The custom of New Year in China

Setting off firecrackers: In the early morning of the first day of junior high school, the first thing for every household is to set off firecrackers. The whole city is full of firecrackers, which symbolizes the farewell of the old and the welcome of the new, commonly known as "welcome". It is also customary to play "opening the door". Generally, a string of small firecrackers is put first, which is called the "Hundred Zi Bao". 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. As the saying goes, the sooner you open the door, the better, which symbolizes that everything you do casually this year is smooth, the financial resources are abundant, and the farmers have a bumper harvest. In some places, as soon as the gun was fired, they muttered: "Open the door and fire; When wealth comes, so does happiness. "Generally firecrackers and Lippi's skin are red. After the discharge, the paper flowers were all over the ground, and the clouds were bright and dazzling, forming a house full of joy. Firecrackers have been banned in cities and towns, but they can still be set off in rural areas and fishing islands.

Worship the Six Gods: After opening the door, both men and women wear new clothes. Housewives burned Buddhist tea and offered various sacrifices to the incense table with Jiangxi porcelain bowls. Nave hangs an ancestor statue, worshiping ancestors first, and then worshiping six gods (kitchen god, roof god, white tiger god, well god, land god and god of wealth). People believe that these six gods are the protectors of every family, and they worship in the new year, mainly praying for the safety of the population and the prosperity of family undertakings.

Visit the Three Gods: After worshipping the Six Gods, set up a small square table in the atrium, hold a bowl of rice, spread red paper on it, and stick glue around it. Put it on the table, burn incense and candles, and worship it devoutly. Known as the "meeting three gods" (that is, the Taoist Jade Qing, Qingqing and Taiqing), it was not until the fourth day of the first month that the gods were sent away from their seats.

Ancestor worship: In the old society, at noon on the first day of the first month, in Dongtou County, every family had to worship their ancestors. The ceremony was presided over by the housewife. First list the offerings, arrange the handlebars and chopsticks, and pour the yellow wine into the wine. A bench should be placed between the shrine and the altar, and then red candles should be lit to burn incense on the incense burners of all shrines, such as ancestors, san huang, land gods and kitchen gods. When the red candle burns to about three quarters or the incense will burn out, it will start to burn "golden paper" (a kind of paper money folded into ingots with gold foil, which is only effective after folk beliefs are recited) and set off firecrackers. Finally, take out the food. Move the chair to the front of the table before taking the food away. When offering sacrifices to ancestors, the gifts on the table are not allowed to move; All offerings that have been worshipped, except cakes and fruits, should be boiled or steamed before eating. Otherwise, it is considered disrespectful to God and ancestors.

Xiang: In the early morning of the first day of the first month, there is an old custom of "Xiang". Hundreds of civil and military officials in the city, wearing crowns on their heads, sounded gongs to clear the way, and went to various temples to burn incense, which was of great prestige. Every old man and his family bathed and changed clothes before dawn, rushed to the community temple or nearby temple, opened the door of the temple, burned incense and lit incense lamps. Some people even stay up on New Year's Eve and wait in temples. As soon as the sea passes, burn incense as a sign of piety. People think that the first person to light incense is the luckiest, so there is a custom of lighting the first pair of candles first. As the saying goes, "whoever opens the door first will definitely make a lot of money this year." Old people go to the temple to worship the temple gods, mainly to pray for good luck in the New Year and the safety of the whole family. However, due to the differences in class, industry, gender and age, people come to worship God in an endless stream, some seeking to make a fortune in business, some seeking a bumper harvest in agriculture, some seeking their children to continue their heirs, and so on. For larger temples, such as the King's Temple in Dong 'ou, worshippers should give red envelopes to the temples. If the prayer is effective, the rich will make a wish on the first day of each year with a big candle weighing 100 kilograms.

