informatization, it has become a fashionable activity to listen to the gala programs on the radio on New Year's Eve, and a few families who can afford TV can even watch the party through TV.

(5) In recent ten years

With the reform and opening up, the economy has developed remarkably, and there are a wide variety of goods on the market. Although the country resumed the traditional cultural activities for the New Year, with the acceleration of modernization, especially the influence of the "urban-rural integration" policy in Chengdu, the local economy and villagers' lives have undergone earth-shaking changes.

great changes have taken place in yongdu village of anjing town from the housing pattern to the population structure. Centralized resettlement of housing by villagers has changed the traditional village layout, from planting to rent income, and the average annual income has jumped. In 28, the per capita income of villagers was more than 8, yuan. In addition, with the change of production structure in recent years, there are 2 large-scale enterprises in the village, more than 6 workshops of individual garment processing and embroidery processing enterprises, and 4 other industrial enterprises, with more than 2, employees. The total flow of migrants can reach more than 4, a year.

The way of local Spring Festival customs has changed greatly. As far as the villagers are concerned, it is embodied in four aspects: buying new year's goods, taboo ceremonies, visiting relatives and friends, and psychological changes.

"handling new year's goods" means more opportunities for businesses to make a fortune. Both raw materials and finished products can be bought in stores, thus saving a lot of troubles in busy years. The great richness of commodities facilitates life and satisfies appetite, but to a certain extent, it reduces the joy and interest of the young and old in the busy year; In addition, due to the characteristics of commodity standardization, the tastes of "new year's goods" in various places are roughly the same, and local characteristics quickly disappear a lot. There are still spring stickers every year.