What are the customs in Wenzhou for the New Year?

Generally speaking, on the 20th day of the end of the year or before and after the kitchen festival, every family chooses auspicious day to clean the doorways. From the rafters to the ditches, brooms should be tied to every corner and side of the building, and all the utensils should be washed to prepare for a clean New Year, which is also called "dusting new". In the old society, in Cangnan, long-term workers went home for the New Year, so there was a saying that they didn't eat 24 meals a year. Now, around the 24th of the twelfth lunar month every year, we still follow the custom of "dusting the ashes to welcome the new" in the twelfth lunar month, and carry out general cleaning activities centered on dusting the ashes to welcome the new in the whole city.

Eat rice ears, JIU

On New Year's Eve, the whole family will have a banquet, or invite friends and relatives to eat and drink, which is called "Fenjiu". Because New Year's Eve is the dividing line between the new year and the old year, it means that the old year and the new year are divided from this night. Therefore, this meal, rich or poor, should be as rich as possible. Wenzhou people are very particular about eating "vintage wine", also called "New Year's Eve". Pay attention to good luck when eating. Generally, ten tall cinnabar bowls and ten kinds of cold dishes are used on the table, which is called "eating all". In addition to chicken and meat, there should be peanuts (called fruit), oranges (called good luck), carp (called jumping the dragon gate), tofu (called cleaning the house) and so on. And each bowl must have a round carrot skull with the top sliced to show appreciation. In addition, "taro" and "fish" must not be less than the big plate in the middle. In Wenzhou dialect, the homonym of taro is "jade" and "jade", which means that eating taro will make people make ends meet in the coming year and gradually become rich. Eating fish is also a symbol of "having it for more than one year". The first dish on the dining table must be rice cake, which means "getting taller every year" (noodles are also used now, which means "longevity"), and the last dish must be "eight-treasure rice", which means "making a fortune".

Open the cannon, close the cannon.

In the early morning of New Year's Day, the first thing for every household is to rush to play the "opening cannon", and firecrackers in the whole city are ringing, symbolizing the farewell of the old and the welcome of the new, commonly known as "welcoming the new". It is also customary to play "opening the door". Generally, a string of small firecrackers is put first, which is called the "Hundred Zi Gun". Two firecrackers were set off again, and only three firecrackers were set off, indicating that the plague of one year can be lifted and the New Year is coming. It is required to ring three times, and the sound is loud and clear, which is the most auspicious. It is a popular saying that the sooner you open the door, the better, which symbolizes that everything you do casually this year will be smooth and profitable, and all your wishes will come true, and farmers will have a bumper harvest. In some places, when the door is opened, it is murmured: "Open the door and fire; Wealth has arrived, and so has happiness. "Generally firecrackers and Lippi's skin are red. After leaving the hospital, paper flowers were everywhere, and the trip was full of color and happiness.

Every year on New Year's Eve, every household should set off firecrackers, which is called "closing the door".

New year paper bag

According to the old custom, Wenzhou people don't visit relatives on the first day of the first month. The time for New Year greetings is generally from the second day to the tenth day or extended to fifteen. When you go to an ordinary relative's house, you should bring a gift. Before the 1950s, gifts were relatively simple, mostly longan, litchi, red dates, yuan dates, brown sugar, dried persimmons and so on. They are wrapped in special papyrus paper with red paper (some of them are printed with lace words to celebrate the New Year), so they are called "paper Bao Peng", also known as "Gaobao" and "red envelopes". The gift without package is about half a catty. How many packages do you need to send depends on your remaining relatives. In the old south goods store, many people buy red envelopes every Spring Festival. From1February 20th, after 9 pm, the shop assistants are busy wrapping red envelopes until late at night, and everyone can have a bowl of mustard fried rice cake for dinner. If the business is good, it will be packed after the Lantern Festival. Some stores only hold more than 20 red dates in a red envelope. Ironically, after the owner sent it home, the home was sent to Nanjia ... Finally, the bag was broken and the red dates in the bag were dug by the children. Sometimes there is only one left, and it is still being sent around.