Traditional festival etiquette

China is a multi-ethnic country with a long history of five thousand years. In the historical process of continuous development, many traditional festivals with unique features, diverse forms and rich contents have been formed. Festive customs and habits are the product of the combination of social life and national culture, reflecting our national production, life, national psychology, religious beliefs, cultural wisdom and other aspects, and have become an important part of China's traditional culture.

First of all, the custom of the Spring Festival

The Spring Festival is the grandest and most lively ancient traditional national festival in China. The Spring Festival marks the end of the old year and the beginning of the new year. On the eve of the Spring Festival, from the twelfth lunar month, everyone is in a state of tension and busyness mixed with joy and expectation, preparing for a good year. Among them, on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, there is the custom of drinking Laba porridge; The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is the traditional day of offering sacrifices to stoves. Spring Festival couplets are posted on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month. Since the Song Dynasty, inscribing Spring Festival couplets has gradually become a necessary custom for Spring Festival activities in China. The real "New Year" begins on New Year's Eve. New Year's Eve refers to the last day of the year. According to the northern folk custom, the staple food of the New Year's Eve dinner must be pasta jiaozi.

There is also the custom of setting off firecrackers and fireworks during the Spring Festival. For more than two thousand years, people have been setting off fireworks in the New Year. At first, it was mainly to scare away ghosts and evil spirits. Later, setting off fireworks became an entertainment custom to a great extent, adding a festive and lively atmosphere to the festival.

The ceremony to welcome the New Year during the Spring Festival has continued to this day. It is a form for people to visit each other, congratulate the festival, bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and it is also a means for people to exchange ideas, contact feelings and adjust relations during the festival. It is a traditional holiday etiquette to pay New Year greetings, but we should pay attention to avoid the unhealthy trend of treating guests and giving gifts and drinking alcohol.

Before the Spring Festival is the preparation stage, after the Spring Festival is the celebration stage, and the atmosphere of the Spring Festival will last until the fifteenth day of the first month, or even the second day of February. There is a folk saying that "the twelfth month is busy, the first month is noisy, and it will be delayed until February". Holidays, holidays, happiness and peace are the biggest characteristics during the Chinese New Year.

Second, the Lantern Festival custom

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, just after the Spring Festival, the first full moon night of the New Year is ushered in. On this night, the bright moon hangs high in the sky, and the lanterns on the ground are colorful, forming the unique Lantern Festival in China.

According to historical records, the origin of Lantern Festival is related to the rebellion put down by Emperor Wendi 1 month 15 in the Western Han Dynasty. Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty stipulated that officials and people should go out for fun every night. On the fifteenth night of the first month, every household is decorated with lanterns, brightly lit and lively everywhere, becoming a veritable "Lantern Festival". The entertainment activities of the Lantern Festival are becoming more and more abundant. Besides hanging lanterns, there are also some activities, such as playing dragon lanterns, dancing yangko, boating, solve riddles on the lanterns, setting off fireworks and so on. In addition, the most important content of the Lantern Festival is that every household should eat glutinous rice balls, also called Yuanxiao. The beginning of the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month marks the climax of the New Year celebrations.