The similarities and differences between ancient New Year’s Eve and modern New Year’s Eve

Same: they all celebrate the Spring Festival, pay New Year greetings, eat Lantern Festival, post Spring Festival couplets, etc.!

Difference: The ancients looked down upon the Spring Festival Gala. In ancient times, they respected heaven, earth, ancestors, and people more.

Now, we pay more attention to our own enjoyment

The difference between the ancient and modern customs of celebrating the Spring Festival is mainly reflected in the progress of the times and the development of science and technology:

ancestor worship ——The ancient custom of worshiping ancestors is rarely carried out now. Even if it is worshiping ancestors, it will not be like Cui Ti's "Four People's Monthly Orders": "The first day of the first lunar month is the first day. Gong leads his wife and children, cleanses them." After worshiping your ancestors and on the day of worship, drinking wine to trance the gods. The family members, no matter how big or small, are ranked before the ancestors. The children, wives and great-grandchildren each serve pepper wine to their parents, and they drink wine to celebrate their longevity. "The best thing to do now is to go out and burn paper in the dead of night."

Entertainment - Liang Ren Zongmao's "Jingchu Years' Notes" records: "On the first day of the first lunar month...the elders and the young all dressed up and dressed up, and paid their respects. They brought pepper and cypress wine and peach soup. They went to Tusu. There are also games such as drawing chickens, burning firecrackers, hanging ropes, and begging for wishes. Now, more than 80% of people watch TV and surf the Internet at home. Most cities prohibit the setting off of fireworks and firecrackers, and a small number of people go out to travel.

New Year's greetings - "Meng Liang Lu" collected by Wu Zi in the Southern Song Dynasty records: "The local officials all congratulate each other, and the men and women of the lower class are all wearing fresh clothes and coming and going to pay homage to the festival." "Brahma Lu Cong Lu" records: "Men and women pay homage to their elders in turn, and the master takes the young to visit relatives and friends, or sends his children to congratulate them, which is called New Year greetings." "Qingbo Magazine" records: "During the Yuanyou years of the Song Dynasty, servants were often used to greet the New Year with their names and thorns." When relatives and friends pay New Year's greetings, the host's family must host a banquet, with an abundance of wine and meat. It can be seen that in ancient times, New Year greetings were the most important social activities during the Spring Festival, but now everyone can call, text, QQ, and WeChat to pay New Year greetings without leaving home. Government agencies and institutions have implemented eight regulations, and even group greetings have been cancelled.

Food - In the past, the New Year's Eve dinner was particularly particular: first, the whole family must gather together, and those who did not return for some reason must leave a seat and a set of tableware to reflect the meaning of reunion; second, the meal was sumptuous, and "mouth" was emphasized. "Cai", the rice cake is called "Bubugao", the dumplings are called "Wanwanshun", the wine is called "Changliushui", the eggs are called "Big Yuanbao", and the goldfish is called "More than every year"; you can't eat this fish until you know its name. In order to "see the remainder", it must be reserved for consumption on the first day of the Lunar New Year. In modern times, KFC and McDonald's are open 24 hours a day. For young people's New Year's Eve dinner, many people use "Ele.me" to order takeout. Even the dumplings are cooked and frozen.

Reunion - Returning to hometown for reunion during the Spring Festival in ancient times was a big event for everyone. In modern times, even on the day of reunion, there are thousands of people who give up their rest during the Spring Festival and stick to their jobs. Industries such as public security, border defense, medical care, meteorology, public transportation, sanitation, electricity, water supply, heating, and news ensure the normal operation of social machines, protect everyone's life and property, and protect the stability and peace of the motherland. With them, we can sit back and relax Have a happy new year!

