What is the origin of the Spring Festival?

The Spring Festival, that is, the Lunar New Year, is the beginning of a year and also the traditional Spring Festival in China. Commonly known as the Spring Festival? New Year, New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve, etc. It is also called "New Year's Eve" and "New Year's Eve" verbally.

The source of the Spring Festival:

According to historical records, the Spring Festival was celebrated in Tang Yu, Sui in Xia Dynasty, Si in Shang Dynasty and Nian in Zhou Dynasty. The original meaning of "nian" refers to the growth cycle of grain, which is hot every year, so the Spring Festival is once a year, which means cool breeze.

It is also said that the Spring Festival originated in "La Worship" at the end of primitive society. At that time, whenever the twelfth lunar month in spring came to an end, the ancestors slaughtered pigs and sheep, sacrificed ghosts and gods and ancestors, and prayed for good weather in the new year to avoid disasters. Their faces were painted with vermilion and bird feathers, and they sang, danced, ate and drank, which was very lively.

However, it is generally believed that the Spring Festival began in Yu Shun. One day more than 2000 BC, Shun became emperor and led his men to worship heaven and earth. Since then, people have regarded this day as the beginning of a year. It is said that this is the origin of the Lunar New Year, which was later called the Spring Festival.

In different times, the name of the Spring Festival is different. In the pre-Qin period, it was called "going to Japan", "January Day", "changing the year" and "offering the year". In the Han Dynasty, it was also called "Three Dynasties", "Sui Dan", "Zheng Dan" and "Zhengri". Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were called Chen Yuan, Yuan Ri, Fuehrer and Sui Dynasty. In the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, it was called New Year's Day, Yuan, New Year's Day and Singapore dollar. In the Qing Dynasty, it was always called "New Year's Day" or "Yuan Day".

It was not until after the Revolution of 1911 that the Lunar New Year was officially named Spring Festival. During the period of Beiyang government in the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai defined New Year's Day as Gregorian calendar 065438+1October 0 1 and renamed the first day of the first lunar month as Spring Festival.

China people have celebrated the Spring Festival for more than 4,000 years. People regard the first day of the first lunar month as the Spring Festival, and generally it doesn't end until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month (Shangyuan Festival).

Legend of the origin of the Spring Festival:

? First, the legend of "Year"?

In ancient times, there was a fierce monster scattered in the deep mountains and forests. People call them nian. "Nian" is scary in appearance and cruel in nature. It only eats birds, animals and scale insects, and changes its taste every day, from kowtowing insects to living people, which makes people talk about "Nian".

Slowly, people mastered the activity law of "Year". It turns out that every 365 days in Nian (that is, 366 days in a normal year or leap year), people will go to places where people live together to taste fresh food. The haunting time is after dark, and when the cock crows at dawn, they will return to the mountains.

Men and women regard this terrible night as "New Year's Eve" and come up with a set of methods for "New Year's Eve": every family prepares dinner in advance, turns off the fire, cleans the stove, then ties up all the chicken coops, and then seals the door of the house to avoid the "New Year's Eve"-because this dinner has ominous meaning, it is very rich, and no one dares to sleep except after dinner, so they sit together.

It's getting dark, and I escaped from the deep forest in and touched the village where people live together. I saw every household's door closed, sesame stalks piled in front of it, but there was no one in the street. After turning for more than half a night, I found nothing, so I had to chew sesame stalks to satisfy my hunger. After a while, the rooster crowed, and these cruel and stupid monsters had to go home disgruntled. People who have survived the "Year Pass" are very happy. They want to thank the ancestors of heaven and earth, congratulate each other for not being eaten by the "Nian beast", and open the door to set off firecrackers to welcome their neighbors and relatives to congratulate them.

After many years, nothing happened, and people relaxed their vigilance against Nian beast. On the evening of 30th one year, Nian beast suddenly fled to a village in the south of the Yangtze River. A village was almost eaten up by Nian beast, and only a pair of newly-married couples in red curtains were safe and sound. There are also a few childish ones who lit a pile of bamboo in the yard and are playing. The fire was red, and the bamboo exploded after burning. Nian beast turned around here and ran away in fear when he saw the fire.

From then on, people know that Nian beast is afraid of red, light and noise. At the end of each year, every household sticks red paper, wears red robes, hangs red lights, beats gongs and drums, and sets off firecrackers, so that Nian Beasts dare not come again. In The Book of Songs Xiaoya Tingliao, there is a record of "the light of Tingliao". The so-called "pavilion" is a torch made of bamboo poles and the like. After the bamboo pole burns, the air in the bamboo joint expands, and the bamboo cavity bursts, making a crackling sound, which is the origin of "firecrackers".

? Second, the legendary story of lucky money?

Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a little demon named Chong, black and white, who came out to harm people every New Year's Eve. It touched the head of the sleeping child with its hand, and the child cried with fear. Then he had a fever and talked nonsense, and he got sick from then on. A few days later, the fever went down, but the clever boy became a crazy fool. People are afraid that fetishism will harm children, so they sit up with lights on, which is called "fetishism".

