What are the traditional customs in the New Year?

Sacrificial furnace

In China, the Spring Festival usually begins with offering sacrifices to stoves. The folk song "Twenty-three, Melon Stick" refers to the sacrificial stove on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month every year. There is a saying that "officials, three people, four boatmen and five workers", that is, the government held a kitchen sacrifice on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the people held a kitchen sacrifice on the 24th, and the government held a kitchen sacrifice on the 25th.

Sacrificing a stove is a kind of custom with great influence and wide spread among the people in our country. In the past, almost every kitchen had a "Kitchen God" shrine. People call this god "Si Ming Bodhisattva" or "Si Ming Kitchen Jun". It is said that he is the "Nine-day East Chef Wang Siming" named by the Jade Emperor, who is responsible for managing the kitchen fires of various families and is worshipped as the patron saint of a family. Most of the niches of Kitchen God are located in the north or east of the kitchen, and the idol of Kitchen God is in the middle. Some people who don't have the niche of the Kitchen King also put the idol directly on the wall. Some gods only draw a kitchen god, while others have two men and women. The goddess is called "Grandma Chef". This is probably an imitation of the image of human couples. Most of the statues of the Kitchen God are also printed with the calendar of this year, which reads the words "Oriental chefs are in charge of life", "God of human supervision" and "head of the family" to show the status of the Kitchen God. On both sides, there are couplets of "Heaven speaks well, and the lower world is safe", wishing the whole family peace.

Since last New Year's Eve, Kitchen God has been staying at home to protect and supervise his family. On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God will go to heaven to report the good deeds or evil deeds of this family to the Jade Emperor in heaven. The ceremony of sending the kitchen god is called "sending the kitchen stove" or "resigning the kitchen stove". According to the report of the Kitchen God, the Jade Emperor entrusted the family with the fate of good fortune and bad fortune in the new year. Therefore, for a family, Kitchen God's report is really meaningful.

Cooking is usually held at dusk. The family first went to the kitchen, set the table, incense the kitchen god in the shrine on the kitchen wall, and presented honeydew melons made of caramel and flour. Then the bamboo strips are tied into paper horses and animal feed. Sacrificing caramel to the Kitchen God is to make his old man's mouth sweet. In some places, the kitchen god's mouth is also wrapped in a layer of sugar, which means "say more good things and don't say bad things." This is to block the kitchen god's mouth with sugar and tell him not to speak ill. In the book "Year of the Year" in the Tang Dynasty, there is an occasional record that "Si Ming (Kitchen God) got drunk by applying distiller's grains to the stove". People put sugar on the mouth of the Kitchen God, took off their idols and went to heaven with paper and cigarettes. In some places, sesame stalks and pine branches will be piled up in the yard at night, and then the statue of the kitchen king, which has been enshrined for a year, will be taken out of the shrine and burned on the fire with paper horses and forage. The yard was brightly lit by the fire. At this time, the family kowtowed around the fire, burning and praying: This year is twenty-three, and I want to send the Kitchen God to the Western Heaven. With strong horses and forage, you will arrive safely. Melon is sweet and sweet. Please speak kindly to the Jade Emperor.

When sending Kitchen God, in some places, there are still several beggars in disguise, singing and dancing from door to door to send Kitchen God, named "Send Kitchen God" in exchange for food.

The custom of delivering stoves is very common in all parts of China. Mr. Lu Xun once wrote the poem "A boxer sends a stove to eat": only chicken glue smells good, and clothes smell good. If there is nothing at home, there are only a few antelopes.

He said in the article "The Day of Cooking Stove Delivery": "On the day when the kitchen went to heaven, there was still a kind of sugar on the street, which was as big as a citrus, and we also had it there, but it was flat, like a thick pancake. That is the so-called' gum teeth'. " The original intention is to ask the chef to eat it and stick his teeth so that he can't speak ill of the jade emperor. The allusion of "Antelope" in Lu Xun's poems comes from the Biography of Yin Shi in the Later Han Dynasty: "Yinzifang was the most filial when Xuan Di proclaimed himself emperor." Cooking on the twelfth morning, seeing the kitchen god, children will worship and celebrate again; There is an antelope at home, so it is worshipped. Naturally, after the third time, it became extremely rich. "I know the third generation, and I have succeeded. Therefore, I often recommend the antelope to sacrifice the stove in the twelfth lunar month. " Yin Zifang saw the Kitchen God and sacrificed the antelope. Later, she got lucky. Since then, the custom of killing antelopes to sacrifice stoves has been handed down.

