Anji New Year's Folk Customs

Anji Chinese New Year customs face to face Lunar New Year, is the Chinese nation for thousands of years the most valued big festival. Although some of the New Year's rites and customs are getting farther and farther away from us nowadays, the traditional culture contained therein is something we should not forget. Let's take a look at the traditional Chinese New Year customs in Anji.　　　Killing the New Year's pig, making rice cakes, making tofu, and pickling meat

In the days leading up to the Spring Festival, farmers are busiest preparing soybeans, glutinous rice, and soaking them in water for the New Year's Eve to make old tofu and rice cakes. Killing the New Year's Eve pig is the custom of the rural Anji New Year's Eve, although nowadays the days are better, can raise a few hundred pounds of fat pig is still a thing to be happy and proud of, not to mention, the taste of the year in the countryside, it is from the killing of the New Year's Eve pig to start with. When you kill a new year's pig, invite your neighbors, relatives and friends to come and eat fresh pork and enjoy the joy of a good harvest together.

The New Year's pig meal mainly consists of pork, pig's blood, tofu, roasted vermicelli, asparagus, and farmyard chicken with at least a dozen dishes per table. Liquor is the local favorite yellow wine and home brewed Anji soil rice wine, red wine and so on. Neighbors let go of their stomachs to eat and drink. After the New Year pig dinner, all the villagers have to do is marinate the leftover meat for the Spring Festival and the following year.　　

Ancestor worship before eating the New Year's Eve dinner

Ancestor worship on the Spring Festival is one of the traditional customs in rural China. Although modern people's awareness of ancestor worship is getting fainter and fainter due to various reasons, the custom is still preserved in some rural areas in Anji.

According to local 86-year-old Yu Guilan, ancestor worship activities generally begin before the New Year's Eve dinner, intended to express respect for the ancestors through the Spring Festival ancestor worship, the feelings of remembrance, so that the ancestral spirits blessed the children and grandchildren peace and health, prosperity. First list of dishes (there must be tofu, fish, vegetables can not be put on the top of the green onion, 'green onion' harmonic 'punch'), light up the red candles, set up the wine cups, chopsticks, next to the two gates each burned three 'Yuanbao' (paper money), which is the most important thing for the ancestors. ' (paper money) next to the two gates to symbolize the release of the door god. After pouring wine into the wine pots, three joss sticks are lit and the deceased ancestors, such as grandparents, grandmothers and grandfathers, are invited to come in for dinner.

During the whole process of ancestor worship, the wine is sifted three times, every 3-5 minutes. The dishes, wine cups, chopsticks and benches on the table are not allowed to be moved, or else they are considered to be disrespectful to the ancestors. When worshipping the ancestors, the whole family kneels on the ground devoutly and silently prays to the ancestors to bless the whole family with peace, prosperity and wealth. Coming to an end, start burning paper money, burning paper money is also very delicate, generally the oldest elders in the family are qualified to burn paper money, in the process of burning paper money, paper burners reasonable distribution of property, so that each of the ancestors can take the 'red packet'.

There are also graveyard ancestor worship, commonly known as tomb worship, mainly in the cemetery to burn incense, offerings, kowtow. Generally, it is to pay homage to the graves of loved ones. After the ancestor worship, according to the calendar shows auspicious direction, lighting lanterns, incense ringing firecrackers. When the ancestors are alive, they will smile when they see that their children and grandchildren are filial and their families are rich.

In addition, the Spring Festival customs in Anji, there are wearing new clothes, playing dragon lanterns, riddles, stickers, hanging New Year's paintings, the New Year's Eve to welcome the New Year, burning firecrackers, to the New Year's Eve money, as well as a lot of recreation and play, and other activities to welcome the Spring Festival.