Ask for Spring Festival customs all over the country

Spring Festival is an ancient festival in China, and it is also the most important festival in a year. How to celebrate this festival has formed some relatively fixed customs and habits in thousands of years of historical development, many of which have been passed down to this day.

sweep the dust

"On the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, dust sweeps the house". 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 bad 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. 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. Everywhere is filled with the joyful atmosphere of cleaning and welcoming the Spring Festival cleanly.

lucky money

When visiting the New Year during the Spring Festival, the elders should distribute the lucky money prepared in advance to the younger generation. It is said that lucky money can suppress evil souls, because "old" and "special" are homophonic, and the younger generation can spend a year safely with lucky money. There are two kinds of lucky money, one is to put the colored rope in the shape of a dragon at the foot of the bed, which is recorded in "Yanjing Year"; The other is the most common, that is, parents wrap the money distributed to their children in red paper. The lucky money can be distributed in public after the younger generation pays New Year greetings, or it can be put under the child's pillow by parents when the child is asleep on New Year's Eve.

Folk believe that giving children lucky money, when evil spirits or "Nian" hurt children, children can use this money to bribe them and turn evil into good luck. A Qing Wu Manyun's poem "Lucky Money" said: "One hundred yuan grows in colored lines, and then it is collected from pillows and the price of firecrackers is discussed, which keeps Joule busy all night." From this point of view, lucky money is tied to children's hearts, and children's lucky money is mainly used to buy firecrackers, toys and candy and other things needed for festivals.

At present, the custom of giving lucky money from elders to younger generations is still prevalent, and the amount ranges from tens to hundreds. Most of these lucky money are used by children to buy books and school supplies, and the new fashion gives new content to the lucky money.

paste up Spring Festival couplets

Spring Festival couplets are also called door couplets, spring stickers, couplets, Spring Festival couplets and peach symbols. They depict the background of the times and express good wishes with neat, dual, concise and exquisite words, which are unique literary forms in China. Every Spring Festival, no matter in urban or rural areas, every household should choose a pair of bright red Spring Festival couplets and stick them on the door to add festive atmosphere to the festival. This custom began in the Song Dynasty and was popular in the Ming Dynasty. By the Qing Dynasty, the ideological and artistic quality of Spring Festival couplets had been greatly improved. Liang Zhangju's monograph Poetry of Spring Festival couplets discusses the origin of couplets and the characteristics of various works.

There are many kinds of Spring Festival couplets, which can be divided into door heart, frame pair, cross string, spring strip and bucket square according to the place of use. The "door core" is attached to the center of the upper end of the door panel; The "frame pair" is attached to the left and right door frames; "Cross-dressing" is attached to the crossbar of the door; "Spring strips" are posted in corresponding places according to different contents; "Doodle brocade", also called "door leaf", is a square diamond, which is often attached to furniture and screen walls.

Stick the window grilles and the word "fu" upside down.

In the folk, people also like to stick various paper-cuts on the windows-window grilles. Window grilles not only set off the festive atmosphere, but also integrate decoration, appreciation and practicality. Paper-cutting is a very popular folk art in China, which has been loved by people for thousands of years. Because it is often pasted on the window, it is also called "window grilles". With its unique generalization and exaggeration, window grilles show auspicious things and good wishes to the fullest, adding luster to the festival.

While putting up Spring Festival couplets, some people have to put the word "Fu" on doors, walls and lintels. Sticking the word "Fu" during the Spring Festival is a long-standing folk custom in China. The word "Fu" symbolizes good luck and wishes for a happy life and a bright future. In order to fully reflect this yearning and wish, some people simply put the word "Fu" upside down, indicating that "Fu has arrived" and "Fu has arrived". Others elaborate the word "Fu" into various patterns, such as longevity, longevity peach, carp yue longmen, abundant grains, dragons and phoenixes, and so on.

