When and how to pay New Year greetings!

Don't go out on the first day, eat jiaozi at home, which means round and round; The second day is the day of family reunion. A series of family visits between the third-grade office ladies, aunts and uncles have also begun, and friends will be made in the fourth and fifth grades. This New Year greeting is a traditional way in China.

After the fifth day, you can still pay a New Year call, and anyone can worship. From the first day to the fifth day, the family also pays attention to "only getting in and out". Relatives and friends should bring gifts in New Year's greetings, but they are generally not allowed to take out their own things. They should buy new ones on the street, otherwise their families will lose money in the New Year. In the past five days, even the garbage has to be piled up in the corner, and it is impossible to sweep out the house and firecrackers.

When paying a New Year call, the younger generation should first pay a New Year call to their elders and wish them a long and healthy life. The elders can distribute the lucky money prepared in advance to the younger generation. It is said that lucky money can kill evil spirits, because "old" and "special" are homophonic, and the younger generation can spend a year safely with lucky money.

Reasons for New Year greetings:

Legend has it that there was a kind of sowing in ancient times, with long horns and a mouth like a blood basin. People call it "Year". On the thirtieth night of the twelfth lunar month, it jumped out of the mountain and preyed on people. People have to prepare some meat and put it outside the door, then close the door and hide at home. It was not until the morning of New Year's Day that people opened the door to meet each other and bowed to congratulate each other.

In ancient times, the original meaning of the word "Happy New Year" was to pay New Year greetings to the elderly, including kowtowing to the elderly, congratulating them on a happy New Year and greeting their lives. In case of friends and relatives of the same generation, you should also salute and congratulate. New Year greetings usually begin at home. On the morning of the first day, after getting up, the younger generation should first pay a New Year call to their elders, wishing them a long and healthy life and all the best. After the elders worship, they should distribute the "lucky money" prepared in advance to the younger generation. After greeting the elders at home, you should also greet people with a smile when you go out to meet them, and exchange auspicious words such as "Congratulations on getting rich", "Best wishes in the four seasons" and "Happy New Year". Neighbors, relatives and friends also visit each other or invite them to drink and entertain.

In ancient times, it was very popular for literati to pay New Year greetings to each other. The New Year drill is today's New Year card, which evolved from ancient business cards. According to Zhao Yi's research in the Qing Dynasty, there was no paper in the Western Han Dynasty, so bamboo was cut into thorns, and the book was named "Ming Thorn". Later, people embroidered the words "business card" on the brocade with red wool. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, wood was replaced by paper, which was called "famous paper". In the Six Dynasties, it was called "Ming" for short, and in the Tang Dynasty it was called "door-shaped". Song dynasty was also called "hand stab" and "door stab". It was called "Inch Chu" and "Red Sheet" in Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Historical evolution, New Year's greetings: In Volume 6 of Tokyo Dream of China, the elder Meng described the time of Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty as follows: "On the first day of October, Kaifeng Prefecture was released for three days, and scholars celebrated each other since early." In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Lu Rong said in Volume V of Miscellanies in the Garden that "on New Year's Day in Beijing, those who cross the road for a few days from the official to Shu Ren are called' Happy New Year'. However, everyone in Shu Ren worships his relatives and friends. The more official contact, the more universal love is not specialized ... ". Gu Tieqing, a Qing man, described in Jia Qinglu that "men and women pay homage to their parents, and the master leads them to visit their neighbors, or sends their children to congratulate them, which is called' Happy New Year'. Even if we don't meet at the end of the year, we will worship each other at this time ... "

Hui Zhou, a poet of the Song Dynasty, said in Qingbo magazine: "During the Song Dynasty, servants were often used to stab people in the name of the New Year." At that time, the scholar-officials had a wide circle of friends, and it took time and energy to pay New Year greetings everywhere. Therefore, some close friends did not go in person, but sent their servants to take a card cut with plum blossom stationery, two inches wide and three inches long, with the recipient's name, address and congratulations written on it. In the Ming dynasty, people visited instead of paying New Year's greetings. Wen Zhiming, an outstanding painter and poet in the Ming Dynasty, described in the poem "New Year": "I don't want to meet each other, but I want to be fluent, and my famous articles are full; I also throw a few pieces of paper at people. The world hates being too simple and not too empty. " The "famous thorn" and "famous divination" mentioned here are the origins of today's New Year cards. New Year cards are used to connect feelings and exchange greetings, which are convenient and practical and still popular today.

Lu Rong's Miscellaneous Notes on Gardens in Ming Dynasty holds that people should worship each other regardless of whether they know each other or not, and people should worship their relatives and friends. In the Qing Dynasty, it was popular to send "greeting boxes" during the Spring Festival, that is, to send New Year cards to relatives and friends in exquisite and beautiful decorative boxes to show solemnity. In today's China, "Happy New Year" has become a traditional custom. Dear friends and colleagues visit and greet each other.

From about the Qing Dynasty, the form of "group worship" was added to the New Year greetings. In "Jade Tan with a Side Hat", the Lord of the Qing Dynasty said: "At the beginning of the year, the capital must make regular group worship to unite the friendship of the New Year and show the nostalgia", and "book guests, have a banquet and enjoy the day every year".

Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the order of New Year greetings is: first, worship the gods of heaven and earth, then worship the true shadow of ancestors, then worship the elders of Gaotang, and finally the whole family pays New Year greetings to each other in turn. Gifts should be given to elders, rewards to children, and words to peers. The order of worshipping relatives and friends is: the first day of worshipping family members; The next day, the third day, I visited my mother's uncle, uncle, father-in-law and so on. Until 16. Modern multi-line group worship, mailing new year cards and new year letters at the end of the year.

Now, some organizations, groups, enterprises and schools get together to congratulate each other, which is called "group worship".

At different times, ministers should pay New Year greetings to the emperor, servants should pay New Year greetings to their masters, the younger generation in the family should pay New Year greetings to their elders, and the future son-in-law should pay New Year greetings to his father-in-law's family. Knock three heads on the elders or their peers. On the morning of the first day of junior high school, after thanking the old people for their New Year greetings in their own homes, they received New Year greetings from relatives and friends. It's not for nothing to pay a New Year call. I brought New Year's gifts when I went, and I can get many gifts when I come back. If the host is not at home, the New Year caller will have to "knock" three heads in his living room. Women in the city are not allowed to go out to pay New Year greetings before the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, which is called "avoiding the door".