What is the history of the Spring Festival?

Spring Festival is the most solemn traditional festival in China. Before and after the Spring Festival, Qinhuai area has become the most lively place, all kinds of new year's goods are ready, and Qinhuai people flock to it.

In the Confucius Temple, Sanshan Street and other areas, tourists are flying like shuttles, rubbing shoulders, lanterns, bamboo poles humming, firecrackers and fireworks, balloon masks, clay figurine toys and so on, which are dazzling.

Teahouses are packed, restaurants are full of customers, and there are countless snacks of various flavors. Drama, storytelling, puppets, juggling and other performances are numerous, and the whole Qinhuai area is immersed in a jubilant atmosphere. It was not until the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month that this lively scene gradually declined.

Spring Festival couplets, also known as "couplets", are a unique literary form in China. It depicts the background of the times and expresses good wishes with neat, dual, concise and delicate words, which is a valuable cultural heritage of our country.

Spring Festival couplets are usually posted on New Year's Eve. This custom was initiated by Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of Ming Dynasty. In order to get lucky, Zhu Yuanzhang once ordered the Spring Festival couplets to be dyed with vermilion. The name "Wan Nianhong" does not fade, which means that Zhu's country will last forever.

Before the Ming Dynasty, people in Qinhuai did not put up Wan Nianhong during the Spring Festival, but hung "Fu Tao" on both sides of the door, with two gods, Shen Tu and Lei Yu, painted on them to ward off evil spirits. Due to Zhu Yuanzhang's vigorous advocacy, New Spring Festival couplets gradually became popular.

On New Year's Eve, after cleaning, Qinhuai people put up new couplets on the door to add festive atmosphere.

Confucius Temple has many kinds of Spring Festival couplets, such as vertical couplets, long couplets, horizontal couplets and square couplets. The colors of the paper are Yuan Dan, Cinnabar, Clay Gold, Sprinkled Gold and Gold-plated Lamp. Generally, New Year's Day paper is used, only Kitchen God uses green and temples use yellow.

Qinhuai people not only put up Spring Festival couplets, but also hang New Year pictures and door stickers indoors, which are also called "New Year pictures". New Year pictures are generally printed with woodcut, and the design and composition have folk art characteristics.

On the eve of the Spring Festival, Confucius Temple sells all kinds of traditional New Year pictures and door stickers. There are many kinds, such as loyalty and filial piety, civil and military wealth, opera ladies, etc., and also depicting scenic customs and folklore.

As early as the early Ming Dynasty, there were woodcut New Year pictures on Qinhuai River. During the Spring Festival, all kinds of colorful woodcut New Year pictures are hung on all kinds of stalls in Confucius Temple.

Qinhuai door stickers have a long history, various types and different contents. Rich people also specially invited painters to draw auspicious and festive pictures on the door of the study living room, such as "Qing Dynasty is the past", "Three Friends in Cold Years" and "Magpie Climbing Branches".

Among the images posted on the door, the statue of the god of wealth is the most popular among Qinhuai people. The statue of the god of wealth is very prosperous in Qinhuai area, and all business travelers in the city regard it as the most solemn thing.

In Qinhuai area, we have New Year's Eve dinner. Sacrifice ancestors before meals, and then take care of the stove. Every family respectfully invited the statue of the "Western God" of their ancestors and hung it on the wall near the Square Table.

There is a small table with a red tablecloth under the Xi portrait, with fruit offerings, candlesticks and incense burners on it. There are several bowls of tea under each portrait.

After the ancestor worship ceremony, the whole family sat around for dinner. There are two dishes on New Year's Eve. One is mixed rice, and the other is braised silver carp.

Jambalaya is made by shredding pickles, carrots, day lilies, fungus, winter bamboo shoots, celery, dried soy sauce, thousands of skins, gluten, soybean sprouts and other 10 vegetarian dishes and frying them in oil. Braised silver carp means "more than one year"

Before the fifth day, every meal should be served. Can only see, can't enjoy. You can't eat it until the sixth day. From the first day to the fourth day, you are not allowed to sweep the floor, move the knife ruler, cook again, or even pour tea. You must pour it into the pots and barrels prepared in advance. It is said that water is real wealth, and accumulating tea is accumulating wealth.

Clean up after the New Year's Eve dinner, and the family sit around and eat "Fushou Soup" and chat while eating. "Fushou Soup" takes "red dates, Fujian lotus seeds, water chestnuts and natural wild water chestnuts, which are cooked and eaten together", meaning "Hongfu Qitian".

