No matter where their ancestors came from, everyone in China regards the Lunar New Year as the most important festival of the year. This happy moment is a good time to reunite with family and friends. The origin of the Lunar New Year is well-founded, and colorful legends can be traced back to thousands of years ago. One of the most famous is the legend of Nian beast. Nian beast is a cruel and fierce beast. Ancient people believed that Nian beast would come out to eat people on New Year's Eve. Legend has it that Nian beast is extremely afraid of red, fire and noisy sounds, so people put red notes on the doors, light torches and set off firecrackers to avoid Nian beast all night. In the early morning of the next day, the voice of "Congratulations" is endless, and the air is filled with the joy of defeating the "Nian Beast" and gaining a new life. In order to ensure good luck, every new year's dish has a good name of Geely. This dish is called "Five Blessingg", which symbolizes longevity, wealth, peace, wisdom and good luck. (Photo courtesy of Zhang) Although most people think that the celebration of the New Year begins on New Year's Eve; In fact, there have been related activities since December 24 of the lunar calendar. On this day, the legendary gods will return to heaven to report all the events that happened in the past year to the Jade Emperor. As a result, every household is busy preparing offerings to the gods, burning paper money and providing tolls for the gods to return to heaven. In addition, the kitchen god should be coated with syrup around his mouth to ensure that he can say something nice or at least keep silent when reporting to the Jade Emperor. After the kitchen on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month was delivered, the atmosphere of the New Year became stronger every day, and housewives began to put up "Spring Festival couplets" with auspicious words around their homes. People also like to paste the square Spring Festival couplets upside down, because "upside down" is the homonym of "right"; Therefore, posting Spring Festival couplets symbolizes the arrival of spring and wealth. Legend has it that the more cracks in the top of the cake are opened, the more wealth there will be in the coming year. Vagrants who have lived outside for many years will go home before New Year's Eve so that they can have a big meal with their families. At this time, the family will send red envelopes full of money to the elderly and children at home; The whole family will also celebrate the New Year together. According to legend, keeping old can prolong the life of parents, so New Year's Eve is usually full of sleepless nights and bright lights. Moreover, in ancient legends, lighting all night is to scare away Nian beast. In addition, some families hold special religious ceremonies after midnight, and finally they usually set off a long string of firecrackers to welcome the New Year. For children, the most exciting thing for Chinese New Year is to receive red envelopes. The first thing on New Year's Day is to worship ancestors and gods. After that, young people at home should give their elders a "Happy New Year". Another important activity on this day is to wear new clothes to visit relatives and friends and congratulate them on "Congratulations on getting rich". This time is also a good time for reconciliation, and all new and old hatreds should be put aside for the time being. Another special scene of the New Year holiday is the dragon and lion dance. China has regarded "dragon" as a symbol of good luck since ancient times, and firmly believes that the dragon is in charge of rainfall, so dragon dancing can ensure good weather and abundant crops in the coming year. In addition, it is also said that the head of the dragon and lion can exorcise evil spirits. New Year's Day is the day when a married daughter returns to her mother's house. If they are newlyweds, the husband must accompany his wife home to give gifts. According to an interesting legend, the third day of the Lunar New Year is the day when mice get married. After nightfall, every household must turn off the lights and go to bed early so that the mouse family can hold a wedding. In addition, people scatter salt and rice all over the house, which is called "mouse sharing money" Before the Spring Festival, the streets were always crowded with people who bought new year's goods. On the fourth day of the lunar new year's eve, all the joy tends to calm down. In the afternoon, housewives prepare sacrifices to welcome Kitchen God and his entourage back to heaven. The return of Kitchen God symbolizes the end of freedom, and everything in life will be under the supervision of God. Therefore, there is a saying in our country: "It is not too early to send God, and it is not too late to welcome God. On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, the celebration of the Chinese New Year is coming to an end, and everyone returns to their respective jobs. The offerings on the table were removed and life gradually returned to normal. Lunar New Year is the birthday of the Jade Emperor, so people will prepare sacrifices in the center of the courtyard or temple to celebrate