Information on Chinese New Year

Modern folk customarily call the Spring Festival also called the New Year. In fact, the origins of the New Year and the Spring Festival are very different.

So how did the "New Year" come about? There are two main folklore: one says that in ancient times, there was a fierce beast called "Nian", every Lunar New Year's Eve, they scurried from village to village, foraging for human flesh, mutilating living beings. One night on the 30th day of the Lunar New Year, Nian arrived at a village where two shepherd boys were competing with a cow whip. The Year suddenly heard the sound of whips snapping in mid-air and fled in fear. It scurried to another village, and looked head-on to the door of a family sun a big red dress, it does not know what it is, scared and quickly turned around and fled. Later it came to a village, towards a family door to look, only to see the lights inside, stabbing it dizziness, and had to slip away with its tail between its legs. People have thus recognized the weakness of the New Year, which is afraid of noise, redness and light, and have come up with many ways to defend themselves against it, which has gradually evolved into the New Year's Eve customs of today.

Another theory is that our country's ancient word book put the "year" word on the Wo Department, to show that the wind and rain, the five grains. As the grains and cereals are usually cooked once a year. The word "year" was then extended to the name of the year.

China's ancient folk although there has long been the custom of the New Year, but then it is not called the Spring Festival. Because then the Spring Festival, refers to the twenty-four seasons in the "spring".

North and South Dynasties, the Spring Festival refers to the entire spring. It is said that it was after the Xinhai Revolution that the Lunar New Year was officially named the Spring Festival. Because of the change to the solar calendar at that time, in order to differentiate between the lunar and solar festivals, the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar had to be renamed the "Spring Festival".

Legend

The Spring Festival has a long history, and legend has it that it was celebrated as early as the Neolithic period, when Yao and Shun had the custom of celebrating the Spring Festival.

On the origin of the Spring Festival, there is a legend that there was a beast called "Nian" in ancient China. The "Nian" had a long head with tentacles and was very fierce. The "Nian" lived deep under the sea for many years, and only climbed up to the shore on a specific day (the current New Year's Eve), devouring livestock and harming human lives. Therefore, on New Year's Eve, people from villages and hamlets fled to the mountains with their children and elders to avoid the harm of the "Nian". One New Year's Eve, from outside the village came a begging old man. The villagers were in a hurry and panic, no one paid attention to him, only an old woman at the east end of the village gave the old man some food and advised him to go up to the mountains to escape the "year", the old man lifted up his beard and laughed and said: "If you let me stay at home for one night, I will definitely drive away the "year". I will definitely drive 'Nian' away." The old woman continued to persuade the begging old man smiled but did not say anything.

In the middle of the night, Nian broke into the village. It realized that the atmosphere in the village was different from that of previous years: in the old woman's house at the east end of the village, there was a big red paper on the door, and the house was lit up by candles. "Nian shivered and gave a strange cry. Near the door, the yard suddenly came "crackling" sound of explosions, "year" trembling, and no longer dare to come forward. It turns out that Nian is most afraid of red, fire and explosions. At this time, the door of my mother-in-law's house opened, only to see an old man wearing a red robe in the courtyard laughing. "The year was terrified and fled in disarray.

The next day was the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar, and the people who had returned from their refuge were very surprised to see that the village was safe and sound. It was then that the old woman came to her senses, and hurriedly told the townspeople of the old man's promise to beg. This incident soon spread in the surrounding villages, people know the way to drive away the "year". From then on, every New Year's Eve, home red couplets, firecrackers; household candles brightly, to keep the night. Early in the morning on the first day, but also to visit friends and relatives to say hello. This custom has been widely spread and has become the grandest traditional festival in Chinese folklore.

