The Meaning of New Year's Money

When paying New Year's call at the Spring Festival, the elders will distribute the pre-prepared New Year's money to the younger generation, and it is said that the New Year's money can suppress the evil spirits, because "year" and "spirit" are homophonic, and the younger generation can spend the year in peace if they get the New Year's money. There are two kinds of New Year's money, one is to colorful rope threaded woven into the shape of a dragon, placed at the foot of the bed, this record is found in the "Yanjing Yearly Record"; the other is the most common, that is, wrapped in red paper by the parents of the money given to the children. New Year's money can be in the late generation after the New Year's Day public reward, can also be in the New Year's Eve when the child is asleep, by the parents quietly placed under the child's pillow.

The Qing dynasty Wu Man-yun "New Year's money" poem in the cloud: "a hundred and ten money through the colorful line long, divided into pillows from the collection, the discussion of the firecrackers to talk about xiao price, added to the children of the night busy". From this point of view, the new year's money is tied to a child's heart, and the child's new year's money is mainly used to buy firecrackers, toys and candies and other things needed for the holidays.

Now the elders for the younger generation to send the custom of the new year's money is still prevalent, the amount of money from dozens of new year's money to hundreds of ranging from the new year's money is mostly used by the children to buy books and school supplies, the new fashion for the new year's money to give a new content.

Folk believe that when the children are given new year's money, when the evil spirits and demons or "year" to harm the children, the children can use the money to bribe them to turn evil into good luck.

In addition, there is a veritable new year's money, is given by the younger generation to the old man, years, is the years, years, the pressure of the year, intended to look forward to the old man's longevity.

On the New Year's Eve money, there is a widely circulated story. In ancient times, there is a small demon called "Sneaky", the night of the New Year's Eve out to touch the head of a sleeping child, the child is often scared and cried, and then a headache fever, become a fool. Therefore, the family is in this day lighted lamps sitting not sleep, called "guarding the Sneaky".

There is a family of husband and wife in their old age, as a son, as the heart of the treasure. On the night of New Year's Eve, they were afraid that the "Sneaky" to harm the child, they took out eight coins to play with the child. The child fell asleep tired of playing, they put the eight coins wrapped in red paper under the child's pillow, the couple did not dare to close their eyes. In the middle of the night, a gust of wind blew open the door of the room, blowing out the lights, "Sneaky" just reached out to touch the child's head, the pillow side of the road burst into flashes of light, scared the "Sneaky" fled. The next day, the couple to use red paper wrapped in eight coins to scare off the "Sneaky" thing told everyone, and then everyone learn to do, the child is safe and sound.

It turns out that the eight coins are the eight immortals change, secretly to protect the child. Because the "Sneaky" and "year" resonance, and then gradually evolved into the "New Year's Eve money". To the Ming and Qing Dynasties, "to colorful rope through the money braided into the shape of a dragon, called the New Year's Eve money. Honorable elder's gift to the children, also known as the New Year's Eve money. So some places to give children the New Year's money called "string money". In recent times, it evolved into a red paper wrapped in a hundred copper money given to the younger generation, meaning "long life". To the adult generation of the late red paper bag is put a silver dollar, meaning "a million dollars". After the change of currency to paper money, the elders like to go to the bank to exchange the new banknotes with the same number on the face of the banknotes for their children, wishing their children "successive rise".

[Edit Paragraph]History

The earliest Chinese New Year's money appeared in the Han Dynasty. The earliest Chinese New Year's money was also called the "aversion to victory" money, or the "big victory" money, which was not the currency circulating on the market, but was an evil-avoiding item that was minted into the shape of a coin in order to be worn for fun and enjoyment. This coin form of wear items first appeared in the Han Dynasty, some of the front of the coin cast on the text and a variety of auspicious words, such as "thousands of years", "peace in the world", "to remove the evil of the disaster "and so on; the back of the casting of a variety of patterns, such as dragon and phoenix, tortoise and snake, double fish, fighting swords, stars and buckets and so on.

Tang Dynasty, the court in the spring scattered money wind prevailed. At that time, the Spring Festival is "spring day", is the day of mutual worship in the palace, the folk did not have this custom. Ziji Tongjian" Volume 26 records Yang Guifei gave birth to a child, "Xuanzong personally to see, happy to give the consort to wash the child gold and silver money" thing. In addition to congratulations, the more important meaning of the money is the elders to the newborn baby's charm to avoid evil spirits.

After the Song and Yuan, the first day of the first month to replace the spring, known as the Spring Festival. Many of the original belong to the Spring Festival custom also moved to the Spring Festival. The custom of the Spring Festival scattered money has evolved into the custom of giving children the New Year's Eve money. Qing Fucha Dun Chong, "Yanjing Yearly Records" is recorded in this way: "colorful rope through the money, braided into a dragon shape, placed at the foot of the bed, known as the New Year's Eve money. Honorable elder's gift to the children. Also known as the New Year's money."

By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, most of the new year's money is given to the child with a red string. After the Republic of China, it evolved into a hundred copper yuan wrapped in red paper, the meaning of which is "long life", to have been an adult offspring of the pressure money, red paper wrapped in a large ocean, symbolizing the "prosperity", "a book of 10,000 profits! The red paper was wrapped with a big ocean, symbolizing "prosperous wealth" and "a hundred thousand profits". After the currency was changed to banknotes, parents liked to choose the new banknotes with linked numbers to give to their children, because "Lian" and "Lian" are homophonic, which symbolizes that the future generations will "be rich again and again", "The first time I saw this, I was able to see it in the back of my head.

The custom of New Year's money has a long history, it represents a kind of elders to the younger generation of the good wishes, it is the elders to give the child's amulet, blessing the child in the new year of health and good luck.