The Root of Social Custom Changes in Spring Festival

During the Spring Festival, there is a custom of putting up doors all over China. At first, the janitor carved mahogany into a human shape and hung it next to people. Later, it was painted as a janitor and posted on the door. The legendary brothers Shen Tu and Lei Yu specialize in ghosts. They guard the portal, and evil spirits dare not enter the portal to harm.

However, the door gods recorded in real history books are not tea gods and Long Yu, but an ancient warrior named Cheng qin. According to the biography of Han Guang written by Ban Gu, the portrait of Cheng qin, an ancient warrior, was painted on the gate of King Guang Chuan (Quping), wearing shorts and holding a sword. In the Tang dynasty, the position of the door god was replaced by Qin's harmony.

The Journey to the West's narrative is more detailed. "Many dragon kings have committed the dogma of the fruit factory in order to bet with a Mr. Bubu, which is extremely sinful. The Jade Emperor appointed Wei Zhi as the supervisor. King Jinghe pleaded with Emperor Taizong for his life. Emperor Taizong agreed, and when it was time to kill the dragon, he summoned Wei Zhi to play chess with him. Unexpectedly, Wei Zhi took a nap in the rain, and his soul ascended to heaven and beheaded the Dragon King. The Dragon King complained that Taizong had broken his word and cried outside the palace day and night for his life. Emperor Taizong told his ministers that General Qin Baoshu said, "I would like to stand outside with Wei Chijingde and wear a uniform. ".Emperor Taizong agreed. There was really nothing that night. Emperor Taizong could not bear the hardships of the two generals, so he ordered the skillful Dan Qing to draw the true faces of the two generals and stick them on the door. "

There are also paintings of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei as door gods. Every household has a door god, and later generations often draw a pair of door gods as martial arts. Door gods are divided into three categories: the first category is "door gods", which are mostly attached to doors or the whole door, about four or five feet high and two or three feet wide. The second kind is the "door keeper", which is attached to the small street door, about two feet high and one foot wide. These two door gods are two gods with a black face and a white face. White left black right, white easy, black evil, each holding a slap in the face. The third category is the "gatekeeper", which is a little smaller and more limited than the street keeper. It is also a black and white Er Shen, but there are also two black and white statues sitting like statues. At most, there is a picture of "Kirin sending a child" posted on the door, and there are two plump pink dolls with comb crowns, each riding a unicorn. This kind of door god should have been stuck on the wedding door for good luck, and later it was also used as a New Year decoration for ordinary street doors.

paste up Spring Festival couplets

Spring Festival couplets originated in Fu Tao. In Fu Tao, a rectangular red wooden board hung on both sides of the gate in the Zhou Dynasty. According to the Book of Rites, the peach symbol is six inches long and three inches wide, and the words "Shen Tu" and "Lei Yu" are written on the mahogany board. "On the first day of the first month, I made a peach symbol for this family and named it Xianmu. All ghosts are afraid of it." Therefore, the Qing Dynasty's "Yanjing Shi Sui Ji" said: "Spring Festival couplets, that is, Fu Tao."

In the Five Dynasties, in the court of West Shu, someone wrote couplets on peach symbols. According to the Records of Shu Family in the History of Song Dynasty, Meng Chang, a master of the later Shu Dynasty, ordered Zhang Xun, a bachelor, to write a poem on the mahogany board, "Because of his non-work, he claimed to write a cloud:' Come in the New Year, celebrate Changchun'", which was the earliest Spring Festival couplets in China. Until the Song Dynasty, Spring Festival couplets were still called "Fu Tao". There is a saying in Wang Anshi's poem that "thousands of households always exchange new peaches for old ones." In the Song Dynasty, the peach symbol was changed from mahogany board to paper, which was called "Spring Sticker".

In the Ming Dynasty, Fu Tao changed its name to "Spring Festival couplets". In the Ming Dynasty, Chen wrote in Mao Yunlou's Miscellaneous Paintings: "The creation of Spring Festival couplets began with. Jinling, the imperial capital, suddenly issued a decree before New Year's Eve: Spring Festival couplets must be posted at the gates of public officials and scholars' homes. "Zhu Yuanzhang not only went out of the city incognito to see the laughter in person, but also personally wrote Spring Festival couplets. He passed a house and saw that the Spring Festival couplets had not been posted on the door. He went to ask, knowing that it was a castrated pig, and had not asked anyone to write it for him. Zhu Yuanzhang specially wrote Spring Festival couplets for the castrated pig man, which read "Split the road of life and death with both hands and cut off the root of right and wrong with one knife". Relevance and humor. After Ming Taizu's advocacy, Spring Festival couplets have since become a custom, which has been passed down to this day.

