Does anyone know the earliest origin of "tie"?

New Year's Eve, also known as "New Year's Eve", "New Year's Eve" and "New Year's Eve", is a traditional folk festival popular throughout China. "Zhu" means to go, which means to get rid of the old and welcome the new. "Xi" means late, which refers to the end of the day. "New Year's Eve" refers to the night of the twelfth lunar month of each year, "the day when the month ends and the year ends". On this day, if it meets the so-called "big moon", it will be on the night of December 30th in the lunar calendar. If it meets the so-called "small moon", it will be on the night of December 29th.

The origin of "New Year's Eve" is related to folklore and the ancient custom of Fang Xiang's "exorcism at the end of the year". According to legend, in ancient times, there was a tall and brave warrior named Fang Xiangshi. It was said that he could dispel ghosts and open up paths. The ancestor of the Chinese nation, Xuanyuan Huangdi, once asked him to perform the ritual at night in order to prevent wild beasts from invading the body of his dead wife. The halberd defends and clears the way to protect spirits. Later, every year at the end of the twelfth lunar month, when people held the "Da Nuo Ceremony" of the Huan Festival, they invited Fang Xiangshi to preside over it. He was covered with a bear skin, wearing red clothes and black trousers, holding a sword and shield, and led many soldiers People holding peach wood sticks beat and jump around in the alleys and in the bushes and graves in the countryside to drive away ghosts and monsters and open up a path to peace and auspiciousness. This custom was still very popular in the Western Zhou Dynasty, but it was presided over by ritual officials who continued to use the title of "Fang Xiang". With the changes of the times, the etiquette and customs of "exerting Nuo at the end of the year" are also constantly changing. The grand "Nuo Ceremony" is getting smaller and smaller, and people pay less and less attention to it, and even disappear among the people. , instead, every household hung evil-dispelling ornaments on their door leaves to seek good luck and avoid misfortune. According to the "Customs and Customs" written by Ying Shao of the Eastern Han Dynasty, people at that time "often decorated the New Year's Eve with wax peach figures, hanging reeds and wild rice plants, and painted tigers on the door, all of which recalled the past and hoped to ward off evil." Since then, "New Year's Eve" has appeared among the people as a synonym for the day when the end of the year and the beginning of the year change, and has been gradually followed. After the Song Dynasty, celebrating "New Year's Eve" began to become a major event. According to Wu Zimu's "Mengliang Lu" in the Song Dynasty: On that day, "all families, big or small, swept the doors, removed dust, cleaned the courtyards, changed the door gods, hung bells and kui, nailed peach charms, posted spring signs, and worshiped their ancestors. At night, prepare offerings of sacred fragrant flowers to pray for peace in the new year." Since the early Ming Dynasty when Zhu Yuanzhang passed an order to the families of ministers and common people, before New Year's Eve, a Spring couplet must be added to the door. The "Hanging Qian" with auspicious words engraved on red paper is pasted on the window lattice (commonly known as "Hanging Qian" in some places), and the red "Doufang" with the word "Fu" is pasted on the household utensils, which has become a folk "New Year's Eve" to send the New Year. An indispensable etiquette for New Year celebrations, this custom is still popular among the people to this day.

New Year’s Eve is commonly known as Chinese New Year’s Eve by Chaoshan people. New Year's Eve and Spring Festival are connected, and the customs are different but related. The theme of Chaoshan New Year's Eve is to get rid of the old and bring in the new, to reunite and celebrate. The main customary activities include worshiping ancestors, pasting Spring Festival couplets, surrounding the furnace, sending New Year's money, watching the New Year's Eve, and bidding farewell to the New Year.

1. Worshiping Gods

In addition to worshiping ancestors on New Year’s Eve, other gods must also be worshiped. For example, after the water tank and bucket at home are filled with water, the well mouth is covered with a bamboo chopper, commonly known as sealing the well, and then offerings are made to worship the well master and the well mother, and the well is not opened until the New Year and the Spring Festival. That evening, in addition to filling the water jar with water, the rice jar in the farmhouse must also be filled with rice, and the lights cannot be extinguished to symbolize the good omen of "more than enough every year" and "constant cooking every year."

