What are the customs of the Spring Festival?

The Spring Festival is the grandest and most meaningful traditional festival in China, with a long and ancient history. It evolved from the ancient times when people would pray for the New Year at the beginning of the year.

Customs of the Spring Festival

1, sweep the dust

In folklore, the New Year's Eve, there is a "Lunar New Year's Eve 24, sweep the dust (also known as sweeping the house) custom. Proverbs say "twenty-four, sweep the house". Folk called "dust sweeping day". Sweeping dust is the end of the year cleaning, every household to clean the environment, cleaning all kinds of appliances, unwashing bedding curtains, sweeping the courtyard of the six coccyxes, dusting dust cobwebs, dredging nullahs and ditches. Everywhere overflowing with joy to engage in health, clean and welcome the happy atmosphere of the New Year. According to folklore: because the "dust" and "Chen" consonant, dust sweeping before the year has "in addition to the new" meaning. Sweeping the dust is intended to be all poor luck, bad luck all sweep out the door to pray for the next year Qingji.

2, posting Spring Festival couplets

Spring Festival couplets, also known as the door to the spring, couplets, couplets, couplets, peach symbols, etc., it is neat, couplets, concise, sophisticated text depicting the background of the times, expressing the best wishes, is China's unique form of literature. Every Spring Festival, every family will put up couplets to celebrate the arrival of the New Year.

3, do the New Year's goods

Chinese New Year's culture has a long history, the country derived from a variety of New Year's Eve customs, the north and south are very different, each with its own characteristics. Although the customs are not the same, but the preparation of New Year's goods, New Year's gift is almost the whole country "New Year's must". To purchase New Year's goods, including food, wear, wear, use, stickers (New Year's red), send (New Year's) gifts, etc., collectively known as the "New Year's goods", and the process of purchasing New Year's goods is called "to do New Year's goods". Doing Lunar New Year shopping is an important activity of the Chinese people during the Spring Festival.

4, ancestor worship

One of the most important things in the New Year is ancestor worship, which is also a traditional Chinese custom. Because of the vastness of China, the form of ancestor worship is different in each place, some go to the field to sweep the tomb, some are ancestral hall bowing, no matter how the form, this is the memory of the deceased.

5, New Year's Eve dinner

New Year's Eve dinner, also known as the New Year's Eve dinner, New Year's Eve dinner, reunion dinner, etc., refers to the end of the year New Year's Eve of the whole family dinner. New Year's Eve dinner originated from the ancient year-end rituals, worship of gods and ancestors after the reunion dinner. Lunar New Year's Eve dinner is the highlight of the year before, not only colorful, but also very meaningful. Before eating the New Year's Eve dinner, the gods and ancestors are worshipped, and the meal is served only after the worship ceremony is completed. On the table, there are usually chicken (which means to have a plan), fish (which means to have more money every year), oysters and black bean sauce (which means to have a good market), hairy vegetables (which means to be rich), bean curd bamboo (which means to be rich), lotus root (which means to be smart), lettuce (which means to have a good fortune), raw garlic (which means to be able to calculate), and preserved sausage (which means to be long-lasting), and so on, in order to seek good fortune. The Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is a family reunion dinner, and this is the most sumptuous and important dinner at the end of the year.

6, year-end vigil

New Year's Eve vigil, some places (western Henan) called "boiled years", is also one of the most important Spring Festival activities, the vigil contains two meanings: the elderly year-end vigil for the "resignation of the old year! ", there is the meaning of the precious time; young people to keep the year, is to extend the life of parents. The earliest records are found in the Western Jin Dynasty Zhou Zhi's "customs and localities": New Year's Eve night, each with the gift, called "feed the year"; wine and food invited, called "don't year"; young and old get together to drink, wishing complete, called "share the year! "; we stay up all night, waiting for the dawn, called" year-keeping". This custom gradually prevailed, to the early Tang Dynasty, Tang Taizong Li Shimin wrote a "year-keeping" poem: "Twilight oblique Fang Hall, the year Hua Li Cherry Palace. The cold leaves the winter snow, and the warmth is brought into the spring breeze. Steps Fu Shu Plum Su, plate flowers roll candle red. *** happy new year, welcome a night in." Until today, people are still accustomed to the New Year's Eve night vigil to welcome the new. Most places in the country to observe the New Year, women wrapping dumplings, washing vegetables, prepare the meal on the first day of the New Year, or to prepare the new clothes for the whole family, men playing poker, mahjong, or drinking and entertainment until dawn, or the family together to watch the Spring Festival gala program.

7, to the new year's money

The new year's money is the Spring Festival before the younger generation and the children dream of a big event. The new year's money is also known as "new year's money", "pressure Sheng money", "pressure victory money", "pressure waist money". New Year's Eve after the New Year's Eve dinner, by the elders or the head of the family to the younger generation of the money, and with a red thread braided coins into a string, hanging in the chest of the child, said to be able to suppress the evil and drive away the ghosts. The Qing dynasty Fucha Duncan Chong "Yanjing times of the year" said: "colorful rope through the money, braided into the shape of a dragon, 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." This custom has been popular since the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties. Xuanhe Bogu TuLu recorded: "money shape long and square, above the dragons and horses, commonly said to wear this can drive away evil spirits." Because "岁" and "祟" sound alike, "压岁" means "压祟", so it is called "New Year's Money". It is also called "New Year's money" because it is given on the night of the New Year's Eve.

