What traditional virtues do lucky money embody?

Spring Festival is an ancient festival in China, and it is also the most important festival in a year. How to celebrate this festival has formed some relatively fixed customs and habits in thousands of years of historical development, and many of them have been passed down to this day.

sweep the dust

"On the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, dust sweeps the house". According to Lv Chunqiu, China had the custom of sweeping dust during the Spring Festival in the Yao and Shun era. According to the folk saying: Because of the homonym of "dust" and "Chen", sweeping dust in the Spring Festival means "getting rid of the old and not being new", and its original intention is to sweep away all bad luck and bad luck. This custom has placed people's desire to break the old and create new ones and their prayers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, every household should clean the environment, clean all kinds of electrical appliances, remove and wash bedding curtains, sweep six yards, dust cobwebs and dredge culverts in open channels. Everywhere is filled with the joyful atmosphere of cleaning and welcoming the Spring Festival cleanly.

lucky money

When visiting the New Year during the Spring Festival, the elders should distribute the lucky money prepared in advance to the younger generation. It is said that lucky money can kill evil spirits, because "old" and "special" are homophonic, and the younger generation can spend a year safely with lucky money. There are two kinds of lucky money, one is to put colored rope in the shape of Jackie Chan at the foot of the bed, which was recorded in Yanjing year; The other is the most common, that is, parents wrap the money distributed to their children in red paper. Lucky money can be given in public after the younger generation pays New Year's greetings, or it can be put under the child's pillow by parents when the child is asleep on New Year's Eve.

Folks believe that giving children lucky money, when evil spirits or "Nian" hurt children, children can use the money to bribe them and turn evil into good luck. A Qing Wu Manyun's poem "Lucky Money" said: "A hundred yuan long colored thread was collected from the pillow, and the price of firecrackers was discussed, which kept Joule busy all night." From this point of view, lucky money is tied in children's hearts, and children's lucky money is mainly used to buy firecrackers, toys and candy and other things needed for holidays.

At present, the custom of elders giving lucky money to younger generations is still prevalent, and the amount ranges from tens to hundreds. Most of these lucky money are used by children to buy books and school supplies, and the new fashion has given new content to the lucky money.

paste up Spring Festival couplets

Spring Festival couplets are also called door couplets, spring stickers, couplets, couplets and peach symbols. They depict the background of the times and express good wishes with neat, dual, concise and delicate words, which are unique literary forms in China. Every Spring Festival, no matter in urban or rural areas, every household should choose a pair of bright red Spring Festival couplets and stick them on the door to add festive atmosphere to the festival. This custom began in the Song Dynasty and was popular in the Ming Dynasty. By the Qing Dynasty, the ideological and artistic quality of Spring Festival couplets had been greatly improved. Liang Zhangju's monograph Poetry of Spring Festival couplets discusses the origin of couplets and the characteristics of various works.

There are many kinds of Spring Festival couplets, which can be divided into door heart, frame pair, cross string, spring strip and bucket square according to the place of use. The "door core" is attached to the center of the upper end of the door panel; The "door frame pair" is attached to the left and right door frames; "Cross-dressing" is posted on the crossbar of the door; "Spring strips" are posted in corresponding places according to different contents; "Dou Jin", also known as "door leaf", is a square diamond, often attached to furniture and screen walls.

Stick the window grilles and the word "fu" upside down.

In the folk, people also like to stick various paper-cuts on the windows-window grilles. Window grilles not only set off the festive atmosphere, but also integrate decoration, appreciation and practicality. Paper-cutting is a very popular folk art in China, which has been loved by people for thousands of years. Because it is often pasted on the window, it is also called "window grilles". With its unique generalization and exaggeration, window grilles show auspicious things and good wishes incisively and vividly, and decorate festivals with colorful colors.

