What are the customs of the Spring Festival?

The Spring Festival is an ancient traditional festival of China and some Asian nations, and is the most important festival of the year, so the customs of the Spring Festival are varied. Because of the legend that the New Year beasts are afraid of red color, fire and loud noises, people have the custom of sticking red paper products (red spring scrolls, red windowpane), setting off firecrackers, banging gongs and beating drums, and so on. Customs vary from time to time, from region to region, and from ethnic group to ethnic group.

Small New Year

Officials in the 23rd day of the Lunar New Year, the general civilian family on the 24th day of the Lunar New Year, the water householders on the 25th day of the ceremony to sacrifice stoves, held after the sacrifice of the stoves, then formally began to do to meet the New Year's preparations. Every year from the Lunar Lunar seven Lahai began to the New Year's Eve of this period of time, the folk called "welcome spring day".

Sacrificing the stove

Anciently, it was believed that if Master Zao went up to heaven and said a few good words in front of the Jade Emperor, it would bring happiness to the family, and would bless the family with peace in the coming year. Therefore, every year on the 23rd day of the Lunar New Year, every family would worship the god of the stove and ask him to say more good and favorable words after going to heaven. This ceremony to send the god of the stove is called "send

Chinese New Year customs sacrificial stove

stove" or "resignation stove". On New Year's Eve, the Zaoshen is brought back again. Because, on the night of the New Year's Eve, Zao Wang Wang and all the gods to come to the earth for New Year's Eve, that day there is also a "pick up the stove" "pick up the god" ceremony. According to the general local customs, the transportation of the Zaoshengyi are hosted by the male host, the female family members do not participate in the ancient times, there are "men do not worship the moon, women do not sacrifice zaos," the saying.

After sending away the "God of the stove", it will be the turn to worship the ancestors, folk said "hanging shadow". Tianjin folklore expert Lin Xi said that on the day of the New Year, we should hang portraits or photos of our ancestors on the wall, prepare wine and tribute, and accept the worship of the clan until the 30th day of the Lunar New Year.

Anecdotes

Folk legend has it that Lord Zao went to heaven to specifically sue the earth for good and evil, and that once any family is accused of an evil deed, the life of the major crime will be reduced by 300 days, and the life of the minor crime will be reduced by 100 days. This saying is more widely circulated.

When sending the stove, people in front of the Zao Wang statue of the table for candy, water, beans, forage grass, of which, the latter three is for the Zao Wang ascension of the mount preparation. In order to let the Zaowang master "to the sky to say good things, back to the palace drop auspicious", people will use various ways to deal with him. Some use gum teeth candy to honor it, so that the Zao Wang's teeth stick, so that it can not talk nonsense; some with wine lees smeared Zao door, which is called "drunken commander", drunken Zao God can not talk nonsense. Zaoshen by the people's special hospitality, "ate people's mouth soft", of course, it is not good to say bad words, this is actually a folk ethical self-discipline.

Eating Zao sugar

Zao sugar is a kind of malt sugar, also known as jaggery, sticky, it is pumped into a long sugar stick called "Guandong sugar", pulled into a flat round called

Zao sugar

did the "sugar melon". "The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you have a good idea of what you're doing. In winter, put it outside the house, because of the cold weather, the sugar melon solidified solid and some tiny bubbles inside, eat it crunchy, sweet and crispy, a unique flavor. Real Guandong sugar hard, drop can not be broken, eat must be split with a kitchen knife, the material is very heavy and fine. Slightly sour taste, no honeycomb in the middle, each piece weighs one or two, two or four, the price is also more expensive. Sugar melons divided into sesame and no sesame two kinds, made of sugar melon shape or melon shape, the center is empty, the skin is less than five points thick, although the size of the different, but the transaction is still calculated by the amount, the large sugar melons weighing one or two pounds, but used as a front to buy very few people. [1]

