Specific customs and habits after the Spring Festival

Open the door and set off firecrackers.

When the door is opened in the morning of the Spring Festival, firecrackers are set off first, which is called "opening the door to set off firecrackers". After the firecrackers, the ground is broken red, which is the so-called "full house". At this time, the streets are full of anger and joy.

Pay new year's call

An important activity of the Spring Festival is to go to friends, relatives and neighbors' homes to congratulate the Spring Festival, which used to be called New Year greetings. The wind of the Han people's New Year greetings began in the Han Dynasty. It was very popular after the Tang and Song Dynasties, and some people who are inconvenient to go in person can use famous cards to congratulate them. It was called "thorn" in the Eastern Han Dynasty, so the business card was also called "famous thorn". After the Ming Dynasty, many people put up a red paper bag at the door to collect famous posts, which was called "Menben".

According to their social relations, the forms of folk New Year greetings can be roughly divided into four categories:

One is to visit relatives. The first day I come to your house, I must bring gifts to my father-in-law's house the next day. After entering the door, bow to the Buddha statue, ancestor statue and memorial tablet, and then bow to the elders in turn. You can stay for dinner and chat.

The second is to pay a courtesy visit to relatives and friends on the third day. If you want to pay a New Year call to your colleagues and friends, you should only bow to the Buddha statue three times when you enter the room. If you are equal to your master, you just need to bow down. If you are older than yourself, you should still take the initiative to bow your head. The host should get down from his seat to help you, or even say that he is not polite to show his humility. This situation is generally not suitable for sitting for a long time, so leave after a few pleasantries. After the host worships, he should pay a return visit another day.

The third is a thank-you visit. Anyone who owes money to others (such as lawyers and doctors) should buy some gifts and give them to express their gratitude on the occasion of New Year's greetings.

The fourth is a series of visits. For some neighbors, we didn't have much contact in the past, but we all got along well when we met. On New Year's Eve, when we first arrived in the yard, we said "Congratulations on getting rich" and "Shun Shun Bai Shun" when we met. We just sat in the house for a while without much etiquette.

In ancient times, there was a difference between New Year greetings and New Year greetings: New Year greetings were to knock on elders; The New Year is a time for peers to congratulate each other. Now some organs, organizations, enterprises and schools get together to congratulate each other, which is called "group worship".

With the development of the times, the custom of New Year greetings is constantly adding new contents and forms. In addition to following the old way of paying New Year greetings, people also began to pay New Year greetings by courtesy telegram and telephone.

Give lucky money

Lucky money (called "Billy" in Guangdong) is given by the elders to the younger generation. In some families, everyone is not allowed to leave the table after eating. 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 will put lucky money under their pillows after their children fall asleep at night, which shows the care of the elders and the respect of the younger generation for the elders. It is a folk activity that integrates family ethics.

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", which means that eight days after the year, one day is chicken day, two days are dogs, three days are pigs, four days are sheep, five days are cows, six days are horses, seven days are people and eight days are valleys. If it is sunny, things that belong to it will breed, and 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 and pigs on the third day ... no execution on the seventh day and no threshing on the eighth day.

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 written by Jin people mentioned the pheasant on Dushuo Mountain mentioned above, saying that the pheasant crowed when the sun just rose and the first ray of sunshine shone on this big tree. 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, this custom still remains in many places. Don't put a broom or take out the garbage on New Year's Eve. Prepare a big barrel of waste water to avoid splashing outside that day.

reunion dinner

The annual reunion dinner fully shows the mutual respect and care among family members in China, which makes the relationship between families closer. Family reunion often comforts and satisfies the head of the family spiritually. The old man looks after his children and grandchildren, and the family is full. In the past, I was concerned about how happy it was to raise children. The younger generation can take this opportunity to express their gratitude to their parents for their parenting. Sacrifice to the god of wealth (Eid al-Fitr)

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 will hold large-scale sacrificial activities, and make sacrifices with "Five Sacrifices", that is, whole pigs, whole sheep, whole chickens, whole ducks and red live carp. I hope to make a fortune in the coming year.