Shou Sui - The earliest record of keeping the year old on New Year's Eve can be found in the "Feng Tu Zhi" written by Zhou Chu in the Western Jin Dynasty: On New Year's Eve, each person gives gifts to each other, which is called "giving the new year"; inviting people to drink and eat is called "farewell" The elders and the younger gather together to drink and give complete blessings, which is called "dividing the new year"; everyone stays up all night waiting for dawn, which is called "keeping the new year up". Nowadays, people still stay up during the Spring Festival, but they just watch the Spring Festival Gala on TV. After the Spring Festival Gala is over, they go to bed.

New Year's money - the ancient people gave them real money and silver, unlike today's fathers who send away children with just two slaps of paper, but in terms of purchasing power, it seems that the current New Year's money is slightly better One chip.

Others - such as sweeping dust, pasting Spring Festival couplets, pasting window grilles, New Year pictures, pasting blessing characters, wearing new clothes, etc. are still followed now, but the method has changed. For example, in ancient times, you or the servant used a broom. For cleaning, we now use hourly workers and vacuum cleaners; ancient Spring Festival couplets are written by ourselves, while modern Spring Festival couplets are bought and everyone has the same content, etc. Window grilles, blessing characters, and New Year pictures are all electronic and 3D...

The most interesting thing to talk about during the Spring Festival is food. Let’s talk about New Year’s Eve dinners in various places:

Home on New Year’s Eve Each place has its own characteristics in banquet dishes. In the old days, most people in Beijing and Tianjin would make dry rice, stew pork, beef and mutton, stew chicken, and make a few stir-fry dishes. Shaanxi family banquets generally consist of four large plates and eight large bowls. The four large plates are mainly stir-fried and cold dishes, and the eight large bowls are mainly stewed and cooked dishes. Meat dishes in southern Anhui include braised pork, tiger skin meat, meatballs, muxu pork, steamed pork, stewed meat and pork liver, pig heart, pork belly products, as well as various fried pork slices, fried shredded pork, etc.

In the eastern region of Hubei, there are "three steams", "three cakes" and "three pills". "Three steams" are steamed whole fish, steamed whole duck and steamed whole chicken; "three cakes" are fish cakes, meat cakes and mutton cakes; "Three Balls" are fish balls, meat balls, and lotus root balls. In Harbin, people usually stir-fry 8, 10, 12, or 16 dishes, and the main ingredients are nothing more than chicken, duck, fish, and vegetables. The New Year's Eve dinner in southern Gansu is usually 12 dishes. In some places in Zhejiang, there are generally "ten bowls", which are called "ten blessings". They are mainly chicken, duck, fish and various vegetables. In Nanchang, Jiangxi, there are usually more than 10 dishes, which pay attention to four cold and four dishes. Hot, eight major dishes, and two soups.

There are one or more essential dishes at New Year’s Eve family banquets in various places, and these dishes often have some auspicious meanings, such as those in Suzhou. There are green vegetables (Anle vegetables), soybean sprouts (Ruyi vegetables), and celery (Qinqinchenchen). In the central and southern Hunan area, there must be a carp of about one kilogram, called "Tuannian fish", and there must be a pig elbow of about three kilograms. There are two fish on the dining table in central and southern Anhui. One is a complete carp, which can only be seen but not eaten. It not only respects the ancestors but also means having more than enough every year. The other is a silver carp, which can be eaten, symbolizing The first bowl of Qimen family dinner is "Zhonghe", which is made of tofu, mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, dried shrimps, fresh meat, etc., which means "harmony brings wealth".

There is a bowl of "Chicken Claws" on the dinner table, which means "grabbing money and getting rich." Family members should eat a bowl of noodles before meals, called "Qianchuanzi". In the Nanchang area, they must eat rice cakes, braised fish, fried rice noodles, eight-treasure rice, and boiled soup. The meanings are, in turn, good fortune every year, fish every year, and a good harvest. , rice in bunches, eight treasures to bring wealth, and prosperity every year.