2 Lunar New Year's Eve

Sweeping the dust

The folk proverb says, "Lunar New Year's Eve is the twenty-fourth day of the lunar month, and the dust sweeps the house". After the festival, preparations for the New Year officially begin. Dusting is the end of the year cleaning, the north is called "sweeping house", the south is called "dusting". Sweeping dust before the Spring Festival is a traditional habit of the Chinese people. On the day of the dust, the whole family together, cleaning houses, courtyards, scrubbing pots and pans, dismantling bedding, clean to welcome the New Year. In fact, people use the "dust" and "Chen" of the harmonic expression of the will to get rid of the old, the old. [2]

According to canonical records, there was the custom of sweeping at the end of the year in ancient times. According to Lüshi Chunqiu (吕氏春秋), China had the custom of sweeping dust in the Spring Festival during the

Dust Sweeping

Yao and Shun eras. According to folklore: because the "dust" and "Chen" consonant, dust sweeping in the New Year has the meaning of "in addition to Chen Bu Xin", the intention is to put all the "poor luck", "poor luck" and "new". The intention is to sweep all the "poor luck" and "bad luck" out of the door. Qing Jia Record" Volume XII records: "wax will be residual, choose the constitutional book should be swept house Yu day, to go to the court house dust and filth. Or in the twenty-third, twenty-fourth and twenty-seventh day, commonly known as 'playing dust'". Lunar New Year's Eve "house sweeping", inside and outside the courtyard for a thorough cleanup. It can be seen, this custom is entrusted with people's desire to break the old and welcome the new prayers, but also the Chinese people in the long history of the accumulation of hygiene in the winter, the traditional virtues of disease prevention. [3]

3 Lunar New Year's Eve

Doing Bean Curd

The folk proverb says: "On the 25th day of the Lunar New Year, grind tofu." Some places also have the custom of eating tofu dregs before New Year's Eve. Folk legend has it that after King Zao reported to heaven

Pushing the mill to make tofu

, the Jade Emperor would visit the world to see if the families were as King Zao played, so the families ate tofu dregs to show that they were suffering, and hid the punishment from the Jade Emperor. Legend to legend, in fact, eating bean curd dregs is actually the ancient low productivity, not so much to eat, (but sometimes people will buy a big basket of bean curd to save for consumption, etc.).

Pick up the Jade Emperor

Old customs, new customs that the God of the stove in heaven, the Jade Emperor in the lunar calendar on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month in person, to investigate the good and evil on earth, and set the next year, so the family sacrifice to pray for blessings, known as "pick up the Jade Emperor". On this day, people should be careful in their living and speaking, and strive for good performance in order to win the favor of the Jade Emperor and bring blessings to the coming year.

Catching up with the chaotic year

Sending the God of the Stove to the sky until New Year's Eve before welcoming back, during which time there is no god on earth to govern, no taboos, and more marriages among the people, known as "catching up with the chaotic year". Messy year is the people designed for themselves to regulate the social life of a specific period of time. At the end of the year, people have leisure and savings, for people who usually have the energy to organize a big event, this is a good time. Therefore, people invented this special time folklore according to the needs of real life.

Silkworms

Silkworms, also known as "burnt silkworms", "burnt wealth", is popular in the southern part of the folk custom of praying for the New Year. On the 25th day of the Lunar New Year, the torch will be tied to a long pole standing in the field, with the flame to divine the New Year, the flame is a good omen of a good harvest in the coming year. In some places, the event is held on the 30th day of the Lunar New Year.

Thousand Lanterns Festival

The Thousand Lanterns Festival is a religious festival of the Mongolian and Daur ethnic groups. In Mongolian, it is called "Ming Gan Zhuo La", which means "Thousand Lanterns Festival". On the day of the 25th day of the lunar month, do "Ming Gan Zhuo La" to the temple to light, that the more points the more auspicious. This holiday custom, the most prevalent in the Xinjiang Virat Mongolian. Local people eat roast beef and mutton on this day, held traditional sports and recreational activities.

