What are the customs of the Spring Festival?

The Spring Festival, the first day of the first lunar month every year, refers to the traditional Lunar New Year in the Chinese cultural circle. It is also a common festival for Chinese at home and abroad. It embodies the life pursuit and emotional sustenance of the Chinese people. Very much valued by Chinese people.

Spring Festival customs include: preparing New Year’s goods, pasting New Year’s red, offering sacrifices to stoves, dusting, hanging New Year pictures, pasting window grilles, pasting blessing characters upside down, New Year’s Eve dinner, paying New Year greetings, setting off firecrackers, wearing new clothes, eating dumplings, watching the New Year, Customs include dragon dancing, hanging lanterns, taking New Year's money, eating glutinous rice dumplings, opening firecrackers, paying New Year greetings, watching social fires, walking on stilts, making lanterns, lion dancing and other customs.

During the Spring Festival, there are different customs every day. Let’s take a look with me below:

One of the Spring Festival customs: preparing New Year’s goods?

New Year’s goods are some good items bought before the New Year, and the purchasing process is called Make New Year's goods, such as the expensive abalone and ginseng wings and tripe, to cook a good meal to comfort you after a year of hard work and celebrate the coming of the New Year. In some places, people buy New Year's goods such as candies and melon seeds and put them in full boxes. When relatives and friends come to pay New Year greetings, they treat them to candies, melon seeds, etc. In addition, the New Year's goods are gifts given during New Year greetings. It is popular in urban areas to give chocolates, cookies, etc. This is because it is the traditional custom to bring some gifts when visiting relatives and friends' homes for New Year greetings. ?

It is said that in ancient times, transportation was inconvenient and supplies were relatively scarce. In order to celebrate the annual Spring Festival, every household prepares New Year's goods about 10 days before the festival. New Year's goods include chicken, duck, fish, tea, wine, sauce, north and south roasted seeds and nuts, candies, bait and fruits. You must buy enough. You must also prepare some gifts for visiting relatives and friends during the New Year. Children should buy new clothes and hats to wear during the New Year. ?

In ancient times, people called doing New Year shopping a market, which is a common name for trade activities that are carried out at a fixed time and place at a fixed time. The New Year's Fair is the largest event in the year with the largest number of participants. It is usually held in The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month before the Lunar New Year. Chinese people have always regarded the New Year as a major event for thousands of years. Before the New Year, a lot of preparations have to be made and a lot of things have to be bought, including things to eat, use, wear, wear, play, provide, dried, fresh, raw and cooked, which are collectively called "New Year's goods".

?Spring Festival custom two: dust removal?

On the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, dust removal: On this day, every household will clean the house, clean clothes and bed sheets, sweep the roof corners, wash Cleaning the dirt from tables, stools, tables and chairs is called "sweeping dust". Sweeping dust is one of the customs of cleaning up the old and making new arrangements during the New Year. Folk proverb says, "On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, dust the dust and sweep the house." On the 23rd/24th day of the year, preparations for the New Year officially begin. Sweeping dust is the year-end cleaning. It is called "house sweeping" in the north and "house sweeping" in Guangdong in the south. Every Spring Festival comes, every household has to clean the environment, wash all kinds of utensils, remove and wash bedding and curtains, sweep the Liulv courtyard, dust away dirt and cobwebs, and dredge open ditches and ditches. Everywhere is filled with the joyful atmosphere of doing hygiene and welcoming the New Year cleanly.

According to folk saying: Because "dust" and "chen" are homophonic, sweeping dust in the New Year has the meaning of "removing the old and spreading the new". The purpose of sweeping dust is to sweep away all "bad luck" and "bad luck" in order to pray for good luck in the coming year. This custom entrusts people's prayers and wishes to ward off evil and eliminate disasters, bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and welcome good fortune and blessings.

?The third custom of the Spring Festival: Shading silkworms?

