Festivals and Customs in the Three Eastern Provinces

New Year's Customs in the Northeast The Spring Festival is the most solemn festival in China, and there are many customs passed down from ancient times, and in the Northeast, there are quite a few of them.　　In the olden days, almost all the celebrations to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and to pray for good luck and good fortune, were held on New Year's Eve. The whole family must put on new clothes.　　First of all, the whole family worships their ancestors, burns incense and candles, makes offerings, and kowtows to the three generations of gods and goddesses in order to say goodbye to the year. Afterwards, a family feast is held, with the elders sitting at the top and the juniors sitting in a group to symbolize the "reunion of the whole family". It is necessary to have a rich meal to give people a sense of fulfillment, and it is a sign that the coming year will be full of food and clothing, and that business will be prosperous.　　This meal is the first taste of New Year's food, can be meat and vegetables together. Usually necessary to have braised pork, stewed lamb, rice flour meat, stewed elbow strips, Yuanbao meat, south fried meatballs, four happy balls, chicken jelly, fish jelly, pork jelly, soy sauce, tempeh bean curd, mustard pier, spicy mustard, fried soy sauce melon children and other New Year's Eve set of dishes.　　During the meal, young and old wish each other good luck, exchange cups between brothers, and enjoy the joy of family. After the meal, the children spread sesame straws all over the courtyard, people walking on it, crunching, called "stepping on the year"; and then hung indoors and outdoors of the Spring Lanterns lit up, shining on the four walls of the New Year's Eve paintings and spring strips, indoors and outdoors, a brilliant light.　　On the "Heaven and Earth Table", there is a large yellow paper and colorful print of "18 Buddhas in the three places and three worlds" or "100 copies" (heaven and earth gods' image albums), big cakes, honey offerings, fresh noodles, fruits, vegetables, New Year's cakes, and New Year's rice as offerings, and high rice cakes. In order to welcome the gods and goddesses down to the world for blessings, the gods and goddesses will make offerings of rice, New Year's rice, red candles with gold characters, and incense.　　In order to cherish the passing years, men, women and children stay up all night and engage in different recreational activities, called "observing the New Year". Children traditionally played with their hearts, shaking firecrackers, pulling gyros, twirling official drawings, rolling dice, playing cow cards, blowing glazed trumpets, playing harmonica, playing shadow puppets, lighting horse lanterns, playing "Diti-Jin'er", "Rat Shite", and "Yellow Smoke Cannon", and so on. "...... old women sit together and play cards, mahjong, and shihu.　　Entertainment with fresh fruits, candies, dried fruits, mixed children, Wen Park, fried red fruits, candied begonias, etc., while eating and playing, enjoy until the "reception of God".　　At midnight, the sound of firecrackers shook the night sky. "Silver flowers rust all over the sky, and smoke is thick in the whole street". Families gather at the Heaven and Earth table to burn incense and offer vegetarian dumplings to welcome the gods to the world.　　After the ceremony is completed, it is announced that the old year is over and the new year is coming, which is the solemn moment of "five nights and two years". The whole family bids each other "New Year's greetings", and the younger generation bows down to the elders in the hall to pay respect to the New Year's greetings, and the elders must introduce "New Year's money" to the underage children one by one.　　Finally, the whole family eats a meal of vegetarian dumplings, called "Wujing Dumplings" and "Reunion Dumplings".　　Only one of the hundred or so dumplings has a coin in it, and it is said that the person who eats this dumpling will have a good year.　　Nowadays, people in Northeast China still keep many old traditional customs for Chinese New Year.　　Manchu Spring Festival The traditional festivals of the Manchus are basically the same as the Han Chinese, the so-called "Feng Province, the old customs of the Manchus and the Han Chinese are different, assimilated for a long time, more than similar" ("Fengtian Tongzhi" Volume 98). But "the old Manchu-Chinese customs are different", the Manchu New Year's Day has a special flavor.　　