4 Lunar New Year's Eve

Cutting New Year's Meat

As the saying goes, "Lunar New Year's Eve is the twenty-sixth day of the lunar month, when pigs are killed to cut New Year's Meat," or "twenty-sixth day of the lunar month, when knives are cut to cut the head," meaning that the day is mainly used to prepare for New Year's Meat. The reason for putting "cutting new year's meat" into the New Year's rhyme is that the economy of farming societies was not developed, and people often could only eat meat during the New Year's festivals, so it was called "new year's meat".

5 Lunar New Year's Eve

Bath

Traditional folklore in these two days to focus on bathing, laundry, remove the bad luck of the year, in preparation for the coming year's new year, the capital has a "twenty-seven wash guilt, twenty-eight wash scruffy," as the saying goes. Lunar New Year's Eve bath for the "wash of fortune".

6 Lunar New Year's Eve

Posting window flowers

New Year's Rhyme: "Lunar New Year's Eve, steamed buns with cake and flowers," or "Twenty-eight, put the face of the hair". The so-called sticker flowers, is to post New Year's paintings, spring couplets, window and all kinds of Chinese New Year posting things.

Slaughtering chickens and catching up

The custom of posting Spring Festival couplets originated from the ancient "peach charm". Ancient people to peach wood as a wood to ward off evil spirits, "canonical art" said: "Peach, the essence of the five wood, so the pressure of the evil spirits also." To the Five Dynasties, after the Shu monarch Meng Chang elegant literature, he ordered every year to write the peach, become the later generations of spring couplets of the goblet, and written in the peach on the "New Year's Day, Jiajie No. Changchun", will become the first recorded Chinese history of the "Spring Festival couplets". Later, with the introduction of papermaking, the custom of posting spring scrolls on red paper instead of mahogany emerged.

7The 29th day of the Lunar Month

Ancestor Worship

The annual ballad says: "On the 29th day of the Lunar Month, we go to the graves to invite our ancestors to make a big offering". The worship of ancestors has a long history in China. Treating the dead as if they were alive is not only an important symbol of filial piety, but also a virtue of honoring the elderly. As the Spring Festival is a big festival, the ceremony of inviting ancestors to their graves is particularly solemn. In most areas, the ceremony is held on the morning of the 29th day of the Lunar New Year. According to Cui Shi's "The Four People's Monthly Orders" of the Han Dynasty, "The first month of the first month of the first month is the first month of the first month of the first month of the first month of the first month of the first month of the first month of the first month of the first month. On the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar, they would bring their wives and offspring to worship their ancestors. On the day of the sacrifice, they would bring wine to the gods, and then they would list their ancestors in order of precedence, and then their children and great-grandchildren would drink wine in their parents' homes, and then they would goblet their lives, and then they would rejoice in their lives." This shows that as early as the Han Dynasty China's ancestor worship has been a very important activity in the Spring Festival.

Ancestors

Small New Year's Eve

The day before New Year's Eve is called "Small New Year's Eve," and it's called "Farewell," when families set up banquets and people visit each other. The day before the New Year's Eve is called "Xiao New Year's Eve", and it usually takes three days for the incense to be burned outdoors.

8 Lunar New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve refers to the last day of the Lunar New Year's Eve every year, which is the first and last of the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar. The word "除" in "New Year's Eve" means "to go; to change; to alternate", and the meaning of "New Year's Eve" is "the end of the month and the end of the year", which means that people have to get rid of their old age. "People want to get rid of the old and welcome the new, there is the old year to this and removed, the next year for another new year. Therefore, the activities during this period are centered around the old and welcome the new, eliminating disasters and praying for blessings.

Zhou, Qin period every year will end when the palace to hold a "jump Zhong Kui", "Nuo" ceremony, beat the drums to expel the plague of ghosts, known as "by the removal of", and then Also known as the day before New Year's Eve for the small in addition, that is, the small New Year's Eve; New Year's Eve for the big in addition, that is, the big New Year's Eve.