While putting up Spring Festival couplets, some people have to put large and small "Fu" characters on doors, walls and lintels. Sticking the word "Fu" during the Spring Festival is a long-standing folk custom in China. The word "Fu" symbolizes good luck and wishes for a happy life and a bright future. In order to fully reflect this yearning and wish, some people simply put the word "Fu" upside down, indicating that "Fu has arrived" and "Fu has arrived". Others elaborate the word "Fu" into various patterns, such as longevity, longevity peach, carp yue longmen, abundant grains, dragons and phoenixes, and so on.

New Year picture

Hanging New Year pictures during the Spring Festival is also very common in urban and rural areas. Thick black and colorful New Year pictures add a lot of prosperity and festive atmosphere to thousands of families. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China, which reflects people's simple customs and beliefs and places their hopes on the future. New Year pictures, like Spring Festival couplets, originated from "door gods". With the rise of block printing, the content of New Year pictures is not limited to monotonous themes such as door gods, but has become rich and colorful. Some New Year pictures workshops have produced classic color New Year pictures, such as Fu Lushou's Samsung, God bless the people, abundant crops, prosperous livestock and welcoming the New Year, to meet people's good wishes of celebrating and praying for the New Year. There are three important producing areas of Chinese New Year pictures: Taohuawu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong; Three schools of New Year pictures have been formed, each with its own characteristics.

The earliest existing collection of New Year pictures in China is the woodcut New Year pictures of the Southern Song Dynasty, which depict four ancient beauties: Wang Zhaojun, Zhao, Ban Ji and Lvzhu. The most popular folk painting is the Year of Marrying the Rat. It depicts an interesting scene in which a mouse marries a bride according to human custom. 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 new year's picture, which was combined into one, later developed into a calendar and has been popular all over the country.

stay up late or all night on New Year's Eve

Keeping the Lunar New Year's Eve is one of the most important activities, and the custom of keeping the Lunar New Year's Eve has a long history. The earliest record can be found in the Local Records of the Western Jin Dynasty: on New Year's Eve, all parties give gifts to each other, which is called "the year of giving back"; Wine and food are invited, which is called "not old"; Young and old get together to drink and wish a complete song called "age division"; Everyone stays up all night, waiting for dawn. This is the so-called "shou sui".

On New Year's Eve, the whole family get together, eat New Year's Eve, light candles or oil lamps, sit around the stove and chat, wait for the time to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year, and keep vigil all night, which symbolizes driving away all evil diseases and epidemics and expecting good luck in the new year. This custom gradually became popular. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, wrote a poem "Shou Sui": "Cold words and winter snow, warm with spring breeze". To this day, people are used to celebrating the New Year's Eve.

In ancient times, observing the age has two meanings: the old man's observing the age means "resigning from the old", which means cherishing time; Young people keep their age in order to prolong the life of their parents. Since the Han Dynasty, the time for the alternation of the old and new years is generally at midnight.

firecracker

There is a folk saying in China that "open the door and set off firecrackers". That is, when the new year comes, the first thing for every household to open the door is to set off firecrackers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Firecracker is a specialty of China, also known as "Firecracker", "Firecracker" and "Firecracker". Its origin is very early, and it has a history of more than two thousand years. Setting off firecrackers can create a festive and lively atmosphere, which is a kind of entertainment in festivals and can bring happiness and good luck to people. With the passage of time, firecrackers are more and more widely used, and there are more and more varieties and colors. Every major festival and happy celebration, as well as marriage, building, opening, etc. We should set off firecrackers to celebrate and make good luck. At present, Liuyang, Hunan, Foshan and Dongyao, Yichun and Pingxiang, Jiangxi, Wenzhou, Zhejiang and other regions are famous fireworks towns in China. The firecrackers produced have many colors and high quality, which are not only sold well all over the country, but also exported to all parts of the world.