Posting the word "Blessing", stick grilles, New Year pictures, and hanging thousands of pictures.

These all have folk functions of praying and decorating the residence. 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, greeting 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 first emperor of Ming Dynasty, advocated posting Spring Festival couplets, 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. In the early years of the Republic of China, Zheng of Shanghai combined the monthly calendar with the New Year pictures. This is a new form of New Year pictures. This two-in-one New Year picture was later developed into a calendar. Hanging a thousand is carved with auspicious words on red paper, accompanied by a long ruler and A Zhi, which is posted in front of the door, reflecting the symbol of peach. There are eight immortals hanging in front of the Buddha statue. Hanging thousands of households use more, and aristocratic families use less. Its yellow paper is three inches long and red paper is more than one inch long, which is a "small hanging thousand" and is used by shops. The earliest thousands of hanging coins were linked by making money (copper coins), which, like lucky money, had an overwhelming victory effect.

Tian di Ji Biao

This is a temporary table, specially designed for New Year's Eve. Generally, there is no big Buddhist temple house, and special attention is paid to the heaven and earth, because there are few sacrifices to the Buddha at ordinary times, and the Buddha is rewarded once at the end of the year. In addition, this table is mainly used to pick up the gods. The content of Heaven and Earth Table is different from that of perennial Buddhist temples. Except for some hanging money, incense sticks, five sacrifices and big sacrifices, most of the idols it worships are temporary, such as Percentage, which is a woodcut idol album. Eighteen Buddha Gods in the Three Realms of Heaven and Earth is a complete classic printed in color, with large yellow fringed paper woodcut. Fu Lushou Samsung photo, etc. Some of the above images are burned out after receiving god, such as "percentage" Others will not be burned until the fifth day or even the Lantern Festival. The position of the table is not uniform. If the room is spacious, you can put it inside. If there is no land at home, you can put it in the yard. Legend has it that this night is the time when the gods in heaven are in the lower world, so the people have this custom of receiving gods.

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

In our country, people have the habit of observing the New Year's Eve, commonly known as "forbearing the Year". Watching the new year begins with eating New Year's Eve dinner. This New Year's Eve dinner should be eaten slowly, starting with lighting lanterns, and some families have to eat it until late at night. According to Zonggu's records of Jingchu's age, there was a custom of New Year's Eve dinner at least in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The custom of observing the old age not only includes the feeling of farewell and nostalgia for the fleeting time, but also expresses the good hope for the coming New Year.

Setting off firecrackers

There is a folk saying in China that "open the door and set off firecrackers". That is, 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. Firecracker is a specialty of China, also known as "Firecracker", "Firecracker" and "Firecracker".

At midnight, the New Year bell rang and firecrackers shook the whole sky of China. In this "three yuan" moment of "year yuan, month yuan, time yuan", some places still set up "Wang Huo" in the courtyard to show that the spirit is soaring and prosperous. Around the blazing fire, the children set off firecrackers and danced happily. At this time, the bright lights in the house, the sparks in front of the court and the deafening noise outside the house pushed the lively atmosphere of New Year's Eve to a climax.

It depicts the grand festival scene of China people celebrating the Spring Festival. Firecrackers are a sign of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, and also an expression of festive atmosphere. In business, setting off firecrackers has another meaning: they set off firecrackers on New Year's Eve to make a fortune in the new year. But according to the old custom, respecting the god of wealth should be the first, and setting off firecrackers should be the last. Legend has it that if you want to get rich, firecrackers will ring at the end.

Eat new year's eve dinner

Eating New Year's Eve is the most lively and enjoyable time for every household in the Spring Festival. On New Year's Eve, a table of rich Chinese New Year's dishes, family reunion, sitting around the table and having a reunion dinner, I really can't tell you the sense of fulfillment in my heart. People not only enjoy the delicious food on the table, but also enjoy the happy atmosphere. There are big dishes, cold dishes, stir-fried dishes and snacks on the table. Generally, two things are indispensable, one is hot pot and the other is fish. The hot pot is boiling, steaming, warm and sultry, which indicates that it is thriving; "Fish" and "fish" are homophonic, symbolizing "more happiness and more celebration" and also meaning "more than one year". There are also radishes, commonly known as vegetable heads. Good luck. Lobster, fried fish and other fried foods, wish your family prosperity, such as "cooking oil with fire." Finally, I want a dessert. I wish you a sweet life in the future. On this day, even if I can't drink, I will drink a little.