Posting door gods

All over China, there is a custom of posting door gods on New Year's Eve. Initially, they were carved from mahogany and hung next to the door, but later they were painted and posted on the door. Legend has it that the two brothers, Shentian and Yubi, specialize in controlling ghosts, and with them guarding the gateway, evil spirits of all sizes would not dare to enter the door for harm. After the Tang Dynasty, there are painted Zhong Kui hometown blessing ZhenHaiShengJun Zhong Kui door god, fierce general Qin Qiong, Yuchi Jingde (Yuchi Gong) two people like the door god, there are painted Guan Yu, Zhang Fei like the door god. Door god statue of the left and right households, one each, often a pair of descendants of the door god painted as a civil and a military. Door God is divided into three categories: the first category is the "gate door God", more than pasted on the car door or the whole door, about four or five feet high, about two or three feet wide. The second type is the "street door god", more small streets on the door, about two feet high, about one foot wide. These two kinds of door god is a black face and a white face of the two gods. White left and black right, white good and easy, black caracal, each hand holding a battle-axe. The third type is "house door door god", compared with the street door door god is slightly smaller limited, also is black and white two god, but also black and white two god is sitting like. House door is most often posted "unicorn send son" like, two powder and grease comb Prince crown dolls, each riding the unicorn. This kind of door god, should be pasted on the newly married house door, in order to take the meaning of good luck, and later also as a common street door of the New Year embellishments.

Posting Spring Festival couplets

Spring Festival couplets, also known as the "door to", "spring posting", is a kind of couplets, because in the Spring Festival when posted, so the name. One of the sources of spring couplets is the peach symbol, so there is that "thousands of tels, always put the new peach for the old symbols," the verse. At first, people used peach wood to carve human figures and hang them next to the door to ward off evil spirits; later, they drew portraits of door deities on peach wood, and finally simplified them to inscribe the names of door deities directly on the peach wood boards. Another source of spring couplets is the spring stickers. Ancient people in the spring day more stickers "Yichun" two words, and gradually developed into spring couplets. The real popularity of spring couplets began in the Ming Dynasty, with the advocacy of Zhu Yuanzhang. According to the Qing dynasty Chen Shanggu's "hairpin cloud building miscellany" records, one year Zhu Yuanzhang preparation for the New Year, ordered every door to paste a pair of spring couplets, to show the celebration. Originally, the spring couplets were inscribed on mahogany boards, but later they were written on paper instead. The color of mahogany is red, and red has the meaning of good luck and avoiding evil, so most of the spring couplets were written on red paper. But the temple with yellow paper, keep system (service filial piety is not full) with white, green, yellow color, the first year with white paper, the second year of green paper, the third year of yellow paper, the fourth year of mourning full before resuming the use of red paper. Because the Manchu is still white, the Qing court spring couplets with white paper, blue wrapped in the outside, red strips set in the inside. Therefore, once the New Year's Eve, people will have long been ready to paste the Spring Festival couplets on the door.

Posting New Year's Paintings

These have the folkloric function of praying for blessings and decorating one's residence. New Year's paintings are an ancient folk art in China, reflecting the customs and beliefs of the people and holding out their hopes for the future. New Year paintings, like spring scrolls, originated from "door gods". While the Spring Festival couplets were developed from the names of Goddess of Mercy and Yubi to words, the New Year paintings are still developed along the direction of painting. With the rise of woodblock printing, the content of the New Year's paintings has not only limited to the god of the door and so on, and gradually invited the god of wealth to the home, and then in some of the New Year's paintings in the workshop produced the "Three Stars of Fortune, Luck and Longevity," "Zhong Kui to send blessings," "Heavenly Officials to give blessings," "the five grains of the harvest," "the six animals are thriving," "welcome the spring to receive the blessings of the" and other colorful New Year's paintings to meet the people's joyful praying for the year's best wishes. Because Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of Ming Dynasty, advocated posting Spring Festival couplets in Spring Festival, New Year paintings were also influenced by it and then flourished, the country appeared three important places of origin of New Year paintings: Peach Blossom Dock in Suzhou, Yang Liuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong; forming three major schools of Chinese New Year paintings. In the early years of the Republic of China, Zheng Mantuo in Shanghai combined the lunar calendar and New Year's paintings. This was a new form of New Year painting. This combination of two and one of the New Year's paintings, later developed into a hanging calendar. Hanging a thousand, that is, with the auspicious words engraved on red paper, long feet in length, glued to the door, and the peach symbols reflect. There are eight immortals on the figure, for the Buddha before hanging. Hanging thousands of civilian households with it, the big families with it less. Its yellow paper is three inches long, red paper is more than an inch long, is a "small hanging thousand", used for the market. The earliest Hanging Chien is to make money (copper) string hanging, and the same as the New Year's money, the role of pressure to win.