2. Pasting Spring Festival Couplets

After worshiping their ancestors, the men began to tear off the old couplets on the main door, hall door, and room door and paste new Spring Festival couplets. As a result, the door of the home has a completely new look.

Spring couplets are commonly known as door symbols in Chaoshan. Those affixed to both sides of the door frame are called couplets; those affixed to the top of the door frame are horizontally draped; those affixed to two door leaves are called door openings; if it is a single small door, they are affixed to the square. According to the "History of the Song Dynasty? Shu Family", Meng Chang, the Lord of Later Shu, ordered the bachelor to inscribe a peach charm. Because he was not a craftsman, he wrote the inscription in his Mingbi: "New Year's greetings are celebrated, and the festival is celebrated in Changchun." It is said that this is the earliest peach charm in our country. A pair of Spring Festival couplets. Later, the Spring Festival couplets were stipulated to be written on red red paper with ink or gold pigment, and the contents were all auspicious words. Judging from the Spring Festival couplets posted by every household in Chaoshan, they reflect different aesthetic tastes and values. Most of them reflect the characteristics of the Chaozhou people who are hardworking, united and progressive, and living in harmony, such as "A harmonious family brings blessings, and peace is worth a thousand pieces of gold", "Work hard to produce and the harvest will be abundant, and good management of the family will bring prosperity to the six animals" and so on. The most popular Spring Festival couplets are written by Lin Daqin, the champion of Chaozhou in the Ming Dynasty.

There is a record in the "Zhuangyuan Illustrated Examination" written by Wanli of the Ming Dynasty: "(Lin Daqin) has been smart since he was a child, and his compositions are extraordinary. When Weng Wanda saw the difference, he asked him to be his son-in-law. On Yue's birthday, Daqin wrote a couplet to congratulate him He said: "As time goes by, people live longer, and spring fills the world with blessings." The meaning is grand, and Weng said: "You are the number one scholar." Sure enough, Lin Daqin became the number one scholar at the age of twenty-two. The birthday couplets he wrote were later changed into Spring Festival couplets and became popular throughout the country. In Chaoshan Spring Festival couplets, you can often see a single door or a shrine with the word "spring" inscribed on it. The word "spring" has two meanings: first, it means that spring returns to the earth, everything is renewed, and it brings vitality; second, it cleverly takes advantage of the harmony between the sounds of "spring" and "cun" to express the good wishes of having more than enough every year. This is similar to eating fish at wedding banquets in the north, which sounds similar to the word "yu".

3. Pasting the Door God

In addition to Spring Festival couplets, Chaoshan folk also have the custom of posting portraits of the Door God on New Year's Eve. Door gods have a long history. It is said that as early as the time of the Yellow Emperor, Shen Tu and Yu Lei were the door gods. Yingshao of the Eastern Han Dynasty quoted the "Book of the Yellow Emperor" in "Customs and Customs" as saying: In ancient times, there were two brothers, Shen Tu and Yu Lei, who lived on Dushuo Mountain. There is a peach tree on the mountain, with shade like a canopy. Every morning, they inspect the ghosts under this tree. If an evil spirit harms the world, it is tied up and fed to tigers. Later, people used two peach boards to draw portraits of Shen Tu and Yu Lei, and hung them on both sides of the door to drive away ghosts and ward off evil spirits. However, the door gods recorded in the real history books are not Shen Tu or Yu Lei, but an ancient warrior named Cheng Qing. Ban Gu's "Book of Han? Biography of King Guangchuan" records: There was a portrait of the ancient warrior Cheng Qing painted on the door of King Guangchuan's palace, wearing short clothes, large trousers and a long sword. In the Tang Dynasty, the position of door god was replaced by Qin Shubao and Yuchi Jingde. "Journey to the West" records: The Dragon King of Jinghe broke the rules of heaven in order to make a bet with a fortune teller, and he should be punished for his crime. The Jade Emperor appointed Wei Zheng as the supervisor and beheading official. In order to survive, the Dragon King of Jinghe begged Taizong for mercy. Taizong agreed, and when it was time to slay the dragon, he summoned Wei Zheng to play chess with him. Unexpectedly, after Wei Zheng took a nap, his soul ascended to heaven and beheaded the Dragon King. The Dragon King complained that Taizong did not keep his word and shouted for his life outside the palace day and night. Taizong informed the ministers that General Qin Shubao had asked Yuchi Jingde to "stand outside the gate in military uniforms to wait". Taizong agreed. As a result, nothing happened that night. Emperor Taizong couldn't bear the hard work of the two generals, so he ordered his skillful painter to paint the true faces of the two generals and paste them on the door. Later generations passed down the tradition, so these two generals became the gatekeepers of thousands of households.

