The origin, customs, poems and couplets of the Spring Festival.

First, the origin of the Spring Festival:

The origin of the Spring Festival is related to ancient primitive beliefs, sacrifices, calendars and other humanistic and natural cultural contents. The concept of "year" comes from the ancient calendar. "In order to determine the location of the year, the emperor began to name the trunk and branches." "Nian" is the general term for all seasons of the year. The ancients determined the beginning of a year according to the different seasons of the year, that is, the "beginning of spring" in the official calendar.

The original "year" of ancient folks was "beginning of spring" in the 24 solar terms, but with the change of dynasties and calendars, the date of New Year in China was also different. For example, in the Xia dynasty, January of the lunar calendar was the first month; In Shang dynasty, December of the lunar calendar was the first month; The Zhou Dynasty took November of the lunar calendar as the first month; In the Qin Dynasty, October was the first month of the lunar calendar. Now we are talking about the Spring Festival. At the first plenary session of China People's Political Consultative Conference, we decided to use the universal Gregorian calendar era and suggested that the first day of the first lunar month should be designated as the Spring Festival.

Second, the custom of the Spring Festival:

1. Dust removal

"On the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, dust sweeps the house". According to Lv Chunqiu, China had the custom of sweeping dust during the Spring Festival in the Yao and Shun era. According to the folk saying: Because of the homonym of "dust" and "Chen", sweeping dust in the Spring Festival means "getting rid of the old and not being new", and its original intention is to sweep away all bad luck and bad luck. This custom has placed people's desire to break the old and create new ones and their prayers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, every household should clean the environment, clean all kinds of electrical appliances, remove and wash bedding curtains, sweep six yards, dust cobwebs and dredge culverts in open channels. Everywhere is filled with the joyful atmosphere of cleaning and welcoming the Spring Festival cleanly.

Step 2 post Spring Festival couplets

Spring Festival couplets are also called door couplets, spring stickers, couplets, couplets and peach symbols. They depict the background of the times and express good wishes with neat, dual, concise and delicate words, which are unique literary forms in China. Every Spring Festival, no matter in urban or rural areas, every household should choose a pair of red Spring Festival couplets and stick them on the door to add festive atmosphere to the festival. This custom began in the Song Dynasty and was popular in the Ming Dynasty. By the Qing Dynasty, the ideological and artistic quality of Spring Festival couplets had been greatly improved. Liang Zhangju's monograph Poetry of Spring Festival couplets discusses the origin of couplets and the characteristics of various works.

There are many kinds of Spring Festival couplets, which can be divided into door heart, frame pair, cross string, spring strip and bucket square according to the place of use. The "door core" is attached to the center of the upper end of the door panel; The "door frame pair" is attached to the left and right door frames; "Cross-dressing" is posted on the crossbar of the door; "Spring strips" are posted in corresponding places according to different contents; "Dou Jin", also known as "door leaf", is a square diamond, often attached to furniture and screen walls.

3. stick grilles, pour the word "fu"

In the folk, people also like to stick various paper-cuts on the windows-window grilles. Window grilles not only set off the festive atmosphere, but also integrate decoration, appreciation and practicality. Paper-cutting is a very popular folk art in China, which has been loved by people for thousands of years. Because it is often pasted on the window, it is also called "window grilles". With its unique generalization and exaggeration, window grilles show auspicious things and good wishes incisively and vividly, and decorate festivals with colorful colors.

While putting up Spring Festival couplets, some people have to put large and small "Fu" characters on doors, walls and lintels. Sticking the word "Fu" during the Spring Festival is a long-standing folk custom in China. The word "Fu" symbolizes good luck and wishes for a happy life and a bright future. In order to fully reflect this yearning and wish, some people simply put the word "Fu" upside down, indicating that "Fu has arrived" and "Fu has arrived". Others elaborate the word "Fu" into various patterns, such as longevity, longevity peach, carp yue longmen, abundant grains, dragons and phoenixes, and so on.

Paste new year pictures

Hanging New Year pictures during the Spring Festival is also very common in urban and rural areas. Thick black and colorful New Year pictures add a lot of prosperity and festive atmosphere to thousands of families. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China, which reflects people's simple customs and beliefs and places their hopes on the future. New Year pictures, like Spring Festival couplets, originated from "door gods". With the rise of block printing, the content of New Year pictures is not limited to monotonous themes such as door gods, but has become rich and colorful. Some New Year pictures workshops have produced classic color New Year pictures, such as Fu Lushou's Samsung, God bless the people, abundant crops, prosperous livestock and welcoming the New Year, to meet people's good wishes of celebrating and praying for the New Year. There are three important producing areas of Chinese New Year pictures: Taohuawu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong; Three schools of New Year pictures have been formed, each with its own characteristics.