During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the offerings for offering sacrifices to stoves were quite rich. Fan Chengda, a poet in the Song Dynasty, wrote a very vivid description of the folk sacrifice of stoves at that time: in the twelfth lunar month, the kitchen king talked to the sky. Clouds and horses are lingering, and there are cups and plates at home. The pig's head is cooked, the fish is fresh, and the bean paste and Gan Song bait are round. When a man tells his daughter to avoid him, he drinks and burns money. You can't smell your servant's struggle, and you won't feel angry when your cat and dog touch you. Get drunk and send you to Tianmen, don't repeat the clouds with a long spoon and a short spoon, and ask the market for points.

The sacrificial stoves on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month are closely related to the China New Year. Because, a week later, on New Year's Eve, the kitchen god came to earth with the good and bad fortune that the family should get, together with other immortals. Kitchen God is regarded as the god in the sky. Other gods will go to heaven again after the New Year, and only Kitchen God will stay in other people's kitchens for a long time. The ceremony of welcoming God is called "receiving God", and it is called "receiving stove" for the kitchen god. Picking up stoves is usually on New Year's Eve, and the ceremony is much simpler. At that time, just put on a new stove lamp and burn incense in front of the stove niche.

As the saying goes, "Men don't Yue Bai, women don't sacrifice stoves". In some places, women don't sacrifice stoves. It is said that the kitchen god looks like a small white face and is afraid of women offering sacrifices to the stove, which is "suspected of men and women." For the origin of Kitchen God, it has a long history. Among the folk gods in China, the qualification of Kitchen God has a long history. As early as the Xia Dynasty, he was already a great god revered by the people. According to the ancient book Book of Rites, Kong Ying Da said: "Hitachi, the son of Zhuan Xu, is Zhu Rong and worships the kitchen god." "Zhuangzi Sheng Da" records: "There are buns in the furnace." Sima Biao commented: "bun and kitchen god, dressed in red, look like a beautiful woman." "Hold PiaoZi. Wei Zhi also recorded: "On a dark night, the kitchen god also accused the white man of being guilty." These records are probably the source of Kitchen God. Also, or the kitchen god is a "suiren", digging firewood to make a fire; Or Shennong's "fire official"; Or "Su Liji" in "The Yellow Emperor Cooking Ren"; Or the kitchen god surnamed Zhang, the name list, the word Guo; Opinions vary. There is an interesting story circulating among the people.

It is said that there was a family named Zhang in ancient times, and there were two brothers. The elder brother was a plasterer and the younger brother was a painter. My brother's specialty is cooking pots and pans. He was invited by East Street and West Square, and they all praised his excellent cooking. He has been famous for a long time, and Fiona Fang called him "King Wan Li". Strangely, Zhang Zao Wang said that no matter who makes the stove, he likes to intervene if there is a dispute in other people's homes. A noisy daughter-in-law will persuade him, and a fierce mother-in-law will say that he seems to be an old elder. In the future, neighbors will look for him if they have anything, and everyone respects him. Wang lived seventy years and died in the middle of the night on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month. After Wang's death, Zhang Jiake fell into chaos. It turns out that the king is the head of the family and everything in the family is under his command. Now that the eldest brother has left this world, the younger brother can only write poems and draw pictures. Although he spent a lot of time, he never did housework. Several daughters-in-law clamored for separation, and the painter was stirred helplessly, frowning all day. One day, he finally came up with a good idea Late at night on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the first anniversary of Wang's death, the painter suddenly called to wake up the whole family and said that Big Brother had appeared. He took his son, daughter-in-law and the whole family to the kitchen, only to see the flickering candlelight on the dark kitchen wall showing the appearance of the king and his late wife, which shocked his family. The painter said, "When I was sleeping, I dreamed that my eldest brother and sister-in-law had become immortals, and the Jade Emperor named him the' Nine-day East Chef who made the chef king of the palace'. You are always lazy and lazy, and your sister-in-law is not harmonious, disrespectful and unfilial, which makes your family uneasy. " Big brother was angry to know that you were going to split up. He will tell the Jade Emperor that he will come down on New Year's Eve to punish you. The children's nephews and daughters-in-law were frightened when they heard these words. They immediately knelt down and kowtowed again and again, and quickly brought Wang Ping's favorite candy to the stove and begged Zhao Wang to forgive them. Since then, uncles, brothers and daughters-in-law who often make noise have never dared to make trouble again. The whole family live in harmony, and the young and the old live in peace. After the neighbors learned about it, the news spread, and they all came to the Zhang family to know the truth. In fact, the kitchen king on the kitchen wall on the 23rd night of the twelfth lunar month was painted by the painter in advance. He came to town to scare his children's nephews and daughter-in-law, but this method really worked. Therefore, when the neighbor came to ask the painter about the situation, he had to pretend to do so and distribute the painted kitchen king to the neighbors. As a result, it spread along the countryside, and the kitchen of every household was labeled as the kitchen king. Over time, it formed the custom of offering sacrifices to the kitchen god and praying for the safety of family members on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. After the spread of the custom of offering sacrifices to stoves, since the Zhou Dynasty, the palace has also included it in the sacrificial ceremony, and formulated the rules of offering sacrifices to stoves nationwide, which has become a fixed ceremony.