International Children's Day

The second day of the first month is the traditional Children's Day, and children should pay New Year greetings to their parents-in-law. Chaoshan people call uncle's return to his parents' home for dinner on the second day of junior high school "eating midnight snack", which means having lunch. Uncle and daughter must return to their home before dinner (some areas may stay for dinner because of the journey). 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. Yangri

The fourth day of the first month is the day when Nu Wa herded sheep, so it is called "Sheep Day". On this day, people cannot kill sheep. If the weather is good, it means that sheep will be raised well and sheep farmers will have a good harvest this year. The sheep festival is a day for Han people to meet God. In the old imperial calendar, it was often said that "three sheep (yang) open Thailand" is a symbol of good luck and a day to welcome the kitchen god back to the people. On the fourth day of lunar new year's eve, the whole family get together for a discount. The so-called discount is a hodgepodge of rice left over from cleaning up the new year's goods in a few days. Cleaning the room and stacking the garbage in one place is also called "throwing the poor" in Han folk customs. In the north, some rural customs are that Vulcan is tied on the fourth day of the fourth lunar month, and sticks are played with corn stalks or wheat stalks. After being ignited, it is sent from home to the river, which means that there is no fire at home for one year. The custom of Puxian people in Fujian Province is to celebrate the New Year again, which is the only and unique local custom in the country, reflecting the traditional psychology of working people of Han nationality who generally hope to bid farewell to the old poverty and hardships and welcome a better life in the new year. 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 it for three or two days, and some eat it every other day. However, there is no one who does not 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 when the five-year plan is broken, or something will happen next 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.

Welcome the god of wealth

Southerners greet 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, namely 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. On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, folklore is the birthday of the god of wealth. In order to compete for the market, the next is the fourth month of the lunar calendar, which is called "grabbing the road", also known as "receiving the god of wealth" and "offering sacrifices to the god of wealth".

The five sacrifices are the gods of welcoming households, kitchen, land, door and walking. 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, burn incense, set off firecrackers and set off fireworks at 0: 00 on the fifth day of the first month (after 24: 00 on the fourth day of the first month) to welcome the God of Wealth. 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.

short for Shenyang/a surname

Reuters is the God of Wealth that Wu believes in. It is customary to take this day as his birthday and greet him in the sun, which is quite spectacular.

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.

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, "seeing the poor off" is a unique custom among the ancient people in China. 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".

open the market

During the old custom Spring Festival, large and small shops closed together from the beginning of the New Year, but opened on the fifth day of the first month. People are used to taking the fifth day of the first month as the holy day of the god of wealth, thinking that choosing this day to open the market will definitely make a fortune. The sixth day of the first lunar month, also known as Horse Day, is a distinctive custom of the Han people to send the poor on this day. There are different ways to send the poor to all parts of China. But the moral is basically the same, they all send away the poor. It reflects the traditional psychology of the Han people who generally want to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, bid farewell to the old poverty and hardships, and welcome a better life in the new year.

Birthday of Stone: This day is the birthday of Stone, and no stone products are allowed. People's Day is also called People's Victory Day, People's Celebration Day, Population Day and People's Seventh Day. Legend has it that Nu Wa created chickens, dogs, pigs, cows, horses and other animals at the beginning of creation, and then created people on the seventh day, so this day is the birthday of mankind. Some people began to observe daily customs in the Han dynasty, and they began to pay attention to it after the Wei and Jin Dynasties. In ancient times, people had the custom of "men winning". The man won as a headdress. Since the Jin Dynasty, people cut the ribbon for flowers and people, or put gold foil on people's screens and put it on their hair.

Catch raw fish

In some areas in the south, people have the custom of "fishing for raw fish" on the People's Month Festival. When fishing for raw fish, many people often gather around a big plate and pour fish, ingredients and sauces into it. Everyone stood up, waved chopsticks, grabbed the fish and kept shouting, "Fishing! Fishing! Send it! " Higher and higher, as a sign of rising step by step.

