Evolution of China's annual customs

Chinese New Year

guò niá n

1. [celebrate the new year]: celebrate in the new year or the Spring Festival

2. [spend the new year]: spend the new year or the Spring Festival

3.[next year] Next year

Example: This child should go to school in the New Year

The first month of the lunar calendar (January) is the beginning of a year, and the first or middle of the first month is the beginning of spring in most cases (a small part of beginning of spring is in the late twelfth lunar month), and now it is named Spring Festival; The final determination of the specific time of the festival is believed to be related to the minimum impact on agricultural work at this time. The last day of the lunar year (the 3th day of the lunar month and the 29th day of the lunar month) is called "New Year's Eve". On New Year's Eve, the whole family get together for dinner (the last meal of the lunar year). After the dinner, there are customs of staying up late and giving lucky money, which means keeping the first day of the next year from the last day of the lunar year. Therefore, this festival is also called Chinese New Year.

According to the solar calendar, the Spring Festival swims from January 21st to February 2th. Beginning of spring is on February 4th or 5th.

off-year holidays

among the people, especially in rural areas, there are habits of off-year holidays and off-year holidays.

In off-year, that is, on the 23rd (or 24th) of the twelfth lunar month (see the explanation on the discussion page), send the Kitchen King to heaven (cremate the painting of the Kitchen King) and report to the Jade Emperor the performance of his family in the past year. In order to make the kitchen god speak well, we should offer candied melons, and paste sugar on his mouth when seeing him off, so that he can speak well in heaven. To welcome the kitchen king back on New Year's Eve is to invite (buy) a new painting of the kitchen king (with the kitchen king and his wife's milk on it) for the kitchen. A pair of couplets is usually posted on both sides of the painting: Heaven says good things, and the lower world keeps peace. Horizontal batch: the head of the family.

The New Year begins on the last day of the twelfth lunar month. It is generally believed that until the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month, there is also a saying that the first month is the New Year.

holiday date

The "legal holiday of the Spring Festival" stipulated by the mainland is three days from the first day to the third day (1st to 3rd day) of the first lunar month. Nevertheless, many places (especially non-state-owned units) will not officially go to work until the eighth day of the first month.

China-influenced countries around China, such as South Korea, have Korean for "Seollal?" (Korean for "New Year"), a legal holiday; Vietnam, known as "New Year's Day", has the same legal time as China, and it is also the first to third day. Although different countries have different appellations, their customs are similar.

Chinese New Year custom

Laba: The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, which is a traditional festival of the Han nationality, serves as a signal that the "New Year's Eve" is coming. As a tradition, we drink Laba porridge and make Laba garlic on this day. See

offering sacrifices to the kitchen stove on Laba Festival, that is, sending the kitchen god to heaven to sweep the dust, posting Spring Festival couplets and New Year pictures, inviting and worshiping the gods, burning incense, lighting candles, hanging lanterns, lighting candles in the lanterns, and the flames of the candles are jumping, which is really beautiful. If you put an electric light bulb. People who go out to study and work should go home to reunite with their parents and celebrate the New Year together.

Legend of "Nian"

According to legend, in ancient China, there was a monster called "Nian", which had long tentacles and was ferocious. Nian lived at the bottom of the sea for many years, and climbed ashore every New Year's Eve, eating livestock and hurting people's lives. Therefore, every New Year's Eve, people in villages and villages fled to the deep mountains to avoid the harm of "Nian" animals.

On New Year's Eve this year, people in Taohua Village were helping the elderly and taking care of the young to take refuge in the mountains. An old beggar came from outside the village, only to see him with a cane in his hand, a bag in his arm, and elegant silver whiskers, and his eyes were fixed on Matthew Star. Some villagers sealed windows and locked doors, some packed their bags, some herded cattle and drove sheep, and people shouted hiss everywhere, which was a scene of panic. At this time, who has the heart to take care of the begging old man? ; Only an old woman in the east of the village gave the old man some food and advised him to go up the mountain quickly to avoid the "Nian" beast. The old man smiled and said, "If my mother-in-law lets me stay at home for one night, I will definitely drive the" Nian "beast away." The old woman was surprised to look closely, and saw that he was handsome, energetic and extraordinary. But she continued to persuade and begged the old man to laugh without saying a word. Mother-in-law had no choice but to leave home and take refuge in the mountains.