It is said that the "Spring Festival" originated in China during the Yin and Shang dynasties, when the gods and ancestors were sacrificed at the end of the year (La Sacrifice). In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, there was an annual celebration of the harvest and ancestor worship at the time of the transition between the old and new years, which can be regarded as the prototype of the "New Year". However, the name "Nian" appeared later, the name of the year from the Zhou Dynasty. Ancient emperors succeeded to the throne, in order to show the authority of the "Son of Heaven", often self-established calendar (in different dynasties in history, the time of the year is not the same. In the Xia Dynasty, January was the first day of the year; in the Shang Dynasty, December was the first day of the year; in the Zhou Dynasty, November was the first day of the year; and in the Qin Dynasty, October was the first day of the year. (It was only during the Western Han Dynasty that the first day of January was specified as the first day of the year by an edict of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to introduce the Tai Chu Calendar as the Summer New Year). The time of the year was not formalized until the Western Han Dynasty, and continues to this day. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (140-87 BC) succeeded to the throne, he decided to revise the calendar to make it uniform, and Sima Qian suggested the creation of the Tai Chou Calendar, which set the Chinese New Year in the first month of Bengchun. The calendar we use today was revised by many dynasties after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, but the first day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar is "New Year's Day", which is the grandest festival of the Chinese nation, and has been inherited as a fixed date.

History

The first day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar is the Spring Festival, also known as the lunar (lunar) year, commonly known as the "New Year". This is the longest history of Chinese folk, the most grand, the most lively of an ancient traditional festival, but also the Han Chinese and Manchu, Mongolia, Yao, Zhuang, white, high mountain, Hezhe, Hani, Daur, Dong, Li and other dozen minority groups of the **** with the festival. Han Chinese Spring Festival, a longer period of time, generally from the beginning of the eighth day of the lunar month, to the first month of the 15th Lantern Festival until.

The Spring Festival has a history of about three or four thousand years. It was originally the New Year's Day of the lunar calendar, which is commonly referred to as the New Year. It originated in the Yinshang period at the end of the year to worship gods and ancestors. There are many legends about the New Year. In ancient times, the Spring Festival was called "New Year's Day", "New Year's Day", "New Year's Day", "the first day of the year", After the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, the Nanjing Provisional Government, in order to comply with the agricultural seasons and facilitate statistics, stipulated that the summer calendar should be used in the private sector, and the Gregorian calendar should be applied in government offices, factories, mines, schools and organizations, and the first day of the first month of the Gregorian calendar should be called "New Year's Day", and the first day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar should be called "New Year's Day". The first day of the first month of the lunar calendar is called "Spring Festival". According to the evidence, the Spring Festival became official after the Xinhai Revolution, the Wuchang Uprising in October 1911, and on December 31, the revolutionaries' Hubei military government issued the "Encyclical of the Ministry of the Interior on the Republic of China's Change to the Solar Calendar", which explicitly referred to the New Year's Festival as the "Spring Festival". September 27, 1949, the new China was formally established, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the first plenary session, adopted the use of the world's common calendar, the first day of the first month of the Gregorian calendar is designated as New Year's Day, commonly known as the solar year; the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar is usually around the time of the first day of spring, and thus the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar is designated as the "Spring Festival", commonly known as the Lunar year, further clarified the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar called "Spring Festival", "Spring Festival" name officially included in the Chinese holiday code, really popular to this day.

The long history has made the content of the New Year's activities very colorful. Among them, the superstitious contents of honoring heaven and sacrificing to the gods have been gradually eliminated, while those rich in joie de vivre, such as posting spring couplets, New Year's paintings, sticking the word "blessed", cutting windowpane flowers, steaming New Year's cakes, wrapping dumplings and so on, have been handed down.

The Chinese New Year customs of the Han people are generally based on eating rice cakes, dumplings, patties, dumplings, eggs, meatballs, whole fish, wine, lucky oranges, apples, peanuts, melons, candies, tea and delicacies; and accompanied by dusting, washing bedding, preparing for New Year's Eve, putting up Spring Festival couplets, New Year's Eve paintings (Zhong Kui, the door god), sticking paper cuttings, putting up window decals, putting up the word "Fu" (blessing), lighting candles, pointing the fire, firecrackers, observing the year-end, and giving the money for the New Year's Eve, Paying homage to the New Year, visiting relatives, sending New Year gifts, going to ancestral graves, going to the flower market, making fireworks, jumping Zhong Kui, and many other activities, which is a great joy for the family. Chinese people also have the habit of hanging Chinese knots during the Spring Festival. Before the New Year's Eve, people in Tianjin have the custom of going to Qiao Xiangge on Ancient Culture Street to ask for Chinese knots, taking the meaning of Qiao Xiang Nafu; people in Wenzhou have the custom of going to their own religious devotions and praying, hoping to be able to obtain happiness with their families in the new year. Among them, mostly Buddhist.