Near midnight, young people pay New Year greetings to the elderly, and the elderly will prepare "red envelopes" in advance to reward the younger generation, which is called "lucky money". The housewife will take two fried rice balls, insert little red velvet flowers and throw them under the bed. It is said that on New Year's Eve, the mouse will marry a girl and give her a favor to save the mouse from suffering for a year.

At midnight, every household sets off firecrackers and fireworks. The so-called firecrackers in addition to the Chinese New Year.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Qinhuai people call it "the first day of the Lunar New Year". After getting up and washing in the morning, drink a bowl of sugar tea first, then offer sacrifices to the gods, light incense sticks and set off firecrackers, which is called "Welcome the New Year", and then have breakfast.

On the fifth day of the new year, we usually eat rice cakes, steamed bread, noodles and other pasta instead of rice.

On New Year's Day, people in Qinhuai usually go out in the afternoon. When they go out for the first time, they all go in the direction of "Western God", which is called "going to the Western God". Going out is mainly to go to the city to watch the excitement and feel the festive atmosphere of the New Year.

The most lively places in Qinhuai area in the New Year are Confucius Temple, Pangong Square and Old Gong Yuan, which are crowded with people.

Qinhuai people begin to pay New Year's greetings on the second day of the Lunar New Year. Generally speaking, the younger generation goes to their elders' homes to pay New Year greetings. If you have many relatives and friends, you should arrange the route list in advance so as not to miss it.

There is also a superstitious custom, that is, when relatives and friends go to the first home to pay New Year greetings, they must pay attention to whether the homonym of his surname is auspicious. Generally, the first family doesn't go to Wu and Wang's house. When friends and relatives meet, they will send a congratulatory message "Congratulations! Congratulations! " Or "Congratulations on getting rich."

When guests arrive home, they will make tea with sugar lotus seeds and pine nuts first, and then serve green tea and fruit bowls. With a little greeting, the guest will quit. Not close relatives, usually don't leave food.

In Qinhuai area, people think that the fifth day of the first month is the birthday of the god of wealth, so every household should eat noodles to celebrate the birthday of the god of wealth, which is called "eating the rice of the god of wealth".

Legend has it that the god of wealth mistook noodles for money strings and gave people a lot of money to string on noodles, so it was also called "eating money strings". Some people also eat "god of wealth cake", which is homophonic with "high", meaning that the more money is piled up, the higher the grain hoard is.

The rich often hang five "God of Wealth Girls" printed on red paper on the second truss of the roof. They are called Fu, Lu, Shou, Cai's.

Merchants pay special attention to it on the fifth day. In the morning, besides lighting incense sticks, setting off firecrackers, worshiping the "God of Wealth" and praying for the God of Wealth to bless and make a fortune, this day is also a day for employees to advance and retreat together.

In the past, when a merchant dismissed an employee, as long as he was invited to sit as the chief at noon on the fifth day, the boss offered him a glass of wine, even if he was dismissed. The workers had to eat this cup of stuffy wine and find another way to live.

On the first day of New Year's Day, from early morning to sunset in the afternoon, some poor people took a red note with the word "God of Wealth" written on it or a watermark image of God of Wealth and went door to door to shout "God of Wealth has arrived", "God of Wealth has settled down" and "God of Wealth has arrived at the door, please pick up God of Wealth!"

Send a red article to the God of Wealth, and the person who receives the God of Wealth will give some money or dry food on his own initiative, which is called "God of Wealth Money" or "God of Wealth Cake".

Some poor people rent a gauze hat and a red robe in the theater, and then paste paper gold ingots with gold foil to dress up as a living god of wealth:

Wearing black veil, red robe, mask and a big gold ingot. A group of people beat gongs and drums. Every time they come to a door, they take a few steps and throw the gold ingot into the air three times, so that they can get more money and dry food. This is called "jumping the God of Wealth". You can jump from the first day to the fifth day, and you are not allowed to jump again on the sixth day.

The eighth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar and the thirteenth and fifteenth days of the first month are all days of "lighting". The fifteenth day of the first month is also called Shangyuan, January or Lantern Festival, and Qinhuai people are also called Xiaonian.

The main contents of the New Year are eating "Yuanxiao" and enjoying lanterns. At night, every household is decorated with lanterns and children are walking around the street with lanterns. This is the so-called "jumping lights". The Lantern Festival in Confucius Temple is the most prosperous.

The 18th day of the first month is called "Lantern Festival", which means that the appreciation of lanterns ends here. Qinhuai proverb calls it "Lantern Festival", and every household eats noodles on the evening of 18.