After the Republic of China, the folk door gods in Chaoshan include the portraits of Yuchi Jingde holding a steel whip and Qin Shubao holding an iron mace; Statues of the King of Heaven; there are portraits of Zhao Yun, Xue Rengui and others. With the development of society and the change of consciousness, the door gods posted by the people not only hope to avoid disasters and evil spirits, but also hope to gain fame and fortune. So deers, magpies, treasures, bats, bottles, gods of wealth, fortune and longevity stars, harmony and the like appeared, and they used the beautiful images and sounds of objects to pray for good fortune. After liberation, Chaoshan folk's door paintings on New Year's Eve once featured heroes celebrating a good harvest and fortune-making as the main content.

No matter what kind of door gods are posted on New Year’s Eve, the two door gods must face each other, in order to dispel evil and welcome good fortune. If the left and right door gods are posted wrongly, with their backs facing each other, then things will be unfavorable and unlucky this year. Therefore, when putting up door paintings, people in every household carefully put up the portraits of the door gods in an upright and well-placed manner, hoping that the whole family, men, women, old and young, would have good luck in the new year.

4. Paste the word "福"

Every New Year's Eve, almost every household in Chaoshan pastes the word "福" written in red on doors, windows, niches or walls. In recent years, some people have followed the example of the north and pasted the word "福" upside down.

What does posting "福" mean? The word "福" is a knowing word. In the oracle bone inscriptions, it is shown as worshiping the wine altar with both hands and pouring wine on the altar, which is a portrayal of ancient sacrifices. "Shu Hong Fan" says, "Five blessings: one is longevity, the other is wealth, the third is health, the fourth is good virtue, and the fifth is longevity (being old and good is called kao)." Therefore, when the new year comes, Seeking "wealth, honor and longevity" is the first meaning of posting the word "blessing" during the Spring Festival. "Shuowen Shibu" says: "Fu means blessing." It shows that the word "福" has a meaning of "bless". People want to affix the word "福" to seek blessings, turn bad luck into good luck, and bring good luck in times of trouble. In ancient times, sacrifices required kneeling and worshiping. Therefore, the word "福" can be interpreted as "worship". Chapter 85 of the novel "Flowers in the Mirror": "So facing the stage, I was blessed." The "福" in the sentence means "worship". In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose of pasting the word "blessing", one must worship the ghosts and gods of heaven and earth.

The word "福" is pasted upside down, which means the coming of good fortune. Regarding the custom of pasting the word "福" upside down, there is a folk story in our country. It is said that on the eve of the Spring Festival one year, in order to please his master, the chief steward of Prince Gong’s palace in the Qing Dynasty wrote several big words "福" as usual and asked his servants to paste them on the warehouse and the gate of the palace. There was a servant who was illiterate and pasted the word "福" on the door upside down. Prince Gong Fujin was very angry after seeing this and wanted to punish him with a whip. Fortunately, the chief steward was an eloquent person. Seeing that something was not going well, he was afraid that he would be implicated, so he hurriedly knelt in front of his master and said, "I often hear people say that Prince Gong has a long life and good fortune. Now the good fortune has really come. It's a good sign." When Prince Gong heard this, he thought it was reasonable. No wonder passers-by said that Prince Gong's palace was in good fortune, so he rewarded the housekeeper and servant fifty taels of silver each. Since then, the custom of pasting the word "福" upside down has spread from the royal palace to the people. In the Chaozhou dialect, "dao" and "dao" are not homophonic, so there was no custom of pasting the word "福" upside down in the Chaoshan area in the past. It was introduced from the north after the reform and opening up.