Pay new year's call

On the first day of the new year, people get up early, put on the most beautiful clothes, dress neatly, go out to visit relatives and friends, and wish each other good luck in the coming year. There are many ways to pay New Year's greetings, some of which are led by the same patriarch from door to door. Some colleagues invited several people to pay New Year greetings; Others get together to congratulate each other. This is called "group worship". Because it takes time and effort to pay New Year greetings at home, some elites and scholars later congratulated each other with stickers, thus developing the later "New Year cards".

When paying New Year greetings during the Spring Festival, the younger generation should first pay New Year greetings to their elders and wish them health and longevity. The elders can distribute the lucky money prepared in advance to the younger generation. It is said that lucky money can kill evil spirits, because "old" and "special" are homophonic, and the younger generation can spend a year safely with lucky money. There are two kinds of lucky money, one is to put colored rope in the shape of Jackie Chan at the foot of the bed, which was recorded in Yanjing year; The other is the most common, that is, parents wrap the money distributed to their children in red paper. Lucky money can be given in public after the younger generation pays New Year's greetings, or it can be secretly put under the child's pillow by parents when the child falls asleep on New Year's Eve. It is still very popular for elders to give lucky money to younger generations.

An important activity of the Spring Festival is to congratulate the New Year at new friends and friends' homes and neighbors, which used to be called New Year greetings. The wind of the Han people's New Year greetings began in the Han Dynasty. It was very popular after the Tang and Song Dynasties, and some people who don't have to go in person can use famous cards to congratulate them. It was called "thorn" in the Eastern Han Dynasty, so the business card was also called "famous thorn". After the Ming Dynasty, many people put up a red paper bag at the door to collect famous posts, which was called "Menben".

According to their social relations, the forms of folk New Year greetings can be roughly divided into four categories:

One is to visit relatives. On the first day, you must go to your father-in-law's house and bring gifts. After entering the door, first bow down to the Buddha statue, ancestor statue and memorial tablet, and then bow down to the elders in turn. You can stay for dinner and play.

The second is a courtesy visit. If you want to pay a New Year call to your colleagues and friends, you should only bow to the Buddha when you enter the room. If you are equal to your master, you only need to bow. If you are older than yourself, you should still take the initiative to bow your head. The host should get down from his seat to help you, or even say that he is not polite to show his humility. This situation is generally not suitable for sitting for a long time, so leave after a few pleasantries. After the host worships, he should pay a return visit another day.

The third is a thank-you visit. Anyone who owes money to others (such as lawyers and doctors) in the past year will buy some gifts and send them to express their gratitude by taking the opportunity to pay a New Year call.

The fourth is a series of visits. For neighbors, we didn't have much contact in the past, but we can get along well when we meet. On New Year's Eve, we just went to the yard and said "Congratulations on getting rich" and "Shun Shun Bai Shun" when we met. We just sit in the house for a while, without much etiquette.

In ancient times, there was a difference between New Year greetings and New Year greetings: New Year greetings were to knock on elders; The New Year is a time for peers to congratulate each other. Now, some organizations, groups, enterprises and schools get together to congratulate each other, which is called "group worship".

New Year greeting is a traditional folk custom in China, and it is a way for people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and express their best wishes to each other. In ancient times, the original meaning of the word "Happy New Year" was to pay New Year greetings to the elderly, including kowtowing to the elderly, congratulating them on a happy New Year and greeting their lives. In case of friends and relatives of the same generation, you should also salute and congratulate.

In ancient times, if neighbors had too many relatives and friends, it was difficult to walk around the whole house. It's called "flying mail", and let the servant take the business card to pay a New Year call. There is a red paper bag with the word "Fu Jie" written on it in front of each house, which is the purpose of posting flying cards. This custom began in the upper class of the Song Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, the Yantai Moon Order described the Beijing New Year Festival: "It's the moon, the film flies, and the car goes empty." Become fashionable. A large family has a special "door book" to record the guests' contacts and flying photos. There are four virtual "relatives" on the front page of the door: one is a centenarian living in centenarian lane; One said he was rich and lived in Yuanbao Street. One is your infinite adult, living in the university archway; One day, Fu Zhao visited his master and lived in Five Blessingg Building. For good luck. So far, the gift of New Year cards and greeting cards during the Spring Festival is the legacy of this ancient exchange of flying cards.