Zhaoting silkworms is also called "burning silkworms" and "burning wealth". It is a folk custom of praying for good luck in the south of the Yangtze River. On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, long poles tied with torches are erected in the fields to use the flames to divine the new year. If the flames are strong, they will herald a good harvest in the coming year. Some places hold this event on New Year's Eve.

As for the formation of the custom of silkworm hunting in the field, Wang Lihua believed that it originated from the burning of the remaining sedge grass in the field, which was used to convert the grass into fertilizer, kill pests and improve the efficiency of field plowing. After the mid-Tang Dynasty, the area east of Taihu Lake was developed and fire farming was gradually abolished. However, due to the accumulated habits, although setting fires in the fields was gradually erased from the production schedule, it was still regarded as an annual festival entertainment activity. The form remains and gradually transforms into a fixed folk activity throughout the year.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Zhaotian silkworm was mainly popular in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but also in other areas. For example, Daoguang Hunan's "Yongzhou Prefecture" and Guangxu's "Jingzhou Prefecture" both have records of "Zhaotian silkworm". "Tian Can" is also written as "Tian Cai", or it can directly target pests. For example, Hongzhi's "Shanghai Chronicles" said: "The villagers hold high torches and say they shine on the hemp bugs." In addition to the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, the time to shine on the field silkworms is also It is held on New Year's Day and Shangyuan Day. The activities of Zhaotian Silkworms have also been expanded. In addition to burning torches on poles, they also worship Liu Mengjiang, Tian Zu, and the Canhua gods, and even ask wizards to sing songs in praise of the gods.

?The fourth Spring Festival custom: cutting New Year’s meat?

Cutting New Year’s meat is one of the Spring Festival customs of the Han people. On this day, pigs are killed to cut the New Year's meat, and New Year's goods are purchased. According to the traditional saying, "stew big meat on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month", I believe this day is a festival for all children, and they can finally eat "new year meat".

On this day, every household prepares pig, beef, and mutton to entertain guests during the New Year. People cut the meat into large pieces and stew it slowly in a large pot. In ancient times, there were no refrigerators. The stewed meat It can be kept until about the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and every house will be fragrant on this day.

In the past, ordinary people's lives were relatively poor, and there were many people in their families, so they often had to eat one meal but not another. Those with slightly better conditions could only afford to eat. Order some steamed vegetables or something. It’s hard to look forward to the Chinese New Year, and the laborers at home have begun to kill pigs. Those who don’t raise pigs will go to the market to cut a piece of meat and take it home. Therefore, stewed meat on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month is also called "the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month". Sixth, kill the pig and cut off the new year’s meat.”

?The fifth custom of the Spring Festival: making noodles?

The 28th day of the twelfth lunar month is the common name for the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month (the twelfth lunar month), and is one of the traditional customs of the Chinese Spring Festival. Chinese folk songs on the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month include "On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, make dough" and "On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, make cakes and steamed buns with applique flowers." Chinese folk customs and traditions: On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, whether making noodles or steamed buns, every household will start preparing staple foods for the New Year. Because in the past, all shops were closed from the first day of the first lunar month to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, so everyone had to prepare enough meals before the New Year.

In traditional customs, on the twenty-eighth day, it is time to prepare pasta. In the past, social development was low, and there was no modern and more convenient baking powder. Ordinary noodles were easily spoiled if they were made a few days in advance. Only leavened noodles did not like spoiling, so I made the noodles on the 28th, preparing for the first to fifth days of the first lunar month. At the same time, this is also because the old custom believes that steamed buns cannot be steamed from the first to the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.

?Spring Festival Custom No. 6: Steamed Steamed Buns?

In the folk customs of the Spring Festival in my country, steamed buns are steamed on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month. Whose steamed buns are big and steamy? If you do well, your family will prosper and get good luck in the new year. People use their imagination to make steamed buns into various shapes such as longevity peaches and small animals.

