What are the Chinese New Year customs of Shehong?

Laba Festival, the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. It used to be a Buddhist festival, but people think it is a festival to persuade people to be frugal. On this day, every household cooks eight kinds of food, such as rice, soybeans, mung beans, peanuts, pork and vegetables, into gruel, indicating the lack of food, making up enough miscellaneous grains to cook and educating future generations to be frugal. This custom has been passed down from generation to generation and still exists today.

God of sending stoves

On the 23 rd of the twelfth lunar month, the festival of offering sacrifices to stoves. Legend has it that on this day, the Kitchen God and the Bodhisattva will report the human situation to the Jade Emperor, and the host family will put in a good word for the Kitchen God and the Bodhisattva, and every household will set the wine, set the dishes, offer sweets, burn incense and light candles early in the morning and send the Kitchen God to heaven. On the day of the sacrifice, everyone cleaned the house and made it clean. I hope the kitchen god will report good news and not worry. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the countryside is also called off-year.

Have a reunion dinner

The year of the Communist Youth League is the day before the Spring Festival and the last day of the twelfth lunar month (collectively referred to as Lunar New Year's Eve). The activities of this day mainly include ancestor worship, eating New Year's Eve dinner, sticking to the door, sticking to Spring Festival couplets and so on. On the day of the reunion dinner, even the most difficult families have to cook several dishes at noon. After ancestor worship (going to the grave), the whole family get together and have a reunion dinner, commonly known as "reunion dinner". Married girls can go home for a reunion dinner, but they can't spend New Year's Eve at their parents' house, or even attend the ceremony of going out in the Arabian Nights on the morning of the first day of junior high school, because there is a saying in the countryside: "A fire at the age of 30 is a lamp at the age of 15." On New Year's Eve, the elders of a family will take their children and grandchildren to the ancestral graves to burn incense to worship their ancestors. Before eating New Year's Eve, you should put the food on the table, entertain your ancestors with rice and wine first, and then worship them before you can enjoy it. In addition, many people in rural areas think that men are masters of the family and carry on the family line, and men burn incense to worship their ancestors, so women should stand aside or stay in the kitchen to worship their ancestors. On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, every household hangs red lanterns, sticks Spring Festival couplets, sticks door gods (door gods are mostly woodcut copies of Qin and Weichi Gong in the Tang Dynasty, which are said to drive away ghosts and spirits), cleans up again, and hides things forbidden during the Spring Festival, such as brooms, needles, scissors and steelyard.

Celebrate the New Year (New Year's Eve)

New Year's Eve is the night when the year ends. The Records of Shehong County in Guangxu, Qing Dynasty recorded: "The 30th is New Year's Eve, and the ribbon-cutting paper is money, which is posted all over the portal, and the peach characters are changed and the Spring Festival couplets are posted; Respect the ancestors of the god of heaven and earth, worship the elders and say' resignation'; Burning charcoal around the stove, setting lights and candles, and staying awake for a long time is called' keeping the year'. " This custom has been passed down to this day. Now, on this evening, firecrackers are set off after dinner to bid farewell to the old year. After the whole family offered sacrifices to heaven, land and ancestors, the whole family stayed up late, sat around the lamp, reminisced about the old and introduced the new, and enjoyed family happiness until late at night. The elders will give the younger generation lucky money (the amount of lucky money depends on the family's economic strength, and now there are thousands of lucky money). This night, I would also like to welcome Kitchen God back to the palace, because Kitchen God went to heaven to talk about things when he was young and will return to the palace tonight. On New Year's Eve, every household is brightly lit, so we can't turn off the lights, because there is a saying in the countryside that "when people die, the lights go out".

Celebrate the new year.

From the first day of the first month to the fifteenth day of the first month, it is the first day of the new year in rural areas. Jin Dongxun's "Ask Customs" said: "One day is a chicken, two days is a dog, three days is a pig, four days is a sheep, five days is a cow, six days is a horse, and seven days is a man." Later generations have "one chicken, two dog, three pigs, four sheep, five cows, six horses, seven people, eight silkworms, nine dragons and ten tigers ...".

The first day of the first month: Spring Festival, also known as January 21 and New Year's Eve. The Records of Shehong County in Guangxu, Qing Dynasty recorded: "At dawn in January, Nine-grade candles greeted God at the door. After the ceremony, firecrackers appeared in court and the whole family drank Tu Su wine. China years: Tu Su, the name of Cao An. Once upon a time, people lived in thatched cottages. Every new year's eve, they will leave a dose of medicine in the well to soak in it. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, they put water in wine bottles, and both men and women drank it to avoid catching the plague. Today, relatives and friends respect each other, so they will stay and drink this wine, eat a few, and break up happily. " With the changes of the times, the folk culture of Yuanri became richer. On this day, every family lights incense sticks, respects heaven and ancestors, sets off firecrackers to welcome the new year, and grabs "gold, silver and water" (well water), hoping that the new year will be rich in financial resources. When you get up in the morning, everyone puts on a new suit, and most people eat noodles or glutinous rice balls, which symbolizes the success of the new year. After breakfast, in twos and threes, we went out for a walk, met friends and relatives and exchanged New Year wishes. There are many likes and dislikes on this day. I like auspicious words and events, but I don't like words that say "death" or "death" or are homophonic with them. It is forbidden to break ground, which will destroy wealth; Don't sweep the floor, if you sweep the floor, you will sweep away a year's wealth; Don't break bowls, spoons, wine glasses and other tableware. I hope that the whole family will eat enough and break the tableware in the new year, and the whole family will have a bad year; Furthermore, needles, scissors and other things with sharp mouths should not be used, because these things with sharp mouths are very similar to the mouths of mice. If you use needles and scissors, mice love to bite clothes for a year; The steelyard is also a taboo, because it is very long and its scales are dense, much like a snake. If you use a steelyard, it will be a snake for more than a year.