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Sweep dust

After the festival of offering sacrifices to stoves was held, preparations for the Chinese New Year officially began. Every year from the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month to New Year's Eve, we folks call this period "Spring Festival" or "Dust-cleaning Day". Sweeping the dust is the year-end cleaning, which is called "sweeping the house" in the north and "sweeping the dust" in the south. It is a traditional habit of our people to sweep the dust before the Spring Festival. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, every household should clean the environment, clean all kinds of utensils, remove and wash bedding curtains, sweep six yards, dust cobwebs and dredge culverts in open channels. North and south of the great river, everywhere is filled with the atmosphere of being willing to engage in sanitation and welcoming the Spring Festival cleanly.

Interestingly, there is a rather strange story about the origin of ancient dust sweeping. Legend has it that the ancients believed that everyone had a three-corpse god on his body. He followed people's whereabouts like a shadow, inseparable. Three dead gods are a guy who likes flattery and gossip. He often tells stories in front of the Jade Emperor and describes the world as ugly. Over time, in the jade emperor's impression, this world is simply a dirty world full of evil. Once. The secret report of the Three Corpses God tells us that the world is cursing the Emperor of Heaven in an attempt to rebel against heaven. The jade emperor was furious and ordered to find out what happened in the world quickly. Anyone who hates gods and insults them writes their crimes under the eaves. Then let the spider cover it with a net to mark it. The Jade Emperor ordered Wang Lingguan to go down the mountain on New Year's Eve, and all the marked families were beheaded, leaving no one behind. Seeing that the plan was about to succeed, three resin gods took advantage of the gap to fly down to earth. They indiscriminately marked the eaves and corners of every household, so that the tomb palace could be destroyed. Just as the Three Corpses God was doing evil, the Kitchen God discovered his whereabouts and was shocked, so he quickly found various Kitchen Gods to discuss countermeasures. So, I came up with a good idea. From the delivery of stoves on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month to the closing of stoves on New Year's Eve, every household should clean up. If any family is not clean, Kitchen God will refuse to enter the house. Everyone follows the instructions of the kitchen god before he ascended to heaven, cleaning the dust, dusting the cobwebs, cleaning the doors and windows, and thoroughly cleaning his house. When Wang Lingguan visited the lower bound on New Year's Eve, he found that the windows of every household were bright and brightly lit, people were reunited and happy, and the world was beautiful. Wang Lingguan was very surprised that he couldn't find a sign indicating bad behavior. He rushed back to the sky, told the Jade Emperor about peace and happiness on earth, and prayed for a happy New Year. The Jade Emperor was greatly shocked after hearing this. He ordered the detention of the three-corpse god and ordered him to slap three hundred times and put him in prison forever. Thanks to the help of Kitchen God, this human disaster was spared. In order to thank Kitchen God for helping people to eliminate difficulties and disasters and to bless Zhang Xiang, folk dust-cleaning always begins after the kitchen is delivered and is busy until New Year's Eve.

