The customs of the Spring Festival

The Spring Festival is the time to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. People say goodbye to the old and welcome the new, get rid of the fatigue of a year, feel the rich atmosphere of a year and enjoy happiness. With the most solemn sense of ceremony, express our attention to this festival and pray for an auspicious new year. The activities of the Spring Festival are colorful, such as cutting window grilles, writing Spring Festival couplets, putting up New Year pictures, hanging lanterns, setting off firecrackers, wrapping jiaozi, observing and welcoming the New Year, all of which give birth to the unique "flavor of the year" in China. 1. Sticking the word "fu" in the Spring Festival is a long-standing folk custom. During the Spring Festival, every household should put the word "Fu" on the door and wall. The word "fu" is now interpreted as "happiness", but in the past it meant "good luck" and "good luck". No matter now or in the past, the word "Fu" posted in the Spring Festival has pinned people's yearning for a happy life and wishes for a better future. In order to fully reflect this yearning and wish, the people simply put the word "Fu" upside down, indicating that "Fu has fallen (to) and Fu has fallen (to)". 2. Sticking Spring Festival couplets, also known as couplets and Taofu, is a unique literary form in China, which can express profound meanings in short words. According to research, the folk custom of pasting Spring Festival couplets began in Song Dynasty and prevailed in Ming Dynasty. The earliest prototype of Spring Festival couplets is "Fu Tao", which is used to ward off evil spirits. After several evolutions, the present Spring Festival couplets came into being. Sticking Spring Festival couplets is a traditional custom in China. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, every family will put up couplets wherever they are. The couplets on the gate are the facade of a family, which are particularly exquisite, lyrical or picturesque, rich in content and witty. In some places, people will put up door gods, which means to ward off evil spirits and disasters, welcome good luck, symbolize everyone's wishes and hopes for a beautiful year, and also set off the happy atmosphere of the New Year. Hanging lanterns originated in the Western Han Dynasty. In ancient times, people with conditions usually hung lanterns for lighting, but red lanterns were usually hung during the Spring Festival. In the traditional culture of China, people think that red lanterns have the auspicious meaning of "good luck". Every Spring Festival, people hang lanterns symbolizing family reunion and prosperous life in front of their doors until after the Lantern Festival to create a festive atmosphere for the Spring Festival. Lanterns are closely related to people's lives in China. There are lanterns everywhere in temples and living rooms. Lanterns have rich meanings, and the warm atmosphere of the festival not only permeates every household, but also the streets and alleys. Lanterns hung during the Spring Festival are auspicious patterns and words of blessing. The color of lanterns is generally red, and red is the same as cinnabar, which is a very effective treasure in geomantic culture and is very popular among people. 4, wearing new clothes, wearing new clothes during the Spring Festival, in addition to the old spirit, represents the renewal of everything, and the New Year has a new atmosphere. Every family, adults and children, put on new clothes to celebrate the New Year. 5, eat New Year's Eve, also known as reunion dinner, reunion dinner, etc. Especially the New Year's Eve dinner. New Year's Eve is the highlight of the Spring Festival every year, which is not only colorful, but also has many implications. Some places eat jiaozi, pinning the good wishes of "reunion" and "perfection" in the New Year; Eating rice cakes in some places means that everything goes well every year. Eating jiaozi and jiaozi used to be the custom of northerners. Eating jiaozi in the New Year means "having children in the new year" for good luck in the new year. Now many southerners have joined the ranks of eating jiaozi, all with a good wish of good luck for a year. During the Spring Festival, people will eat jiaozi, which means "you can't see the windward side of jiaozi". Jiaozi will be eaten on New Year's Eve, the first day, the fifth day and the seventh day. It indicates good luck in the new year. 7. Celebrating New Year's Eve is one of the most important customs in the Spring Festival, which was recorded in the Western Jin Dynasty. Shounian is also called "Enduring the Year". Every family has a family reunion dinner and vigils all night, waiting for the moment to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Even two years old one night, five classes for two years. According to folklore, on New Year's Eve every year, "Chong" comes to the world and touches the head of a sleeping child. Any child who has been touched by a rush will become a demented fool. In order not to hurt children, on New Year's Eve, people will light oil lamps or charcoal fires all night, play with children and keep them awake. This was called "Shouzi" at that time. Later, people thought it unlucky to mention the monster "Sui", and because "Sui" and "Sui" are homophonic, they gradually called "Shousui". In ancient times, observing age has two meanings: the old people keep age, which means cherishing time; Young people keep their age in order to prolong the life of their parents. Nowadays, after the reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, everyone will sit in front of the TV, watch the Spring Festival Evening and count down to welcome the New Year. When the bell rings at 0: 00, every household will set off fireworks to celebrate the arrival of the New Year. Setting off firecrackers, also known as firecrackers, is a traditional folk custom during the Spring Festival, which has a history of more than 2,000 years. When the papers are handed in at midnight, the New Year bell rings and firecrackers ring over the land of China. In this "three yuan" moment of "year yuan", "month yuan" and "time yuan", some places still set up "prosperous fire" in the courtyard, which means prosperity. China folks are known as "setting off firecrackers", that is, when the New Year comes, the first thing for every household to open the door is to set off firecrackers. With the sound of firecrackers, they are pinning their hopes of welcoming good luck. However, due to the current environmental factors, most cities prohibit the discharge of fireworks and firecrackers, so electronic firecrackers are used instead to imitate the sound and flash of discharge and increase the festive atmosphere and sense of ceremony. 9. Paying New Year greetings is a traditional folk custom in China. This is a way for people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new and express their best wishes to each other. China's New Year greeting began in the Han Dynasty. The time to pay New Year greetings is generally from the first day to the fifth day. Visiting relatives and friends after the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is often regarded as worshipping the early years; Visiting relatives and friends after the fifth day of the first month is called worshipping the old. Nowadays, the forms of New Year greetings are more and more diversified. SMS, telephone, WeChat and video are becoming more and more common. No matter how the form changes, the theme of caring for relatives and friends and expressing good wishes is eternal. 10. Giving lucky money originated earlier, but it was popular all over the country in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Lucky money was originally called "lucky money". According to legend, "money" is a terrible monster, aimed at children. In order to prevent children from being hurt, adults have come up with a way to "cherish" money. At that time, money was not real money, just something like money. Nowadays, the practicality of lucky money is gradually strengthened. After the New Year's Eve, the elders will give the prepared red envelopes to the younger generation. The younger generation pays New Year greetings to the elders, and the elders will give their children lucky money. Giving lucky money reflects the care of the elders for the younger generation. With a strong New Year's breath, everyone in the world is happy. The old customs that have been passed down to this day have increased the flavor of the year and the deep affection.