Shantou Spring Festival customs and habits

First, put up the gates and Spring Festival couplets.

In the Spring Festival couplets in Chaoshan, the word "Spring" with vats is often seen on single doors or in valleys and shrines. The word "spring" has two meanings here: first, it means that spring returns to the earth and everything recovers; The first floor skillfully uses the harmony between "spring" and "existence" to express the good wishes for more than a year. This is similar to northerners eating fish at wedding banquets, and the homonym "fish" has the same effect.

Second, ancestor worship.

Sacrificing ancestors is to commemorate them, which is also very interesting to say. Let them spend the New Year with us, which shows the traditional virtues of hipsters who are cautious in pursuing the future, and all virtues are filial first.

Third, have a family reunion dinner.

New Year's Eve is approaching after all the houses in every household are completely decorated. Therefore, housewives are busy preparing the most abundant and meaningful reunion dinner in a year. Most people eat hot pot, which Chaoshan people say means "gathering around the stove".

Fourth, send lucky money.

This is the happiest moment for children. In Chaoshan, only those who have never worked have lucky money, and those who have worked will be given lucky money. Chaoshan people give lots of lucky money. People think that giving more proof proves that they have more income in the past year, and they hope to have more income in the new year.

Fifth, pay New Year greetings and send "good luck"

New Year greetings, also known as "worship". In the early morning of the first day of junior high school, people get up and put on new clothes. The first thing they do is to pay homage to themselves. It is often the younger generation who wishes the elders first, and then the elders give their expectations to the younger generation. After breakfast, each of them pays a New Year call to relatives and friends. As the Chaoshan saying goes, "the first day and the second day have the meaning of New Year's greetings, and the third day and the fourth day have no intention of New Year's greetings." It is said that the sooner you pay a New Year call, the more you can see its sincerity. Therefore, some people go to pay New Year greetings to relatives and friends immediately after getting up, and then eat after coming back.

No matter how many gifts people bring, oranges (Chaozhou oranges) are indispensable. Orange takes its homonym "Daji". It doesn't matter if you take more or less, but it can't be an odd number. People who pay New Year greetings enter the doors of relatives and friends, and they should look at different people and say different greetings. Say "Happy New Year" and "Longevity is better than Nanshan" to the old people, and they will grin. For those who have jobs, they say, "How is the job?" New Year's progress ",people who listen will feel very pleasant; If you are a business person, what you hear most is "making a big profit in the New Year" and "making a fortune and benefiting the market"; If children are studying, what they want most is to make progress in their studies and achieve excellent results in the new year. Send this greeting to them, and they will be very friendly to you. After being seated, the host will make famous Chaoshan congou tea to entertain the guests. Before leaving, the host will leave two oranges in the gift of the recipient, and then exchange his oranges in order to bring good luck to the other party. Some joking Xinzheng people go out to pay New Year greetings, and often only put two oranges in their trouser pockets. After the New Year call, two oranges are still in the trouser pocket. Therefore, people who are good at teasing call the New Year's greetings at the beginning of the year "orange-changing movement".

Six, taboo

Because the first month is the beginning of a year, Chaoshan people often regard it as a sign of good or bad luck in the New Year. So there are many "taboos" during the Chinese New Year. In terms of language, all unlucky words such as "broken", "bad", "nothing", "death", "light", "ghost", "killing", "illness", "pain" and "poverty" are taboo. It is also necessary to avoid crying of babies, because crying is "not winning the first prize", which indicates illness and disaster. Therefore, even if the child is in trouble on this day, don't fight or reprimand him, lest he cry endlessly. In terms of behavior, you should be extra careful not to break cups, plates, bowls and plates. If you accidentally break it, people present have to say a few auspicious phrases (such as "opening your mouth to make a fortune") to make up for it. On this day, the rice jar can't be empty, so as to avoid the danger of not cooking it all in one year. Avoid sprinkling water, sweeping the floor and taking out the garbage. This is called "gathering wealth". Because on this day, Chaoshan people often regard soil and water as "wealth", regard garbage and feces as "fat water", and sweep the goods and dump the garbage, fearing to sweep away the "wealth". At the same time, Chaoshan people held a well sealing ceremony after filling the large and small water tanks on New Year's Eve. Is to cover the well surface with a dustpan and then worship the well god. You can't open the dustpan on the first day, because people often regard water as the water of wealth. When you open the dustpan filled with water, doesn't it mean the outflow of wealth? In recent years, due to the use of tap water, the well is often closed here to worship the gods, but the tap is turned on there to let the water rush. Therefore, the custom of drilling wells to prohibit water intake has become a mere formality. The custom of prohibiting sweeping the floor is gradually being eliminated, because firecrackers are set off during the Spring Festival, people come and go, and there are a lot of scraps of paper and garbage on the ground. It's really harmful not to clean. Therefore, starting from paying attention to hygiene, many young people are not very particular about these traditional taboo customs.

On this day, creditors are not allowed to come to collect debts. People think this day is unlucky for both borrowers and borrowers. Also avoid taking things from other people's pockets. People think that pulling out a pocket on the first day of the first month may lead to the danger of being "hollowed out" for one year.

Avoid the dead; Don't hold a funeral, because it will bring bad luck to the family. At the same time, don't have a haircut on this day, because people always associate a haircut with a funeral on this day. It's not even a day to kill. Killing is considered to lead to disasters such as knife disaster, soldier disaster and blood disaster. But now that people's living standards have improved, they can eat fresh food, and in order to satisfy their appetite, they have no scruples.

In terms of diet, taking medicine is strictly prohibited on this day. Otherwise, I think it will lead to illness all the year round and take medicine constantly. There are several ways to avoid eating meat for breakfast on the first day of junior high school: one is to eat this meal quickly, and the effect is equal to one year; Another metaphor is frugality, not extravagance and waste.

This article comes from: Chaoshan Forum, with detailed reference:/thread-1458-1-1.html.