Waiting in the sky, how do you spend New Year's Eve?

In the early hours of New Year's Eve, every household began to get busy. The first thing is to clean the dust. Although the twelfth lunar month has been "dusty", the cleanliness of New Year's Eve has paved the way for the "New Year". On the third day of the New Year, the old custom is not to sweep the floor at home, so as not to sweep away the "wealth". Therefore, in the early morning of New Year's Eve, people clean the indoor and courtyard and throw away the garbage to say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new year.

Morning: Post Spring Festival couplets.

Sticking Spring Festival couplets is an important content on New Year's Eve morning. It should be posted before noon (that is, 12: 00), which is called "closed transportation" or "closed door". /kloc-it is considered unlucky after 0/2.

In the old society, there were no ready-made Spring Festival couplets on the market. They were written by people who bought red paper or asked their village neighbors to write them for them. Every New Year's Eve is just around the corner, which is the most beautiful time for those intellectuals. Putting the Eight Immortals Table on the heated heatable heatable heatable adobe sleeping platform, the literati with teachers as the main body will splash ink on the village neighbors who come to beg for couplets, making them happy.

The contents of Spring Festival couplets are mostly auspicious and harmonious. The words "Days increase years, people increase life, and spring is full of blessings" are posted at the main entrance. At the same time, the symmetrical figures of Dafu and the portraits of door gods based on Wei Chijingde and Qin Qiong were also posted to stop ghosts. The words "Happiness is as wide as the East China Sea, and life is higher than Nanshan" are posted in the rooms of the elderly. The newlyweds' room is plastered with something like "The sky is full of love birds and branches are tied to the ground"; The bedroom wall is plastered with "Looking up to see happiness", and the pigsty stable is plastered with "full circle of fat pigs" and "herds of cattle and horses"; The car is affixed with "Wanli, Chefu", and the bow is affixed with "The bow travels thousands of miles without waves, and the wind behind the rudder will send thousands of rides". There are four words written on the cross section of the Spring Festival couplets: "Auspicious", "Everything is renewed", "Beautiful mountains and rivers" and "All industries are prosperous". Under the cross section, there are auspicious patterns cut with thin colored paper, which are colorful and swaying in the wind. It is really beautiful.

In addition, there will be a stick grilles and red lanterns. At noon on New Year's Eve, every household's Spring Festival couplets will be red in a blink of an eye, and the streets will be full of ink, and the festive atmosphere will suddenly warm up.

According to historical records, Meng Changjun, the Emperor of Shu after the Five Dynasties, wrote the Spring Festival couplets of "Celebrating the Spring Festival", which is the first truly qualified Spring Festival couplets in the history of China. Although the emperor of the post-Shu dynasty, who did not care about state affairs and revelry, wrote couplets and died in the Northern Song Dynasty the next year, the couplets were praised by later generations. Spring Festival couplets are a unique folk cultural phenomenon in China.

Noon: reunion dinner

Besides posting Spring Festival couplets, the reunion dinner at noon on New Year's Eve is the most abundant lunch in a year. It is characterized by complete family and rich dishes. No matter where you work at home, you should go back to your parents' home to have a reunion dinner and enjoy it. The dish that must be ordered for lunch is fish, which shows that they are rich. Chicken represents good luck; Tofu and cabbage, meaning happiness and wealth; Fans, meaning long life and good luck; Canned peaches imply avoiding disasters, getting rid of diseases and being healthy; Good wine means eternal life. Other dishes vary according to the family's economic situation.

Before the founding of New China, long-term workers and employees employed by rich people or industrial and commercial households were also entertained by their employers at noon on New Year's Eve, which was the last meal of the year. If the employer toasts the employees with wine and immediately pays all the wages due, it means that you will be fired the next year, and you will pack up and leave after this meal. If the employer toasts the employee again and again and talks about the salary for the next year, it means that the employer will continue to use you. So for these employees, this is a lunch that decides the fate of next year, which makes people feel a little bitter.