On the second and third day of the first month: people began to visit relatives. When newlyweds pay New Year's greetings and bring their children to New Year's greetings, the host family should "send money to pay homage" (give red envelopes), depending on the financial resources of the host family; Lion lights and car lights began to tour the countryside and asked for wedding gifts. The lion lantern, a traditional folk entertainment activity, consists of two people wearing colorful lion skins made of cloth. One wears a smiling face mask (smiling monk), holds a broomstick and a fan, and wears colorful clothes. Accompanied by the sound of gongs and drums, he teased the lion, stroked the lion, jumped and rolled, and made all kinds of playful and interesting movements, which made the audience smile. Some urban and rural laymen also put on various formations, asking lion lanterns to break the array. Those who can break the array will not only be rewarded, but also be warmly treated. Knowing that I can't break the array, I have to avoid it. Lion lanterns in Liziwan and Dafenba in our town are famous for their superb acting skills. Car lights, also called car lights, are covered floats made of colored paper or cloth. A woman or a man dressed as a woman is standing in the car, and the other person is dressed as a clown, teasing, singing and dancing in front of the car, with a lively figure and full of fun. "Sister Che" shook the float, either forward or backward, like a boat, moving naturally.

On the fourth day of the first month: sheep celebrate the New Year, and the atmosphere of the New Year gradually fades away.

The fifth day of the first month: breaking the fifth day, traditional customs. The Records of Shehong County in Guangxu, Qing Dynasty recorded: "Before five days, people did not trade money but drank alcohol for fun, except for New Year's greetings. After this day, we will gradually manage trade. " Now, on this day, people usually don't visit and drink, but get up early to set off firecrackers and symbolically work underground. People call the fifth day of the first month "Poverty Hate Day". In rural areas, it is generally believed that visiting people on the fifth day will bring poverty to others, so they generally don't visit relatives.

On the sixth day of the first month: relatives will go home today.

The seventh day of the first month: Chinese New Year (People's Day), because it is Chinese New Year, the countryside also attaches great importance to this festival. Every family should also prepare several dishes, and also drink and eat vegetables. You are not allowed to visit relatives on this day, because there is a custom of "seven don't go out and eight don't go home" in rural areas.

The ninth day of the first month: the ninth day. The Records of Shehong County in Guangxu of Qing Dynasty recorded: "It is a day when people worship the Jade Emperor, and urban women often worship in temples with incense burners. Tourists bring wine and go to Jin Huashan to drink. " This custom has not been passed down. According to the old custom, dragon lanterns began to tour the market in series (the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, celebrating the New Year for dragons) and paying gifts for merchants. Now, there are dragon lanterns visiting the market on the second and third day of the first month.

The fifteenth day of the first month: Lantern Festival (also the Taoist Lantern Festival). Clear. Kangxi's "Shehong County Records" records: "There were pink balls in the Yuan Dynasty, lanterns were lit in the market, yangko and tea-picking songs were sung, and eight-year-old children had a circus. According to the Records of Shehong County in Guangxu of Qing Dynasty, it is a night view, and giant candles burn like day in the city. Folk parades with dragon and lion dances. The audience stored iron powder and gunpowder in bamboo tubes and sprayed them. Their flames soar into the sky, producing countless flowers, which are bright and visible and are called flowers. Today, from the ninth to the fifteenth, it is particularly prosperous. " Now there is a custom of "sending new year's goods" in rural areas. When sending the New Year, you can offer "knife heads", "water rice" and "singeing boats (grass boats)", set off firecrackers, burn incense and melt paper to send away the flavor of the New Year.

Colleagues respectfully sent the idol back to the palace. Watching lights, setting off fireworks and playing with fire dragons in the market town are very lively. Fire dragons are usually made by local craftsmen. The dragon head, dragon body and keel are all made of bamboo strips, then connected, wrapped in red cloth, and painted with yellow pigment on Longlin. The whole dragon has at least seven segments and at most fifteen segments. After all the procedures are completed, we will wait for the Lantern Festival. When playing, you should choose lean men to dance with dragons to match the beat of gongs and drums and avoid the burning of fireworks. Have fun (usually late at night) and burn the whole dragon. Dry (dry) without burning; There is another taboo in the countryside. Married women can't see the lights in their parents' house on the fifteenth day of the first month, and think it is unlucky to see their parents' house.

To sum up, some excellent traditional festival folk culture has been handed down among the people. Of course, there are some unhealthy things. We should vigorously develop the construction of two civilizations, actively carry forward the advanced socialist culture, make full use of and transform the traditional folk culture with local characteristics, and make it play an active role in the construction of two civilizations.