Local custom

Tea worship: On the morning of the first day of the first month, there is another custom called tea worship on Dongtou Island. Sacrificial tea refers to "jujube tea" made of red dates, longan and rice cakes. Take its auspicious meaning: red dates-the days are getting more and more prosperous, longan-family reunion, safe and smooth, rice cakes-step by step. The "tea sacrifice" is divided into two parts: one is to worship the ancestors and hold a small bowl for the kitchen god; The second is to worship the kitchen god. Everyone should burn incense, light candles, light gold paper and set off firecrackers. After tea, everyone in the family has a bowl to drink. Because the first meal of the new year is soup, people will laugh at themselves with the phrase "eat soup on the first day of the first month" if it is blocked by rain whether going out or working at home in the future. After drinking tea, you have to burn noodles to eat, which is also commonly known as "longevity noodles." It is not only good luck, but also the wish of the whole family to live a long life. As a supplement to tea, you can kill two birds with one stone.

Breakfast: On the first day of the first month, Wenzhou people like to eat muffins (a sweet rice cake steamed by steaming). When eating, cut the muffins into thin slices, then cut the fat in the soy sauce meat into thin slices and embed it between two muffins. It tastes sweet and salty and has a unique flavor. Some people eat glutinous rice balls or cook a bowl of vermicelli with a boiled egg on it. These foods all contain the symbolic meaning of "getting taller every year" and "reunion". Some people cook China New Year's rice and eat mashed cakes and muffins. In Pingyang, eat rice cakes and glutinous rice balls, and some drink brown sugar soup first, then add noodles and eggs; In Taishun, housewives make sugar tea, steam sugar cakes and serve vegetables (salted radish) at home. But in Yandang area of Yueqing, people eat brown seeds. On New Year's Eve, every family cooks a pot of zongzi and gets up early on the first day of the new year for the whole family to eat. It is said that eating zongzi has two meanings. First, because zongzi is homophonic with "zong", it means to miss one's ancestors. Second, because zongzi is homophonic with the word "zhong", it gets the meaning of success. In Yueqing, people usually use red dates, dried persimmons and glutinous rice balls. In Baishi Town, Yueqing, we had soup packets, porridge and top cakes for our first dinner. When I fell asleep, I put my shoes in front of my bed and asked the Heaven to bless me. During the Spring Festival in this city, tourists have the custom of offering Yuanbao tea, that is, putting two fresh olives in the tea, which is not only fragrant, but also floating olives in the yellow-green tea soup, which looks like Yuanbao, commonly known as "Yuanbao tea" and contains auspicious and rich colors in the New Year. Snacks can be round-eyed meat or lotus seeds, red dates, meatballs, eggs and vermicelli.

During the Spring Festival in the city, tourists have the custom of offering Yuanbao tea.

New Year's greetings: From the morning of the first day of junior high school, the younger generation kowtows to the elders in turn, which is called "New Year's greetings". From the second day of junior high school, neighbors, relatives and friends come and go to worship the festival. If we meet on the road, we will greet each other with a long bow (nodding and shaking hands), and some people will cross their chests and say "Happy New Year" to each other. New Year greetings to each other are also called "New Year greetings" and "New Year greetings". First, the next generation goes out to their elders' homes to pay New Year greetings, and then the peers pay homage, which is called "Returning to the Year". The first time a newlywed goes to Yue's home, it's called "Happy New Year", and the younger generation goes to the funeral home to call it "Happy New Year".

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. In Cangnan, it is called "exploring the moon". When you go to an ordinary relative's house, you must bring a gift. Before the 1950s, agricultural products were relatively simple, mostly longan, litchi, red dates, yuan dates, brown sugar and dried persimmons. , wrapped in special papyrus paper, wrapped in red paper (some are printed with lace words to show the New Year), so it is called "paper Bao Peng", also called "Gaobao" and "red envelope". Each package of gifts is about half a catty, and how many packages need to be sent depends on the relatives who are leaving. In the past, many people bought red envelopes during the Spring Festival. From/kloc-0 to February 20th, every night after 9: 00, 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.

In the middle and lower reaches of Yongjia nanxi river, during the first Spring Festival, the son-in-law went to his parents' house to pay a New Year call and wanted to make a rice cake, commonly known as "sending rice cakes". Cooked with white rice flour, mashed in a stone mortar, kneaded into rice blocks, and then put into a wood carving mold to print a round and flat rice cake with patterns on the front, such as double immortals and harmony, bangs giving money, champion elephant and so on. The quantity should be a load, about 50 pairs to 100 pairs. In addition, there are pork, muffins and longevity noodles (noodles).

In Wencheng, New Year greetings are called "the year of appearance". In the old days, if children over one year old were taken to "see" their grandparents, they would generally choose the third, sixth and ninth days, which is the so-called "three six nine mowgli". When going out, draw scarlet or black ink on the child's eyebrows and nose tip to avoid "imp" attacks. On the fourth day of the first month, most people don't travel or work. Because it is homophonic with "death", people who speak Minnan dialect are jealous of the ninth day of the first month. Because "nine" and "dog" are homophonic.

In Yueqing, I don't go out to visit relatives and friends on the first day. In Baixi and other places, even the second day is forbidden. Anyone who comes to the countryside without asking the vulgar will be accused face to face. From the third day, those who don't look forward to the "New Year's Eve" visit their parents-in-law, uncles and aunts, and pay New Year greetings, commonly known as "looking forward to the first month". Gifts are mainly muffins or mashed cakes, followed by fish, meat, litchi, Yuan Kui and other red sealed ingots. According to custom, there are four kinds of old relatives and six kinds of new relatives. The above-mentioned expected relatives of elders (including the elderly) will generally pay homage before the Lantern Festival. If the husband, nephew, adopted son's grandparents and parents are all dead, you can send your son there. Anyone who visits relatives and friends for the first time in the first month, regardless of seniority, must bring two red envelopes; Visitors must make tea, cook snacks, or hold banquets, otherwise, it is considered impolite in customs. In Pingyang, my nephew went back to my grandmother's house for the first time to pay a New Year call, and her grandmother sent calves.