New Year picture

Hanging New Year pictures during the Spring Festival is also very common in urban and rural areas. Thick black and colorful New Year pictures add a lot of festive atmosphere to thousands of families. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China, which reflects people's simple customs and beliefs and places their hopes on the future. New Year pictures, like Spring Festival couplets, originated from "door gods". With the rise of block printing, the content of New Year pictures is not limited to monotonous themes such as door gods, but has become rich and colorful. In some New Year pictures workshops, classic color New Year pictures, such as Fu Lushou's Samsung, God bless the people, bumper harvest of grains, prosperity of six animals and welcoming the New Year, have been produced to meet people's good wishes of celebrating and praying for the New Year. There are three important producing areas of Chinese New Year pictures: Taohuawu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong; Chinese New Year pictures have formed three schools, each with its own characteristics.

The earliest existing collection of New Year pictures in China is the Southern Song Dynasty woodcut New Year pictures, which show four ancient beauties: Wang Zhaojun, Zhao Yanfei, Ban Ji and Lvzhu. The most popular among the people is the New Year pictures of marrying mice. It depicts an interesting scene in which a mouse marries a bride according to human custom. In the early years of the Republic of China, Zheng of Shanghai combined calendars with New Year pictures. This is a new form of New Year pictures. This two-in-one New Year picture later developed into a calendar, which became popular all over the country.

stay up late or all night on New Year's Eve

Keeping the Lunar New Year's Eve is one of the most important activities, and the custom of keeping the Lunar New Year's Eve has a long history. The earliest record can be found in the Local Records of the Western Jin Dynasty: on New Year's Eve, all parties give gifts to each other, which is called "rejuvenation"; Wine and food are invited, which is called "not old"; When young people and old people get together to drink and wish a complete song, it is called "age division"; Everyone stays up all night, waiting for the dawn, which is the so-called "shou sui".

On New Year's Eve, the whole family get together, eat New Year's Eve, light candles or oil lamps, sit around the stove and chat, wait for the time to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year, and keep vigil all night, symbolizing driving away all evil diseases and epidemics and expecting good luck in the new year. This custom gradually became popular. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, wrote a poem of "Shounian": "The cold retreats from the winter snow, and the warmth comes from the spring breeze". Until today, people are used to keeping the old year and welcoming the new year.

In ancient times, observing the age has two meanings: the old man's observing the age means "resigning from the old", which means cherishing time; Young people keep their age in order to prolong the life of their parents. Since the Han Dynasty, the time for the alternation of the old and new years is generally at midnight.

firecracker

There is a folk saying in China called "Open the door and set off firecrackers". That is to say, when the new year comes, the first thing for every household to open the door is to set off firecrackers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Firecrackers are a specialty of China, also known as "firecrackers", "firecrackers" and "firecrackers". Its origin is very early, and it has a history of more than two thousand years. Setting off firecrackers can create a festive and lively atmosphere, which is an entertainment activity in festivals and can bring happiness and good luck to people. With the passage of time, firecrackers are more and more widely used, and there are more and more varieties and colors. Every major festival and happy event celebration, as well as marriage, building a house, opening a business, etc. Firecrackers should be set off to celebrate and create good luck. At present, Liuyang, Hunan, Foshan and Dongyao, Yichun and Pingxiang, Jiangxi, Wenzhou, Zhejiang and other regions are famous fireworks towns in China. The firecrackers produced have many colors and high quality, which are not only sold well all over the country, but also exported to all parts of the world.

Make a new year call

On the first day of the new year, people get up early, put on the most beautiful clothes, dress neatly, go out to visit relatives and friends, and wish each other good luck in the coming year. There are many ways to pay New Year greetings, some of which are led by the same clan leader from door to door. Some colleagues invited several people to pay New Year greetings; Others get together to congratulate each other, which is called "collective worship". Because it is time-consuming and laborious to pay New Year greetings at home, some elites and scholars later congratulated each other with stickers, thus developing the later "New Year greeting cards".