The earliest existing collection of New Year pictures in China is the woodcut New Year pictures of the Southern Song Dynasty, which depict four ancient beauties: Wang Zhaojun, Zhao, Ban Ji and Lvzhu. The most popular folk painting is the Year of Marrying the Rat. It depicts an interesting scene in which a mouse marries a bride according to human custom. In the early years of the Republic of China, Zheng of Shanghai combined the monthly calendar with the New Year pictures. This is a new form of New Year pictures. This new year's picture, which was combined into one, later developed into a calendar and has been popular all over the country.

Step 5 keep your age

Keeping the Lunar New Year's Eve is one of the most important activities, and the custom of keeping the Lunar New Year's Eve has a long history. The earliest record can be found in the Local Records of the Western Jin Dynasty: on New Year's Eve, all parties give gifts to each other, which is called "the year of giving back"; Wine and food are invited, which is called "not old"; Young and old get together to drink and wish a complete song called "age division"; Everyone stays up all night, waiting for dawn. This is the so-called "shou sui".

On New Year's Eve, the whole family get together, eat New Year's Eve, light candles or oil lamps, sit around the stove and chat, wait for the time to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year, and keep vigil all night, which symbolizes driving away all evil diseases and epidemics and expecting good luck in the new year. This custom gradually became popular. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, wrote a poem "Shou Sui": "Cold words and winter snow, warm with spring breeze". To this day, people are used to celebrating the New Year's Eve.

In ancient times, observing the age has two meanings: the old man's observing the age means "resigning from the old", which means cherishing time; Young people keep their age in order to prolong the life of their parents. Since the Han Dynasty, the time for the alternation of the old and new years is generally at midnight.

Setting off firecrackers

There is a folk saying in China that "open the door and set off firecrackers". That is, when the new year comes, the first thing for every household to open the door is to set off firecrackers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Firecracker is a specialty of China, also known as "Firecracker", "Firecracker" and "Firecracker". Its origin is very early, and it has a history of more than two thousand years. Setting off firecrackers can create a festive and lively atmosphere, which is a kind of entertainment in festivals and can bring happiness and good luck to people. With the passage of time, firecrackers are more and more widely used, and there are more and more varieties and colors. Every major festival and happy celebration, as well as marriage, building, opening, etc. We should set off firecrackers to celebrate and make good luck. At present, Liuyang, Hunan, Foshan and Dongyao, Yichun and Pingxiang, Jiangxi, Wenzhou, Zhejiang and other regions are famous fireworks towns in China. The firecrackers produced have many colors and high quality, which are not only sold well all over the country, but also exported to all parts of the world.

7. Happy New Year

On the first day of the new year, people get up early, put on the most beautiful clothes, dress neatly, go out to visit relatives and friends, and wish each other good luck in the coming year. There are many ways to pay New Year's greetings, some of which are led by the same patriarch from door to door. Some colleagues invited several people to pay New Year greetings; Others get together to congratulate each other. This is called "group worship". Because it takes time and effort to pay New Year greetings at home, some elites and scholars later congratulated each other with stickers, thus developing the later "New Year cards".

When paying New Year greetings during the Spring Festival, the younger generation should first pay New Year greetings to their elders and wish them health and longevity. The elders can distribute the lucky money prepared in advance to the younger generation. It is said that lucky money can kill evil spirits, because "old" and "special" are homophonic, and the younger generation can spend a year safely with lucky money. There are two kinds of lucky money, one is to put colored rope in the shape of Jackie Chan at the foot of the bed, which was recorded in Yanjing year; The other is the most common, that is, parents wrap the money distributed to their children in red paper. Lucky money can be given in public after the younger generation pays New Year's greetings, or it can be secretly put under the child's pillow by parents when the child falls asleep on New Year's Eve. It is still very popular for elders to give lucky money to younger generations.

8. Eating habits during the Spring Festival

In ancient agricultural society, housewives began to prepare food for the New Year from the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

On New Year's Eve in the north, jiaozi eats more, which means "making friends when young" in homophonic. Some put sugar in jiaozi to pray for a sweeter life in the coming year; Others wrap a coin in jiaozi, and whoever eats it will make a fortune in the new year. On New Year's Eve in the south, people usually eat Yuanxiao and rice cakes. Yuanxiao is also called "Tangyuan", "Tuanzi" and "Zi Yuan", with more sugar in the middle, which means a happy and sweet family reunion. The rice cake is made of glutinous rice, which is homophonic "high every year". Until today, the custom of including jiaozi in the north and south is still very common.

Third, the Spring Festival poems:

1, yuan day

Song Dynasty: Wang Anshi

The roar of firecrackers, the old year has passed; The warm spring breeze ushered in the New Year, and people happily drank the newly brewed Tu Su wine.