Ryan: In the past, in Dongtou Island, every household held a "Ryan" ceremony, which lasted from 30 nights to midnight. Presided over by the elders in the family or the person in charge of production and life in the family. The host should "clean up" (that is, abstain from color on New Year's Eve), bathe all over, and must not touch unclean things before "opening the light". The desk should be placed at the gate or in the courtyard, with two benches at the foot of the table to raise the desk. The offerings include three kinds of animals, fish, fruits, cakes and vegetarian noodles. And there are a pair of big red candles on both sides, commonly known as "all night". At the beginning of the ceremony, after the host lit the "all night" and burned incense, the whole family knelt down, put their hands together and prayed for God's blessing, wishing the whole family peace, wealth and all the best in the new year. After the prayer, the whole family stood quietly, waited for a while, then burned "golden paper" and set off firecrackers. Finally, withdraw. Since the 1980s, the opening hours have been advanced to midnight, with the New Year bell of CCTV ringing. The ceremony is also much simpler, and some are just firecrackers and fireworks. However, more firecrackers were set off, especially the "Baizibao", and even thousands of firecrackers were strung together, which was loud, long and extremely lively.

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 has the same sound as the word "zhong", it means "zhong" by taking fame. 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.

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 dressed in linen Dai Xiao raised a coffin when sending him to the funeral after his death; 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 socialize, and auspicious words make incense, that is, 18 years old gifts will also add Taiping money, evergreen cypress and other things, otherwise it means auspiciousness.

References:

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In ancient times, in Yoichi Higashi, Zhejiang, whenever the twelfth lunar month came, there was a folk custom called "ghost".

The "ghost of the year" begins on the first day of the twelfth lunar month and ends on the fifteenth. Because, at this time, the old year is about to resign and the new year is coming. For the sake of thousands of families in Qian Qian, we want to spend the New Year safely and happily, so we should eliminate all ghosts on the earth to avoid breeding disasters.

Ghostbusters are street beggars or vagrants, wearing top-ranked Wu hats, with a string of red beards on their faces, holding swords and chains around their waists, much like Zhong Kui's dress, and shouting ghosts from door to door. Followed by a follower, cheer for it, the protagonist shouted, and the follower responded with a bang! In this way, while performing, he ran all over the village to show that he was completely cut off. Finally, every family gives the actors their due rewards.

The custom of "hunting ghosts" in eastern Zhejiang has a long history, which began in the Tang Dynasty. Legend has it that Ming Di once got malaria in the Tang Dynasty, and he never recovered after a long illness. One day, he dreamed that a GREAT GHOST man caught a malaria ghost, spit it out, and then recovered. Don asked what his name was. The answer is Zhong Kui, who took the exam before. He was ugly, and finally he was not accepted, so he was killed in front of the stage. When Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty woke up, he asked the painter Wu Daozi to draw a portrait and named him the Ghost King. This is Zhong Kui, who is said to ward off evil spirits and has been passed down to this day. Whenever every household is ready to kill pigs and sheep, pray for ancestors and celebrate the New Year, some people use Zhong Kui "ghosts" to live in every household in order to win the auspicious New Year color and earn some money to make a living.

References:

In ancient times, in Yoichi Higashi, Zhejiang, whenever the twelfth lunar month came, there was a folk custom called "ghost".

The "ghost of the year" begins on the first day of the twelfth lunar month and ends on the fifteenth. Because, at this time, the old year is about to resign and the new year is coming. For the sake of thousands of families in Qian Qian, we want to spend the New Year safely and happily, so we should eliminate all ghosts on the earth to avoid breeding disasters.

Ghostbusters are street beggars or vagrants, wearing top-ranked Wu hats, with a string of red beards on their faces, holding swords and chains around their waists, much like Zhong Kui's dress, and shouting ghosts from door to door. Followed by a follower, cheer for it, the protagonist shouted, and the follower responded with a bang! In this way, while performing, he ran all over the village to show that he was completely cut off. Finally, every family gives the actors their due rewards.