Watch the New Year

Chinese folk have the custom of watching the New Year's Eve, commonly known as "staying awake". The New Year's Eve vigil begins with the New Year's Eve dinner, which should be eaten slowly, from the time of the lamp, some people have to eat late into the night. Some people have to eat until late at night, and some people can't sleep the whole night except for their very young children. According to the record of "Jing Chu Yearly Records", the custom of having New Year's Eve dinner has been practiced at least since the North and South Dynasties. The custom of observing the New Year's Eve is not only a way of saying goodbye to the years that have passed, but also a way of expressing hope for the coming New Year.

9 First day of the first month of the year

Opening the door

The morning of the Spring Festival, open the door for good luck, first set off firecrackers, known as the "open door firecrackers". After the sound of firecrackers, broken red all over the ground, brilliant as a cloud of brocade, known as "full red". At this time, the street is full of gas, joyful.

Welcome to the New Year

An important activity in the Spring Festival is to congratulate friends and neighbors on the New Year, the old term for New Year's Eve. Han Chinese New Year's Eve style, the Han Dynasty has. After the Tang and Song Dynasty is very popular, some inconvenience to go in person, available name cards to cast congratulations. The Eastern Han Dynasty called "prick", so the business card is also known as the "name prick". After the Ming Dynasty, many people stick a red paper bag at the door, specializing in name badges, called "door book".

Zhu Xian Town woodblock prints "sticker painting chicken"

Folk visit the form of New Year's Eve, according to each other's social relations, can be divided into four categories:

One is to go to relatives. On the first day of the year, you must go to your father-in-law's house and bring gifts. After entering the door first to the Buddha statue, ancestral images, pagodas each line three kowtow salute, and then to the elders in turn salute. You can stay to eat and talk.

The second is a courtesy visit. Such as colleagues, friends to pay tribute to the New Year, a door into the house, only three kowtow to the statue of Buddha, such as with the master of the Department of the same generation is only required to arch a bow, such as older than their own, should still take the initiative to kneel down, the master should be down to the seat as a supportive gesture, even said free of charge to show humility. This situation is generally not appropriate to sit for a long time, pleasantries two polite words to say goodbye. After the host is worshiped, should choose a day to return to worship.

Third is a thank-you visit. Anyone who owes a favor to others (such as lawyers, doctors, etc.) should buy some gifts to send, take the opportunity to pay tribute to the New Year, to express their gratitude.

The fourth is the door-to-door visit. For some of the neighbors of the neighborhood, not much interaction in the past, but meet can say, to the Jubilee, just to the yard, meet each other with a fist, said: "Jubilee Fazhi", "a smooth hundred smooth", in the house to sit for a while only, not very much etiquette.

Anciently, there is a New Year's Eve and New Year's Day: New Year's Eve is to the elders kowtow; New Year's Day is to congratulate each other. Nowadays, some organizations, groups, enterprises, schools, we get together to congratulate each other, called "reunion".

With the development of the times, the custom of New Year's Eve is also constantly adding new content and form, people in addition to the inheritance of the past New Year's Eve, and the rise of the ritual telegram New Year's Eve and telephone New Year's Eve and so on.

To the New Year's money

The New Year's money is sent by the elders to the younger generation, some families are eating New Year's Eve dinner, everyone sitting at the table is not allowed to go, and so on everyone finished eating, by the elders to the elders, and to encourage their children and grandchildren in the new year to learn to grow up and do well. Some people are parents in the night when their children are asleep, put under their pillows to give the New Year's money, reflecting the elders of the care of the younger generation and the younger generation of respect for the elders, is an integration of ethical relations between the family of folklore activities.