the birthday of the Jade Emperor. Just like other festivals, food also plays a very important role during the Spring Festival. In addition to pursuing color, fragrance and taste, the eating custom of the Spring Festival is more important to pray for good luck and good omen. For example, in the New Year's Eve, fish is an indispensable highlight, because fish symbolizes "more than one year"; Leek stands for "forever"; Radish stands for "good luck", and fish balls and meatballs stand for "reunion". In addition, the rice cake means "step by step", and jiaozi is shaped like a gold ingot. Eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival means accumulating wealth for the coming year. The Chinese character "fish" is the homonym of "fish"; Therefore, fish ornaments are very popular during the New Year holiday. The temple is crowded with people who burn incense and pray for peace and good luck. However, during the New Year, there is no joy without taboos. During this period, some superstitions and taboos are still deeply rooted. For example, people think that sweeping the floor before the fifth day of the fifth lunar month may sweep away the good luck and wealth at home; In addition, try to avoid saying unlucky things or discussing topics related to "death"; If you accidentally break the plate, you should say "peace through the years" as soon as possible, so as to resolve the disaster in time; Every year, in order to pray for longevity, incense and candles on the altar must be lit all day; Some families prohibit the use of knives and scissors, because it can prevent family members from being accidentally injured when using knives and scissors. Dragon and lion dances are very important recreational activities during the New Year. During the New Year in China, temples and temples in Taiwan Province Province are crowded with people who burn incense and pray for peace and good luck in the coming year. Some temples close at midnight on New Year's Eve. At this time, many people gathered at the door. As soon as the midnight bell strikes, the door will be pushed open by the crowd, and everyone will rush in to make themselves the first person in the incense burner, because it is said that the person who wins the first prize can get good luck. Huang Yue's "Phoenix Legend" in the Qing Dynasty depicts the scene of every household posting Spring Festival couplets during the Chinese New Year (Photo courtesy of the Palace Museum).
Spring Festival refers to the first day of the first lunar month in China and other Chinese cultural circles. It is traditionally called New Year's Day (different from the current Gregorian New Year in China), the beginning of a year, Zheng Dan. Now it is generally called New Year's Day, the first day of the New Year's Day, and it is also called Chinese New Year. It is celebrated verbally. This is the main festival to celebrate the New Year in many countries and regions in East Asia. Vietnamese is called "t? t Nguyên？ N "(New Year's Day), called" the first month "in Japanese (renamed the old first month after Meiji Restoration), called"? " This is an inherent word, which means Chinese New Year. In ancient China, the Spring Festival once referred to beginning of spring in 24 solar terms, which was also regarded as the beginning of a year. Later, it was changed to the first day of the first month of the summer calendar. Since the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese New Year generally didn't end until after the 15th day of the first month (Shangyuan Festival), and in some places the Chinese New Year activities didn't even end until the whole first month. After the founding of the Republic of China, the traditional lunar calendar (actually lunar calendar) was abolished and changed to the Gregorian calendar in Europe. It tried to ban people from celebrating the Lunar New Year, but failed because of the people's insistence. During the reign of Yuan Shikai, the Gregorian calendar 65438+ 1 was designated as New Year's Day, and the first day of the first lunar month was designated as the Spring Festival. However, people still celebrate the New Year, and writers still call it "celebrating New Year's Day". The word "Spring Festival" really became popular after the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. The Lunar New Year is now also called the Lunar New Year and the Old Calendar. In the sixth year of Meiji Restoration (1873), 1 stopped using the Japanese lunar calendar and used the solar calendar to measure the days. The original lunar calendar was called the old calendar, and people's celebrations began in the solar calendar only in the Three Kingdoms period. Even so, the Japanese still celebrate the New Year according to traditional customs, but in South Korea and Viet Nam, which are also influenced by China culture, even if the official calendar is changed to the western calendar, there are still official and folk activities to celebrate the Lunar New Year. At present, besides China, Korean Peninsula, Viet Nam and Japan, Mongolia, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are among the most important festivals.
Reference: zh. *** /w/index？ Title =% E6% 98% A5% E8% 8A% 82& Variant =zh-