In Dongtou, when the daughter returns to her parents' home, she will give her parents a "red bucket" to show filial piety. The so-called "red barrel" refers to a small wooden barrel engraved with flowers or red paint, which contains cooked food, as well as pasta or glutinous rice made with big fish and meat as seasoning, generally about 2.5-5 kg. As the saying goes, "the soul of giving birth to a child is the red bucket treasure of giving birth to a girl." It means that after giving birth to a son, someone wears a linen Dai Xiao after his death and carries the coffin at the funeral; After giving birth to a daughter, there is a "red bucket" for filial piety in the first month. After the 1970s, the custom of carrying red buckets basically disappeared, and so did the "paper Bao Peng". Instead, send food such as wine, meat and canned food.

During the Spring Festival, most people invite relatives and friends who come to visit the New Year to drink, commonly known as the "Year Wine", that is, the Spring Banquet, and some people specially entertain relatives and friends to drink. Generally, food and wine are abundant. If relatives and friends bring children under the age of 16 (nominal age), they should give lucky money, which is called "pressing the belly pocket". When relatives and friends leave, there must be gifts in return, usually candy, cakes, water chestnuts and the like. In the old custom, not going to pay New Year's greetings is a sign of severing kinship. So some old relatives (relatives of the previous generation) should take turns to pay New Year greetings. Old relatives who have no contact with each other in the four seasons and eight festivals must visit the New Year only during the Spring Festival.

Hall layout: On New Year's Day, wealthy families hang red and gold longevity screens (people who can live long) or large calligraphy and painting in nave. There is a long table in front of the screen, with evergreen flowers at the left end and a finely carved screen at the right end, with a clock or a big ingot in the middle. There are a pair of big tin tables on the left and right (some weigh 100 kilograms, as high as people) with big candles. There are two square tables in front of the long table. In addition to the big tin table and candles, there are a pair of diagonal lights (commonly known as "hall lights") on both sides. There is a big gold ingot (made of a bucket of glutinous rice and brown sugar) between the two tables, with silver flowers on it, wrapped in Ayabeni, and a few oranges lying horizontally on it, symbolizing the entrance of financial resources. In addition, some flowerpots in Jiangxi kilns are displayed, which are planted with various flowers, such as plum blossom, clove, daffodil and Buddha's nail flower. There is a red note with the word "Geely" on the flowerpot. Long table and square table are hung with embroidered red satin table, and the left and right corners are equipped with carved gold lacquer columns. Nave is full of calligraphy and painting. There are big chairs and tea tables on both sides, covered with chair covers embroidered with red silk, and several dishes of refreshments are placed on the table. If guests come, sit separately. In addition to refreshments, Jiangxi tea cups will be placed on painted wooden plates, or snacks such as lotus seeds and longan will be provided, as well as glutinous rice balls and red dates. On this day, even the bed curtain, bed forehead and bedding in the room were cleaned and replaced, and even the dressing table and mirror were covered with satin embroidered mirror covers. All the beams and eaves are covered with beautiful palace lanterns, and only two pairs of red gauze lanterns are hung on the front beam to show solemnity.

Writing in the Spring Festival: Literati write auspicious words on red paper, or "all the year round, successful in school", which is called "writing in the Spring Festival", and some write in a longer way, such as "writing in the Spring Festival, good luck". All the year round, everything goes well. Business is booming and financial resources are abundant. Six livestock are thriving, and the grain is abundant. The family is bright and auspicious, and the population is healthy. Good weather, peaceful country and people. "After writing, stick it on the partition. On the other hand, those who can write poems come into contact with the scene and write some new self-encouraging poems.

Pendant gold ingot: Every household uses brown sugar, glutinous rice and indica rice to make large and small gold ingots in order to make money. Every place in the house where things are stored, such as barns, rice jars, bookcases, boxes, wardrobes, drawers, jars, etc. There is also a small gold ingot.

Wear new clothes: On the first day of the Lunar New Year, people have to wear new clothes, which also means seeing off the old and welcoming the new. In the old society, the rich gentry and rich households wore woolen satin; Even the coarse and old clothes worn by poor households are neat and clean, which is different from ordinary days and welcomes the auspicious day of the new year. Children wear big red clothes, young women are all red, of course, and even old women wear big red skirts, because red symbolizes auspiciousness among the people. Children are usually forbidden to wear bright clothes, but today is an exception. Some people wear red net clothes and Tiger Claw, while others wear small swords, shells, wood carvings or bronze carvings on their belts, which means "resisting evil". Nowadays, people have made great changes in their clothes, and the colors, styles and materials are more colorful and develop to a high level. But it's the same to wear new clothes to welcome the new year.

Travel: When you go out on the first day of the first month, you should choose a good direction. Burn incense in front of the kitchen god first, then take an empty pot, put a spoon in it and turn it hard. According to the direction pointed by the last stopped handle, a person will walk with scissors, and then hear and remember what the first person said before cutting (virtual action), that is, take half and go back to divination. This is called "complement each other", which is also commonly known as "not listening".

Happy Koucai: During the Chinese New Year, Wenzhou people like to eat Koucai, and they are only allowed to say auspicious words and avoid unlucky words. "Relatives reward, auspicious words. Even if they 18 years old give gifts, they should add things like Ping An money and evergreen cypress, otherwise it will mean auspiciousness. " ("Yongjia Lu Wenjian" by Sun Qing Tong Yuan)