At midnight, Nian beast broke into the village. It found that the atmosphere in the village was different from that in previous years: the old woman's house in the east of the village had red paper posted on the door, and the candles in the house were brightly lit. "Nian" beast shook all over and gave a long cry. "Nian" glared at her mother-in-law's house for a moment, and then screamed and rushed over. As we approached the door, there was a sudden explosion in the courtyard. Nian trembled and dared not go forward again. It turns out that Nian is most afraid of red, fire and exploding. At this time, my mother-in-law's door was wide open, and I saw an old man in a red robe laughing in the hospital. "nian" was frightened to disgrace and fled in confusion.

The next day was the first day of the first month, and the people who came back from refuge were very surprised to see that the village was safe and sound. At this time, the old woman suddenly realized and quickly told the villagers about the promise of begging the old man. Villagers flocked to the old woman's house, only to find red paper on her mother-in-law's door, a pile of unburned bamboo still exploding in the yard, and a few red candles in the house still glowing ...; In order to celebrate the auspicious arrival, ecstatic villagers put on new clothes and hats one after another and went to their relatives and friends' homes to congratulate and say hello. The story soon spread in the surrounding villages, and people knew the way to drive away the "Nian" beast.

Since then, every year on New Year's Eve, every family has posted red couplets and set off firecrackers; Every household is brightly lit by candlelight, and it is better to wait for the new year. In the early morning of the first day, I have to say hello to my relatives and friends. This custom spread more and more widely, and became the most solemn traditional festival in China.

the first day of the first lunar month, also known as the lunar year, is commonly known as "New Year" and "New Year". This is the most grand and lively traditional festival among Chinese people. The Spring Festival has a long history, which originated from the activities of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors at the beginning and end of the Yin and Shang Dynasties. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the first day of the first month was called Yuanri, Yuanchen, Yuanzheng, Yuanshuo, New Year's Day, etc., commonly known as the first day of the first month. In the Republic of China, it was changed to the Gregorian calendar. The first day of the Gregorian calendar was called New Year's Day, and the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar was called the Spring Festival.

The Spring Festival is coming, which means that spring is coming, Vientiane is reviving, and the new sowing and harvesting season is about to start. People have just passed the long winter when the plants and trees are dying in the ice and snow, and they have long been looking forward to the day when spring blooms. When the new year comes, it is natural to welcome this festival with joy and singing.

For thousands of years, people have made the celebration of the New Year's custom extremely colorful. Every year, from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to the 3th, people call this period "Spring Festival Day", also known as "Dust-cleaning Day", which is a traditional habit of our people before the Spring Festival.

Then, every household prepares the New Year's goods. About ten days before the festival, people are busy shopping, including chicken, duck, fish, tea, wine, oil sauce, roasted seeds and nuts in the north and south, and fruit with sugar bait. They should also prepare some gifts for visiting relatives and friends during the Chinese New Year, and children should buy new clothes and hats to wear during the Chinese New Year.

Before the festival, a New Year message in red paper and yellow letters should be pasted on the front door of the house, that is, Spring Festival couplets written in red paper. Colorful New Year pictures with auspicious meanings are posted in the house, beautiful window grilles are cut out by ingenious girls and pasted on the windows, red lanterns are hung in front of the door, and the characters of fortune, door gods and so on can be pasted upside down, and passers-by are blessed when they think of it. All these activities are to add enough festive atmosphere to the festival.