Scholars in the upper class have the custom of greeting each other with famous cards. Hui Zhou, a poet of the Song Dynasty, said in Qingbo magazine: "During the Song Dynasty, servants were often used to stab people in the name of the New Year." At that time, the scholar-officials had a wide circle of friends, and it took time and energy to pay New Year greetings everywhere. Therefore, some close friends did not go in person, but sent their servants to take a card cut with plum blossom stationery, two inches wide and three inches long, with the recipient's name, address and congratulations written on it. In the Ming dynasty, people visited instead of paying New Year's greetings. Wen Zhiming, an outstanding painter and poet in the Ming Dynasty, described in the poem "New Year": "I don't want to meet each other, but I want to be fluent, and my famous articles are full; I also throw a few pieces of paper at people. The world hates being too simple and not too empty. " The "famous thorn" and "famous divination" mentioned here are the origins of today's New Year cards. New Year cards are used to connect feelings and exchange greetings, which are convenient and practical and still popular today.

From about the Qing Dynasty, the form of "group worship" was added to the New Year greetings. In "Jade Tan with a Side Hat", the Lord of the Qing Dynasty said: "At the beginning of the year, the capital must make regular group worship to unite the friendship of the New Year and show the nostalgia", and "book guests, have a banquet and enjoy the day every year".

With the development of the times, the custom of New Year greetings is constantly adding new contents and forms. Nowadays, in addition to following the previous way of greeting the New Year, etiquette telegrams and telephone greetings have mushroomed.

However, from the first day of the first month to the fifth day of the first month, most families do not receive women, which is called "taboo". It's just that men want to go out to pay New Year greetings, and women can't go out to visit until after the sixth day of the first month. New Year greetings will last for a long time until the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month. Visiting relatives and friends in the evening is called "Night Worship Festival", and it is called "Lantern Festival" after October of the lunar calendar, so there is a joke that it is not too late to have a cold meal.

If for some reason you don't follow the routine ceremony and make up for it in the future, it's called "worshiping the old"

New Year's Eve

The last day of the Lunar New Year is called New Year's Eve, and Chaoshan custom calls it "Chinese New Year".

Before New Year's Eve, people are busy preparing all kinds of new year's goods: buying chicken, duck and fish; Add new clothes; Newly purchased furniture and appliances; Buy New Year pictures, Spring Festival couplets, etc. I especially want to buy oranges, green olives and other fruits as auspicious symbols. Welcome friends and relatives. Before the Chinese New Year, men want a new haircut and women want to "pull their faces". Nowadays, most women have haircuts and beauty treatments.

Lunar calendar1February 24th is the day when "immortals" go to heaven to report their work. From that day on, every household was cleaning, packing things and bills, which was called "picking up".

One or two days before New Year's Eve, every household is making all kinds of new year's goods.

Families who go out on New Year's Eve have to rush home for reunion. On New Year's Eve, the whole family sat around the fire and had a reunion dinner. After dinner, adults give "lucky money" to children and their parents. At night, the farmer's water tank should be full of water, the rice tank should be full of rice, and the lights can't go out, which symbolizes the good omen of "more than one year old" and "more than one year old".

The custom of vigil on New Year's Eve is very common. Waiting for the arrival of the new year, the New Year bell rings and firecrackers sound in every household.

the Spring Festival; Chinese New Year

The first day of the first lunar month is called January Day, which is the head of the New Year and the beginning of spring. At the dawn of heaven, I heard guns. On the big table in the hall of every household, red plates are filled with good luck (oranges are bigger than oranges, so they are called good luck), green olives and various exquisite sweets. Decorated with lanterns in front of the door, the younger generation wishes the older generation tea. On this day, most families should be vegetarian, at least not eating meat for breakfast. After breakfast, adults and children go to relatives and friends' homes to pay New Year greetings with good luck, and the host and guest exchange blessings, congratulations on making a fortune and adding blessings. The host treats you with Daji, Betel nut (the ancient custom of honoring Betel nut is now changed to green olive) and * * * congou. The guest presents Daji and congratulates the host for good luck. The host wants to give it back with Daji, which is said to be a good wish to give it back.