The custom of "sweeping house dust on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month" has a long history. According to Lu Chunqiu, China had the custom of sweeping dust during the Spring Festival in the Yao and Shun era. According to the folk saying, because of the homonym of "dust" and "Chen", sweeping dust in the Spring Festival means "getting rid of the old and not being new", and its intention is to sweep away all "poor luck" and "bad luck". This custom has placed people's desire to break through the old and create new ones and their prayers to bid farewell to the old and usher in the new.

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Spring Festival couplets

As a unique literary form, Spring Festival couplets have a long history in China. It began in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and has a history of more than 1000 years.

As early as the Qin and Han dynasties, there was a custom of hanging peach symbols around the gate during the Chinese New Year. Fu Tao is two big boards made of peach wood, on which are written the names of the legendary spirits "Shen Tu" and "Lei Yu". This custom lasted for more than 1000 years. It was not until the Five Dynasties that people began to put couplets on mahogany boards instead of the names of gods. According to historical records, Meng Chang, the master of Houshu, wrote a couplet on the bedroom door on New Year's Eve in 964 AD, namely "New Year's Eve in Qing Yu, Jia Jienuo. Changchun ",the earliest Spring Festival couplets in China.

After the Song Dynasty, it was quite common for people to hang Spring Festival couplets in the New Year. Therefore, Wang Anshi's poem "January Day" wrote that "thousands of families always exchange new peaches for old ones" was a true portrayal of the Spring Festival couplets at that time. Due to the close relationship between the appearance of Spring Festival couplets and Fu Tao, the ancients also called Spring Festival couplets "Fu Tao".

In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of Ming Dynasty, strongly advocated couplets. After establishing the capital of Jinling (now Nanjing), he ordered ministers, officials and ordinary people to write a couplet and stick it on the door before New Year's Eve. Dressed in casual clothes, he went out door to door to watch and have fun. Scholars at that time also regarded couplets as an elegant pleasure, and writing Spring Festival couplets became a temporary social fashion.

After entering the Qing Dynasty, couplets flourished in Qianlong, Jiaqing and Daoguang periods, just like in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, many famous couplets appeared.

With the development of cultural exchanges among countries, couplets were introduced to Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Singapore and other countries. These countries still have the custom of pasting couplets.

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New Year picture

During the Spring Festival, people not only paste Spring Festival couplets and cut window grilles, but also like to hang New Year pictures in the living room and bedroom. A New Year picture adds a festive atmosphere to every household.

New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China. They reflect people's customs and beliefs and place their hopes on the future. New Year pictures, like Spring Festival couplets, originated from "door gods". Spring Festival couplets developed from the names of Shen Tu and Lei Yu to figures, while New Year pictures still developed along the direction of painting.

With the rise of block printing, the content of New Year pictures is no longer limited to the door gods, but gradually invites the god of wealth to their homes, and then in some New Year pictures workshops, colorful New Year pictures such as three stars of Fu Lushou, God bless the people, abundant crops, prosperity of six animals, welcoming the spring and praying for blessings are produced to meet people's good wishes of celebrating and praying for the New Year.

As Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, advocated putting couplets on the Spring Festival, New Year pictures became popular, and three important producing areas of New Year pictures appeared in China: Taohuawu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong. Formed three schools of Chinese New Year pictures.

The earliest collection of New Year pictures in China is the woodcut New Year pictures of the Southern Song Dynasty, which shows four ancient beauties: Wang Zhaojun, Zhao Yanfei, Ban Ji and Lvzhu. However, the most popular picture among people in China is the New Year picture of marrying a mouse. This painting depicts an interesting scene in which a mouse marries a bride according to human custom. His paintings are lively in composition. This painting left an indelible impression on Lu Xun. As he said, this entertaining "Marry a Mouse" not only aroused the interest of adults, but also had a stronger artistic influence on children.

According to folklore, New Year's Eve is an auspicious day for mice to get married. People should put some food under the bed and in the kitchen as gifts for the mouse groom to pray for a bumper harvest next year. Some grandmothers often tease their children before going to bed and say, "Hide your shoes quickly, and don't let mice steal them as sedan chairs." This is the origin of words. Therefore, the New Year picture "Marry a Mouse" can particularly resonate with children.