Occupying the New Year

Olden times, people used to occupy themselves with the weather of the first few days of the new year to determine the success of the current year. It began with the Han Dongfang Shuo's "Yearly Occupation", which said that after eight days of the year, one day is the day of the chicken, the second is the dog, the third is the pig, the fourth is the goat, the fifth is the cow, the sixth is the horse, the seventh is the man, the eighth is the valley. If the day is sunny, then the main thing is prosperous, when the day is cloudy, the main day is not prosperous. Later generations followed their custom, that the first day to the tenth, the weather is clear, no wind and no snow for good luck. Later generations from the occupation of the year developed into a series of rituals, celebrations. There is the first one does not kill the chicken, the second does not kill the dog, the third does not kill the pig ...... the seventh does not execute, the eighth does not hit the grain custom.

Painted chickens

In ancient times, the Spring Festival painted chickens on doors and windows to drive away the ghosts and monsters and evil spirits. In "Xuanzhongji", a book written by the Jin Dynasty, it is said that when the sun was just rising and the first ray of sunlight shone on this big tree, the heavenly chicken crowed. When it crowed, all the chickens in the world crowed. So the chicken cut out for the Chinese New Year actually symbolizes the Heavenly Rooster. However, there is also an ancient myth that the chicken is a metamorphosis of the Chongming bird. It is said that during the time of Emperor Yao, the friends from the other side paid tribute to a kind of heavy bright bird that could ward off evil spirits, and everyone welcomed the arrival of the heavy bright bird, but the tribute envoys didn't come every year, so the people carved a wooden heavy bright bird, or casted a heavy bright bird in bronze and put it on the gateway, or painted a heavy bright bird on the windows and doors, to scare off the evil spirits and demons, and make them not dare to come back again. Because of the heavy bright bird like similar to chicken, and then gradually changed to painting chicken or cut window flowers pasted on the doors and windows, that is, become the source of the art of paper-cutting later generations. Ancient China attached special importance to the chicken, calling it "the bird of five virtues". Han Shi Wai Zhuan" said, it has a crown on its head, is Wen De; feet after the distance can fight, is Wu De; enemy in front of the dare to fight, is courageous; food to greet the same kind of benevolence, is benevolent; vigil does not lose time, dawn dawn, is the virtue of faith. So not only do people cut chickens on New Year's Day, but they also designate the first day of the new year as Chicken Day.

Poly wealth

The first day of the first month for the broomstick birthday, this day can not move the broom, otherwise it will sweep away the luck, broke the fortune, and the "broomstick star" attracted, incurring bad luck. If you have to sweep the floor can not be, must be swept from the outside to the inside. This day also can not pour water out of the garbage, for fear that it will break the wealth. Today, many places are still preserved a custom, the New Year's Eve clean sweep, the first day of the year not out of the broom, do not pour the garbage, prepare a large bucket, in order to Sheng wastewater, the day is not outside the splash.

10 the second day of the first month

Sacrifice to the God of Fortune

North in the second day of the first month of the God of Fortune, this day both trade stores, or ordinary families, are held to sacrifice the God of Fortune activities. Each family sacrifices the god of wealth that they received on New Year's Eve. In fact, they incinerate the rough prints they bought. On this day, wontons are eaten at noon, commonly known as "Yuanbao soup". Fish and mutton were used as offerings. Old Beijing's big business, this day are big ritual activities, offerings to use the "five big offerings", that is, the whole pig, the whole sheep, the whole chicken, the whole duck, red live carp, etc., and pray for the coming year to make a fortune.

Only eat the noon meal, and go back to your mother's home in the evening, to bring an even number of gifts.

11The third day of the first month of the lunar calendar

Sheep Day

The fourth day of the first month of the lunar calendar is the day when Nuwa created sheep, so it is called "Sheep Day". On this day, people are not allowed to kill sheep, and if the weather is good, it means that the sheep will be raised well during the year, and the people who raise them will have a good harvest.