On the morning of New Year's Day, many lion dance classes and English song teams beat gongs and drums to pay New Year greetings to every household in every village, and the host set off firecrackers to welcome them. There are also hand-cranked evergreen leaves (commonly known as cash cows) or books, and auspicious sentences such as "lucky money becomes treasure" posted on people's doors; Or those who play suona, knock on bamboo boards, sing songs, make four sentences and say auspicious words from door to door to pay New Year greetings are all asking for some money. On the second and third days of junior high school, rural towns organized many cultural activities to celebrate the Spring Festival. In addition to putting up a theater shed to perform Chaozhou Opera, Mountain Opera and Shadow Play, there are also gongs and drums, tigers and lions, English singers and dragon dancers marching in the villages along the street. There are also movies, ball games, calligraphy and painting exhibitions, lantern riddles and so on. During the day and night, people flock to visit and enjoy it, creating a lively and joyful atmosphere for the Spring Festival.

have a family reunion dinner

New Year's Eve is approaching after all the houses in every household are completely decorated. Therefore, housewives are busy preparing the most abundant and meaningful reunion dinner in a year. A family reunion dinner, as its name implies, is a family gathering for dinner during the Chinese New Year, and even the deceased ancestors will not forget it. Therefore, after a good reunion dinner, every household should first "worship their husbands" (worship their ancestors). When offering sacrifices to ancestors, the incense burner representing ancestors should be removed from the shrine, put on the altar, and then burn incense to pray and invite ancestors to dinner. Then the old and the young bowed down in turn, fully demonstrating the traditional virtues of the hipsters, being cautious to the end, pursuing the distance, and putting all virtues first. After the sacrifice, the food for ancestor worship was reheated, and a big table was set in the hall, and the whole family gathered around. This is a wonderful time for every family to get together. No matter how far apart the family is at ordinary times, or how many zits there are at ordinary times, we should talk and laugh at this time, and we should not say anything sad or make noise.

After dinner, housewives were busy clearing the table, so a cleaning activity began. This time, we don't have to care too much about cleaning, just for cleaning. Unlike the time at the end of the year, you have to brush pine grass. Then he lit a fire in the stove and began to prepare the offering to God tomorrow-vegetarian food. There are many kinds of vegetarian dishes, including taro, sweet potato, jujube, peanut, taro and sweet potato. All the ingredients of vegetarian dishes should be ready and dried at noon next week. When frying vegetarian dishes, put the iron pot and inject a lot of peanut oil when the fire is good. When the oil boils, mix these materials with the slurry and put them into the pan, which will make squeaks and bubbles in the oil pan. Huang Chengcheng is especially attractive when cooking. At this time, if there are guests at home, the hostess will serve a plate of freshly fried vegetarian dishes, and then soak in mellow congou tea to let you taste delicious Chaoshan snacks.

Send lucky money

Giving lucky money is an important part of Chaoshan Spring Festival custom. The elders should give money to the younger generation, and those who can earn money should also send money to the elders. Money can't be sent directly to wait for a while, but it should be packed in a profit bag or a red paper bag. This is commonly known as "pressing the abdomen and waist", which means that from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, the pockets will be full of reality and wealth. What is particularly interesting is that when a child sleeps, his parents will put a large bill in his belly pocket and bring it back after waking up.

Happy new year, send big oranges.