For people in debt, New Year's Eve is even more difficult. In the past, after the off-year, creditors would send people to collect debts everywhere. Those who can't repay their debts have to hide in Tibet, which is called "dodging debts". They didn't go home until after lunch on New Year's Eve, because the debt collectors also went home for a reunion dinner. In the old customs, if you don't collect debts during the Spring Festival, you will be regarded as a ghost and will not have a good end. Therefore, the debtor has to avoid New Year's Eve.

Afternoon: Please celebrate the New Year.

After lunch on New Year's Eve, the host of the family solemnly hangs the genealogy on the wall opposite the hall, which is called "please genealogy", and sets up the incense table, offerings and candlesticks to prepare for ancestor worship. Hanging genealogy on New Year's Eve afternoon is also a rule handed down from the older generation.

Housewives began to be busy with their dinner. They all ate jiaozi without exception. As the saying goes, "Who doesn't eat jiaozi during the Chinese New Year" refers to this meal, which is called "jiaozi during the Chinese New Year". Jiaozi, shaped like an ingot, symbolizes abundant financial resources, and because of its roundness, symbolizes family reunion. On New Year's Eve, jiaozi often uses minced meat, because jiaozi is full of minced meat, which means a rich life, peace and good luck.

Before the dinner begins, the men in the family will hold a ceremony of "inviting God", that is, burning incense, burning paper and setting off firecrackers in the open space to the west of the residence, and inviting the souls of ancestors to go home for the New Year, which is called "inviting the New Year". People who live in the countryside will ask God at the fork in Tunxi. This custom originated from Buddhism, and people believe that their ancestors lived in the western paradise after their death. When you return to the courtyard after the ceremony, please put one on the ground at the door. Ancestors rode good horses to tie them. When the ancestors please go home, the door should be open, and then burn incense to worship. Later, before the Spring Festival, incense was always placed on the incense table, candles were lit at night, and worship was held in the morning and evening.

Evening: Give lucky money when you are old.

After eating "Please celebrate the New Year in jiaozi", we began to observe old age. This is the most special night of the year. The family stays up all night, because it is the most complete time for family members. It is timely to catch up with the old and make plans and decisions for family events. According to historical records, the custom of observing the age first began in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. There is a poem in Liang Dynasty: "Two years in one night, two years in the evening." It symbolizes driving away all evil spirits and diseases and hoping for good luck in the new year. Poets in the Tang Dynasty often describe the custom of observing the age. Bai Juyi's poem "Keeping the Year Among Guests" says: "No wine to keep the Year, homesickness is full of tears." Meng Haoran also has a poem, "Continue to draw candles, and watch the old things and then have a long banquet." In the Song Dynasty, the custom of observing the age was widespread in urban and rural areas.

At present, the main content of observing the New Year's Eve dinner is to watch CCTV's Spring Festival Gala, which is also a cultural feast that people all over the country look forward to for a year. New Year's Eve is the connection point between New Year's Eve and New Year's Eve. At that time, every household ate jiaozi, set off firecrackers and fireworks outside, and burned paper and incense. For a time, the thunder and lightning in towns and villages made the festive night sky colorful. This move, called "Fazi", pushed the atmosphere of New Year's Eve to a climax.

When midnight strikes, the New Year comes with firecrackers. The younger generation vies with their elders to say "Happy New Year", which is called "seeking happiness". The elders wrapped the prepared lucky money in red envelopes for the younger generation. This is also the most exciting moment for children, because most of the lucky money is kept and freely controlled by children themselves. This kind of good thing only happens at this time of year. In the difficult times of early years, children can only get a small amount of lucky money. After the reform and opening up, with the improvement of the living standards of urban and rural people, coupled with the small number of children at home, the lucky money ranges from hundreds to thousands. It is also a big expense for ordinary families, but grandparents enjoy it, preferring to scrimp and save rather than mistreat their children, which reflects the traditional family concept in China. Children often fall asleep with "little red envelopes" and sweet smiles. The next day, when the sun rises, they grow up by another year. Parents dressed their children in brand-new clothes from the inside out and began to go to the clan neighborhood.