The steamed buns on the 29th of the twelfth lunar month must be steamed, as this is the "face" of the family. In the past, carefully prepared steamed buns would be put on the altar. When someone came to pay New Year's greetings on the first day of the new year, they would "evaluate" the steamed buns. Therefore, the steamed buns on the 29th of the twelfth lunar month must be made good-looking and delicious. , only then can you gain face, be lucky, and attract people’s attention.

The Seventh Spring Festival Custom: Paste New Year's Red?

On the 29th or 30th, every household "pastes New Year's Red" (New Year's red refers to Spring Festival couplets, door gods, New Year paintings, blessing characters, and horizontal batches) , window grilles, etc., because these are red festive elements posted during the New Year, they are collectively called "New Year Red"). Pasting New Year red is a traditional Chinese New Year custom. It reflects the customs and beliefs of the people, adds to the festive atmosphere, and expresses people's good expectations for the new year and new life.

Posting Spring Festival couplets: According to literary works such as "Jade Candle Collection" and "Yanjing Chronicles", the original form of Spring Festival couplets is what people call "Peach Talisman". Another source of Spring Festival couplets is spring stickers. The ancients often posted the word "Yichun" on the first day of spring, and later gradually developed into Spring Festival couplets. Spring couplets are also called door-to-door couplets, spring posts, couplets, antithetical couplets, peach charms, etc. It depicts the background of the times and expresses good wishes with neat, dual, concise and exquisite words. It is a unique literary form in China. Every Spring Festival, every household, whether in urban or rural areas, selects a red Spring Festival couplet and pastes it on the door to add a festive atmosphere to the festival. ?

Posting New Year pictures: Posting New Year pictures during the Spring Festival is also very common in urban and rural areas. The rich and colorful New Year pictures add a lot of prosperity and joy to thousands of households. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China, reflecting the people's simple customs and beliefs, and reposing their hopes for the future. With the rise of woodblock printing, the content of New Year pictures is no longer limited to monotonous themes such as door gods, but has become rich and colorful.

Window grilles and the word "福": Folks also like to paste various paper-cuts - window grilles - on their windows. Window grilles not only enhance the festive atmosphere, but also integrate decoration, appreciation and practicality. At the same time, some families have to paste the word "福" (福) in large and small sizes on their house doors, walls, and lintels. Folks also use the word "Fu" to make various patterns with detailed drawings, such as longevity star, birthday peach, carp jumping over the dragon gate, good harvest, dragon and phoenix showing auspiciousness, etc.

?Spring Festival Custom No. 8: New Year’s Eve Dinner?

The end of the twelfth lunar month is New Year’s Eve, also known as “New Year’s Eve”. There is a custom of having New Year’s Eve dinner. In addition to paying attention to the "good taste" of the dishes during the New Year's Eve dinner, it is particularly important to "please enjoy the good taste". That is to say, Ningbo people like to place their hopes for the coming year in their dishes. For example, "chicken" and "ji" have the same pronunciation, which means auspiciousness; "eel" means "the tank is full, the food is full", which means plenty of food and clothing; Ningbo businessmen seem to have a special liking for "red paste crab", which means "red paste crab". The crab means "Business is booming, the world is prosperous, and wealth is coming from all directions"; the lotus root festival means "Every day is high and all roads are open". In Ningbo people's New Year's Eve dinner, whole fish is an indispensable New Year dish, and later it gradually became smoked fish, which means "more than auspiciousness"; "Shepherd's purse spring rolls" used to be served in queues, and "Shepherd's purse" and "Jucai" have similar sounds. , "Eat a spring roll to welcome the spring" is to welcome the arrival of spring. Soybean sprouts have the same shape as "Ruyi" and are called "Ruyi dishes", which means "good luck in life" and "all the best"; golden cakes serve as "gold bricks"; leeks are homophonic to "leeks" and "long"; sausages are homophonic to "fragrant and long". ”, ??