New Year greetings, also known as "worship". In the early morning of the first day of junior high school, people get up and put on new clothes. The first thing they do is to pay homage to themselves. It is often the younger generation who wishes the elders first, and then the elders give their expectations to the younger generation. After breakfast, each of them pays a New Year call to relatives and friends. As the Chaoshan saying goes, "the first day and the second day have the meaning of New Year's greetings, and the third day and the fourth day have no intention of New Year's greetings." It is said that the sooner you pay a New Year call, the more you can see its sincerity. Therefore, some people go to pay New Year greetings to relatives and friends immediately after getting up, and then eat after coming back.

No matter how many gifts people bring, oranges (Chaozhou oranges) are indispensable. Big orange takes its homonym "Daji". It doesn't matter if you take more and less, but it can't be odd. People who pay New Year greetings enter the doors of relatives and friends, and they should look at different people and say different greetings. Say "Happy New Year" and "Longevity is better than Nanshan" to the old people, and they will grin. For those who have jobs, saying "smooth work" and "progress in the new year" will make the listeners very happy; If you are a business person, what you hear most is "making a big profit in the New Year" and "making a fortune and benefiting the market"; If children are studying, what they want most is to make progress in their studies and achieve excellent results in the new year. Send this greeting to them, and they will be very friendly to you. After being seated, the host will make famous Chaoshan congou tea to entertain the guests. Before leaving, the host will leave two oranges in the gift of the recipient, and then exchange his oranges in order to bring good luck to the other party. Humorous people often only put two oranges in their trouser pockets when they go out to pay New Year's greetings. After the New Year call, the two oranges are still in his trouser pocket. Therefore, good-hearted people call the New Year's greetings at the beginning of the year "orange-changing movement".

(of a person) return to one's place of origin or unit.

On the second and third day of the first month, the married daughters go back to their parents' homes to celebrate the New Year with their husbands and children. When a daughter returns to her mother's house, there must be a big bag of biscuits and sweets distributed by her mother to her neighbors, just like the scene of the New Year. If there are many daughters at home, and these daughters don't come back on the same day, then we must share one at a time. The gift is quite thin, just four biscuits. But it reflects the deep affection, the real "courtesy is light and affection is heavy", and expresses the girl's miss for the villagers. When the girl goes home, if there is a nephew at home, menstruation has to pay again. Although she gave lucky money on New Year's Day, this time it had a different meaning. This custom is called "eating midnight snack" by Chaoshan people. As the name implies, it's just lunch, and the daughter must get back to her husband's house before dinner.

On Celebrating the International Year

On New Year's Eve, it is a common custom for the whole family to get together, have New Year's Eve dinner, chat around the stove, bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year.

According to historical records, this custom originated in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. "It's night, it's forbidden to set off firecrackers in the mountains, and voices can be heard outside. The scholar's home, sitting around the furnace group, Da Dan does not sleep. " Then it gradually became popular. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, wrote a poem: "Cold words and winter snow, warm with spring breeze."

In ancient times, observing the age was also called "wasting light". People light candles or oil lamps to keep vigil all night, which symbolizes driving away all evil diseases and epidemics and looking forward to good luck in the new year. This custom has been handed down from generation to generation.

To this day, people in China are used to keeping vigil on New Year's Eve, setting off firecrackers outside, sitting around the fire or watching TV indoors, talking and laughing.

New Year greeting custom.

New Year greeting is a traditional folk custom in China, and it is a way for people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and express their best wishes to each other.

In ancient times, the original meaning of the word "Happy New Year" was to pay New Year greetings to the elderly, including kowtowing to the elderly, congratulating them on a happy New Year and greeting their lives. In case of friends and relatives of the same generation, you should also salute and congratulate.

