Everyone knows that there are lucky money every year during the Spring Festival. I want to know how the lucky money came from. The significance of Chinese New Year in China and how did the rise of Chi

Everyone knows that there are lucky money every year during the Spring Festival. I want to know how the lucky money came from. The significance of Chinese New Year in China and how did the rise of Chinese New Year rise? There are two theories about the origin of lucky money: First, there is a widely circulated story. In ancient times, there was a little demon named Chong. On New Year's Eve, he came out and touched the head of a sleeping child. The child often cried with fear, and then he had a headache and became a fool. Therefore, on this day, every family will turn on the lights and stay up late, which is called "keeping special". There was a couple who had a son in their later years and regarded him as their favorite. On New Year's Eve, they were afraid that "worship" would harm their children, so they took out eight copper coins to play with them. When the child fell asleep playing, they wrapped eight copper coins in red paper and put them under the child's pillow. The couple dare not sleep. In the middle of the night, an evil wind blew the door open and blew out the lights. As soon as Chong reached out to touch the child's head, the pillow flashed all over the floor, scaring Chong away. The next day, the couple told everyone about wrapping eight copper coins in red paper to scare them away. After that, everyone learned, and the children were safe. It turns out that these eight copper coins were exchanged by the Eight Immortals to secretly protect the children. Because "pilgrimage" and "old" are homophonic, it gradually evolved into "lucky money" In the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was called lucky money. What elders give their children is also called lucky money. "So some places call giving children lucky money' string money'. In modern times, it has evolved into a kind of red paper wrapped in 100 copper coins, which is given to the younger generation, meaning "long life". "For an adult mistress, put a silver dollar in a red paper bag, which means" one book is profitable ". After the currency is changed to paper money, the elders like to go to the bank to change their children into new paper money with face numbers, wishing them "promotion step by step". Another story is said that in history, on New Year's Eve, families with young children used plates, boxes and other utensils to hold fruits and food and gave them to each other. This is the "birthday plate". Later, the "lucky money" replaced the "year-old plate", which is the current payment method of lucky money. In the Qing Dynasty, lucky money brought elements of exorcism and blessing. The book "Lucky Money at the Age of Yanjing" records: "It is called lucky money to wear money with colored ropes and put it at the foot of the bed, and elders also call it lucky money to their children. "This refers to copper coins with square holes. Since paper money replaced metal to make money, it has been wrapped in red paper to show good luck. In the Qing Dynasty, someone once wrote a poem describing the joy of children getting lucky money: "One hundred dollars grew on the colored line and were collected from the corner pillow to discuss the price of firecrackers, which kept Joule busy all night. "The meaning of one year: 365 days, and the cycle of spring, summer, autumn and winter is one year; Harvest status: spring is spring, summer is long, autumn is winter, and the number of grains is good or bad; The name of the festival: "Centennial Heading" is a happy time to celebrate, which is the so-called China New Year. Since "year" is a time unit, it is naturally related to the calendar, and the formation of the calendar is the product of the movement of celestial bodies and the growth law of all things. This process develops with the progress of society and the improvement of people's knowledge. During the period of primitive agricultural society in China, in the long-term farming practice, the cycle of alternating seasons was discovered, and at the same time, the law between the movement of celestial bodies and the growth of crops on the ground was observed, which was called "observing the image and observing the time". In the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties two or three thousand years ago, there was a method to record the year, month and day with the change of the astrological orientation referred to by Beidou bucket handle. This is the prototype of the calendar. The first month of each year is called the first month, which is the beginning of the year. Because the calendars used in different dynasties are different, the beginning of a year is different. The first month of the summer calendar is the lunar calendar (agricultural time) that we use now, which is the so-called "establishing the moon of yin and moon"; In Shang Dynasty, the December of the lunar calendar is now the beginning of a year, which is the so-called "ugly winter moon". The weekly calendar begins with November of the current lunar calendar, which is the so-called "Mid-winter Moon". The Zhuan Xu calendar was used in the Qin Dynasty, and October of this lunar calendar is the beginning of a year, which is called "the Moon of Building Hai Meng Dong". In the early Han dynasty, the Qin calendar was still the standard. It was