Customs and traditional significance of the Spring Festival

The custom of the Spring Festival is actually an indelible folk culture, which means the warmth of family reunion, the ease and expectation of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new. When it comes to celebrating the Spring Festival, people usually think of eating jiaozi on New Year's Eve, putting up Spring Festival couplets, hanging New Year pictures and setting off firecrackers to celebrate the New Year. But as the saying goes: "A hundred miles of different winds, a thousand miles of different customs." The same Spring Festival is different in the north and south of the river. Many places have their own unique Spring Festival customs, many of which have continued to this day.

Old Beijing: the most concerned way to eat

Old Beijingers pay special attention to Chinese New Year, especially the way they eat. There used to be a folk song in old Beijing: "Don't be greedy for children. After Laba, it is the Spring Festival. Drinking Laba porridge for a few days is 23 miles. " Twenty-three, cantaloupes are sticky; Twenty-four, sweeping the house; Twenty-five, fried tofu; Twenty-six, stewed mutton; Twenty-seven, kill the rooster; Twenty-eight, send face; Twenty-nine, steamed bread; Stay up for 30 nights, twist on New Year's Day ... "Laba porridge, fried tofu, stewed mutton, etc. This folk song lists all the delicious food during the Spring Festival in old Beijing. Nowadays, these things are commonplace, but in the fifties and sixties of last century, they were only given a banquet during the Chinese New Year.

There are only the above kinds of food during the Spring Festival, which is certainly not rich. Some wealthy Beijingers used to eat fish on New Year's Eve. Fish must be carp, originally in the name of offering sacrifices to the gods, and later associated with the auspicious language of "auspicious celebration is more than enough". Fish is both delicious and sacrificial.

As for jiaozi on New Year's Eve, jiaozi, a vegetarian, is used to worship God, while everyone eats meat. People who are not rich are stuffed with meat and vegetables. Even for the poorest families, there is no shortage of formalities to eat jiaozi during the Chinese New Year. Besides jiaozi and rice cakes, old Beijingers also play "bean paste"-a cold dish made of skin, dried bean curd, soybeans, green beans and watercress, which is amber in color and similar to "aspic". In addition, there is "Mustard Dun", which is a cold dish used to accompany wine and appetizer. People eat a lot of greasy food in festivals, which is easy to get angry and produce phlegm. These cold dishes can make up for this defect.

When all kinds of vegetarian dishes are ready, Beijingers also need to prepare sweets, dried fruits, melon seeds and "miscellaneous fruits", which are now assorted preserved fruits. At that time, these snacks were delicious food when people sat around the fire and died.

Liaoning: unforgettable rural blood sausage

In rural Liaoning, on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, every household began to prepare for the Spring Festival, making rice cakes and steaming sticky bean bags. Many people will kill pigs to treat guests and invite neighbors, relatives and friends to hold banquets. After satiated with food and drink, the enthusiastic host will also bring the blood sausage home to the guests. These days, the children will try their best to help at home, but the married daughter can't spend the New Year at her parents' home, otherwise it will be bad for her parents and brothers this year. That's what the so-called "don't look at the bride's lamp" means on New Year's Eve. Of course, this custom with feudal superstition has been gradually forgotten with the progress of society and the changes of the times.

Many people in Liaoning light the longevity lantern on New Year's Eve and keep it on all night. From New Year's Eve to the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month, every family hangs red lanterns, lights are lit on New Year's Eve, and lights are lit all night, which means longevity.

Heilongjiang: Good luck with jiaozi coins.

It is the custom of northerners to eat jiaozi during the Spring Festival. On New Year's Eve, we must eat jiaozi, but people in Heilongjiang have to wrap some coins (usually peanuts or other nuts instead) in the jiaozi. Whoever eats this kind of jiaozi indicates good luck and good luck in the new year. In addition, Heilongjiang must eat jiaozi on the fifth day, also known as "breaking the fifth day", which means biting jiaozi, which means destroying all unlucky things, and it means driving away disasters and evil spirits.

Jilin: Eat frozen pears after New Year's Eve.

Due to the cold weather in Northeast China, some fruits will have different tastes after freezing. The most common are iced pears and frozen persimmons. It is understood that the purest is frozen autumn pear. In Jilin, there is a kind of pear called Qiuli, which is sour and astringent when it is just picked, so people pick it and put it directly under the tree and cover it with a layer of leaves. The frozen autumn pear is sweet and sour, and the juice is abundant. Frozen pears should be thawed in water before eating. Eating this pear after New Year's Eve can relieve hangover and boredom.

Jiangsu: Gather money everywhere to find "Yuanbao"

Suzhou people put ripe water chestnuts in the New Year's Eve dinner and dig them out when eating, which is called "digging ingots". When friends and relatives come and go, put two green olives when making tea, which means drinking "Yuanbao tea", which means "Congratulations on making a fortune".

Changzhou people are not allowed to sweep the floor from home during the New Year, for fear of sweeping out "wealth" and "wishful thinking", they can only sweep from the outside to the inside, which means gathering wealth. During the Spring Festival, there are still many taboos in Jiangsu. For example, don't move scissors on the first day of the New Year to avoid disputes with each other. Don't move the kitchen knife to avoid being killed; Do not eat porridge, afraid of going out in the rain; Don't sweep the floor, afraid of sweeping away wealth and so on.

Jiangning people have the custom of "knocking on the drums" during the Spring Festival. The flag was won, and the gongs and drums team drummed everywhere. On the third day of the third year, night drums are played, and on the seventh day of the seventh year, bare-chested drums are played from 13th to 15th. The atmosphere is very warm.

Nantong people have the custom of planting sesame stalks, holly and cypress branches at home or in front of the church, which means that life is blooming every day and the seasons are evergreen.

Huaiyin people also have the custom of "roasting the head wind" for their children on the sixth day. At night, I take my children to the fields to light a fire, in order to drive away the evil spirits of the children. While roasting, sing: "roast your head, wake up, roast your feet, correct the steps, roast your stomach without diarrhea, roast it all over your body, and you will never see the disease again."

Shandong: Eat wonton in the New Year.

In Ningyang County, Shandong Province, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, people pay attention to eating wonton, which is called "stuffing".

In Huangxian and Penglai areas, it should be wasted to get up early on the first day of the first month. The hostess holds a red candle to light up every corner of the room, which means to drive away the darkness with light, and then paste all kinds of window grilles made of flour on the windowsill. children