Spring Festival Customs in Qianjiang

In addition to pushing soup dumplings, pushing tofu, playing mochi and cooking mash, there are also hanging lanterns, sticking spring couplets and some rituals." Ni Erquan, a group of villagers from Fangjia Village, Goose Pond Township, Qianjiang District, Chongqing, said there are many customs and taboos while eating and drinking on New Year's Day.

Snatching the New Year

"Snatching the New Year, that is to say, snatching everything in front of others, comparing who gets up early, who goes out first, who picks back the first quart of water first, who fetches back the first bundle of firewood, and whose family eats the New Year's Eve dinner first, and so on." Ni'erquan said.

On Lunar New Year's Eve a family has to get up early, and adults and children are not encouraged to sleep in. After getting up, the first thing to do is to carry a load of firewood from outside into the house, boil water and wash your face, and then everyone starts to get busy individually." The man of the house goes out to pick up a load of water and cut a bundle of firewood to go home, symbolizing the coming year's wealth and the family's prosperity.

After breakfast, the man of the house is busy preparing firewood to burn the pig's head, slaughtering chickens and ducks, putting up couplets, hanging lanterns, and cleaning up indoors and outdoors; the woman of the house is very nimble and responsible for cooking in the kitchen, and eating the New Year's Eve dinner is usually ahead of the neighbors.

Sacrifices

After washing your face in the morning, you are not allowed to pour the wash water outside, and you should prepare a large wooden bucket with wash water for your face and feet beforehand, and you should fill it up until the third day of the Lunar New Year before pouring it out, which is meant to prevent the loss of wealth.

Before noon on New Year's Eve, the family will also carry incense, wax and paper candles, fireworks and firecrackers, fruits and candies to the graveyard to pay homage to the ancestors before returning home to cook New Year's Eve dinner.

New Year's Eve dinner, generally in the countryside, are the pig's head until the New Year's Eve to cook to eat, because the New Year's Eve rituals to use the whole pig's head, so in the pig's head burning, both to burn, but not to damage the pig's head of any of the organs. The pig's head is then washed and placed in a large iron pot. When the pig's head is cooked, it is fished out and placed in a wooden pot that can hold the whole pig's head. The head is brought outside to honor the gods of heaven and earth and the land, and then brought to the hall to honor the ancestors. It is a blessing for good weather and good health in the coming year.

At the New Year's Eve dinner, when the dishes on the table are all ready, the bowls and chopsticks are set up, wine is poured into the cups, and firecrackers are set off, inviting the ancestors to come home for the New Year. This is known locally as "calling Fuzi", or "calling for rice". After the ceremony, the family will be reunited.

Expanded Information:

Taboos

The Tujia people are generally from the 23rd day of the Lunar New Year, adults and children are not allowed to speak of unlucky words, when the parents should remember not to hit the child, not scold the child, the child is not allowed to speak of the Children, do not scold children, children are not allowed to hit the birds end bird's nest, because "sparrows should also have a New Year's Eve," to achieve harmony between people and the surrounding natural objects.

When eating New Year's dinner, children can not eat chicken claws can only be given to adults to eat, eat a good catch money. Children can not eat pig's feet, eat grown up difficult to find a wife. Pig's feet and chicken claws can only be given to the male head of the family to eat, said to catch money claw, year-round wealth into. Eat New Year's dinner is not allowed to soak soup, said soak soup after the flood to wash out the field, damage to crops. This day is not allowed to use the needle, use the needle after the crop bugs.

The rural areas also have "thirty nights of fire, fifteen lights." Especially on the night of the 30th night, more firewood should be prepared, and the fire on this day should be burned vigorously, symbolizing a prosperous life in the coming year.

Welcoming the gods

On the 23rd day of the Lunar New Year's Eve, the goddess of the kitchen is going to return to the sky to report to the Jade Emperor on the affairs of the mortal world, and will only return to the mortal world on the 30th night of the Lunar New Year. Therefore, after people eat the New Year's Eve dinner, when it gets dark, they have to welcome the god of the stove, and burn money and paper, light up pots and lanterns, and welcome the god of the stove back.

Now, many people have to welcome the Goddess of Mercy into the house, blessing the whole family with peace, but also to welcome the "four official bodhisattvas" to the home, that is, at midnight in the hall of a bowl of fire ash, chemical burnt paper to honor the "four official bodhisattvas," the legend says that the four official god is in charge of the six animals of the God, after honoring the significance of the six animals Legend has it that the four gods are in charge of the six livestock, and after honoring them, it means that the livestock fed at home in the coming year will be prosperous. After the ceremony, the ash-filled bowl is placed under the threshold of the door, and the next day, when an outsider enters the house and steps on the ash, it is very lucky.

New Year's greetings

"Don't go out on the first day of the New Year, worship the family on the second day, and go to your father-in-law on the third and fourth day of the New Year." In Qianjiang Tujia and Miao people as long as the New Year's Eve is over, every family should pay New Year's Eve to their elders. Rural New Year's greetings also have rules, because the first month is the beginning of the year, travel must look for an auspicious day.

Bay New Year is to look at the day, generally looking for local elders who are good at choosing the date of the selected line day, you can also look up their own calendars, or wait until the fifth day of the first month out of the door. Because the first five for the "broken" five, the first five a go out is great luck.

Welcome to the New Year to go to relatives on the gift, usually with a red paper strip tied to the gift, said the meaning of celebration and good luck. After a few days of playing in the relatives home, home to "send money", in addition to send money, but also to prepare back to the basket of things, such as patties, bubble poi, candy and so on, in short, can not let the basket back empty back.

Festive

"The countryside New Year's Eve, although not as grand as the Spring Festival gala held in the city, but the traditional play of lions, dragon lanterns, rowing colorful dragon boats is still very lively, so that the entire Spring Festival are immersed in the festive and peaceful." Ni Erquan said,

The rural New Year's Eve has also become a kind of comparison, than the rich dishes on the table of whose family, cigarettes, alcohol, drinks are more upscale, and even more comparable than the night of the 30th night, whose family's firecrackers and fireworks are set off for a longer time." Ni Erquan said.

When it comes to New Year's Eve, it doesn't matter how frugal one usually is or how much one usually compresses on household expenses. When it comes to buying New Year's goods, people are generous with their money.

Previously, on New Year's Day, a family with three brothers and four sisters would get together to eat a rotary, and we would all want to have a lively New Year's Day to make the flavor of the year stronger and stronger.

Reference:

Chongqing Morning Post-Qianjiang New Year's Eve Customs