Make pancakes

On this day, people will eat "spring cake rolls" and boxes of vegetables (cooked food) and spread pancakes in the yard to smoke the sky.

spring outing

Traveling on the seventh day of the first month originated from the Qi of Kuizhou (now fengjie county) in the Song Dynasty. Zhaiba (commonly known as Zhaiba), during the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang arranged an array on Zhaiba to repel Wu Bing, which was called "Eight Arrays Map". "Jingzhou Tujing Ji": "The people in Kuifu place great emphasis on Zhuge Wuhou, and when they left the Eighth Squadron, they were called" stepping on the cymbals ". The woman who picks up pebbles and wears them is tied to the hairpin and thinks she is one year old. " In the Song Dynasty, when Lu You was an official in Fengjie, he wrote the poem "rustic": "Every day comes outside the gate of hell, and ten thousand people come out." When the champion king of the Southern Song Dynasty was an official in Fengjie, he often enjoyed himself with the people. On the seventh day of the first month, he took the lead in swimming, and men, women and children went out all over the city, which was very lively. In his poem "People Wander Every Day", he said: "Today, be a man every day, and the whole city will leave the river." Climb the peak

People's Day is also a day for literati to climb mountains and write poems. The Tang poem "People send an addendum every day" says: "People send poems to the thatched cottage every day, pity the old friends and miss their hometown." Gul

Legend has it that the eighth day is Xiaomi's birthday. If the weather is fine, the rice harvest will be good. If it is cloudy, it will be a hard year.

Shunxing

On the eighth day of the first month, people make small lanterns and burn them for sacrifice, which is called Shunxing, also called "offering sacrifices to stars" and "receiving stars". Sacrifice uses two divine symbols, the first one is printed with Xingke, Suzaku and Xuanwu. The second one with the core monument of life is the longevity prince. Two sheets were stacked one after the other, clipped on paper clips and placed in the middle of the back of the table in the yard for worship. There is a snuff twisted with yellow and white colored paper dipped in sesame oil in front of the Oracle. Put it into a lamp bowl with a diameter of one inch, or light it with 49 lamp or 108 lamp. Then cook Yuanxiao and green tea. After dusk, sacrifice the Beidou as the target. After the sacrifice, when the residual lamp will be extinguished, the sacred scriptures and incense roots will be incinerated together with sesame stems and pine and cypress branches to be sacrificed. Sky and sunshine

The ninth day of the first month is heaven, commonly known as "born in heaven". It is said that this day is the birthday of the Jade Emperor. The main customs are offering sacrifices to the jade emperor and Taoist temple to heaven. In some places, when the weather is fine, women will prepare incense sticks and fast rice bowls and put them in the open air at the entrance of patio lane to worship heaven and pray for God's blessing. Stones don't move.

On this day, all stone tools such as grinding and grinding can't be moved, and even sacrifices are set up to enjoy the stones, for fear of hurting crops. Also known as "stone does not move" and "ten does not move". Henan custom: On this day, every household pays tribute and burns incense on stones. You must eat steamed stuffed buns for lunch, thinking that you can make a fortune within one year after eating cake. In Yuncheng, Shandong and other places, there is a move to lift the stone god. In early Kuya, a crock was frozen on a smooth stone, and ten boys or girls took turns to carry it. If the stone does not fall to the ground, it indicates a bumper harvest that year.

Congratulations to the mouse for marrying a daughter.

Old folk letter. The rat worship activities held in the first month are also called "rat marries female" and "rat marries female". The specific date varies from place to place, some are the seventh day of the first month, some are the twenty-fifth day of the first month, and many areas are the tenth day of the first month. On the tenth day in Pingyao County, Shanxi Province, the cake was placed at the root of the wall and named "Congratulations to the mouse for marrying a girl". In Ningyuan, Hunan, 17 is the day when "mice marry women". It is forbidden to open cabinets for fear of disturbing mice. The night before, the children put candy, peanuts and so on. In the dark, I beat the pot cover and dustpan to make up for the mice. The next morning, they blocked the mouse hole, thinking that the mouse could be extinct forever. In other areas, mice go to bed early on the wedding day, and they won't disturb them. It is said that if you bother them for one day, they will bother you for one year. Son-in-law day

