Why is1February 30th called New Year's Eve?

New Year's Eve, or "New Year's Eve". This day is a day for people to eat, drink and be merry. Northerners make jiaozi and southerners make rice cakes. The shape of jiaozi is like an "ingot" and the sound of rice cakes is like "rice cakes", which are good signs of good luck.

On New Year's Eve, the whole family eats a "reunion dinner" together, which smells like a family reunion in the New Year. When having a reunion dinner, the "fish" on the table can't be moved, because this fish represents "more than one year" and "more than one year", symbolizing "wealth and good luck" in the coming year. It belongs to a decoration and can't be touched.

The Legend of New Year's Eve (China New Year) (1)

On the New Year's Eve of the twelfth lunar month in summer, people like to put up red couplets and set off firecrackers, which is also historic.

Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a very fierce beast called Nian in the forest. Every year on New Year's Eve of the twelfth lunar month, it comes out and makes a hullabaloo about, eating people and livestock. No one could subdue it at that time. In order to avoid the disaster of "Nian", people should kill pigs and sheep to worship Nian on New Year's Eve, so as to make it complete, so as not to hurt people and animals.

On New Year's Eve in December of the lunar calendar, people forget to kill pigs and sheep to commemorate the New Year. Over the years, they shouted to eat people. People had no choice but to close the gate and climb to the bamboo building to hide. Walking from house to house, wandering around looking for something to eat. When he saw nothing in the empty place, he couldn't help howling angrily. At this time, a nearby bamboo building caught fire, and the fire was so strong that the bamboo crackled. I heard a sudden sound and fled back to the forest in fear.

The people hiding upstairs discovered the secret. On New Year's Eve of the twelfth lunar month, they cut a lot of bamboo to burn. Nian was scared away when the bamboo crackled. At the same time, people also found that Nian was bright red, so they dyed red boards and hung them on both sides of the gate. This is an endorsement. After the invention of firecrackers and paper, firecrackers replaced firecrackers and red couplets replaced symbols.

The Legend of New Year's Eve (China New Year) (2)

According to legend, in ancient times, in order to unify the whole country, the Jade Emperor sent the Kitchen God Bodhisattva to stay on earth to understand the people's feelings and report back every Wednesday. On the 23rd day of the summer calendar and the winter moon, the Kitchen God Bodhisattva reported back to the Jade Emperor: "People on earth live on meager food for 365 days a year. Work hard every day and never rest. If this goes on,

I'm worried that people are overworked and exhausted and can't have children, which will definitely affect their contribution. "The jade emperor smell play.

That is, he ordered the minister to discuss a good plan and let Venus go to war: "Your Majesty can order Tuozu to come down to earth and share some food with the people.

People medicine, tell them to get sick slowly, and naturally rest. "The jade emperor must play, and this task is under Heng Tuo's father.

Act accordingly.

On the morning of the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in the summer calendar, Father Heng Tuo secretly threw crazy medicine into the rice cookers of the people, and the medicine became soybeans, peas, garlic sprouts, tofu and meat. After eating it, the people are really "crazy" slowly: women sew new clothes and embroidered shoes, and men kill pigs and sheep, unwilling to work in the fields. After the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, crazy people's medicine became very medicinal. People have dinner with their lovers in the East and invite guests to drink in the West. At noon on the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, the people took out all kinds of delicious food and sat around the table, and the family ate and drank. From the first day of the first month, men, women and children not only eat good meals, but also play around in red and green. Some painted painted faces, beating gongs and drums, wandering around; Some people invite people to pay a New Year call with gifts.

On the thirteenth day of the first month, the kitchen god bodhisattva said to heaven, "Your Majesty, no, the people are crazy! Eat and play, live and do nothing. At this rate, how can you get it? " The Jade Emperor was very surprised when he heard that, so he ordered his ministers to discuss the best plan again. Taibai Venus also said, "If you want to cure crazy people, you can make the drug king Bodhisattva try." The Jade Emperor allowed the medicine king Bodhisattva to descend to the earth to govern.

On the 14th night of the first month, Bodhisattva, the King of Medicine, turned people's midnight snack into glutinous rice balls and put some anti-hangover agents such as sesame seeds, walnuts and sugar in it. People ate it, and the madness was completely cured the next morning. Every household still plowed the fields, croaking and continuing their normal work.

The Legend of New Year's Eve (China New Year) (3)

Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a monster named Xi. This guy is especially harmful, especially when he sees a beautiful girl, he will spoil at night and then eat it before he is willing to give up. The people died for it, but there was nothing they could do.

There is a hunter named Qi Lang, who has infinite strength and is very good at archery. The dog he feeds is also very powerful, and any wild animal dares to fight. Air billow saw that people were suffering from "Xi" and wanted to get rid of it. He picked up the dog and looked for "Xi" everywhere, but he couldn't find it. "Xi" usually doesn't come out during the day until the sun goes down. It disappeared after midnight, and no one knew where it lived.