Burning the door god paper

Old days and nights on the third day and night of the New Year's Eve, the pine and cypress branches and festivals hung door god door paper and so on and incinerate, to show that the year is over, and to begin to make a living. Proverbs have "burned the door god paper, personal search physiology".

Gu Zi birthday

Folk thought that the third day of the first month of the Gu Zi birthday, this day to pray for the year, and forbidden to eat rice.

Small Year's Day

Tianqing Festival. Song dynasty court festival, Song Zhenzong Dazhong Xiangfu first year, because of rumors of heavenly books down to earth, Zhenzong issued an imperial edict, the first three days of the first month of the day for the Tianqing Festival, officials and other leave for five days. Later, it was called the Small New Year's Day, and it was the same as the Yearly Day without sweeping the ground, begging for fire, or drawing water.

12 the fifth day of the first month

The fifth day of the first month is commonly known as the fifth. Folklore said that before the fifth many taboos over this day can be broken. According to the old custom to eat "dumplings" five days, the north called "cooking meat and potatoes". Nowadays, some people only eat three or two days, some every other day, however, there is no not eat. From the princely mansion to the streets and alleys of small households are so, even for guests. Women are also no longer jealous of the door, began to visit each other to pay tribute to the New Year, congratulations. Newly married women in this day to return to peace. A said broken five this day should not do things, or come to the year in the event of failure. Broken five customs in addition to the above taboos, mainly to send poor, welcome the God of Fortune, the opening of the market trade.

Welcome the God of Fortune

Southern people on the fifth day of the first month to welcome the God of Fortune. According to folklore, the God of Wealth is the God of the Five Roads. The so-called five roads, referring to the east, west, south, north and center, meaning that out of the five roads, all can get money.

Qing Dynasty Gu Lu "Qing Jia Lu" cloud: "the fifth day of the first month, for the road head god birthday. Gong firecrackers, livestock sweet Bi Chen, in order to compete for the first for the benefit of the market, will get up early to meet, called the head of the road." Also said: "Today, the road head, is the five rituals in the line of God. The so-called five roads, when the east-west, south-north ear." Shanghai has the custom of grabbing the head of the road in the old calendar year. On the fourth day of the first month of the night, ready to sacrifice animals, cakes and fruits, incense and candles and other things, and sounding gongs and drums burning incense worship, piety and respect for the God of Wealth. The fifth is rumored to be the God of Fortune's birthday, in order to compete for the market, so the first in the fourth to pick up, called "grab the head of the road", also known as "receiving the God of Fortune", "sacrifices to the God of Fortune".

Five sacrifices that is to welcome the God of the Household, the God of the stove, the God of the soil, the God of the door, the God of the line, the so-called "road head", that is, five sacrifices in the God. Where to receive the God of Fortune shall be for the sheep's head and carp, for the sheep's head has "auspicious" meaning, for carp is the figure "fish" and "Yu" resonance, poetry a lucky. People are convinced that as long as you can get the God of Fortune, you can get rich.

So, every New Year's Eve, people are in the first five zero hours and zero minutes (after 24:00 on the fourth day of the first month), open the door and windows, burning incense and firecrackers, fireworks, to the God of Fortune to welcome. Received the God of Fortune, we also have to eat road head wine, often eat until dawn. Everyone is full of hope for wealth, wishing that the God of Wealth will bring gold and silver treasures to their homes and make them rich in the new year.

The God of Wealth

The God of Wealth is a god of wealth worshipped in the Wu region. This day is regarded as his birthday, and it is a spectacular event to welcome him with a festival.

The common thought to receive the head of the road, the earlier the better, the earliest to receive is the true God, especially spiritual, so called "grab the head of the road. Some places, really in

Roadhead God portrait

Yuan day on the fourth day of the "rush to grab the road head", and customary. Since the god of the road is no longer the protector of travelers, people no longer worship it when traveling.