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Family reunion dinner on Lunar New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is extremely important for China people. On this day, people are ready to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and have a reunion dinner. In ancient China, some prison officials even let prisoners go home to reunite with their families for the New Year, which shows how important the "reunion dinner" is to the ancient people of China.

The annual reunion dinner fully shows the mutual respect and love among family members in China, which makes the relationship between families closer. Family reunion often comforts and satisfies the head of the family spiritually. The old people are full of children and grandchildren, and the family is happy. How happy it was to take care of and raise their children in the past. The younger generation can also take this opportunity to express their gratitude to their parents for their parenting.

When children are playing with firecrackers, it is also the busiest time for housewives in the kitchen. The New Year's food was cooked a few days ago, and the New Year's Eve dinner was always cooked on the 30th. In the north, jiaozi on the first day of New Year's Day will also be wrapped up on the night of New Year's Eve. At this time, everyone's chopping board is busy chopping meat and vegetables. At this time, the sound of chopping boards from every household, firecrackers from streets and alleys, the "scratching" abacus sound from shops and the cadence of reimbursement are mixed with laughter everywhere, echoing with joy, interwoven into a cheerful movement on New Year's Eve.

Speaking of the anvil sound on New Year's Eve, Deng Yunxiang's "Yanjing Local Records" recorded a very bleak story on New Year's Eve: in the old society, the poor lived a hard life, and the New Year's Eve was a gateway. There was a family whose husband didn't come back with money until late at night. "There is no bottled millet at home, and there is no new year's goods. The woman let her children sleep at home and couldn't do anything. She heard the sound of the chopping block next door and was in great pain. I wonder if her husband can bring some money or something back. I don't know how to spend this year tomorrow. I'm afraid there is no chopping block at home to make people laugh. So she cut the chopping block with a knife, beat her chest and feet, and shed tears ... This story is really sad.

Eating New Year's Eve is the most lively and enjoyable moment for every household in the Spring Festival. On New Year's Eve, a table of rich New Year's dishes, family reunion, sitting around the table for a reunion dinner. The sense of fullness in my heart is really indescribable. People not only enjoy the delicious food on the table, but also enjoy the happy atmosphere. There are big dishes, cold dishes, hot stir-fried dishes and snacks on the table. Generally, two things are indispensable, one is hot pot and the other is fish. Hot pot is boiling, steaming, warm and sultry, indicating that it is booming; "Fish" and "fish" are homophonic, which is a symbol of "more than enough for good luck" and also a metaphor for "more than enough every year". There are also radishes, commonly known as vegetable heads. Good luck. Lobster, fried fish and other fried foods, I wish my family prosperity, such as "cooking oil with fire." Finally, I want to eat a dessert and wish the future sweet. On this day, even if I can't drink, I will drink a little. In ancient times, people paid great attention to the quality of wine when drinking during the Spring Festival. Some wines have disappeared now, leaving only many touching wine names, such as Fermented Grape, Wei Lan Wine, Yichun Wine, Mei Huajiu Wine, peach blossom wine Wine and Tu Su Wine. Among these wines, Tu Su wine is the oldest and most popular. But how did the name of Tu Su wine come from? What is it made of? Legends are never the same.