Another name for the Spring Festival is Chinese New Year. In past legends, Nian was an imaginary animal that brought bad luck to people. New year's eve. The trees are withered, and the grass is not born; After the new year, everything grows and flowers are everywhere. How can the year pass? It is necessary to use firecrackers, so there is the custom of burning firecrackers, which is actually another way to set off the lively scene.

The Spring Festival is a joyful and peaceful festival, and it is also a day for family reunion. Children who leave home should go home to get together during the Spring Festival. The night before the Chinese New Year is the 3th night of the twelfth lunar month, which is also called New Year's Eve and reunion night. At the turn of the old and the new, observing the new year is one of the most important activities. On New Year's Eve, the whole family stays up all the time, gets together and drinks, and enjoys family happiness. In the northern region, it is customary to eat jiaozi on New Year's Eve. jiaozi's practice is to mix noodles first, and the word harmony is the combination. Jiaozi's dumplings are homophonic, which means to get together, and also means to make friends at a younger age. In the south, there is the habit of eating New Year's cakes, which are sweet and sticky, symbolizing the sweet life and step by step in the new year.

When the first cock crow rings, or the New Year bell strikes, firecrackers are ringing in the streets, and the noise keeps coming and going, and the new year begins. Men, women and children all wear festive costumes. First, the elders in the family are given New Year greetings, and children are given lucky money, having a reunion dinner. On the second and third days of the second year, they begin to visit their relatives and friends, pay new year greetings to each other, and say some congratulations and new happiness.

The warm atmosphere of the festival not only permeates every household, but also fills the streets and alleys of various places. In some places, there are customs such as lion dancing, playing dragon lanterns, performing social fires, visiting flower markets and visiting temple fairs. During this period, lanterns were all over the city and tourists were all over the street. It was very lively and unprecedented, and the Spring Festival didn't really end until after the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month.

The Spring Festival is the most important festival of the Han nationality, but more than a dozen ethnic minorities, such as Manchu, Mongolian, Yao, Zhuang, Bai, Gaoshan, Hezhe, Hani, Daur, Dong and Li, have also had the custom of the Spring Festival, but the form of the festival has its own national characteristics and is more meaningful.

the origin and legend of the spring festival

the original meaning of the concept of the spring festival and the year comes from agriculture. In ancient times, people called the growth cycle of the valley "year". In the Xia and Shang Dynasties, the Xia calendar came into being, with the moon's full and short period as the month, and a year divided into twelve months. Every month, the day when the moon is not seen is the new moon, and the first day of the first month is called the beginning of the year, which is also called the year. The name of the year began in the Zhou Dynasty, and it was officially fixed in the Western Han Dynasty and continued until today. However, the first day of the first month in ancient times was called "New Year's Day". Until the victory of the Revolution of 1911 in modern China, in order to conform to the farming season and facilitate statistics, the Nanjing Provisional Government stipulated that the summer calendar should be used among the people, and the Gregorian calendar should be implemented in government agencies, factories, mines, schools and organizations, with the first day of January of the Gregorian calendar as New Year's Day and the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar as the Spring Festival.

In the traditional sense, the Spring Festival refers to the festival from La Worship on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, with New Year's Eve and the first day of the first lunar month as the climax. During the Spring Festival, a traditional festival, the Han nationality and most ethnic minorities in our country have to hold various celebration activities. Most of these activities are mainly about offering sacrifices to gods and buddhas, paying homage to ancestors, getting rid of the old and spreading the new, welcoming the new year and praying for a good harvest. The forms of activities are rich and colorful, with strong national characteristics.

The Spring Festival originated from La Worship in the primitive society of China. It is said that when the wax is exhausted, people kill pigs to sacrifice to God and pray for good weather and good harvests in the coming year. People painted their faces with vermilion, decorated their wings with birds, and sang and danced. As for the "Spring Festival", it was first seen in "The History of the Later Han Dynasty Yang Zhen": "There is no snow in winter, and there is no rain in the Spring Festival."

