Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional customs - The Origin of the Spring Festival
The Origin of the Spring Festival
The origin of the Spring Festival is that at some time in ancient times, there was a talented young man named Wan Nian. His family was poor and he needed to go deep into the mountains to cut firewood every day to make a living.
Because there was no timer at that time, it was impossible to measure the specific time, which led him to doubt when to leave and when to return. This problem often bothers him. In the life of chopping wood day after day, he slowly summed up his experience and tried to figure out the law of sunrise and sunset every day.
Legend has it that by chance, he realized that he could use the shadow of a tree to observe time. After several days of hard research, he invented an instrument to measure the time of day by reflection. However, this instrument has one defect, that is, it cannot be used in rainy days.
Once, when drinking the spring water of Wannian Mountain, the sound of water droplets hitting rocks suddenly inspired him. Isn't it a good way to measure time that water drops drop regularly? In this way, Wannian calculated the length of a year with his own invention, and also recorded special days, such as the summer solstice and the winter solstice.
"Ten Thousand Years" is well known to the people, but not through the power of word of mouth, but because of the strong support of the monarch (Zu Ti) at that time. At that time, the problem of seasonality also troubled the whole country, and Wannian recommended himself to the monarch with his invention. At that time, some ignorant ministers suggested to Zu Ti that we should sincerely worship the sky and pray to it how to know the weather every day all the year round. The result can be imagined, but it was useless.
The design of ten thousand years finally played an obvious role at this moment, which was greatly appreciated by the monarch. The monarch provided him with financial support to build corresponding time measuring instruments for the benefit of all people in the world. Finally, Wan Nian finally completed a complete calendar-the perpetual calendar method. On the grounds that the beginning of a year is spring, Zu Ti designated the first day of the New Year as the "Spring Festival" and celebrated it all over the world.
Since then, ordinary people have known it for thousands of years, and it has brought great convenience to people's lives. In order to thank him, people call the Spring Festival, the first day of the New Year, "Chinese New Year", and during the Chinese New Year, we see Shou Xingtu on the walls of every household to commemorate "the longevity of the sun and the moon"-ten thousand years.
The custom of the Spring Festival is 1. Sweeping dust is something that China people must experience every year, and it is also a traditional custom handed down from ancient times to the present. Whenever the new year is approaching, every household should carry out a general cleaning of their living places, clean all kinds of kitchen utensils, wipe doors and windows, and change sheets and bedding. The significance of sweeping dust is to drive away all the bad things in one year and usher in good luck in the new year.
Setting off firecrackers during the Spring Festival was originally used to drive away evil spirits and ghosts. According to traditional folklore, it is said that firecrackers are set off during the Spring Festival to drive away "mandrills". Mandrill was a fierce one-horned ghost in ancient times, but it was most afraid of noise, so people used the explosion of burning bamboo to scare it away. With gunpowder, people put gunpowder into bamboo tubes to make firecrackers, and then make paper tubes, also known as firecrackers or firecrackers. In addition, setting off firecrackers can create a festive atmosphere, and the red on the ground after setting off firecrackers represents joy, happiness and auspiciousness. Therefore, in this festive festival, people will set off firecrackers to celebrate.
3. When pasting Spring Festival couplets, people will tear off the old couplets that have been pasted for one year and paste new ones. Some calligraphers will personally write couplets, and write down their own prospects for the coming year on the couplets, hoping that all their wishes will come true in the coming year. The custom of sticking door gods generally appears in rural areas, and people are used to sticking big door gods on their thick wooden doors, which has played a role in driving away bad luck and opening the door to welcome the god of wealth.
This is probably the origin of the Spring Festival, so the Spring Festival is also called the New Year ~
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