Air billow has been looking for "Xi" for a year. This is the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month in the summer calendar. He came to a town and saw people happily preparing for the China New Year. He thought, this town is big, there are many people, and there are many girls. Maybe "Xi" will come. He consulted the people in the town and said that "Xi" was most afraid of noise and told everyone not to sleep when it was dark. Find someone who knocks loudly and put it at home. Knock hard at the first movement to scare "Xi" out and drive it away.

That night, "Xi" really came out, and it was discovered only after breaking into a house. The family immediately knocked on pots and pans, and when the family knocked, the whole town followed suit. "Xi" was scared to run around and was seen by air billow. Air billow released hounds to bite it, while "Xi" struggled with air billow and dogs. As soon as people heard that there was a fight outside, they all picked up their things and knocked at the door loudly. At this time, "Xi" is a bit overwhelming. I tried to escape, but I didn't know that my hind leg was bitten by a hound. Air billow took the opportunity to shoot with a bow and killed "Xi" with an arrow.

Since then, people have called the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month in the summer calendar New Year's Eve. On this night, every household should keep watch and shoot guns to show that they can get rid of the ominous and welcome happiness and auspiciousness.

The Legend of New Year's Eve (China New Year) (4)

According to legend, there was an ancient scholar named Han Wenyu. When he was young, his family was poor. One year, on the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month in the summer calendar, all the neighbors were happy to celebrate the New Year, but he was too poor to cook. Neighbor's children come out to play with greasy spicy chicken and bacon in their hands; His baby saw it and cried and went home to ask him for meat. His wife had no choice but to borrow two pieces of meat from her neighbor's house to cook. Who knows, as soon as the meat was cooked, the head of the neighbor's house came back, fearing that the Korean family could not afford it in the future, and insisted that Mrs. Han take the meat back. Han Wenyu coaxed the children, and the family barely passed a vegetarian year.

It's getting dark, neighbors have lit lanterns for the New Year, and the whole family is sitting around the fire, talking and laughing, and starting to watch the New Year. And Han Wenyu is still chopping wood on the mountain to keep the fire alive. His wife sewed rags all afternoon and went to the back of the house to collect firewood for cooking. A kind old woman saw it and said to Mrs. Han, "We still have a bunch of pepper stalks for you to cook for a few days." She thanked the kind old woman and went to carry the pepper stalks back. At this time, Han Wenyu also dug a big tree head on the mountain and fished it back.

Mrs. Han cooks with Chili stalks, and the smell of smoke is very choking. After eating, she made a fire to celebrate the New Year. She made matches with pepper sticks. At this time, it was the time of the sea, and the evil spirits in the sky were sent down to the earth to eliminate disasters, and the ghosts and gods were also sent down to the earth to decide life and death by the orders of the Yanjun. The evil spirits came out of the worse heaven. When they first arrived on earth, the smell of pepper made them sneeze and their tears kept flowing. The evil spirits said, "How evil people are! I haven't gone down yet, so I've had enough. If I really go down, I don't know if there is a foot pole to return to heaven! " Thought of here, I was too scared to come down. Ghosts shrink in the underworld and dare not come out.

What's more, the head of the tree dug by Han Wenyu turned out to be a thousand-year-old agarwood, which burned incense and went straight to heaven. The Jade Emperor was overjoyed to hear of the agarwood, and praised the mortals for burning such extraordinary incense offerings, so he sent a good god to descend to earth, shed nectar all over the world, and blessed the world. At the same time, Wen Quxing was sent down to help Han Wenyu sit on the top spot.

The next year, the weather was favorable, the crops were bumper, and people lived a good life. Han Wenyu also got the first prize. Since then, every year during the Spring Festival, people always burn pepper stalks for a while, hoping to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters. Then he burned the head of the agarwood tree, hoping that the good god would bless the world.

The Legend of New Year's Eve (China New Year) (5)

Legend has it that once upon a time there was a very good princess who often went to play behind her parents' backs. One night, she lived in a wooden house. In the middle of the night, the old ghost of Chenghuang touched the princess's room and ate her heart. The next morning, the shopkeeper came to the princess's room and found her dead in the bunk. I reported the case to the government and found nothing for three months.

One year coincided with the senior high school entrance examination in Beijing, a public official and a bookboy came to the inn to stay from afar. Since the death of the princess, the business of this board room has been getting colder every day, especially the room where the princess died. People who go there say that every night in the room, the red light shines and they see the shadow of a young lady combing her hair.

The host was very happy when he saw the guests coming from afar and arranged them in that room. On the one hand, they don't know the details, on the other hand, they want to make sure whether there are ghosts in that room. Childe two people don't know, close the door and go to bed early after dinner. In the middle of the night, there was a sudden "wow" in that room, and then it seemed that someone opened the door and walked around. The son woke up from his dream, sat up from his bunk and lit the oil lamp. I saw a beautiful lady kneeling in front of the shop and crying sadly, which made my son look at her inexplicably. At this time, the young lady said sadly, "Three years ago, I went to a private place behind my parents' backs and stayed in this house at night. I didn't know that when I was trapped in the middle of the night, the old ghost of the town god came in through the window and ate my heart, so I couldn't live any longer. I didn't expect my son to attract a very clever person tonight, so I had to borrow the mind of a very clever person to save it. What do you know?