People in northern areas like to eat dumplings during the Spring Festival, which symbolizes unity, good luck, and farewell to the old and welcome the new. A lot of effort has been put into the stuffing of dumplings. People put money in the dumplings, whoever eats them will make a fortune in the coming year; they put honey in the dumplings, and whoever eats them means a sweet life in the coming year, etc.

1. Sending stoves

Sending stoves on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month is still the first important event for many urban and rural residents in northern and southern China. However, in cities, especially big cities, it is rarely or even done. It is almost no longer done (except in suburban and rural areas). The key is that the stove and cooking in modern life are fundamentally different from the ancient earth stove cooking. The status of the Kitchen God has changed and its importance has weakened. Not only the Kitchen God, but also the entire God. The relationship between the ghost system and people is not as close as it was in ancient times. The need and enthusiasm of urban people to sacrifice and send stoves to communicate with the emperor, gods and ghosts has naturally been greatly reduced.

2. Staying awake

Although New Year's Eve is the day before the New Year, it can be regarded as the first climax of the New Year, and this is still the case today. All holiday preparations must be completed on this night. There will be a series of activities tomorrow, and housewives should also take a good rest. Not busy, so New Year's Eve often becomes the busiest day, especially for office workers. The traditional way of celebrating New Year's Eve includes many rituals, such as hanging statues to worship ancestors, offering food to gods, and even kneeling and kowtow. , bowing and saluting, etc. This style was still very popular until the 1920s and 1930s, especially in some squire homes. For example, the family of Master Lu Si in Lu Town, Shaoxing, described in Lu Xun's novel "Blessings", is very typical. The modern trend is that this set of rituals is being simplified and gradually disappearing, but the speed of change is uneven. In some places and in some families, it has become slower, and fragments of the old rituals can still be seen. As for the traditional witchcraft meaning of exorcising ghosts and avoiding evil spirits, hanging green pines, hanging peach charms, sticking door gods, setting off firecrackers, etc., there are some distortions preserved. Modern people still like to place pine trees and green cattails on their doors, put flowers indoors, and paste Spring Festival couplets on their doors during the New Year (with contents such as fortune-raising, good fortune, longevity, three stars, Guandi, Guanyin) or upside-down "Fu". ""; still like to set off firecrackers or fireworks. In recent years, the patterns and sizes of fireworks have developed greatly. But most modern people do this just to beautify the environment, to add joy, and to please themselves. They pay little or no attention to the traditional meaning of praying for blessings and driving away evil spirits. In the inheritance of folk customs, the form remains but the connotation changes, and the old tradition is cleverly combined with the factors of the times. It can be said to be a regular phenomenon.

New Year greetings

The traditional New Year greetings are an effective means of strengthening and lubricating interpersonal relationships. Modern people have a deeper understanding of this and act more consciously, so this trend continues to this day and is developing.

