What are the New Year customs?

1, New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve refers to the night on the last day of the twelfth lunar month, which is connected with the first day of the first month. The word "except" in "New Year's Eve" is "go; Easy; "Alternating" means that New Year's Eve means "the month is poor and the old year is exhausted". People should get rid of the old year and welcome the new year. It means that the new year will be replaced next year. This is the last night of the lunar calendar. Therefore, the activities during the period are centered on resigning the old and welcoming the new, eliminating disasters and praying for blessings.

At the end of every year in the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, a ceremony of "dancing Zhong Kui" and "exorcising evil spirits" was held in the palace, and drumming was called "exorcism", and then it was called "exorcism" on the day before New Year's Eve, that is, New Year's Eve. New Year's Eve is New Year's Eve, that is, New Year's Eve.

Step 2 stick to the door

There is a custom of putting up doors for the New Year in all parts of China. At first, the janitor carved mahogany into a human shape and hung it by the door. Later, it was painted as a janitor and posted on the door. The legendary brothers Shen Tu and Lei Yu are in charge of ghosts, and they guard the portal, so all kinds of monsters dare not enter the portal to do evil. After the Tang Dynasty, there were paintings of Zhong Kui's hometown saint Zhong Kui blessing the town house, as well as Qin Qiong and Wei Chijingde, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Every household has a door god, and later generations often draw a pair of door gods as martial arts. Door gods are divided into three categories: the first category is "door gods", which are mostly attached to doors or the whole door, about four or five feet high and two or three feet wide. The second kind is the "door keeper", which is attached to the small street door, about two feet high and one foot wide. These two door gods are two gods with a black face and a white face. White left black right, white easy, black evil, each holding a slap in the face. The third category is the "gatekeeper", which is a little smaller and more limited than the street keeper. It is also a black and white Er Shen, but there are also two black and white statues sitting like statues. At most, there is a picture of "Kirin sending the child" on the door, and two dolls with powder and fat comb crowns are riding Kirin. This kind of door god should have been stuck on the wedding door to get lucky, and later it was also used for the New Year decoration of ordinary street doors.

Step 3 post Spring Festival couplets

Spring Festival couplets, also known as "door-to-door" and "spring post", are a kind of couplets, named after being posted during the Spring Festival. One source of Spring Festival couplets is the symbol of peach, which is why there is a poem "Every family always exchanges new peaches for old symbols". At first, people carved figures out of mahogany and hung them by the door to ward off evil spirits. Later, they painted the door god on the mahogany, and finally simplified it to write the name of the door god directly on the mahogany board. Another source of Spring Festival couplets is spring stickers. The ancients posted the word "Yichun" more and more at the beginning of spring, and gradually developed into Spring Festival couplets. The real popularity of Spring Festival couplets began in the Ming Dynasty, which was related to Zhu Yuanzhang's advocacy. According to Chen Shanggu's Miscellaneous Notes on Mao Yunlou in Qing Dynasty, one year when Zhu Yuanzhang was preparing for the New Year, he ordered every household to post a pair of Spring Festival couplets to celebrate. At first, Spring Festival couplets were carved on mahogany boards, and later rewritten on paper. The color of mahogany is red, which means good luck and avoiding evil spirits, so most Spring Festival couplets are written in red paper. However, temples are made of yellow paper, and toilet paper is made of white, green and yellow. Use white paper in the first year, green paper in the second year, yellow paper in the third year, and red paper after the funeral in the fourth year. Because Manchu is still white, the Spring Festival couplets in the Qing court are all wrapped in white paper, with blue edges outside and red stripes inside. Therefore, on New Year's Eve, people put the prepared Spring Festival couplets on the doors.

4. Other pasting methods

These all have folk functions of praying and decorating the residence. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China, which reflects people's customs and beliefs and places their hopes for the future. New Year pictures, like Spring Festival couplets, originated from "door gods". Spring Festival couplets developed from the names of Shen Tu and Lei Yu to figures, while New Year pictures still developed along the direction of painting. With the rise of block printing, the content of New Year pictures is no longer limited to the door gods, but gradually invites the God of Wealth to their homes. Then, in some New Year pictures workshops, colorful New Year pictures such as three-star pictures of Fu Lushou, blessing from Zhong Kui, blessing from God, abundant crops, prosperity of six animals and welcoming the new year are produced to satisfy people's good wishes of celebrating and praying for the New Year. As Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of Ming Dynasty, advocated posting Spring Festival couplets, New Year pictures became popular, and three important producing areas of New Year pictures appeared in China: Taohuawu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong. Formed three schools of Chinese New Year pictures. In the early years of the Republic of China, Zheng of Shanghai combined the monthly calendar with the New Year pictures. This is a new form of New Year pictures. This two-in-one New Year picture was later developed into a calendar. Hanging a thousand is carved with auspicious words on red paper, accompanied by a long ruler and A Zhi, which is posted in front of the door, reflecting the symbol of peach. There are eight immortals hanging in front of the Buddha statue. Hanging thousands of households use more, and aristocratic families use less. Its yellow paper is three inches long and red paper is more than one inch long, which is a "small hanging thousand" and is used by shops. The earliest thousands of hanging coins were linked by making money (copper coins), which, like lucky money, had an overwhelming victory effect.

5, shou sui

People have the habit of observing the New Year's Eve, commonly known as "Enduring the Year". Watching the new year begins with eating New Year's Eve dinner. This New Year's Eve dinner should be eaten slowly, starting with lighting lanterns, and some families have to eat it until late at night. Others, whether adults or children, can't sleep all night. According to Zonggu's records of Jingchu's age, there was a custom of eating New Year's Eve dinner at least in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The custom of observing the old age not only includes the feeling of farewell and nostalgia for the fleeting time, but also expresses the good hope for the coming New Year.

Step 6 give lucky money

Lucky money is given to the younger generation by the elders. In some families, everyone is not allowed to leave the table after the New Year's Eve. After everyone has finished eating, the elders give it to the younger generation to encourage their children and grandchildren to learn and improve in the new year. In some families, parents put their children under pillows after they fall asleep at night, and in more families, children gather in the main hall, shouting Happy New Year to grandparents and parents, and queuing up to bow down; Then reach for the red envelope. They even took back their grandparents' bedrooms and ran to the bed together, shouting "lucky money, lucky money!" " "The old man is not busy enough, so he is stingy. From bargaining to siege, he finally dug up the red envelope of his ancestors. Everyone took them and roared away. The old man was overjoyed to see this scene and thought it was a good sign for all the best in the new year. Giving lucky money in the New Year reflects the care of the elders for the younger generation and the respect of the younger generation for the elders. It is a folk activity that integrates family ethics.

7. Open the door and set off firecrackers

When the door is opened in the morning of the Spring Festival, firecrackers are set off first, which is called "opening the door to set off firecrackers". After the firecrackers, the ground is broken red, which is the so-called "full house". At this time, the streets are full of anger and joy.