not until Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty organized a special team to change the Zhuan Xu calendar to taichu calendar and bring the 24 solar terms into the calendar. The first month of the summer calendar is still the beginning of the year. This is why we still call the lunar calendar (agriculture) the summer calendar. The word "nian" appeared in the Zhou Dynasty. Before this, Yao and Shun called it "carrying", which means that the celestial bodies and stars carry a week. In the Xia dynasty, it was called "old", which means that people are one year older and the Spring Festival is coming. Shang dynasty called it "sacrifice", which means it's past four o'clock. It's time to make history books and worship the ancestors of the gods. Although the word "year" was once changed to "year" in Tang Suzong, the period is very short, also called "year". Year is a unit of time, which has been used until now. A cycle of spring, summer, autumn and winter is called a year. The word "zai" appears from time to time in written language, which is obviously influenced by ancient appellations. Another meaning of "year" is harvest. There are four seasons in a year, which is gradually recognized according to the cyclic law of crop growth, growth, harvest and storage. Therefore, in ancient records, the interpretation of "year" is "ancient book leaves" Harvest grain is called "one year", and harvest is called "big year", also called "bumper year". The emperor prayed and called this place full of grain "Hall of Praying for the New Year". When singing the praises of the emperor in traditional Chinese opera, there are lyrics of "the monarch is happy while the minister is happy, and the grain is abundant". The word "nian" was originally the original word of the word "barnyard grass", which means that the crops are mature and abundant. The word "nian" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions is the image of a bumper harvest of fruits, so it is not difficult to understand the close relationship between "nian" and crops. Another meaning of "Year" is the name of the festival. This is a day that everyone should celebrate. After the collection, the farm work in the field is over, and the first thing that comes to mind is to repay the blessing of the gods and the shade of the ancestors. Cook rice, make wine, and offer sacrifices to the gods and ancestors, hoping for another bumper harvest in the coming year. Over time, it has formed an annual law. However, in ancient times, when the sacrificial ceremony was held was uncertain, but it was limited to the period when the old and new years alternated. As a festival, Nian was formed in the Han Dynasty. The people suffered from the disintegration of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Although the Qin Dynasty unified China, the corvee taxes were extremely harsh and the people lived in poverty. It was not until the Han Dynasty that the society was relatively stable and the economy became increasingly prosperous that the people had the opportunity to recuperate, creating conditions for year-end celebrations and New Year greetings. When is a year called "Year"? Nature is the first day of the year. However, due to the different calendars and the feudal consciousness of emperors, it was difficult to determine the first day of the first year at first. The feudal emperor of China claimed to be the son of heaven. In order to show their purpose of "serving the sky", the order of months changed many times with the change of dynasties. The first month is not fixed, and the first day is naturally not fixed. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty changed Zhuan Xu Calendar to taichu calendar, Wang Mang, Wei Mingdi, Wu Zetian, Tang Suzong, etc. once switched to the weekly calendar, but the time was short. Therefore, the people always take the summer calendar as the standard, and the first day of the first month is the New Year. There are many changes in the name of the New Year. In ancient times, it was called Shangri-La, Yuanri, Shuodan, Jacky, Zhengri, Zheng Dan, Zheng Chao, Sanyuan (the yuan of the year, month and day) and the Three Dynasties (the dynasty of the year, month and day). Later generations gradually called New Year's Day. After the Republic of China, China used both lunar and solar calendars, and the Gregorian calendar 1 day was also New Year's Day. China folk customs don't pay much attention to the solar calendar. Although institutions and schools have holidays on New Year's Day in the solar calendar as usual, people do not regard this day as a holiday. Nevertheless, there can't be two "years" in a country, so New Year's Day in the lunar calendar is called "Spring Festival". The name of the Spring Festival has existed since ancient times and refers to "beginning of spring". Because people call the Lunar New Year Spring Festival and recognize it, they no longer call beginning of spring Spring Festival. After the founding of New China, the Gregorian calendar was adopted, but the lunar calendar existed at the same time. Because the twenty-four solar terms of the lunar calendar are directly related to the growth of crops, "farming time" can not be delayed, so we now call the lunar calendar. The first day of the first lunar month is called the Spring Festival. According to the custom of our country, we have a three-day holiday during the Spring Festival, and everyone will spend the holidays together.