What are the origins and legends of Chinese New Year?

According to legend, there was a monster named Nian in ancient China, with long tentacles and a ferocious face. Nian lived on the seabed 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 the village fled to the deep mountains to avoid the harm of the "Nian" beast. On New Year's Eve this year, people in Taohua Village were taking refuge in the mountains when an old beggar came from outside the village. He was leaning on crutches, carrying a bag on his arm, with elegant silver whiskers and staring at Matthew. Some villagers sealed windows and locked doors, some packed their bags, some herded cattle and drove sheep, and people shouted boo everywhere, which was a scene of panic. At this time, who still has the mind to take care of this begging old man? ; Only an old woman in the village east gave the old man some food and suggested that he 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 looked at him carefully in surprise and found that he was handsome, energetic and different. But she continued to persuade and begged the old man to laugh without saying a word. My 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 previous years: the old woman's house at the east end of the village had red paper on the door and bright candles in the room. The beast Nian trembled and let out a long whistle. Nian stared at her mother-in-law's house for a while, then screamed and rushed over. As we approached the door, there was a sudden explosion in the yard. Nian trembled and dared not go any further. It turns out that Nian was most afraid of red, fire and explosion. 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 the promise of begging for the elderly. 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 several 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 has a bright candlelight, so it is better to wait for the New Year. In the early morning of the first day, I want to say hello to my relatives and friends. This custom has spread more and more widely, and has become the most solemn traditional festival among the people in China.

The origin of the word fu

There are many sayings. First of all, Zhu Yuanzhang and Ma Huanghou participated in it, giving praise and criticism. One year, the capital held a lantern festival to celebrate the Lantern Festival. When Zhu Yuanzhang was traveling incognito, he saw a horse monkey crying with a pair of embroidered shoes on a lantern of a family. Zhu Yuanzhang thought it was a satire on Ma Huanghou's Bigfoot. He was so angry that he wrote a word "Fu" on the door as a sign. After returning to the palace, he immediately ordered the Royal Guards to arrest people according to the marks he left the next morning. Among the queens of past dynasties, Ma Huanghou is famous for her virtue and love for the people. When she learned of this, she immediately passed on her will and told all the families in the city that they must write their blessings at the door before dawn. Early the next morning, the people sent by Zhu Yuanzhang to arrest people found that every family had the word "fu", but only one family could not read, and the word "fu" was posted backwards. The emperor ordered the house to be cut down. Seeing that something was wrong, Ma Huanghou quickly said to Zhu Yuanzhang, "The family knew that you were visiting today, and deliberately put down the word' Fu'. Isn't this the meaning of "blessed road"? " Zhu Yuanzhang thought it was reasonable, so he ordered the release and a disaster was finally avoided. Since then, it has become a custom to paste the blessing word backwards, which has been passed down to this day. A praise, a fall, and a clear attitude show the people's hearts.

There is also a legend that the right of invention was given to Jiang Ziya of the Zhou Dynasty, that is, Jiang Taigong. Jiang Taigong sealed a large number of immortals, so he sealed his wife Ye as a poor god and told her, "You can't go to a blessed place." Since then, every household has posted a New Year's greeting, telling poor God that I am a blessed land and you must not come in. The word "Fu" is a symbol of getting rid of poverty and pursuing happiness.

In fact, Fu is one of the oldest characters, with a history of about 3,000 years. The word "Fu" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions is the shape of a wine container before God, because the ancients used wine to symbolize wealth. Nowadays, the word "fu" consists of "yes", "righteousness", "mouth" and "heaven". Stone refers to the arrival of God; Field refers to cultivated land and hunting; One word, according to Shuowen, explains: "First, it is too early to start, and the Tao stands in one, creating heaven and earth and turning it into everything"; Mouth word, "Shuo Wen" said: "Mouth, an old friend talks about food." On this kind of blessing, the people's desire to get fields to meet their food and clothing needs is pinned.

The word "Fu" is posted in front of the door, and there is a written record in Wu's Dream in the Song Dynasty: "Literati size, sweep their doors, dust and dirt, clean their homes, change their door gods, hang Zhong Kui, nail peach symbols, paste spring cards, and sacrifice their ancestors." "Sticking a Spring Card" means writing the word "Fu" on red paper and sticking it in front of the gate. It can be seen that the custom of pasting blessings has a long history at least since the Southern Song Dynasty.

In the late autumn of the year before last, I saw the blessing written by Kangxi in Gongwangfu Garden. In A.D. 1673, Kangxi wrote a famous ode to longevity for his grandmother sourdrang queen. If you carefully taste this word, you will find that it implies "many children and many talents?" Cave wealth? The Chinese characters "snow, abundance, longevity and happiness" are narrow and long, which is called "slender" by the people. This is a rare blessing of "Five Blessingg" and "longevity". Kangxi loved calligraphy all his life. Although his handwriting is very good, he doesn't write inscriptions everywhere like his grandson Gan Long. Therefore, Kangxi's imperial inscription is the least circulated. It is said that there are only three words left in Kangxi's life, one is "inaction" and the other is "happiness".

The word "inaction" exists in the Forbidden City; The word "Fu" is a monument to the word "Fu" in Gongwangfu. Kangxi's pen and ink can be described as a rare treasure, and it is said that "Kangxi is a daughter."

"Nightmare Shadow" said: "I am innocent of peace, born in Hushan County, clean and quiet, well-off, married with a virtuous daughter and a wise son, and living such a life can be a blessing in the clouds." There are six items here, which is really difficult. However, today our environment is getting better and better, and happiness will naturally enter thousands of households.