Tu Su is a grass name. Some people say that Tu Su is an ancient wine brewed by this family, so it is called Tu Su wine. It is said that Tu Su wine was created by Hua Tuo, a famous doctor at the end of Han Dynasty. Its formula was made by soaking rhubarb, Atractylodes macrocephala, cassia twig, Saposhnikovia divaricata, pepper, aconite and aconite in wine. This medicine has the effects of warming yang, benefiting middle energizer, expelling wind and cold, and avoiding epidemic diseases. Later, it was spread by Sun Simiao, a famous doctor in Tang Dynasty. Every year in the twelfth lunar month, Sun Simiao always gives a pack of medicine to his neighbors, telling them that taking medicine to soak wine and drinking it on New Year's Eve can prevent the plague. Sun Simiao also named his house "Tu Su House". Since then, after several generations, drinking Tu Su wine has become the custom of China New Year. In ancient times, Tu Su wine was drunk in a unique way. Most people drink alcohol, always starting from the elderly; But drinking Tu Su wine is just the opposite, starting with the youngest. That is to say, when a family gets together to drink Tu Su wine, they should start with the younger children, and the older children should drink a little one by one. Su Zhe, a writer in the Song Dynasty, wrote in his poem "Except Japan": "I drink Tu Su at the end of every year, but I didn't know I was over 70 years old." It's a custom. Some people don't understand the meaning of this habit. Dong Xun explained: "Young people will get old, so congratulations; The old man lost his age, so he was punished. "This custom was still very popular in the Song Dynasty. For example, Su Shi said in the poem "Stay overnight in Changzhou": "But learn from your worries and drink Tu Su without hesitation. "Although Su Shi was poor in his later years, he was optimistic. He thinks that as long as he is healthy and doesn't care about old age, he will naturally not refuse to drink Tu Su wine in the end. In ancient times, this unique drinking order often caused people to have various emotions, so it left a deep impression on people. Until the Qing Dynasty, this custom remained unchanged. Although this custom is no longer popular on a large scale today, the custom of drinking these medicinal liquor still exists on festivals or at ordinary times.

There are many kinds of New Year's Eve dinners, including jiaozi, wonton, long noodles and Yuanxiao. , and each has its own emphasis. Northerners are used to eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival, which means "making friends when you are young". And because the white-flour jiaozi is shaped like a silver ingot, the pots and pans on the table symbolize the meaning of "making a fortune in the New Year, and the ingots are rolling in". Some wrapped jiaozi and some coins sterilized with boiling water, saying that whoever eats first will make more money. The custom of eating jiaozi was handed down from the Han Dynasty. According to legend, Zhang Zhongjing, a medical sage, saw that the poor people's ears were frozen rotten in the cold winter, so he made a kind of "cold-dispelling Joule soup" to treat the poor people's frostbite. He used mutton, pepper and some herbs to keep warm, and made an ear-shaped "jiaozi" with flour bags, cooked it in a pot and distributed it to the poor. After eating, people feel warm all over and their ears are hot. Since then, people have followed suit and have been circulating to this day. Eating wonton in the New Year is based on its original meaning. Legend has it that the world was in a state of chaos before it was created, and Pangu created a universe with four long faces, also called longevity noodles. Eating noodles in the New Year is to wish you a long life.

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Shousui

In our country, people have the habit of keeping watch on New Year's Eve. Watching the new year begins with eating New Year's Eve dinner. This New Year's Eve dinner should be eaten slowly. From the time when lanterns are lit, some families have to eat until late at night. According to Zonggu's Chronicle of Jingchu Years, at least in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, New Year's Eve dinner was a custom.

The custom of observing the old age not only contains the feeling of farewell and nostalgia for the fleeting time, but also expresses the good hope for the coming New Year. The ancients wrote in a poem "Shousui": "Invite Shousui Arun's family to spread red to blue gauze with candles; Thirty-six years have passed, and I am more willing to cherish my youth from this night. "It is human nature to cherish the years, so Su Shi, a great poet, wrote a famous sentence:" There will be no years next year, and I will worry about it; "Do your best tonight, and young people can still talk big!" This shows the positive significance of keeping old on New Year's Eve.