5. Surrounding the Fire

After worshiping their ancestors, the men are busy posting Spring Festival couplets, door gods, etc., while the housewives are busy preparing to make the most abundant and meaningful meal of the year. The family reunion dinner, also known as the fire surround.

In ancient times, a small red clay stove was set up in the middle of the hall, and the family ate dinner around the fire and talked while keeping warm. "Haiyang County Chronicles" written by Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty records: "On New Year's Eve, a stove is set up in the hall, and people eat around it, which is called 'surrounding the stove.'" As the years go by, the evolution of stoves includes copper stove cores and tin dishes. A small stove with pots connected together can not only serve dishes and heat soup, but also add charcoal and fire. It is placed in the center of the banquet table. In recent years, it has evolved into gas stoves or induction cookers, which are more convenient. Regardless of the method, families gather around the table to eat, also known as "around the fire." Dishes served around the stove tend to have homophonic words that symbolize good fortune, such as "lettuce" which is homophonic to "get rich", and fish which is homophonic to "more than enough". Eating pig intestines and pig blood stir-fried with garlic means "being able to calculate and grow your hair". Eating clams is a unique custom food for people who can buy clams in coastal areas. Clam is also called Kuilu, Kuiha and Walongzi. Because it is two shells joined together, the Chaozhou custom also calls clams "combine double earnings" and "clam shell money". If you are engaged in business by eating clams, you can make money and save money. You should sit around the fire early, the earlier the better, "early food, early hair". When surrounding the fire, auspicious words should be said. The head of the family should wish the elders health and longevity, and hope that the children will be smart and polite, and that the next generation will work hard. If a child accidentally drops a plate or bowl while eating, adults will say auspicious words such as "Open your mouth and you will be rich".

Surrounding the fire on New Year's Eve is also called having a "reunion dinner", which reflects the Chinese nation's longing for reunion and happiness in its folk culture and its indestructible cohesion. No matter how many places the family is usually scattered, they must come back before gathering around the fire to have a drink with the family. Even if individual families have had conflicts of one kind or another due to financial constraints, dissatisfaction with life, or mental distress and imbalance, when the time comes to sit around the fire on New Year's Eve, they will generally put aside their past grudges and let their grudges and grudges remain the same. Things were diluted in an atmosphere of family laughter.

"I miss my loved ones even more during the festive season." As tens of thousands of families gather around the fires on New Year's Eve, the atmosphere of family reunions in Chaoshan, the hometown of overseas Chinese, is particularly strong. Many overseas Chinese, compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as relatives working abroad, make every effort to come back to reunite with their families and enjoy their family together. joy. Overseas Chinese people also miss their relatives who are far away from home infinitely, and they send New Year gifts to relatives at home and abroad who cannot return home, reflecting the great changes in their hometown and the ever-changing new life, and conveying their hometown's hometown sentiments from afar.

The custom of surrounding the stove is currently changing in cities. Brothers and sisters often live and work separately, but they all have the traditional concept of reunion, so they often go to the hotel to sit around the fire for convenience and to add fun. Elderly people in rural areas are happy to go to their children's homes and take turns eating. As the saying goes: "Eating thoroughly makes you happy."

6. Sending New Year's money

Sending New Year's money is an important custom in Chaoshan New Year's Eve. The elders in the family have to give New Year's money to their children. The common saying is "pressing the belly and waist", which means that one year From beginning to end, your pockets will be full and you will be rich. The younger generation who can earn money should also give money to their elders. Ordinary stores also give store clerks money at the end of the year. The amount depends on the quality of the business and the size of the position. Relatives and friends living abroad often send money to support them at the end of the year. This is of course limited to those who are relatively well-off. When giving new year's money, you should not just give it away, but put it carefully in a lucky bag or wrap it with a piece of red paper. In ancient times, the copper coins were threaded and braided with a red thread.