Over the centuries, people make the New Year's celebrations become very colorful, every year from the 23rd day of the lunar month to the 30th day of the Lunar New Year, the folk this period of time is called the "Spring Festival", also known as the "Dust Day", in the Spring Festival before the dust to engage in sanitation, is a traditional habit of our people. Our people have traditional habits.

Then it is the family to prepare for the New Year's goods, about ten days before the festival, people began to busy purchasing items, New Year's goods, including chickens, ducks, fish and meat, tea, wine, oil and soy sauce, North and South fried goods, sugar bait and fruits, to buy enough, but also to prepare for some of the New Year's Eve when visiting friends and relatives when the gift, the children to add a new coat and a new hat, ready to wear on New Year's Day.

Prior to the festival in the residence of the door to paste the red paper and yellow letters of the New Year message, that is, written in red paper Spring Festival couplets. Inside the house posted brightly colored auspicious New Year's paintings, clever girls cut out beautiful window decorations pasted on the windows, hanging red lanterns or sticking the word "Fortune" and the God of Fortune, the God of the Door (Zhong Kui, Qin Qiong, Jing De), etc., the word "Fortune" can also be pasted upside down, passers-by read the Fortune upside down, that is, the blessing of the arrival of the festival, all of these activities are intended to add a festive atmosphere enough to celebrate the holiday.

Another name for the Spring Festival is the New Year. In past legends, Nian was an imaginary animal that brought bad luck to people. When the year came. Trees wither and no grass grows; once the year passes, everything grows and flowers are everywhere. How can the year pass? Need to blast with firecrackers, so there is the custom of burning firecrackers, which is actually another way to set off a lively scene.

The Spring Festival is a happy and peaceful holiday, but also a day of reunion of loved ones, children away from home in the Spring Festival have to go home to celebrate. The night before the New Year's Eve, is the old year's Lunar New Year's Eve, also known as New Year's Eve, also known as the reunion night, in this time of transition between the old and the new, the New Year's Eve is one of the most important annual activities, New Year's Eve night, the whole family stay up to keep watch together, get together to drink soundly, *** enjoy the joy of family, the northern region in the New Year's Eve to eat dumplings, dumplings, dumplings, dumplings, and the word is together; dumplings and dumplings and cross the harmony of the meaning, but also take more years of intercourse The dumplings have the meaning of "getting together" and "turning over the year". In the south, it is customary to eat New Year's cake on New Year's Day. The sweet and sticky rice cake symbolizes the sweetness of life in the new year and the high quality of life.

To the first rooster crows, or New Year's bells ringing, the street firecrackers, loud and clear, the family is full of joy, the start of a new year, men and women, young and old, dressed in festive attire, the first to the elders in the family New Year's wishes, the festival there are to the children's New Year's Eve money, eat New Year's Eve dinner, the second, the third Geng Yin New Year's greetings to the beginning of the relatives to see their friends, each other New Year's Eve, congratulations on blessings, say something! Congratulations on the new year, congratulations on wealth, congratulations, good New Year and other words, ancestor worship and other activities.

The warm atmosphere of the festival is not only overflowing in every household, but also filled with streets and alleys everywhere. Some places on the market and Nuo dance jump Zhong Kui, lion dance, play dragon lanterns, perform social fire, swim in the flower market, temple and other customs. During this period of lanterns all over the city, the streets are full of tourists, bustling, unprecedented, straight to the first month of the Lantern Festival after the Lantern Festival, the Spring Festival is really the end.

Over the Spring Festival, firecrackers, in the windows and doors of the posting of words and paintings to pray for blessings, decorate their homes, is the most common custom of this holiday.

Firecrackers

Chinese folk "open door firecrackers". That is, at the dawn of a new year, the first thing that families do when they open their doors is to set off firecrackers to get rid of the old and welcome the new with the beeping sound of firecrackers. Firecrackers is a Chinese specialty, also known as "firecrackers", "cannonballs", "firecrackers". Its origin is very early, so far has a history of more than two thousand years. Setting off firecrackers can create a festive and lively atmosphere, and is a kind of entertainment for festivals, which can bring joy and good fortune to people.

Wang Anshi's poem "New Year's Day":

The sound of firecrackers marks the end of the year, and the spring breeze brings warmth into the Tu Su.

A thousand doors and tens of thousands of tels. Always change the new peach for the old one.