There is a saying in folk songs that "the son-in-law is invited on the eleventh day", that is, the eleventh day of the first month is the "son-in-law's day", on which the father-in-law fetes his son-in-law. According to legend, this is because the food celebrated on the ninth day can't be eaten until the tenth day, so it is used to invite the son-in-law to dinner on the eleventh day, and the family doesn't have to spend any more money. the Lantern Festival

Lantern Festival is the main traditional festival in China, also called Yuanxiao and Yuanxiao, and Shangyuan Festival, because it is the first full moon night of the New Year. Because this festival has the custom of watching lanterns in past dynasties, it is also called Lantern Festival. The formation of Lantern Festival custom has a long process. According to general data and folklore, the fifteenth day of the first month was paid attention to in the Western Han Dynasty. On the night of the first month, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty offered sacrifices to "Taiyi" in Ganquan Palace, which was regarded by later generations as the first sacrifice to the gods on the fifteenth day of the first month. However, the fifteenth day of the first month is indeed a folk festival after the Han and Wei Dynasties. The introduction of Buddhist culture in the Eastern Han Dynasty is of great significance to the formation of Lantern Festival customs.

During the Yong Ping period of Han Dynasty (AD 58-75), when Ming Chengzu advocated Buddhism, it coincided with Cai Cheng's return from India to seek Buddhism, saying that it was the fifteenth day of the first month of Mohato, India, and monks gathered to pay tribute to the relics, which was an auspicious day to participate in Buddhism. In order to carry forward Buddhism, Emperor Han Ming ordered "burning lamps to show Buddha" in the palace temple on the 15th night of the first month. Therefore, the custom of burning lanterns on the fifteenth night of the first month, with the expansion of the influence of Buddhist culture and the addition of Taoist culture, gradually spread in China. The real motivation of the Lantern Festival custom is that it is at a new time point, and people make full use of this special time stage to express their wishes for life.

Rutland fair

The custom of putting lights on the Lantern Festival developed into an unprecedented lantern market in the Tang Dynasty, and after the middle Tang Dynasty, it developed into a national carnival. In the prosperous period of the Tang Xuanzong Kaiyuan (685-762 AD), the lantern market in Chang 'an was very large, with 50,000 lanterns and all kinds of lanterns. The emperor ordered 20 giant lantern buildings with a height of 150 feet, resplendent and magnificent.

Since then, the Lantern Festival has continued to develop and the time of the Lantern Festival has become longer and longer. The Lantern Festival in Tang Dynasty is "the day before and after Shangyuan". In the Song Dynasty, two days were added after the sixteenth, and in the Ming Dynasty, it was extended from the eighth day to the eighteenth day to ten days.

In the Qing Dynasty, Manchu entered the Central Plains, and the court no longer held lantern festivals, but the folk lantern festivals were still spectacular. The date was shortened to five days.

eat yuanxiao

Eating Yuanxiao on the fifteenth day of the first month, as a kind of food, has a long history in China. In the Song Dynasty, a novel Lantern Festival food was popular among the people. This kind of food was originally called "Floating Zi Yuan", later called "Yuanxiao", and merchants also called it "Yuanbao". Yuanxiao, or sweet dumplings, is made of white sugar, rose, sesame, red bean paste, cinnamon bark, walnut kernel, nuts and jujube paste, wrapped in glutinous rice flour into a round shape, which can be vegetarian and has different flavors. It can be boiled, fried and steamed, which means happy reunion. Shaanxi jiaozi is not wrapped, but rolled with glutinous rice flour, or boiled or fried, warm and round.

She Yan fire

In some places in the north, on the fifteenth day of the first month, several villages get together to perform social fires. Social fires include walking on stilts, Zhong Kui jumping and floats.

Changes of Spring Festival customs

There are many ways to pay New Year greetings, some of which are led by the same patriarch and go door to door. Some colleagues invited several people to pay New Year greetings; Others get together to congratulate each other. This is called "group worship". Because it takes time and effort to pay New Year greetings at home, some elites and scholars later congratulated each other with stickers, thus developing the later "New Year cards".