When adults distribute lucky money to children, they also give some auspicious words of encouragement and blessing as usual. In the evening, literally "press" this gift under the children's pillows, and accompany them to spend a happy and peaceful New Year's Eve to welcome the arrival of the new year. The purpose of giving new year's money to children is to ward off evil and seek good luck. It is believed that on New Year's Eve, evil spirits will come to the door to bring disaster. Children are weak and cannot be intruded by evil spirits. Therefore, coins with the ability to suppress evil spirits must be used to subdue evil spirits, or bribes can be used to turn evil into good luck. Therefore, the original meaning of New Year's money is "to suppress evil spirits", and its origin is a currency-shaped mascot specially used to ward off evil spirits and pray for good luck--Yu Shengqian. The concept that money can communicate with gods and can subjugate ghosts and suppress evil spirits has its origin very early. In the pre-Qin period, people used coins to worship ghosts and gods, which already had the meaning of money. Among the five-baht coins handed down from the Han Dynasty, some are inscribed with auspicious sayings popular at the time, such as "Get out of Fu (sickness), good for your descendants", or "Get rid of the enemy, get rid of the evil and go to the center (disaster)", which are obviously for the sake of disgust. It was specially cast to bring disaster and bring good luck, so people generally believe that winning money first appeared in the Han Dynasty. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, there was a phenomenon of using ordinary coins to wish good luck during the Spring Festival. There was another time process from giving money to children on New Year's Eve to wish good luck, but it was not until the late Ming Dynasty that it became a relatively common custom. Qing Gulu's "Qing Jia Lu" has a special article on "New Year's Money", citing many previous works, such as Guo Jia's "Huaiyin New Year's Eve? Ode to New Year's Money" poem says: "Red rope bronze thread"; Wu Manyun's "Jiangxiang Jiewu" The small preface of "Ci" says: "It is a custom in Hangzhou that when children celebrate the New Year, the elders give them money, always in red, and place it where they sleep, calling it 'New Year's money'" and so on.

7. Staying up all night long

Staying up all night long is one of the traditional customs of the Chinese nation. In the old days, on New Year’s Eve, the family would gather together in front of a lamp and have a good meal, wine and delicacies, talk about the old and new, and stay up all night. . There are two theories about its origin: one is that it comes from people's psychology of loving life and cherishing time, because after New Year's Eve, it means that a year has passed and time is gone, which is a bit reluctant to leave; the other is that it is to prevent the legendary Related to the attack of "Nian Beast".

The custom of keeping the year old has been around for a long time. "Jingchu Sui Sui Ji" written by Zongmai of the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty said: "At the end of the year, the dishes in the house are placed in the place where the old year is spent to welcome the New Year." Later generations noted that "Yi" "The position of Sui Sui" is to keep the Sui Sui. Meng Haoran, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem: "Continue the Ming Dynasty to remind the new year, and stay up until the end of the year to celebrate the long feast." In the poem, "the candle to urge the new year" refers to the "candle to keep the new year alive" ("Tu Feng Lu" written by Gu Zhangsi in the Qing Dynasty). It can be seen that what the ancients kept was actually a pair of "shou sui candles". Regarding this, Gu Lu of the Qing Dynasty recorded it in detail in "Qing Jia Lu". He said that on New Year's Eve in Suzhou (which can also be said to represent the south of the Yangtze River), "double rafter candles are burned in the dormitory, and the night lasts forever. Flowers are born to announce the good news, and the red glory shines all around, direct morning light, which is called the 'Shou Sui Candle'". The so-called "double rafter candle" refers to a pair of big red candles. The rafters must be painted red and long, so it is used as a metaphor for the big red candle. Looking at the red candle stamens, it is believed that the candle flowers announce good news; "Hongrong" means red light, and the candlelight should be connected with the morning light, which shows that the candle burns all night long.

The custom of staying up late on New Year's Eve still exists today. On New Year's Eve, a trendy custom, the family drinks tea and chats until late at night. At present, watching the CCTV Spring Festival Gala has become a national trend. Some young people make phone calls at home, or send text messages on their mobile phones, or send "Yimeier" to relatives and friends to wish them a happy future; some gather friends around the table to play poker games such as "Upgrade" and "Tractor", or just have a leisurely time. Mahjong is a mahjong activity to celebrate the New Year.

8. Farewell to the New Year

When it is midnight, every household will blast firecrackers, light lanterns and light incense to welcome the New Year and welcome happiness, and step into the New Year. This is called "Farewell to the New Year".