The custom of "hunting ghosts" in eastern Zhejiang has a long history, which began in the Tang Dynasty. Legend has it that Ming Di once got malaria in the Tang Dynasty, and he never recovered after a long illness. One day, he dreamed that a GREAT GHOST man caught a malaria ghost, spit it out, and then recovered. Don asked what his name was. The answer is Zhong Kui, who took the exam before. He was ugly, and finally he was not accepted, so he was killed in front of the stage. When Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty woke up, he asked the painter Wu Daozi to draw a portrait and named him the Ghost King. This is Zhong Kui, who is said to ward off evil spirits and has been passed down to this day. Whenever every household is ready to kill pigs and sheep, pray for ancestors and celebrate the New Year, some people use Zhong Kui "ghosts" to live in every household in order to win the auspicious New Year color and earn some money to make a living.

References:

In ancient times, in Yoichi Higashi, Zhejiang, whenever the twelfth lunar month came, there was a folk custom called "ghost".

The "ghost of the year" begins on the first day of the twelfth lunar month and ends on the fifteenth. Because, at this time, the old year is about to resign and the new year is coming. For the sake of thousands of families in Qian Qian, we want to spend the New Year safely and happily, so we should eliminate all ghosts on the earth to avoid breeding disasters.

Ghostbusters are street beggars or vagrants, wearing top-ranked Wu hats, with a string of red beards on their faces, holding swords and chains around their waists, much like Zhong Kui's dress, and shouting ghosts from door to door. Followed by a follower, cheer for it, the protagonist shouted, and the follower responded with a bang! In this way, while performing, he ran all over the village to show that he was completely cut off. Finally, every family gives the actors their due rewards.

The custom of "hunting ghosts" in eastern Zhejiang has a long history, which began in the Tang Dynasty. Legend has it that Ming Di once got malaria in the Tang Dynasty, and he never recovered after a long illness. One day, he dreamed that a GREAT GHOST man caught a malaria ghost, spit it out, and then recovered. Don asked what his name was. The answer is Zhong Kui, who took the exam before. He was ugly, and finally he was not accepted, so he was killed in front of the stage. When Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty woke up, he asked the painter Wu Daozi to draw a portrait and named him the Ghost King. This is Zhong Kui, who is said to ward off evil spirits and has been passed down to this day. Whenever every household is ready to kill pigs and sheep, pray for ancestors and celebrate the New Year, some people use Zhong Kui "ghosts" to live in every household in order to win the auspicious New Year color and earn some money to make a living.

References:

In ancient times, in Yoichi Higashi, Zhejiang, whenever the twelfth lunar month came, there was a folk custom called "ghost".

The "ghost of the year" begins on the first day of the twelfth lunar month and ends on the fifteenth. Because, at this time, the old year is about to resign and the new year is coming. For the sake of thousands of families in Qian Qian, we want to spend the New Year safely and happily, so we should eliminate all ghosts on the earth to avoid breeding disasters.

Ghostbusters are street beggars or vagrants, wearing top-ranked Wu hats, with a string of red beards on their faces, holding swords and chains around their waists, much like Zhong Kui's dress, and shouting ghosts from door to door. Followed by a follower, cheer for it, the protagonist shouted, and the follower responded with a bang! In this way, while performing, he ran all over the village to show that he was completely cut off. Finally, every family gives the actors their due rewards.

The custom of "hunting ghosts" in eastern Zhejiang has a long history, which began in the Tang Dynasty. Legend has it that Ming Di once got malaria in the Tang Dynasty, and he never recovered after a long illness. One day, he dreamed that a GREAT GHOST man caught a malaria ghost, spit it out, and then recovered. Don asked what his name was. The answer is Zhong Kui, who took the exam before. He was ugly, and finally he was not accepted, so he was killed in front of the stage. When Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty woke up, he asked the painter Wu Daozi to draw a portrait and named him the Ghost King. This is Zhong Kui, who is said to ward off evil spirits and has been passed down to this day. Whenever every household is ready to kill pigs and sheep, pray for ancestors and celebrate the New Year, some people use Zhong Kui "ghosts" to live in every household in order to win the auspicious New Year color and earn some money to make a living.

References:

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