The ghost wouldn't let me go and asked me to give him my heart back. I hope you can help me and introduce me to my father. Explain the reason, catch the old ghost of the city god, and return my heart. At that time, I will return that extremely kind heart to him. "Childe see the girl so sad, although love dearly, but sympathize with miss, had to promise.

The next day coincides with Lunar New Year's Eve. Early in the morning, my son walked with the young lady, and the ghost of extremely boy cried and caught up with him. Childe quickly stopped him, advised him to return to the warehouse, and repeatedly told the shopkeeper to take good care of the bookish. Three years later, he must send his heart back to him and let him return to the world. Then, the son personally made a red light and hung it in the middle of the store door, so that evil spirits from all directions did not dare to enter the store to bully the evil spirits of the extreme.

Since then, people have hung a red light at the door every New Year to avoid evil spirits. In this way, the custom of lighting New Year lanterns spread.

There is another legend about the origin of Nian. According to legend, in ancient times, our ancestors were threatened by one of the fiercest beasts. This beast is called Nian. It catches all kinds of animals as food. In winter, when food is scarce in the mountains, it will break into villages and hunt people and animals, and the people will be in a state of panic all day. People have struggled with Nian for many years and found that Nian is afraid of three things, red color, fire and noise. So in winter, people hang red boards on their doors, light a fire at the door, stay up all night and knock at the door. That night, "Nian" broke into the village, saw that every household had a red fire, heard a deafening noise, and was so scared that he ran back to the mountains and never dared to come out again. As the night passed, people congratulated each other and celebrated the victory by decorating, drinking and feasting.

To commemorate this victory, every family will stick red paper couplets on their doors, light lanterns, bang gongs and drums, and set off firecrackers and fireworks at this time of winter. At night, vigil all night; The next day, I congratulated each other early in the morning. This has been passed down from generation to generation, and it has become a "New Year".

The climax of New Year's Eve is that elders give out "lucky money" after the New Year's Eve. Next, post Spring Festival couplets and door gods and close the door. I didn't open the door until the morning of the first grade. Then the whole family stayed up until the early hours of the morning.

The lights on New Year's Eve never go out all night, commonly known as "light years".

The customs of New Year's Eve dinner in different places are roughly the same, but some places have their own characteristics, such as Suzhou, Peking and Taiwan Province Province. On New Year's Eve in Suzhou, everyone has to wait for the bell from Hanshan Temple in Qiao Feng. When the bell passes through the dark night and reaches thousands of households, it marks the arrival of the new year. Hanshan Temple rings at midnight every day, regardless of spring, summer, autumn and winter, which is called "minute by minute" by the people. This clock has become the time information of people's lives dozens of miles away in Fiona Fang, Suzhou. The bells of Hanshan Temple still appear in poems, and the most popular one is a night-mooring near maple bridge written by Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Ji:

Crows fell on the moon, crowed coldly, slept on maple trees, and slept in fishing lanes by the river.

In the lonely Hanshan Temple outside Suzhou, the bell that rang in the middle of the night reached the passenger ship.

Now, every year on New Year's Eve, Hanshan Temple in Suzhou still follows the eternal custom, and the bell rings every minute. In the urban and rural areas of Gusu, at the last moment of the year, the bells of Hanshan Temple will be heard on the radio to report the beginning of the year. Thousands of families, hearing the bells and firecrackers, regard the bells of the ancient Hanshan Temple as a symbol of the times.

Beijing's new year's eve dinner is busier, offering sacrifices to ancestors, receiving gods and receiving stoves. At the beginning of the ceremony to worship the gods and ancestors, the whole city of Beijing was drowned in deafening firecrackers. People also scatter sesame stalks in their own yards, and the whole family steps on them, which is called "stepping on the old", which means longevity. On New Year's Eve, the lights are brightly lit all night, and people quit their jobs to keep their old age. When the New Year bell rings, jiaozi of all families also cooks and people enjoy it.

New Year's Eve is not called New Year's Eve in Taiwan Province Province, but "China New Year's Day". In the afternoon, sacrifice in front of the shrine in the hall. In the evening, the family burned incense and bowed down, and then said goodbye to their elders. Then there is "around the stove", which is a rich New Year's Eve dinner. The family is sitting around a table, which is full of dishes, and there is a brazier under the table. "Around the Furnace" brought a climax to New Year's Eve. Wanderers who are far away from home, no matter how busy they are, should go home for reunion unless absolutely necessary. After New Year's Eve, they light candles to watch the New Year. Daughter-in-law adds longevity to elders. They can't go to bed early. The longer they sit, the longer their elders will live. This shows filial piety.