8, firecrackers

"Firecrackers in the sound of a year in addition to the spring breeze to send warmth into the TuSu. Thousands of doors and tens of thousands of tels, always change the new peach for the old symbol." This poem by Wang Anshi, a politician of the Song Dynasty, also mentions the setting off of firecrackers in the Spring Festival, so it is clear that the custom of setting off firecrackers in the Spring Festival has been around for a long time. At the arrival of the Spring Festival, the first thing to do when every household opens its door is to set off firecrackers, to crackle the sound of firecrackers to get rid of the old and welcome the new. Firecrackers are also known as "firecrackers", "firecrackers", "guns" and so on.

9, New Year's Day

Early in the morning on the first day of the New Year, children and adults dressed in festive attire, go out to visit friends and relatives, pay their respects to each other, wishing the New Year good luck. The New Year's greetings generally begin at home. On the morning of the first day of the evening after getting up, the first to the elders to pay tribute to the New Year, wishing elders a long and healthy life, all the best. After the home to pay homage to the New Year, people go out to meet with a smile to congratulate the New Year, each other say "congratulations on wealth", "Happy New Year", "four seasons of peace" and other auspicious words.

10, temple fair

At the mention of the temple fair, will recall the Beijing Spring Festival temple fair, factory Dian Temple Fair, Baiyunguan Temple Fair, Lotus Pond Temple Fair, people flocked to everywhere, traffic jams, downtown traffic control. The temple fair is also called the "wonderful meeting", "temple market" or "festival field". Early temple fair is only a grand ritual activities, with the development of the economy and the need for people to communicate, the temple fair to maintain the ritual activities at the same time, and gradually integrated into the market trading activities. With the needs of the people, and in the temple fair to add colorful activities. So the New Year temple fair has become an indispensable recreational activities. Part of the region, the annual temple fair religious colors are becoming more and more diluted, only entertaining imitation of ritual performances, more "no temple will be", parks, stadiums, shopping malls and so on have become the temple fair held in the place. The temple fair has gradually evolved into a set of entertainment and short-term market transactions as one of the folk activities.

11, Dragon Dance

Dragon Dance is also known as the "Dragon Dance", "Dragon Lantern Dance", "Dragon Dance" and so on. The dragon is a legendary magical animal, can call the wind and rain in the sky, but also for the earth to Longfu disaster. As early as in the Han Dynasty, there was a dragon dance to pray for rain. At that time, the four seasons to pray for rain, spring dance green dragon, summer dance red dragon or yellow dragon, autumn dance white dragon, winter dance black dragon. When the dragon dance was performed, the gongs and drums were noisy and the firecrackers were blasting, which made the scene very enthusiastic. Each movement has a name, such as: "Two Dragons Playing with Pearls," "Two Dragons Out of the Water," "Yellow Dragon Crossing the River," "White Dragon Out of the Cave "Crossing the Dragon Bridge," "Frightening the Snake," "The Silver Dragon," "The Golden Dragon," "Finding the Sea under the Sea. "Finding the Moon at the Bottom of the Sea". If two teams of dragon dancers meet, they will definitely fight over the Dragon Gate. In some places, the loser party should play gongs and drums and set off firecrackers for the winner party. Yunnan, Guizhou Miao, the first day of the first month of the year to fifteen dragon dance, at the same time, every family house God table set glutinous rice patties and meat and wine, lighting incense and candles, worship "Golden Horn of the old dragon", contains a celebration of a good year, the meaning of praying for good luck.

12. Lion Dance

The lion dance is known as the lion dance in the western part of Henan Province. Some of the more classic lion dance maneuvers include: the lion jumping onto a high table, the lion crossing a log bridge, and the lion turning a cartwheel. Guangdong Hai Feng prevailed in the Spring Festival, "listen to the drummer, see the lion dance, listen to the song". The lion dance mainly consists of four kinds of lion dances, namely, Kirin, Lion, Hak Tsai Lion and Outer River Lion, and the singing area mainly consists of various kinds of songs such as West Qin Qu, Bai Zi Qu and Chiu Chow Qu. The drummer is the suona, also called the big flute or blowing class. Each class consists of two people playing the flute, one playing the cymbals and one playing the snare drum. Generally, they start to play in the stores from the afternoon of New Year's Eve and do not stop until the third and fourth days of the lunar calendar. The first and second days are the most lively. Lion dance team to dance from house to house, to the door of the family, said "congratulations" after the beginning of the blowing up, until the owner of the red envelope, the team to get the red envelope before leaving, followed by the next family to dance lion.