On September 27th, 1949, New China was founded. At the first plenary session of China People's Political Consultative Conference, it was adopted to use the Gregorian calendar era which is commonly used in the world, and the first day of January of the Gregorian calendar was designated as New Year's Day, commonly known as the Gregorian calendar year. The first day of the first lunar month is usually around beginning of spring, so the first day of the first lunar month is designated as the "Spring Festival", commonly known as the lunar year.

One of the legends of the Spring Festival: Keeping up with the New Year

Keeping up with the New Year is the custom of not sleeping on the last night of the old year and staying up late to welcome the new year. It is also called keeping up with the New Year's Eve, and its common name is "Keeping up with the New Year". Exploring the origin of this custom, there is an interesting story circulating among the people:

In Archaean, there was a fierce monster scattered in the mountains and forests, and people called them "Nian". Its appearance is ferocious, its nature is ferocious, and it specializes in eating birds and animals and insects. It changes its taste every day, from kowtowing insects to living people, which makes people talk about "Nian". Later, people gradually mastered the activity law of "Nian", which is to go to places where people live in concentrated communities every 365 days to taste fresh food, and the haunting time is after dark, and when the cock crows at dawn, they return to the mountains.

Having determined the date when the Year of the Year raged, the people regarded this terrible night as a gateway, which was called the Year of the Year, and came up with a whole set of ways to close the New Year's Day: every household cooked dinner in advance on this night, turned off the fire and cleaned the stove, then tied up all the cowshed, sealed the front and rear doors of the house, and hid in the house to eat the New Year's Eve. In addition to asking the whole family to dine together to show harmony and reunion, it is also necessary to offer sacrifices to ancestors before eating, pray for the blessing of ancestors, and spend the night safely. After dinner, no one dares to sleep and sit together to chat and be courageous. It gradually formed the habit of staying up on New Year's Eve.

The custom of observing the age rose in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and many scholars in the Liang Dynasty had poems about observing the age. "One night is even two years old, and the five hours are divided into two years." People light candles or oil lamps and keep vigil all night, symbolizing driving away all evil diseases and looking forward to good luck in the new year. This custom has been passed down from generation to generation.

Legend No.2 of the Spring Festival: A calendar was created in Wan Nian

According to legend, in ancient times, a young man named Wan Nian saw that the festivals were chaotic at that time, and he had a plan to make them accurate. But he couldn't find a way to calculate the time. One day, he was tired of chopping wood on the mountain and sat in the shade of a tree. The movement of the shadow inspired him. He designed a sundial to measure the time of the day. Later, the dripping spring on the cliff inspired him, and he began to make a five-layer leaky pot to calculate the time. Over time, he found that every three hundred and sixty days, the four seasons would cycle once, and the length of the weather would be repeated.

At that time, the monarch was called Zu Yi, and he was often troubled by the unpredictable weather. After ten thousand years of knowing it, he took the sundial and the clepsydra to see the emperor and explained to Zu Yi the truth of the movement of the sun and the moon. After hearing this, Zu Yi was very happy and felt reasonable. So I left Wannian, built the Sun Moon Pavilion in front of the Temple of Heaven, and built a sundial platform and a leaky pot pavilion. I hope that I can accurately measure the laws of the sun and the moon, calculate the exact time of the morning and evening, and create a calendar to benefit the people of the world.

On one occasion, Zu Yi went to learn about the progress of the calendar. When he boarded the Sun and Moon Altar, he saw a poem engraved on the stone wall beside the Temple of Heaven:

Sunrise and Sunset 36, starting all over again.

There are four seasons when vegetation withers and flourishes, and each year has twelve circles.

Knowing that the calendar of Wannian has been established, I personally went to the Sun Moon Pavilion to visit Wannian. Wannian pointed to the astronomical phenomena and said to Zu Yi, "Now it is twelve months old, the old year is over, and the new year begins again. Please make a festival for the monarch." Zu Yi said, "Spring is the first year of the year, so let's call it Spring Festival". It is said that this is the origin of the Spring Festival.

winter goes and spring comes, and year comes.