Spring Festival: before the festival to do the traditional Manchu pastries ---- saqima, posting couplets, window, hanging paper (according to the flag genus were pasted red, yellow, blue, white), Fukuji (Shenyang City, Xinmin County, Liaobin Tower Village Guarjia's home have printed Fukuji mahogany printing plate). Manchu people like to wear purse, before the Spring Festival Court to routinely reward princes and ministers "peace year after year" purse, folk also give each other. The afternoon of New Year's Eve and New Year's Day morning to sacrifice ancestors, sacrifices to heaven. On New Year's Eve, the gods will be received, and after receiving the gods, a crossbar will be placed at the main entrance to prevent ghosts from coming in. New Year's Eve also hangs the door god to drive away evil spirits, which is the result of absorbing the customs of the Han Chinese, the door god is divided into about "generals door god", "Fuklu door god", "judge door god", "doll door god" and so on. Today, the Imperial Palace in Shenyang Palace collection of the Palace Gate God. New Year's Eve distribution of "God paper", followed by the younger generation of men to the family home "resignation". New Year's Eve midnight at midnight, every family ate dumplings, but also a few coins secretly put in the dumplings, those who ate the "end of the year, great luck". Firecrackers are set off to receive the gods and bid farewell to the year. New Year's Eve in the courtyard of the family erected lantern poles, picking red lights, from New Year's Eve to the first six, night and day. Palace on the 24th day of the waxing moon hung "sky lanterns", every evening on the lights, to the third day of February the following year.　　New Year's Day, commonly known as the first day of the New Year, people get up early, wearing new clothes, congratulate each other on the New Year, called "New Year's Day".　　Eat dumplings called "put Yuanbao" Manchu Spring Festival Fetching Fun Manchu Spring Festival is called "New Year's Day", the Manchu language, "Aniye Nengye", is a traditional grand festival of the Manchu people. Held on the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar every year. Festival period is generally three to five days, some areas in the old days until the first month of the fifteenth. Popular in Manchu areas across the country.　　Manchu Spring Festival originated in Han customs. Nurhachu after the establishment of the Jin regime, three years of life (1618) into Liaoyang, Shenyang area, under the influence of the Han economy and culture, the development of Manchu society has changed a lot. Especially after Huang taiji throne, shunzhi first year (1644) the Qing army into shanhaiguan capital of Beijing, a large number of Manchu residents migrated to guannei, and han miscellaneous *** place, in the economic and cultural exchanges with each other, each other's influence, and the relationship is close. Over time, many customs and culture of the Han people were absorbed by the Manchu people, the Spring Festival will then become a traditional festival of Manchu and Han **** common.　　Before the festival, people actively buy goods, clean the courtyard, posting couplets, hanging paper (also known as hanging flags), windowpane and fortune, steamed rice cakes, branding sticky water spoon. At dawn on the first day of the morning, every household firecrackers, to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. At the same time, they set up offerings under the ancestor boards on the west wall of their homes, light tartar incense, bow to the ancestors, and pray to the gods to bless the whole family with peace and prosperity in the new year. At the beginning of the New Year, the whole family gathers together to eat reunion dumplings, commonly known as "taiyuanbao". While the dumplings are cooking, the head of the family yells, "Have you risen yet?" The others answer simultaneously, "Yes!" They liken the rise of the dumplings from the bottom of the pot to the rise of the day. Then the children climb up on the cupboard and jump three times to show that the new day has "jumped up high".　　On this day, the younger generation should bow to the elders to pay respect to the New Year (in the olden days, women performed the ritual of kneeling and stroking their temples), and parents should give the children money to keep the New Year's Eve. Clan relatives should also pay tribute to each other, friends and relatives are invited to feasts, together with the old talk about the new. Boys in groups fireworks, firecrackers, play wooden plow, or skating with gusto; girls and young women are dressed in costume, playing Garaha (with pigs or cows made of kneecap bone toys).　　Songs and dances are an important part of the festival. According to the "Bohai State Records" records: officials and people gather at the time of the year for music, the first order of the good song and dance, a number of generations of the front line, the women followed, and more singing and, circling around, said "step after". Treading after the stilts. So far, this custom is still inherited. The first to the fifth, people are gathered in one place, singing, dancing, stilt walkers, entertainment, some places, young people also organized their own performance team, village performance, congratulations on the New Year, the festive atmosphere is more intense.　　Manchu New Year, used to use fine powder, eggs, sugar, sesame, green and red and melon nuts and other raw materials made of "Saqi Ma", its color, flavor, delicious, is a favorite with a unique national flavor of the holiday season.