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". Because the white flour jiaozi is shaped like a silver ingot, the pots on the table symbolize the meaning of "getting rich in the New Year, and the ingots are rolling in". Some wrapped jiaozi and some coins sterilized with boiling water, saying that whoever ate first would make more money. The custom of eating jiaozi was handed down from the Han Dynasty. According to legend, Zhang Zhongjing, a medical saint, saw that the poor people's ears were frozen and rotten in the cold winter, so he made a kind of "cold-dispelling Joule soup" to treat frostbite for the poor people. He used mutton, peppers and some herbs to drive away the cold and warm, and made ear-shaped "corners" with dough bags, cooked them in a pot and distributed them to the poor. After eating it, people feel hot all over and their ears are hot. Since then, people have followed suit and spread it to this day. Eating wonton in the New Year is based on its original meaning. Legend has it that the world was in a chaotic state 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.

Communicate with god

Receiving God means dividing the old year into the new year, but the time of receiving God is not uniform. Some people begin to hold ceremonies as soon as their children arrive, some people begin to receive gods at midnight when their children are "right", and some people do so after their children are "right". After the sacrifice, immortals from all walks of life returned to the Heavenly Palace, ignoring worldly affairs, and after New Year's Eve, that is, when the New Year came, they came to direct on earth. The ceremony of receiving gods was held at the table of heaven and earth, presided over by the oldest person in the family. Because immortals live in different directions in heaven, the lower bound naturally comes in different directions. As for who to meet and where to come from, we should check the "constitution book" in advance, then lead the whole family to hold incense in the yard and follow their instructions to meet the gods. For example, Xin Weinian's "Constitution Book" states that "God of Wealth is due east, God of Wealth is due south, you God is northeast, West God is southwest, and Tai Sui God is southwest". After kowtowing in the direction, stand still until the incense is exhausted, and then kowtow. Finally, take down the fragrant roots, idols and ingots, and put them into the money and grain basins already prepared in the yard for burning. When burning, pine branches and sesame stalks burn together. When the gods were closed, firecrackers exploded and the atmosphere was extremely strong.

tread on

After receiving the gods, sesame stalks spread from the street gate to the door of the house, and people walked on it, making a noise, which was called "stepping on the old" or "stepping on the special". Because "broken" and "treasure" are homophonic, it means that the new year begins to exorcise evil spirits.

offer sacrifices to ancestors

In ancient times, this custom was very popular. Due to different local customs and habits, the forms of ancestor worship are also different. Some go to the wild to sweep graves, and some go to the ancestral temple to worship their ancestors. Most of them put their ancestral tablets in the main hall in turn at home to show their worship, and then worshippers worship them in order of age. Han people worship their ancestors and make more fish tanks filled with high bowls, which means ringing bells. Southerners live in Beijing, and ancestor worship is particularly grand. Most of them are eight bowls of big dishes with hot pot in the middle, and cups and chopsticks are placed according to their positions. New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Lantern Festival, hot pot fans, change dishes at any time. Manchu and Mongolian people sacrificed their ancestors. Mongolian flag bearer offered butter to stir-fry yellow wheat, fried it with sesame oil and dipped it in sugar when withdrawing the offering, which had a unique flavor. Manchu banner people offered walnut cakes, hibiscus cakes, apples and plain wax sandalwood to worship their ancestors, which was very quiet. On New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, vegetarian cakes will be made, and on the last night, Lantern Festival will be held. Burn incense and kowtow every morning and evening and offer new tea. Although the forms of ancestor worship are different, most of them are hanging shadows on New Year's Eve, and the confession was withdrawn on the last night of the Yuan Dynasty. They are close to their relatives and friends. When they visit the New Year, they should also knock on the ancestral temple. They should not only pursue the future cautiously, but also preserve their virtue of respecting their ancestors.