Keep your age at 30, commonly known as "endure the year." Why is it called "Endure the Year"? There is an interesting story circulating among people from generation to generation: According to legend, in the ancient wild times, there was a fierce monster, and people called him "Nian". Every year on New Year's Eve, Nian beast will climb out of the sea to harm people and animals, destroy the countryside and bring disaster to people who have worked hard for a year. In order to avoid the Nian beast, people close the door early on the 30th night of the twelfth lunar month, dare not sleep, wait until dawn, and drink to kill time and courage. On the morning of the first day of the new year, everyone dared not go out until Nian beast came out. People bow to each other when they meet, congratulate them and are glad that they have not been eaten by Nian beast. After many years, nothing happened, and people relaxed their vigilance against Nian beast. On the thirtieth night of one year, Nian beast suddenly fled to a village in the south of the Yangtze River. A village was almost eaten up by Nian beast, and only a newly married couple wearing red curtains and red clothes were safe and sound. There are also some childish people who lit a pile of bamboo in the yard and are playing. The fire is red. Bamboo exploded after burning. Nian beast turned here, saw the fire and turned around and ran away. From then on, people know that Nian animals are afraid of red, light and noise. At the end of each year, every household sticks red paper, wears red robes, hangs red lights, beats gongs and drums, and sets off firecrackers, so that Nian Animals will not dare to come again. In The Book of Songs Xiaoya Tingliao, there is a record of "the light of Tingliao". The so-called "Pavilion Liao" is a torch made of bamboo poles. After the bamboo pole burns, the air in the bamboo joint expands, and the bamboo cavity bursts, making a crackling sound, which is the origin of "firecrackers". But in some places, villagers don't know that Nian beast is afraid of red, and they are often eaten by Nian beast. This story later spread to Zixing in the sky. In order to save people, he is determined to destroy Nian beast. One year, Nian beast came out. He knocked Nian beast to the ground with a fireball and locked Nian beast on a stone pillar with a thick chain. From then on, every New Year, people always burn incense and ask Zi Xing to keep safe.

On the night of "two years old in one night, two years old in class five", families get together and get together. The whole family sat together, and the table was full of tea and fruit. In the new year, a big plate of apples is indispensable, which is called "peace and security". In the north, some families still have to provide a pot of rice, which was cooked before the New Year. It is called "annual meal", which means that there are leftovers every year, which can't be eaten all year round, and this year they still eat the grain of the previous year. This New Year's rice bowl is usually cooked with rice and millet. As the saying goes in Beijing, it is called "two rice" for the sake of yellow and white. This is called "golden rice with gold and silver, gold and silver everywhere". In many places, cakes, melons and fruits are prepared to win lucky one: eating dates (spring comes early), persimmons (everything goes well), almonds (happy people), longevity fruit (immortal) and rice cakes (higher every year). On New Year's Eve, the whole family laughed and ate happily. Some vulgar families push pai gow, roll dice, bet on stud and play mahjong, and laughter becomes the climax of New Year's Eve.

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Firecrackers sound

At midnight, the New Year bell rang, and firecrackers shook the whole sky of China. At this "three yuan" moment of "year, month and hour", some places still set up "fire-watching" in the courtyard to show the take-off and prosperity of Wang Qi. The children set off firecrackers around the blazing fire and danced happily. At this time, the bright lights in the house, the sparks in front of the court, and the crowds outside the house pushed the lively atmosphere of New Year's Eve to a climax. Poets of all ages always praise the arrival of the New Year with the most beautiful poems. Wang Anshi's poem "January Day" says: firecrackers sound old, and spring breeze warms Tu Su. Thousands of families celebrate primary school birthdays. Always trade new peaches for old ones.

It depicts the grand festival scene of China people celebrating the Spring Festival. In the book "Ji Sheng at the Age of Emperor Jing" in Qing Dynasty, Pan Rongbi recorded the firecrackers on New Year's Eve at that time: "On New Year's Eve, the treasures and torches outside the door competed for each other, and the firecrackers thundered all over the ruling and opposition, all night long." There is also a description in A Dream of Red Mansions: "There are screen frames and fireworks in the yard. These fireworks are tributes from all over the world. Although they are not very big, they are extremely beautiful. There are all kinds of stories and fireworks. During the talk, the color outside was put and put. " There are also a lot of small firecrackers, such as "Stars all over the sky", "Kowloon goes into the clouds", "Thunder on the flat ground" and "Flying to ten ring". "From this, we can also see the grand occasion of setting off fireworks and firecrackers in the old Spring Festival.

The sound of firecrackers is a sign of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, and it is also an expression of the festive atmosphere. Businessman. Setting off firecrackers has another meaning: they set off firecrackers on New Year's Eve to make a fortune in the new year.