When paying New Year greetings during the Spring Festival, the younger generation should first pay New Year greetings 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 suppress evil souls, because "old" and "special" are homophonic, and the younger generation can spend a year safely with lucky money. There are two kinds of lucky money, one is to put the colored rope in the shape of a dragon at the foot of the bed, which is recorded in "Yanjing Year"; The other is the most common, that is, parents wrap the money distributed to their children in red paper. Lucky money can be distributed in public after the younger generation pays New Year's greetings, or it can be secretly put under the child's pillow by parents when the child falls asleep on New Year's Eve. It is still popular for elders to give lucky money to younger generations.

An important activity of the Spring Festival is to celebrate the New Year in the homes of new friends and friends and neighbors, which used to be called New Year greetings. The wind of Han people's New Year greetings existed in the Han Dynasty. It was very popular after the Tang and Song Dynasties, and some people who don't have to go in person can use name cards to congratulate them. It was called "thorn" in the Eastern Han Dynasty, so the business card was also called "famous thorn". After the Ming Dynasty, many people posted a red paper bag at the door to collect celebrity cards, which were called "door books".

According to social relations, the forms of folk New Year greetings can be roughly divided into four categories:

One is to visit relatives. On the first day, you must go to your father-in-law and bring gifts. After entering the door, first bow down to the Buddha statue, ancestor statue and memorial tablet, and then bow down to the elders in turn. You can stay for dinner and play.

The second is a courtesy visit. If you want to pay a New Year call to your colleagues and friends, you should only bow to the Buddha statue three times when you enter the room. If you are equal to your master, you just need to bow down. If you are older than yourself, you should still take the initiative to bow down. The host should get down from his seat to help you, and even say don't be polite to show humility. This situation is generally not suitable for sitting for a long time, so you should leave after a few pleasantries. After the master is worshipped, he should pay a return visit another day.

The third time was a thank-you visit. Anyone who owes a favor to others (such as lawyers and doctors) in the past year will buy some gifts and take the opportunity to express his gratitude.

The fourth is a series of visits. For neighbors, we didn't have much contact in the past, but we can get along well when we meet. On New Year's Eve, as long as we meet in the yard, we will say, "Congratulations on getting rich" and "Be smooth and smooth". We just sit in the house for a while, without much etiquette.

In ancient times, there was a difference between New Year greetings and New Year greetings: New Year greetings were knocking on the door of elders; The New Year is a time for peers to congratulate each other. Now, some organizations, groups, enterprises and schools get together to congratulate each other, which is called "group worship".

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.

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 in front of every house with the word "Fu Jie" written on it, which is the purpose of sending flying stickers. This custom began in the upper class of the Song Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty's "Yantai Moon Order" describes the Beijing New Year Festival in this way: "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' communication and flight photos. There are four virtual "relatives" on the front page of the door book: one is a centenarian living 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 like this in his 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 with people. The world hates being too simple and 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 exchange greetings. They are convenient and practical, and are still very popular today.

From about the Qing Dynasty, the form of "group worship" was added to the New Year greetings. In the Jade Pot with a Side Hat, the master of the Qing Dynasty said: "At the beginning of each year, the capital will hold regular group worship to unite the friendship of the New Year and express homesickness", and "this book will be used every year to book guests, eat banquets and create a happy day".

With the development of the times, the custom of New Year greetings is constantly adding new contents and forms. Nowadays, in addition to following the previous New Year greetings, etiquette telegrams and telephone calls have sprung up.

However, from the first day of the first month to the fifth day of the first month, most families do not receive women, which is called "taboo". Only men can go out to pay New Year greetings, while women can only go out to visit after the sixth day of the first month. New Year greetings will last for a long time until the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month. In the evening, visiting people to pay New Year's greetings is called "Night Worship Festival", and it is called "Lantern Festival" after the tenth day of the tenth lunar month, so there is a joke that "it's not too late to have a cold meal".

If you don't follow the routine ceremony for some reason and make up for it in the future, it's called "worshipping your old age"