The whole family should sit together for the New Year’s Eve dinner, and no one should be left behind, which means reunion. If a family member cannot make it to New Year's Eve or does not go home to celebrate the New Year, bowls, chopsticks and wine glasses should be prepared for him or her on the table, filled with wine and rice, so that everyone is present and the whole family is reunited. On this day, our children in other places have to rush home to reunite with each other no matter how far away they are. In the past, after the New Year's Eve dinner, children carried lanterns and went to the ancestral hall to watch plays. After 1983, I usually watched CCTV’s “Spring Festival Gala” program at home.

?Spring Festival Custom No. 9: Worshiping the New Year?

Walking the New Year is the oldest traditional custom among Chinese people. During the Spring Festival, it is an activity for people to exchange feelings among relatives. A way to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and express best wishes to each other. Worshiping the New Year means visiting relatives and friends on the first day of the Lunar New Year and paying New Year greetings to each other. The origin of the custom of New Year greetings: In ancient times, the original meaning of the word "New Year greetings" was to congratulate the elders on the New Year, including kowtowing to the elders and saluting, wishing them a happy New Year, and greeting them with good life, etc. When you meet relatives and friends of the same generation, you should also give congratulations. On the first day of the new year, people get up early, put on new clothes, go out to visit relatives and friends, pay New Year greetings to each other, and wish good luck in the coming year. There are many ways to pay New Year's greetings. Some are led by the clan leader to go door-to-door to pay New Year's greetings; some are colleagues inviting a few people to pay New Year's greetings; and others get together to congratulate each other, which is called "group worship."

In the Song Dynasty, relatives and friends would send congratulations to each other. These were the early New Year cards. In the Ming Dynasty, the design of New Year's greeting cards became more perfect and exquisite. Not only was the name and address of the sender printed on the card, but "Happy New Year" and blessing words were also written on the card. With the development of the times, the custom of New Year greetings has constantly added new content and forms. Nowadays, in addition to following the previous methods of New Year greetings, people have also developed ceremonial New Year greetings via text messages and phone calls.

?Spring Festival Custom No. 10: Open the door and set off firecrackers?

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

Speaking of the origin of firecrackers, we have to mention the animal called "Shanxi". When people sleep outdoors in deep mountains and old forests, they will light bonfires. In order to prevent the invasion of mountain odor, people light bamboo in the bonfire and use the popping sound of bamboo to scare away the mountain odor. Later, with the advent of gunpowder, people began to fill bamboo tubes with saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal and burn them, thus "firecrackers" were born. Since the Song Dynasty, people have used paper tubes and hemp stems wrapped with gunpowder and woven into strings to replace bamboo tubes and become "firecrackers."

On the morning of the Spring Festival, when the door is opened, firecrackers are set off first, which is called "opening the door firecrackers". After the sound of firecrackers, the ground was filled with broken red, shining like clouds and brocade, which was called "Man Tang Hong". At this time, the streets were full of auspiciousness and joy.

?Spring Festival Custom No. 11: Accepting the God of Wealth?

Accepting the God of Wealth is an ancient traditional Spring Festival custom among Chinese people. Because Chinese folklore says that the fifth day of the first lunar month is the birthday of the God of Wealth, so after the first day of the new year, the next most important activity is to receive the God of Wealth. On the night before the God of Wealth’s birthday, every family sets up a banquet to congratulate the God of Wealth.

The custom of "receiving the God of Wealth" has many differences across China. In some places, the God of Wealth is received on the first day of the first lunar month, while in other places it is received on the fourth and fifth day of the first lunar month.

Since ancient times, Chinese people have believed in many gods of wealth, including the "Martial God of Wealth", "Wen God of Wealth", "Five-way God of Wealth", "Quasi God of Wealth" and "Partial God of Wealth". The fourth day of the first lunar month (also said to be the fifth day of the first lunar month) is the origin of the God of Wealth, the Five-show God of Wealth or the Five-Way God of Wealth: Legend has it that there are five brothers whose first characters are all "Xian", so they are called "the Five-show God of Wealth". He robbed the rich and gave to the poor while he was alive, but after his death he still punished evil and promoted good, and protected the poor. There is the Five-Hand God of Wealth Temple outside Andingmen in Beijing.