After setting off firecrackers and returning home, the first thing everyone does is to worship heaven and earth, meet God and worship their ancestors. In ancient times, this custom was very popular. Due to the different customs and habits in different places, the forms of ancestor worship are also different. Some go to the wild to sweep graves, and some go to the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors. Most of them put their ancestors' memorial tablets in the main hall of their homes in turn to show their offerings, and then worshippers incense and bow down in order of age. After worshipping their ancestors, southerners looked at the auspicious direction recorded in the almanac this year, lit lanterns and raised fires, carried pots and wine, burned incense and set off firecrackers, and opened doors to meet XiShen, which was called "going out to the Arabian Nights" or "going out to find relatives" in Zhejiang and "going out to seek happiness" in Shanghai. This custom is to get good luck and pray to God for a smooth year. On New Year's Eve, you stayed up all night.

When you open the door in the morning of the Spring Festival, set off firecrackers first, which is called "opening the door to set off firecrackers". After the sound of firecrackers, the ground is broken red, which is called "full house red" At this time, the streets are full of anger and joy.

During the Spring Festival, large families hang lanterns and tie the knot on the main roads of various streets and alleys. In the streets and alleys, there are all kinds of arts and crafts in the village, each with its own high technology. In the lively countryside, troupes are invited to perform, and all kinds of entertainment and performances are also going on, such as listening to Taoist feelings, dancing yangko, singing flower drums, dancing lions and playing dragon lanterns. People are happy to celebrate the Spring Festival.

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New Year greeting is a traditional folk custom in China, and it is a way for people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and express their blessings to 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 them, congratulating them on their happy New Year and greeting their lives. If we meet friends and relatives of our peers, we should also pay tribute and congratulate them.

New Year greetings usually begin at home. On the morning of New Year's Day, the younger generation should first pay a New Year call to their elders after getting up, 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, people should greet each other with a smile when they go out to meet, and exchange auspicious words such as "Congratulations on getting rich", "Good luck in the four seasons" and "Happy New Year". Neighbors or relatives and friends will also greet each other or invite people to drink and entertain. In the sixth volume of Dream of China in Tokyo, the elder Meng described the Bianjing time in the Northern Song Dynasty and said, "On October 1st, Kaifeng Prefecture was opened for three days, and scholars celebrated early." In the mid-Ming Dynasty, Lu Rong said in Volume V of Miscellaneous Notes on Gardens: "In the New Year of the capital, people who travel to Shu Ren for a few days from court officials are called' New Year greetings'. However, everyone in Shu Ren worships his relatives and friends. " When dealing with North Korean officials, they are more caring than experts ... "... Gu Tieqing, A Qingren, described in Lu:" Men and women pay tribute to their parents, and the host leads them to humble their children, pay tribute to their neighbors and friends, or stop sending their children to congratulate them. This is the so-called "New Year greetings". "Even those who don't meet for a lifetime, at this time, they also worship each other at the door ..."

In ancient times, if neighbors had too many relatives and friends, it was difficult to go around the whole house. It is called "air mail" to send a servant with a business card to pay a New Year call. There is a red paper bag with the words "Fu Jie" written on it in front of every house, which is the purpose of mailing. This custom began in the upper class of the Song Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty's "Yantai Moon Order" describes the New Year Festival in Beijing like this: "It's the moon, the pieces fly, and the cars are empty." Become fashionable. "A big family has a special" door book "to record guests' contacts and flight photos. There are four virtual "relatives" on the front page of the door book: one is a centenarian who lives in centenarian lane; One said he was rich and lived in Yuanbao Street. One is your infinite adult, living in the university archway; One day, Fu Zhao visited his master and lived in Five Blessingg Building. For luck. So far, giving New Year cards and greeting cards in the Spring Festival is the legacy of this ancient flying card exchange.

The literati in the upper class have the custom of greeting each other with famous cards. ChouHuei, a poet of the Song Dynasty, said in Qingbo magazine: "During the reign of Song Yuanyou, servants were often used to stab people in the name of the New Year." . At that time, the circle of scholar-officials and friends was very wide, so it took time and energy to pay New Year greetings everywhere. Therefore, some close friends did not go there 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 it in the poem "New Year": "I don't want to meet each other, but I want to talk, and my famous articles are full; I also throw a few pieces of paper at people. The world hates simplicity and is not too empty. " The "name thorn" and "name divination" mentioned here are the origins of today's New Year cards. New Year greeting cards are used to connect feelings and communicate problems?