Send the god of wealth

In the past, since the opening of the financial door at midnight during the Spring Festival, people have sent the God of Wealth. The God of Wealth shouted outside the door with a piece of paper in his hand: "The God of Wealth is coming!" " At this time, in order to meet the God of Wealth, the owner of the house gave a reward to the bearer and sent it to the mouth of the God of Wealth. Of course, it is inevitable to say something auspicious. For example, "the treasure is rolling"! On the left is a pair of golden lions, and on the right is a pair of golden phoenix! And so on. There is also a man dressed as a god of wealth, wearing a red robe, a gauze hat, a fake beard on his mouth and a yellow cloth bag to collect money, followed by several drummers, who distributed the god of wealth from door to door in order to ask for a reward. Every time I go to someone's door, I will sing a lot of auspicious words, such as "the left compartment is full of gold and silver, and the right compartment is full of treasure", until the owner happily takes over the red paper statue of the god of wealth and gives them some money. After thanking them, they play for a while and go to another one amid the sound of gongs and drums.

Drink Tu Su wine.

Tu Su wine is a kind of medicinal liquor. In the ancient custom, the whole family drank Tu Su wine on January Day to eliminate unhealthy tendencies. Tu Su wine is made by hanging rhubarb, platycodon grandiflorum, Zanthoxylum bungeanum, Cinnamomum cassia, Cornus officinalis and Saposhnikovia divaricata in a well, picking them at the end of Yuan Dynasty and cooking them with the wine for four or five times. 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 smallest. Perhaps young people grow up day by day, drinking first to congratulate them, and old people drinking late to retain them. Su Zhe, a writer in the Song Dynasty, wrote in his poem "In addition to Japan" that "it has been more than 70 years since Tu Su drank the last drink every year", which is a custom. In ancient times, this unique drinking order often caused people to have various emotions, so it left a deep impression on people.

Next year's meal

In the north, some families will provide a pot of rice, which was cooked years ago and provided for China New Year. It's called "annual meal", which means that there are leftovers every year, which can't be eaten all year round, and this year we still eat the grain of the previous year. This bowl of New Year's Eve dinner is usually cooked with rice and millet. As the saying goes in Beijing, it is called "two rice" because it is 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 a lucky one: eating dates (spring comes early), persimmons (all the best), almonds (gratifying), longevity fruit (immortal) and rice cakes (getting higher every year). On New Year's Eve, the family ate happily, talking and laughing.

Pay new year's call

With the development of science and technology, the forms of New Year greetings have surpassed the traditional way of sending blessings, and new forms of New Year greetings have emerged, such as telephone greetings, greeting cards, text messages and online greetings. These forms of New Year greetings not only enrich the tradition of New Year greetings, but also are loved by more and more people because of their advantages of simplicity, convenience, quickness, vividness and low cost. According to statistics, during the Spring Festival every year, there are billions of short messages to pay New Year greetings through mobile phones, and countless participants send greeting cards and pay New Year greetings through the Internet.

Give lucky money

Lucky money is given to the younger generation by the elders. In some families, everyone is not allowed to leave the table after the New Year's Eve. After everyone has finished eating, the elders give it to the younger generation to encourage their children and grandchildren to learn and improve in the new year. In some families, parents put their children under pillows after they fall asleep at night, and in more families, children gather in the main hall, shouting Happy New Year to grandparents and parents, and queuing up to bow down; Then reach for the red envelope. They even took back their grandparents' bedrooms and ran to the bed together, shouting "lucky money, lucky money!" " "The old man is not busy enough, so he is stingy. From bargaining to siege, he finally dug up the red envelope of his ancestors. Everyone took them and roared away. The old man was overjoyed to see this scene and thought it was a good sign for all the best in the new year. Giving lucky money in the New Year reflects the care of the elders for the younger generation and the respect of the younger generation for the elders. It is a folk activity that integrates family ethics.

There is a nursery rhyme cloud:

Samsung is in the south, and every family pays New Year's greetings;

The younger generation kowtows and the older generation gives money.

If you want money, turn around and leave.