Since the founding of New China, in addition to the original New Year visits between relatives, friends, colleagues, teachers and students, the form of "group worship" has also been inherited, that is, within a certain range or group circle, people choose to A place and a time are agreed upon for organized collective mutual worship. This is both a meaningful activity and can simplify and reduce the procedures and time for individual visits. Moreover, doing so does not form a restriction between very close people. In addition to group worship, you can still visit alone. As it has been going on for a long time, the form of group worship has also changed slightly. It is usually changed to a party held in various units or groups before the official annual holiday. On this day, everyone who can attend will attend, and even family members (mainly underage children) can attend. ), at the party, the head of the unit speaks, colleagues chat, perform some programs, and eat some candies and peanuts. It is not only a farewell at the end of the year, but also a group greeting in the New Year. This practice is becoming increasingly popular and has become a custom. Some larger units, in order to avoid the tediousness of subordinates paying New Year greetings to their superiors, also implement group greetings for certain leaders. A day is often chosen before the year, when officials at all levels arrive, conduct a simple ceremony, and exchange year-end condolences and New Year greetings. Although the Spring Festival reception hosted by the State Council and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference is a political event (the origin may be traced back to the Yuan Dynasty meeting of the ancient imperial court, but the nature and form are fundamentally different), it also serves as an opportunity to meet with representatives from all walks of life to the whole country. The meaning of New Year greetings from all walks of life - the host often directly points out this meaning in his speech - has now become a habit and evolved into a new folk custom. The annual leave time is limited, but there are many people who need to pay New Year greetings, and some of them are not in the same place. What should I do? Ancient Chinese people have long adopted the method of sending a letter to a famous person (a letter of one's name, place of origin, official position and congratulations) on behalf of the person to pay homage in person. The original purpose of name tattoos was just to announce names, and had nothing to do with New Year greetings. This had already appeared in the Qin and Han Dynasties. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, when visiting the elders and nobles, they often gave the assassination first, and then formally paid a visit after receiving permission. By the Song Dynasty, famous thorns began to be used for New Year greetings, but it was not limited to the New Year. Zhou Mi's "Guixin Miscellaneous Knowledge" says: "The gift of congratulations at the beginning of the festival, if you can't come in person, you should put a bunch of thorns on it, sign it, and have a servant throw it all over. It is a common custom." What we are talking about here is "the gift of congratulations at the end of the festival." ”, which shows that it is widely used. The same book also said: "Nowadays, the customs have become very thin. In the past, there were large and small shapes. The large shape was full of paper, and the small shape was half of the paper. Today's thorns are too big to fill the palm, which shows the etiquette. It's so thin." It seems that the size of the famous thorns of the Song Dynasty has become quite similar to today's business cards. Sending famous people is of great benefit to complete the etiquette and save time, but if used excessively, it can turn into a cold and polite courtesy, which is criticized by people. In modern times, due to the advancement of writing carriers and combined with foreign experience, New Year's cards and New Year's cards have been developed. In this way, not only can New Year greetings be conveniently sent through post within a country, but it is no longer difficult to send New Year greetings to friends around the world. In the past few years, China's telecommunications industry has developed rapidly. Telephones have become popular and the cost has gradually decreased. People with an increasingly fast pace of life have turned to the fast and hassle-free method of calling New Year greetings. In recent years, with the rapid development of electronic technology, computers have entered thousands of households. As a result, it has become extremely common to send greeting cards to send New Year greetings online, and the folk custom of New Year greetings has entered the omnipotent virtual space. This is also very consistent with the concept of saving paper and saving valuable wood resources.

Welcoming the God of Wealth

Welcoming the God of Wealth is an important part of the Chinese New Year. This activity has existed in the past and has continued into modern times. Many local chronicles contain records of welcoming the God of Wealth on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. There are many ways to welcome them. You can go to the temple to kowtow, offer money, salute and pray, or you can burn candles, hang statues, and burn incense at home to worship. "Shanghai County Chronicles" written by Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty records: "On the fifth day of the first month (the first lunar month), the God of Wealth is received, and the fish are carried with fresh carp and sold, saying 'Send Yuanbao Fish'. At dusk, the wine is drunk, called 'God of Wealth Wine'". This is an act that connotes invocation of witchcraft. In the north, there are customs of "Guo Po Wu" and "Send the Poor" on this day. The former stipulates that on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, you cannot break utensils and say unlucky words, while the latter uses certain rituals to send off the "poor ghosts", which should be taboo and blessing. Activity. Regardless of prayers, taboos, or blessings, the motivation is to drive away poverty and hope for wealth. Because welcoming the God of Wealth is an auspicious day, many businesses attach great importance to it. Often, a sacrifice is held for the God of Wealth the day before. Fish, meat, fruits are served on the long table, incense and candles are lit, and the boss leads the shop assistants to kowtow and pray one by one, and then set off firecrackers. The store will open the next day, which is expected to make a profit. Those who perform the official dance, dance the God of Wealth and sing happy songs will perform and beg in front of the store on this day. The store owner must not coax him to refuse, but must give the performer rice cakes to eat or some money.