New Year greetings usually begin at home. On the morning of the first day, after getting up, the younger generation should first pay a New Year call to their elders, wishing them a long and healthy life and all the best. After the elders worship, they should distribute the "lucky money" prepared in advance to the younger generation. After greeting the elders at home, you should also greet people with a smile when you go out to meet them, and exchange auspicious words such as "Congratulations on getting rich", "Best wishes in the four seasons" and "Happy New Year". Neighbors, relatives and friends also visit each other or invite them to drink and entertain. Mr. Meng described the cloud of Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty in Volume 6 of Dream of China in Tokyo: "On October 1st, Kaifeng House was released for three days, and scholars celebrated each other early." In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Lu Rong said in Volume V of Miscellanies in the Garden that "on New Year's Day in Beijing, those who cross the road for a few days from the official to Shu Ren are called' Happy New Year'. However, everyone in Shu Ren worships his relatives and friends. The more official contact, the more universal love is not specialized ... ". Gu Tieqing, a Qing man, described in Jia Qinglu that "men and women pay homage to their parents, and the master leads them to visit their neighbors, or sends their children to congratulate them, which is called' Happy New Year'. Even if we don't meet at the end of the year, we will worship each other at this time ... "

In ancient times, the literati in the upper class used the custom of greeting each other with famous cards. Hui Zhou, a poet of the Song Dynasty, said in Qingbo magazine: "During the Song Dynasty, servants were often used to stab people in the name of the New Year." At that time, the scholar-officials had a wide circle of friends, and it took time and energy to pay New Year greetings everywhere. Therefore, some close friends did not go in person, but sent their servants to take a card cut with plum blossom stationery, two inches wide and three inches long, with the recipient's name, address and congratulations written on it. In the Ming dynasty, people visited instead of paying New Year's greetings. Wen Zhiming, an outstanding painter and poet in the Ming Dynasty, described in the poem "New Year": "I don't want to meet each other, but I want to be fluent, and my famous articles are full; I also throw a few pieces of paper at people. The world hates being too simple and not too empty. " The "name thorn" and "name" mentioned here? Quot This is the origin of today's New Year cards. New Year cards are used to connect feelings and exchange greetings, which are convenient and practical and still popular today.

From about the Qing Dynasty, the form of "group worship" was added to the New Year greetings. In "Jade Tan with a Side Hat", the Lord of the Qing Dynasty said: "At the beginning of the year, the capital must make regular group worship to unite the friendship of the New Year and show the nostalgia", and "book guests, have a banquet and enjoy the day every year".

With the development of the times, the custom of New Year greetings is constantly adding new contents and forms. Nowadays, in addition to following the previous way of greeting the New Year, etiquette telegrams and telephone greetings have mushroomed.

The legend of upside-down blessing

During the Spring Festival, every household should put the word "Fu" on doors, walls and lintels. Sticking the word "Fu" during the Spring Festival is a long-standing folk custom in China. According to Liang Lu's Dream, "When I was young, I would visit department stores, draw door gods and spend the Spring Festival ..."; "Scholars, big or small, must sweep the floor, clean the family, change the door gods, hang Zhong Xu, nail peaches, stick spring cards and worship their ancestors." The "spring card" in this article is the word "fu" written on red paper.

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 turn the word "blessing" upside down, indicating that "blessing has fallen" and "blessing has arrived" There is also a legend that the word "fu" is posted upside down among the people. Ming Taizu used the word "Fu" as a code word to prepare for murder. In order to eliminate this disaster, kind Ma Huanghou asked all the families in the city to put "Fu" on their doors before dawn. Naturally, no one dares to go against Ma Huanghou's will, so the word "Fu" is posted on every door. If one of the families can't read, turn the word "fu" upside down. The next day, the emperor sent people to the streets to check and found that every family had posted the word "Fu", and another family had posted the word "Fu" upside down. When the emperor heard the news, he was furious and immediately ordered the body guard to cut down the house. Seeing that something was wrong, Ma Huanghou quickly said to Zhu Yuanzhang, "My family knew that you were visiting today and deliberately put the word' Fu' upside down. Isn't this the meaning of "blessed road"? " When the emperor heard the truth, he ordered his release, and a great disaster was finally eliminated. Since then, people have turned the word "Fu" upside down for good luck and in memory of Ma Huanghou.