Zhansui

In the old society, due to the sunny weather in the first few days of Xinzheng, people put this year. Its theory began in Dong Fangshuo's "Year", that is, eight days after the Year, one day is rooster day, two days is dog, three days is pig, four days is sheep, five days is cow, six days is horse, seven days is great man and eight days is valley. If it is sunny, things that belong to it will breed, if it is cloudy, the days that belong to it will not last long. Later generations follow their habits and think that the weather is sunny from the first day to the tenth day, and there is no wind or snow for good luck. Later generations developed from the occupation era to a series of sacrifices and celebrations. There is a custom of not killing chickens on the first day, dogs on the second day, pigs on the third day ... and not executing the death penalty on the seventh day. Draw a chicken

Tiehua chicken

In ancient times, during the Spring Festival, chickens were painted on doors and windows to drive away ghosts and evil spirits. The book Xuan Zhong Ji in Jin Dynasty mentioned the pheasant on Dushuo Mountain mentioned above, saying that it crowed when the first ray of sunshine shone on this big tree just after rising. When it crows, chickens all over the world crow with it. Therefore, the chicken cut during the Spring Festival is actually a symbol of pheasant. However, in ancient mythology, there is also a saying that chickens are deformed birds. It is said that during the reign of Emperor Yao, friends on the other side paid tribute to a bird that could ward off evil spirits. Everyone welcomes the arrival of birds, but the messengers who pay tribute don't come every year, so people carve a wooden bird, cast it in bronze and put it on the door, or paint on the doors and windows to scare away monsters and make them afraid to come again. Because birds look like chickens, they will gradually draw a chicken or cut window flowers and stick them on doors and windows, which will become the source of paper-cutting art in later generations. China paid special attention to chickens in ancient times and called them "birds with five virtues". "Biography of Korean Poetry" says that a crown on the head is Wende; There is a distance behind the foot to play, which is martial arts; It is brave for the enemy to dare to fight before; It is benevolence to have food to welcome the same kind; Vigilance and dawn are beliefs. Therefore, people not only cut chickens during the Chinese New Year, but also set the first day of the New Year as Chicken Day.

Jucai

It is said that the first day of the first month is the birthday of a broom, so you can't use a broom on this day, otherwise it will ruin your fortune, attract a "broom star" and cause bad luck. If you must sweep the floor, you must sweep it from the outside to the inside. Don't throw water on the garbage on this day, for fear of breaking the money. Today, many places still have the custom of cleaning up New Year's Eve. On the first day of New Year's Day, there was no broom or garbage, and a large barrel of wastewater was prepared to avoid splashing outside that day.

(of a person) return to one's place of origin or unit.

On the second day of the first month (the fourth day of the first month in northern China), the married daughter returns to her mother's house with her husband and children to pay New Year's greetings. When a daughter returns to her mother's house, there must be a big bag of biscuits and sweets distributed by her mother to her neighbors, just like the scene of the New Year. If there are many daughters at home, and these daughters don't come back on the same day, then we must share one at a time. The gift is quite thin, just four biscuits. But it reflects the deep affection, the real "courtesy is light and affection is heavy", and expresses the girl's miss for the villagers. When the girl goes home, if there is a nephew at home, menstruation has to pay again. Although she gave lucky money on New Year's Day, this time it had a different meaning. This custom is called "eating midnight snack" by Chaoshan people. As the name implies, it's just lunch, and the daughter must get back to her husband's house before dinner.

Sacrifice to the god of wealth

In the north, the god of wealth sacrifices on the second day of the first month. On this day, both commercial shops and ordinary families will hold activities to worship the god of wealth. Families offered sacrifices to the God of Wealth who arrived on New Year's Eve. In fact, the bought rough printed matter was incinerated. I want to eat wonton at noon this day, commonly known as "Yuanbao soup". Fish and mutton were used as sacrifices. On this day, big businesses in old Beijing held large-scale sacrificial activities, offering sacrifices with "five sacrifices", that is, whole pig, whole sheep, whole chicken, whole duck and red live carp, hoping to make a fortune this year. There are different opinions about who the God of Wealth is, mainly as follows:

Zhao Gongming, also known as Zhao Xuantan, was ordered by Zhang Tianshi to take care of the mysterious altar. This man came from The Romance of Gods, and Jiang Ziya named him "Dragon Tiger Tan Xuanzhen, the God of Kings". Zhao Minglang, also known as Zhao's teacher, is the god of Xuanwu in Taoism. This sentence comes from "Three Religions Seeking God", and the full name of the holy name is: "Master Zhao Yuanshi, General Manager of Zheng Qing-Tan Xuan Flying Tiger Golden Wheel".

Fan Li, Zhao Gong, Shi Tian and Guan Yu are Wu Caishen. In addition, there are people who worship Taibai Star and call it the "King of Fortune Stars". Because Venus is also called Venus, and it will be the god of wealth. Others regard the Monkey King and the lucky boy as the gods of wealth.