Describes the grand festive scene of the Chinese people celebrating the Spring Festival. The sound of firecrackers is a sign of resignation and welcome to the new year, and an indication of the festive mood.

Painted chickens

In ancient times, chickens were painted on doors and windows to drive away ghosts and evil spirits during the Spring Festival. In Xuanzhongji, a book written by a man from the Jin Dynasty, it talks about this heavenly chicken on Dushuo Mountain mentioned earlier, saying that when the sun had just risen and the first ray of sunlight shone on this big tree, the heavenly chicken crowed. When it crowed, all the chickens in the world followed. The chicken cut for the Spring Festival actually symbolizes the Heavenly Rooster. There is also an ancient myth that the chicken is a metamorphosis of the Chongming bird. It is said that during the reign of Emperor Yao, a friendly country in the past paid tribute to a kind of Chongming Bird, which could ward off evil spirits, and everyone welcomed the arrival of the bird every year, but the envoys didn't come every year. People carved wooden Chongmingbirds, cast bronze Chongmingbirds and placed them at the gateway, or painted Chongmingbirds on the doors and windows to scare away demons and monsters, so that they wouldn't dare to come back. Because the bird looks like a chicken, it was gradually changed to painting chickens or cutting window flowers to stick on doors and windows, which became the source of the art of paper-cutting in later generations.

Ancient China attached special importance to the chicken, calling it "the bird of five virtues". Han Shi Wai Zhuan" said, it has a crown on the head, is Wen De; feet after the distance can fight, is the martial arts; enemy in front of the dare to fight, is the courage of virtue; food to greet the same kind of benevolence; vigil does not lose time, dawn dawn, is the virtue of faith. Therefore, people not only cut chickens at New Year's Eve, stickers of chickens, but also the first day of the New Year as the day of the chicken.

Posting the door god Zhuxianzhen woodblock New Year's paintings "the face of the door god immediately whip"

All over China, there is a custom of posting the door god on New Year's Day. The first door god is carved mahogany as a human figure, hanging next to the person, and later is painted into the door god portrait posted on the door. Legend has it that the two brothers, Shentan and Yubi, specialize in controlling ghosts, and with them guarding the door, evil spirits of all sizes dare not enter the door to do harm.

However, the real historical record is not about Shentian and Yubi, but about an ancient warrior called Chengqing. In Ban Gu's "Han Shu - Guangchuan King's Biography", it is recorded that on the door of the palace of Guangchuan King (Dexter), there was once painted a portrait of the ancient warrior Cheng Qing, with a short coat, big pants and a long sword. In the Tang Dynasty, the position of the door god was taken by the "Tang" in the Happy Valley of Zhong Kui's hometown in Tuxian County, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. Zhong Kui, the God of Blessing and Mansion Suppression" and Qin Shubao and Yuchi Jingde.

The Journey to the West is even more detailed: "The Dragon King of the Jinghe River made a bet with a soothsayer and ended up violating the rules of heaven and deserved to be beheaded. The Jade Emperor appointed Wei Zheng to be the supervisor of the beheading. The Dragon King of Jinghe River pleaded with Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty for his life. Emperor Taizong agreed to do so and summoned Wei Zheng to play a game of chess with him on the hour of the dragon's beheading. Unexpectedly, Wei Zheng went down and dozed off, and then his spirit ascended to heaven and beheaded the dragon king. The Dragon King complained that Taizong's words were not honored, and he hooted and hollered for his life outside the palace day and night. Emperor Taizong told his ministers that Qin Shubao, a general, had said: "I would like to stand outside the door with Yuchi Jingde in military attire and wait for him. Emperor Taizong agreed. That night, nothing happened. Because he could not bear to see the hard work of the two generals, Taizong ordered the skillful artist to draw the real faces of the two generals and paste them on the door."

There are also paintings of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei as door gods. Door god statue of the left and right households, one each, the descendants often a pair of door god painted as a text and a military. Door God is divided into three categories: the first category is the "gate door God", more posted in the door or the whole door, about four or five feet high, about two or three feet wide. The second type is the "street door god", more small streets on the door, about two feet high, about one foot wide. These two kinds of door god is a black face and a white face of the two gods. White left and black right, white good and easy, black caracal, each hand holding a battle-axe. The third type is "house door door god", compared with the street door door god is slightly smaller limited, also is black and white two god, but also black and white two god is sitting like. House door is most often posted "unicorn send son" image, two powder and grease comb Prince crown dolls, each riding the unicorn. This kind of door god, should have been posted in the newly married house door, in order to take good luck, and later also as a common street door of the New Year embellishments.