In recent years, due to the government ban on setting off firecrackers during festivals, CCTV’s ringing of the New Year’s bell on New Year’s Eve in the city has replaced the firecrackers that many people like. This ancient custom has become an old custom. However, in remote rural areas, there is still the sound of setting off firecrackers at midnight on New Year's Eve.

After the end of the New Year's Eve, the curtain of the New Year's Eve festive etiquette slowly came to an end, and people enthusiastically and joyfully devoted themselves to the festive activities to celebrate the "Lunar New Year" - the Spring Festival.

The people of the Yellow Land attach great importance to festivals. There are many festivals throughout the year, but the most important one is the Spring Festival. People who have worked hard for a year put all their joy and hope in the New Year. Every year when the twelfth lunar month comes, people get busy. They say they are busy, but in fact it is women who are busy. Busy eating, busy dressing, busy washing and rinsing, all the work must be done by the aunts.

Rolling rollers to press cake noodles, catching up with donkeys to grind tofu, steaming yellow steamed buns, making rice wine, rolling out mixed noodles, and frying fried cakes, all the New Year delicacies must be prepared before the end of the year. During the Chinese New Year, the whole family, old and young, inside and out, all have to change into new clothes. No matter how poor a family is, everyone needs to make a new coat. In addition, all bedding and clothing must be washed cleanly. There is also a custom here that during the Chinese New Year, children should be given a "Jujube sign". "Zao Paipai" is made of red dates and corn straw tied with red thread, with a copper coin hanging on top and a firecracker hanging on the bottom. It is hung on the child's back. This is a mascot to ward off evil and bless. Here, I also saw some people threading a "thimble" used for needlework with red thread and hanging it around their children's necks. This is also a blessing mascot, called a "thimble to increase age." One more each year until the age of twelve.

New Year's Eve is here, everything is ready, post couplets, make vinegar charcoal, hang red lanterns, and clean the courtyard. Making vinegar charcoal is a unique custom, which is to put a piece of red-hot coal on an iron spoon and then pour vinegar on it. "Vinegar charcoal" should be carried out in every corner of the home, which means to drive away evil spirits. In fact, it is a scientific method of sterilization and disinfection. As night falls, the elderly always devoutly light incense and burn paper, and lead their curious grandchildren to kowtow. The older children were busy setting off cannons and lighting towers. The careful mother-in-law put charcoal and ice cubes beside the door, and set up a rolling staff and an ax behind the door. It is said that this is to suppress evil spirits, and it is called "Shou Sui" here. People always sleep very late on New Year's Eve. Generally, lights are kept on at home all night long, which indicates peace and longevity in all seasons. Putting some food in the pot is called "according to the pot", which means there will be no shortage of food throughout the year. Some old people couldn't sleep that night, so they climbed up to the top of the mountain quietly in the dark, facing the east and looking out. This is called "taste of heaven". According to the old man, the color of Xiaotian's color can indicate the success of this year's crops and the good or bad luck of the village. Whether it works or not, no one will delve into it. On the first day of the first lunar month, people get up at dawn. The first thing they do is to fire the "opening cannon", which means it's time to open the door. Then, the old people were busy welcoming the gods and receiving the Stove Lord. The children have already run out to pay New Year greetings. New Year greetings here are called "asking about health". When younger people meet their elders, they always "ask about health", such as "Grandpa is strong!" "Grandma is strong!" The elders will reply "Baby, be good!" which means to praise the children's health and progress. This kind of New Year greeting custom is not limited to children, but also to men who are married and have adopted children. It is also the same when meeting their elders.

Paying New Year greetings with Yangko is a unique custom in northern Shaanxi. During the Spring Festival, every village organizes a Yangko team to pay New Year greetings door to door, which is commonly known as "Yangmenzi" here. The first step in celebrating the New Year with Yangko is visiting temples, worshiping gods, and praying for good weather and good harvests, and then visiting every household to pay New Year greetings. Every time the yangko troupe visits a house, the umbrella head touches the scenery and improvises its own lyrics to bless the owner. For example, "Looking up after entering the gate, the six-hole stone kiln is in full display. The grain is abundant and people are prosperous. It ensures peace all year round."