Most of the folk offerings are made by Zhao Gongming, whose impression is very powerful, with dark face, thick beard, wearing a helmet and holding a whip, surrounded by cornucopia, big gold ingot, coral and other patterns, which set off a rich and luxurious effect.

Burning door god paper

In the old society, on the third day, pine and cypress branches were burned together with the janitor's note hanging on the festival to show that the New Year had passed and it was time to start business. As the saying goes, "if you burn the janitor's paper, one will seek physiology."

Guzi birthday

People think that the third day of the first month is Xiaomi's birthday. On this day, people hope to sacrifice and pray for the new year. They don't eat rice.

Xiaonianchao

That is, tianqing festival. The court festival in the Song Dynasty, the first year of Song Zhenzong Dazhong Xiangfu, was spread all over the world because of the gobbledygook, so Zhenzong issued an imperial edict, which designated the third day of the first month as Tianqing Festival, and officials and others had five days off. Later, it was called Xiaonian Dynasty, which did not sweep the floor, beg for fire or draw water, just like the old dynasty.

Post "Red Mouth"

In the south of China, on the morning of the third day of New Year's Eve, a "red mouth" is posted. I think this day is easy to quarrel and not suitable for New Year's greetings. The so-called "red mouth" is usually made of a red note about seven or eight inches long and one inch wide, with some words about peace and good luck written on it (the content has a certain format, such as "1994, the front door of JOE was nailed to the front door of the gods, and the men and women who stole Mars were lucky"). These rubbish are all piled up on the second day of the first grade, and they should be cleaned up and dumped together by the third grade. Otherwise, it is equivalent to the outflow of gold and silver at home. In a word, sticking a "red mouth" is to make people feel that they can go in and out safely all year round, will not quarrel with others, and will not encounter all kinds of unfortunate disasters, and make more money at home and all the best.

"year of sending"

Generally speaking, the ceremony of sending gods and ancestors back to heaven is held at night.

[Edit this paragraph] The fifth day of the first month

The fifth day of the first month is commonly known as the fifth day. Many taboos can be broken after folklore tells them on this day. According to the old custom, you should eat "dumplings" for five days, which is called "boiled cakes" in the north. Now some families only eat for three or two days, and some eat every other day, but there is no one who doesn't eat. This is true from the royal residence to the small houses in the streets, even for entertaining guests. Women no longer taboo, began to visit each other and congratulate each other. Newly married women go home on this day. It is not appropriate to do things on the day of the break, otherwise something will happen this year. In addition to the above taboos, the custom of breaking Mayday is mainly to send the poor, welcome the god of wealth and open the market for trade. New Year pictures: God of Wealth

Sacrifice to the god of wealth

Southerners sacrifice to the god of wealth on the fifth day of the first month. According to folklore, the God of Wealth is the Five Gods. The so-called five roads refer to the east, west, north and south, which means that you can get money when you go out of five doors.

Lu Gu's Jia Qinglu in Qing Dynasty said: "The fifth day of the first month is Shen's birthday. Sacrificing the past golden gongs and firecrackers, eager to make a profit, must get up early to meet, called the end of the road. " He also said: "The road ahead today is the God who walks in the Five Sacrifices. The so-called five channels are the east, west, north and south middle ears. " Shanghai has the custom of grabbing the road head in the past years. On the fourth night of the first month, prepare sacrifices, cakes, incense sticks and other things, beat gongs and drums to burn incense and worship, and sincerely respect the god of wealth. The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the birthday of the God of Wealth. In order to compete for the market, it is called "grabbing the road" or "grabbing the god of wealth" before April of the lunar calendar.

The five sacrifices are to worship the household gods, kitchen gods, land gods, door gods and walking gods. The so-called "road head" is the god of five sacrifices. Anyone who receives the God of Wealth will offer sheep-headed carp. Offering sheep's head means "auspiciousness", and offering carp is the homonym of "fish" and "profit", which makes a poem auspicious. People are convinced that as long as the god of wealth can show his spirit, he can make a fortune.

Therefore, every new year, people will open doors and windows, light incense and set off firecrackers to welcome the arrival of the god of wealth at 0: 00 on the fifth day of the first month. After receiving the god of wealth, everyone still has to eat road wine, often until dawn. Everyone is full of hope of getting rich. I hope the god of wealth can bring home gold and silver treasures in the new year and make a fortune. They say the sooner you meet the end of the road, the better. The first one you receive is the true god, which is particularly effective, so it is called "grabbing the road". In some places, the fourth day of January is really "grabbing the road" and it has become a custom. Since the road god is no longer the protector of the journey, people will no longer sacrifice it when traveling.

short for Shenyang/a surname

Reuters is the God of Wealth that Wu believes in. By convention, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month is his birthday, which is quite spectacular.