Posting Spring Festival couplets

Spring Festival couplets, also known as door pairs, spring stickers, couplets, couplets, peach symbols, etc., it is neat, couplets, concise, sophisticated text depicting the background of the times, expressing the best wishes, is unique to China's form of literature. Every Spring Festival, whether urban or rural, every family should select a large red spring couplets pasted on the door, for the festival to increase the festive atmosphere. This custom began in the Song Dynasty, began to prevail in the Ming Dynasty, to the Qing Dynasty, the Spring Festival couplets of ideology and artistry have been greatly improved, Liang Zhangzhu prepared the Spring Festival couplets monograph "Threshold Lian series of words" on the origins of the couplets and various types of works of the characteristics of the discourse.

There are many types of spring couplets, which, according to their place of use, can be divided into door centers, frame pairs, horizontal phi, spring strips, doufang, etc. "Door centers" are the most common type of couplets. "Door" in the upper center of the door panel; "frame" on the left and right door frame; "Phi" on the horizontal wood of the door winks; "Chunzhi "according to different content, posted in the corresponding place;" bucket catty "also called" door leaf "for the square diamond, more in the furniture, shadow wall.

Pasted the word "Fu"

In the same time of the Spring Festival couplets, some people have to be in the door, wall, lintel on the large and small "Fu" character. The Chinese New Year sticker "Fu" character, is China's folk custom from a long time ago. The character "福" refers to good fortune and luck, and it expresses people's desire for a happy life and their wish for a better future. In order to more fully reflect this yearning and wishes, some people simply stick the word "Fu" upside down, indicating that "happiness has arrived" and "good fortune has arrived". Folk there will be "Fu" word fine cut into a variety of patterns, patterns have longevity, longevity peach, carp jump Dragon Gate, five grains, dragon and phoenix, and so on.

Decorate the window

In the folk people also like to put all kinds of paper cuttings on the window - window flowers. Window flowers not only set a festive atmosphere, but also decorative, appreciative and practical in one. Paper cutting in China is a very popular folk art, for thousands of years by the people's favorite, because it is mostly affixed to the window, so it is also known as "window flowers". Window decoration with its unique generalization and exaggeration of auspicious events, good wishes, the painting "Yearly" performance to the fullest, will be decorated with festivals red hot and rich.

Posted New Year's paintings

The Spring Festival hanging stickers in urban and rural areas is also very common, thick black colorful New Year's paintings to thousands of families added a lot of prosperity and joy of the festive atmosphere. New Year's paintings are an ancient folk art in China, reflecting the people's simple customs and beliefs, and holding their hopes for the future. New Year's paintings, like spring scrolls, originated as "door gods". With the rise of woodblock printing, the content of the New Year's paintings has not only limited to monotonous themes such as the God of the Door, become colorful, in some of the New Year's paintings workshop produced the "Three Stars of Fortune, Luck and Longevity," "Zhong Kui blessed the town house," "Zhong Kui Calendar Table," "Heavenly Officials Provide Blessings," "Five Grains and Plenty of Prosperity," "Six Animals", "Welcome to the Spring and Receive the Blessings," such as the classic colorful New Year's paintings, in order to satisfy the people's wishes to pray for the year of joy.

Paste hanging thousand

Hanging thousand, is engraved with auspicious words on red paper, long feet in length, sticking the door, and peach symbols reflect. There are eight immortals on the figure, hung for the Buddha; hanging thousands of civilian households with; the family with less; its yellow paper is three inches long, red paper is more than an inch long, is a "small hanging thousands", for the city used. The earliest hanging thousands when it is to make money (copper) string hanging, and the same as the New Year's money, the role of pressure to win.

Next Year Rice

In the north, some people have to provide a pot of rice, burned before the year, to provide for the New Year, called the "next year rice", is the leftover rice year after year, year-round food, this year, but also ate the meaning of the previous year's food. This pot of rice is generally mixed with rice and millet to cook, Beijing colloquialism called "two rice", in order to have a yellow and white, which is called "gold and silver, gold and silver pots full of" "gold and silver rice