Others elaborate the word "Fu" into various patterns, such as longevity, longevity peach, carp yue longmen, abundant grains, dragons and phoenixes, and so on. In the past, there was a folk saying that "on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, every family wrote big characters". The word "fu" used to be handwritten, but now it is sold in markets and shops.

the God of Wealth

According to folklore, the fifth day of the first month is the birthday of the God of Wealth, so after the first day of the first month, the next most important activity is to welcome the God of Wealth-the night before the arrival of the God of Wealth's birthday, every household will hold a banquet to celebrate the God of Wealth.

There are many legends about the god of wealth:

During the Song Dynasty, Cai Jing was very rich. According to folklore, he was born a god of wealth. He happened to be born on the fifth day of the first month, so people regard him as a god of wealth. After Cai Jing was demoted, people converted to the God of Wealth. At that time, the national surname of the Song Dynasty was Zhao, and this mysterious word was an integral part of the word "Lan", so he gave a new name to show his worship.

On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, Zhao Xuantan is the most respected. Many shops and houses are dedicated to his woodcut statues: the Xuan altar looks like the bottom of a pot, holding Strafe in his hand and riding Hei Hu, which is extremely powerful.

In addition to Zhao Xuantan being honored as "God of Wealth", there are also folk sayings that "God of Wealth is partial", "God of Wealth" and "Wu Caishen" are heavenly emperors.

The belief in the God of Wealth is popular in Yuan Qiu, Dexing, Jiangxi. The initials of the titles of the five brothers are all "immortals", so they are called "five immortals". Rob the rich and help the poor before death, punish the evil and promote the good after death, and bless the poor. There are five temples of God of Wealth outside Andingmen in Beijing.

The "literary god of wealth" is also called the "god of wealth". His paintings are often juxtaposed with "Fu", "Lu", "Shou" Samsung and XiShen, and together they are Fu, Lu, Shou, Wealth and Happiness. The rich star gentleman has long white hair and a cornucopia in his hand, from which the word "lucky money becomes treasure" comes. Most people will hang this painting in the main hall during the Spring Festival and pray for good luck.

"Wu Caishen" Guan Sheng Dijun is Guan Yu's Yunchang. It is said that Guan Yunchang managed the military horse post station and was good at counting, which made his invention increasingly thin and focused on credit and loyalty, so he was worshipped by merchants. Generally speaking, businessmen regard Guan Gong as their patron saint, and Guan Gong is also regarded as the god of wealth.

On the fifth day of the first month, shops open. In the early morning, golden gongs, firecrackers and sacrifices are used to welcome the god of wealth. Gu Tieqing, a poet in A Qing, quoted a poem by Cai Yun Zhuzhi in Jia Qinglu, describing the scene of Suzhou people welcoming the god of wealth on the fifth day of May: "Seek financial resources for five days, and be willing to give a reward for one year; Beware of meeting God early elsewhere and rushing to hold the road all night. " "Holding the road" means "welcoming the God of Wealth". Businessmen who believe in Guan Di Sheng Jun will sacrifice, set off firecrackers and burn gold paper for Guan Gong on the fifth day of the first month, and ask Guan Di Sheng Jun to bless a prosperous year.

New year firecrackers.

There is a folk saying in China that "open the door and set off firecrackers". That is, when the new year comes, the first thing for every household to open the door is to set off firecrackers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.

Firecracker is a specialty of China, also known as "Firecracker", "Firecracker" and "Firecracker". Its origin is very early, and it has a history of more than two thousand years.

Now, most of us think that setting off firecrackers can create a festive atmosphere, is a kind of entertainment in festivals, and can bring happiness and good luck to people. However, if we trace the origin of firecrackers, we will understand the original intention of the ancients to set off firecrackers and its evolution history.

In order to pin people's hopes for the new year.