The rising sun sheds light on doors of each household, New peachwood charm is put up to replace the old.

2. "Happy New Year"

Ming Dynasty: Wen Zhiming

I don't want to meet, but I want to talk about it. The famous papers are all us.

I also throw some paper at people. The world is too simple and empty.

3. Snow removal at night

Song dynasty: Lu you

On the fourth day, the north wind brought a heavy snow; The snow that God has given us comes on New Year's Eve, which indicates a bumper harvest in the coming year.

Before the glass half full of wine could be lifted to celebrate, I was still writing Fu Tao in cursive script under the lamp.

4. "Working at night"

Tang dynasty: Gao Shi

The cold light in the hotel stayed alone and didn't sleep, and the guest turned sad.

My hometown is thinking thousands of miles tonight, and it is another year of the Ming Dynasty. (Frost Temple: Sorrow Temple)

5. Tianjiayuan Day

Tang Dynasty: Meng Haoran

Bucket handle of the Big Dipper turned to the east last night and got up again this morning.

I am forty years old. Although I have no official position, I am worried about farming.

A farmer working in a field full of mulberry trees is carrying a hoe and working with a shepherd boy.

Tian said that this year's climate is abundant.

6. Except at night

Song Dynasty: Wen Tianxiang

Dry kunkong, years go to the church;

The end of the road is stormy, and the poor side is full of ice and snow.

Life disappears with the years, and the body is forgotten;

There is no such thing as killing Su Meng. It's still early at night.

7. New Year's work

Tang Dynasty: Liu Changqing

The arrival of the new year is more homesick, and the independent horizon can't help crying.

People who are exiled in old age rush ahead of me in spring.

The monkey came down from the mountain and pestered me.

I was tortured like a bodyguard, so when will this day come?

8. "Taiyuan is very cold except at night"

Ming Dynasty: Yu Qian

Send a message to the world, travel light.

The spring breeze is not far away, just to the east of the house.

9. "January 1st"

Tang Dynasty: Li Shimin

The high platform reflects the spring scenery, and the deep pavilion bathes in the morning sun.

Colorful flags are flying on the red palace wall, and the jade bead curtain hits the ladies' Yu Pei.

I followed the ancient rulers, ruled the country with courtesy, and finally made all parties stable and healthier.

Your majesty, the dense music of silk and bamboo that reverberates in the corridor.

The majestic and warm wind blew on the earth, and the emperor sang Conson's Cloud Map.

Will inherit Zhou Wenwang's career, follow his precedent, and govern the country from the success and failure experience of ancient emperors.

Spring has come, the grass is bathed in the grass as before, and the plum blossoms are in full bloom as in previous years.

I want to cross the big river to the other side, but in the end I have to cross it by ferry.

10 except night/Bashan road except night book "

Tang Dynasty: Cui Tu

The journey is in a dangerous place in the distance, on a rugged road, far from the road.

On all sides of the mountains, the snow reflected the cold night, sitting in the candlelight night, I am a stranger here.

Because the farther away from relatives, on the contrary, the closer to employees and servants.

It's hard to get through New Year's Eve in the drift, and tomorrow's update is the new year.

Fourth, Spring Festival couplets.

Part I: Spring blossoms.

The second part: the lucky spot is safe in all seasons.

Horizontal approval: celebrating the Spring Festival

Part I: Five more minutes, two more years.

Bottom line: I'm happy to be two years old overnight.

Horizontal batch: Congratulations on the Spring Festival.

Part one: increasing happiness in Heshunmen

The second part: a happy family, that thousand auspicious.

Horizontal approval: celebrating the Spring Festival

Part 1: Good luck all the year round.

Bottom line: babies from all directions come into the house.

Horizontal criticism: home and everything.

The first part: Spring has come, and the earth is full of flowers.

The bottom line is: this festival is new to the world.

Horizontal batch: all the best.

The first part: Smooth sailing and good year after year.

The bottom line is: everything goes well, step by step.

Horizontal approval: Ji Zhao

Part I: Prosperity of wealth.

Bottom line: Fu Zhao's family is full of glory.

Horizontal recognition: get what you want

Part I: Every family is rich in prosperous times.

Bottom line: Everyone is happy when they meet age.

Horizontal approval: everyone is happy.

Part I: Welcome the splendid scenery of the New Year.

Bottom line: Resign from the old year and be brilliant.

Horizontal batch: spring is full.

Part I: Financial resources are rolling in.

Bottom line: full of happiness

Horizontal approval: extensive financial resources

The first part: the east wind and the dew and the green hills

Bottom line: policy returns everywhere in spring.

Horizontal batch: spring breeze melts rain

Part I: Know-it-all.

The bottom line is: winter goes and spring comes.

Horizontal approval: celebrating the Spring Festival