In Jiaxing, there is a family named Guan, and the husband and wife have a son in their later years, which is regarded as the apple of their eye. On New Year's Eve, they are afraid that they will harm their children, so they play with them. The child wrapped eight copper coins in red paper, opened them, opened them again, and played until he fell asleep. Eight wrapped copper coins are placed on the pillow. The couple didn't dare to close their eyes and stayed with their children all night.

In the middle of the night, a strong wind blew the door open and blew out the lights. When the little black boy was about to touch the child's head with his white hand, the child's pillow cracked into a light, and Chong hurriedly withdrew his hand and ran away screaming.

Mr. and Mrs. Guan told everyone that wrapping eight copper coins in red paper was to scare away those special people. Everyone also learned to wrap eight copper coins in red paper and put them on pillows after the New Year's Eve. Sure enough, I never dare to hurt children again. It turned out that these eight copper coins were bought by the Eight Immortals, which helped the children secretly scare away these precious money. Therefore, people call this money "lucky money". Because of the homonym of "special" and "old", it is also called "lucky money" with the passage of time.

? Third, post Spring Festival couplets and legends of door gods?

It is said that the custom of pasting Spring Festival couplets began in the post-Shu period about 1000 years ago, which is proved by history. In addition, according to the Jade Candle Collection and the Chronicle of Yanjing, the original form of Spring Festival couplets is what people call "Fu Tao".

In the ancient mythology of China, it is said that there is a ghost world, in which there is a mountain, a big peach tree covering three thousand miles, and a golden rooster at the top of the tree. Whenever the golden rooster crows in the morning, the ghost who travels at night will rush back to the ghost domain. The Gate of Ghost Domain is located in the northeast of Peach Tree District. There are two gods standing by the door, named Shen Tu and Lei Yu. If the ghost does something unnatural at night, Shen Tu and Lei Yu will immediately find it, catch it, tie it up with a rope made of Miscanthus and give it to the tiger. So all the ghosts in the world are afraid of Shen Tu and Lei Yu. So people carved them into peach trees and put them at their doorsteps to ward off evil spirits and prevent harm. Later, people simply carved the names of Shen Tu and Lei Yu on the mahogany board, thinking that this could also eliminate disasters. This kind of red board was later called "Fu Tao".

In the Song Dynasty, people began to write couplets on mahogany boards, one for killing evil spirits, the other for expressing good wishes, and the third for decorating the portal for beauty. They also write couplets on red paper symbolizing happiness and good luck, and stick them on both sides of doors and windows during the Spring Festival to express people's good wishes for good luck in the coming year.

In order to pray for the longevity of the family, people in some places still keep the habit of sticking up doors. It is said that there are two door gods posted on the gate, and all monsters will be afraid. In the folk, the door god is a symbol of justice and strength. The ancients thought that people with strange looks often had magical temperament and extraordinary skills. They are honest and kind, and it is their nature and responsibility to catch ghosts and demons. Zhong Kui, a ghost hunter who is highly regarded by people, is such a strange look. Therefore, the folk door gods are always glaring and ferocious, holding all kinds of traditional weapons in their hands, ready to fight against ghosts who dare to come to the door. Because the doors of China's house are usually two opposite doors, the door gods are always paired.

After the Tang Dynasty, besides peace, people also regarded Qin and Weichi Gong, two military commanders in the Tang Dynasty, as gatekeepers. According to legend, Emperor Taizong was ill, heard ghosts screaming outside, and stayed up all night. So he asked the two generals to stand by with weapons in their hands, and there was no ghost harassment the next night. Later, Emperor Taizong had the images of these two generals painted and pasted on the door, and this custom began to spread widely among the people.

? Fourth, the legendary story of the God of Wealth in the Spring Festival?

According to folklore, the fifth day of the first month is the birthday of the god of wealth. After the first day of the first month, you will receive the god of wealth. On the night before God of Wealth's birthday, every family held a banquet to celebrate God of Wealth. There are many folk legends about the God of Wealth: Cai Jing in the Song Dynasty was very rich. According to folklore, he was born as a god of wealth, and happened to be born on the fifth day of the first month, so people regarded him as a god of wealth. After the sacrifice to Beijing was demoted, the people converted to the god of wealth. At that time, the national surname of the Song Dynasty was Zhao, and it was changed to worship. The Xuan altar is shaped like the bottom of a pot, holding Strafe in his hand and riding Hei Hu, which is very powerful. In addition to Zhao Xuantan being honored as "God of Wealth", there are also folk sayings that "God of Wealth is partial", "God of Wealth" and "Wu Caishen" are heavenly emperors.

There are many legends and stories about the Spring Festival, which cannot be told one by one. They are all refinements of the collective mind and have spiritual enlightenment significance. Stories are usually told to children. The most attractive thing about the Spring Festival is that it is an interesting and relaxing festival. After a busy year, we lost our armor, returned to our families, returned to our cultural traditions, returned to our original hearts and returned to our children. The story is such a good carrier, which contains love, passion and vitality.