The custom of "receiving the God of Wealth" has many differences across China. In some places, the God of Wealth is received on the first day of the first lunar month, while in other places it is received on the fourth and fifth day of the first lunar month. In Suzhou, Shanghai and other places in the Qing Dynasty, early in the morning of the fifth day of the lunar month, people would beat gongs and drums, set off firecrackers, and place sacrifices to prepare for the God of Wealth. Folks believed that whoever received the God of Wealth first would get more benefits, so they welcomed the God of Wealth. The Gods and Gods are all scrambling to be the first, fearing that they will be late to receive the goods and make the God of Wealth unhappy. From this, the custom of "jumping the road" was derived.

?Spring Festival Custom No. 12: Worshiping Zigu?

On the eleventh day of the first lunar month, worshiping Zigu is one of the ancient traditional Spring Festival customs among Chinese people.

Zigu, the legendary name of the goddess. In the southwest of my country, especially in the western Hunan region, folklore says that she is the toilet god, and is also known as Zigu, toilet aunt, Maogu, Hanggu, Hangsangniang, etc. People in the world say that he can predict things. He often worships him at home and divines all things. The earliest document recording "Zigu" is "Yiyuan" written by Liu Jingshu of the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty. Generally speaking, Zigu was a concubine who was jealous of her first wife and was killed in the toilet on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. The Emperor took pity on her and made her the toilet god.

But people worship Zigu not because she is the God of toilets, but because Zigu represents women who are deeply oppressed in feudal society, so she is worshiped by women and regarded as the protector of weak women. Sacrifice.

?Spring Festival Custom Thirteen: Lantern Festival?

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the traditional "Lantern Festival", also called "Lantern Festival" and "Shangyuan Festival". Old Beijingers They prefer to call "Lantern Festival" as "Lantern Festival". Why is this? It turns out that in ancient times, the "Lantern Festival" was the same as the "New Year's Eve". People valued it the most and always celebrated it lively. The most typical one was the "Flower Party", also called the "Walk Party".

The Lantern Festival is also called the Festival of Lanterns. The custom of lighting lanterns during the Lantern Festival began in the Han Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, lantern viewing activities became more prosperous. Lanterns were hung everywhere in the palace and on the streets, and tall lantern wheels were built. Lantern towers and lantern trees, Lu Zhaolin, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, once described the grand occasion of lighting lanterns during the Lantern Festival in "Watching Lanterns on the Fifteenth Night" as follows: "The stars are falling, leaning against the tower like the moon is hanging."

Updates from the Song Dynasty Paying attention to the Lantern Festival, the lantern viewing activities are more lively. The lantern viewing activities last for five days and the styles of lanterns are also more abundant. In the Ming Dynasty, lantern viewing lasted for 10 consecutive days, making this the longest lantern festival in China. Although the lantern viewing event in the Qing Dynasty only lasted for three days, it was very large-scale and unprecedentedly grand. In addition to lighting lanterns, fireworks were also set off to add to the fun.

The festival period and customary activities of the Lantern Festival have been extended and expanded with the development of history. In terms of the length of the festival, it was only one day in the Han Dynasty, three days in the Tang Dynasty, and five days in the Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, the lights were lit from the eighth day of the lunar month until the lights were turned off on the night of the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, a full ten days. Connecting with the Spring Festival, the city is bustling during the day, and the lights are lit at night, which is spectacular. Especially the exquisite and colorful lights make it the climax of entertainment activities during the Spring Festival and the last custom during the Spring Festival.

Spring Festival customs and activities vary from north to south, but one thing is basically the same, that is family reunion, visiting relatives and friends, visiting elders, etc. I hope we can make these full of family affection and beauty The custom of wishing is kept in mind and passed down from generation to generation.