The road head is also called "Five Road Gods". It is said that there was a Five-way God at the end of Yuan Dynasty who died to resist foreign invasion, so people worshipped him as a god and called him "Five-way God". However, it seems that the five gods have nothing to do with who the God of Wealth is. Or the five-way god is actually the five-way god, or the five-way god. After Tang Bin banned Fang from going to Wu Tong Temple in the Kangxi period, the people dared not worship the Five-Road God, so they changed their names to Reuters. Generally, this kind of road head is regarded as absent-minded in the ancient five sacrifices, and the so-called five roads are also east, west, north and south; Wealth and goods follow the road, so people regard walking as a god of wealth and are willing to offer sacrifices, hoping that it can make money or make profits when traveling. It is the custom of "ancestral way" for the ancients to travel and sacrifice to the road gods for peace; When the martial arts meet the Taoist head, it is the Taoist god who sacrifices, and this Taoist god becomes the god of wealth. Due to the development of commerce and the intensification of commodity circulation, the road god has become a god of wealth. Wealth and goods travel between land and water, and people intuitively think that roads dominate wealth and goods in the dark.

As for people who worship the Road God on the fifth day of January and take this day as their birthday, it is the reason why the "Five" of the Road God is related to the "Five" of the fifth day. The same is true for the North to offer sacrifices to the "five poor" on this day. In the first month, but not in other months, it is a new year's atmosphere. Auspicious, rich in financial resources, and wealth goes hand in hand.

Send the poor

On the fifth day of the first month, "sending the poor" was a very distinctive custom in ancient China. It means offering sacrifices to poor ghosts (poor gods). Poor guy, also known as "poor boy". According to Song Chen Yuanjing's Guang Ji at the Age of Years and Wen Zong Bei Wen, "When Zhuan Xu was in high spirits, a son was born in the palace, and he was called a poor son in the palace. Later, he died in the first month and was buried in the palace, saying, "Send the poor children today. "According to legend, this poor man is the son of Zhuan Xu. He is weak and short, and likes to wear rags and drink porridge. Even if new clothes are given to him, he will tear them up or burn them out before wearing them, so the size of the palace is poor. "On this day, every household uses paper as a woman, which is called" sweeping woman ","five poor women "and" five poor mothers ". They carried paper bags on their backs, cleaned up the dirty soil in the bags and sent them to the door to burn them. This custom is also called "sending poor soil" and "sending poor daughter-in-law out". In hancheng city, Shaanxi Province, people should avoid going out on the fifth day, and roast fresh meat in a pot, and stir-fry beans to make them crack and make a sound. They think that they can break the poor and get rich. In addition, in the old New Year's Eve or the fifth day of the first month, you should eat very full, commonly known as "filling the poor pit". The folk custom of sending the poor reflects the traditional psychology that Chinese people generally hope to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, send away the old poverty and hardships and welcome a better life in the new year.

Send a children's lamp.

Short for "sending lanterns", it is also called "sending lanterns", that is, before the Lantern Festival, the bride's family sends lanterns to the newly married daughter's house, or ordinary relatives and friends give them to the newly married infertile family to add auspiciousness, because "lamp" is homophonic with "Ding". This custom exists in many places. In Xi city, Shaanxi province, lanterns are put on from the eighth to the fifteenth day of the first month. In the first year, a pair of palace lanterns and a pair of stained glass lamps were presented. I hope my daughter will be lucky after marriage and have children early. If the daughter is pregnant, in addition to the big palace lantern, she should also send one or two small lanterns to wish her a safe pregnancy.

Yingzigu

Daughter-in-law is also called Qi (seventh) aunt, and in the north it is called toilet aunt and pit aunt. The ancient folk custom is to offer sacrifices to Ce Shen Zigu on the 15th day of the first month, and to offer sacrifices to silkworm and mulberry, which shows many things. Legend has it that Zi Guyuan was a concubine and was envied by her eldest daughter. On the fifteenth day of the first month, he was killed in the toilet and became Ce Shen. So most people make Zigu into the shape of a woman and greet it in the pigsty in the toilet at night. This custom is popular in the north and south, and it was recorded as early as the Northern and Southern Dynasties.