As for the people in the first five days of the first month of the road to worship God, and this day for its birthday, is the five road god in the "five" and the first five of the "five" implicated in the reason. In the north on this day to sacrifice "five poor" is the same. In the first month rather than other months, is to take the new year new weather, figure a year of good luck, prosperity, east and west, south and north, wealth, five roads and progress.

Send poor

The first five days of the first month "send poor", is a very distinctive ancient Chinese folk custom of the year. On this day, each family made of paper woman, known as "Sweeping Qing Niang", "five poor women", "five poor women", carrying a paper bag, the house will be swept to the bag of dirt, sent to the door outside the firecrackers to blow up. This custom is also known as "send poor soil", "send poor daughter-in-law out".

Opening

The old custom of the Chinese New Year during the size of the store from the first day of the year closed, and in the first five months of the market. Commonly known as the fifth day of the first month for the sacred day of wealth, it is believed that the choice of this day to open the market will attract wealth into the treasure.

13 the seventh day of the first month of the year

People Day

Also known as the "People's Victory Festival", "People's Day", "Population Day", "People's Seventh Day" and so on. Legend has it that Nuwa created the world in the beginning, after making animals such as chickens, dogs, pigs, cows and horses, he made people on the seventh day, so this day is the birthday of mankind. The Han Dynasty started the human day festival custom, after the Wei and Jin Dynasties began to emphasize. Ancient people day have to wear "people win" custom, people win is a kind of headdress, from the Jin Dynasty began to cut color for the flowers, cut color for the people, or openwork gold foil for people to paste the screen, but also wear in the hair.

Fish life

Some areas in the South, people have in the People's Day Festival "fish life" custom, fish life, often many people surrounded by a full, the fish, ingredients and sauces poured in a large plate, everyone stood up, waving chopsticks, the fish material to fish, the mouth must also continue to shout to: "Fish! Fish! Fatten it up!"

The more you fish, the higher it goes, to signify the step up in the ladder.

Spreading pancakes

Folk this day to eat "spring rolls", "box vegetables" (cooked meat food), and in the courtyard spread pancakes, "smoky day".

Chinese New Year food (3)

Treading green

Treading green excursions on the seventh day of the first month of the year, originating in the Song Dynasty, Kui State (Fengjie County, present-day Chongqing City,) the tread moraine (qi). Moraine (commonly known as moraine dam), the Three Kingdoms period Zhu Geliang on the moraine in the array of troops to retreat from the Wu soldiers, the name of the "eight array map". Jingzhou Tujing Ji": "Kui Fu people heavy Zhuge Wuhou, to the day of the people out of the eight positions on the moraine, called 'moraine tour', women pick up a small stone that can be worn, tied to a hairpin, as a year of Switzerland". Song Lu You in Fengjie when he was an official, made "step on the moraine" poem: "ghost gate outside the people day, step on the moraine thousands of families out." Scholar Wang Shipeng in the Southern Song Dynasty in Fengjie as an official, more often with the people with the people, the seventh day of the first month to take the lead in the moraine, men, women, children, young and old, out of the city, bustling with excitement. Its "people day tour moraine" poem said: "Today's day for the people, the city out of Jianggao."

Denggao

People's Day Festival is also a day of literati poets. Tang Gao Shi's poem "Sending Du Er Leisi on the Day of Man" reads, "The poem is written on the Day of Man and sent to the Cao Tang, and I feel sorry for the old man who is thinking of his hometown."

14The eighth day of the first month

Gu Day

Legend has it that the third day of the first month is the birthday of Gu Zi. If the weather is sunny on this day, the Lord will have a good harvest of rice on that day, while a cloudy day will result in a poor year.

Shunxing

The folk to the eighth day of the first month for the stars down to the world, the production of small lamps burned and sacrificed, known as the Shunxing, also known as the "sacrifice star", "catching the star". Sacrifice with two god code, the first printed with the star section, jujiao, xuanwu, etc., the second is "the life of the life of the star king". The two sheets are put together before and after, clamped on a paper clip, and placed in the center of the back of the table in the courtyard. In front of the God's code, there are yellow and white paper twisted with incense oil, put into the "lamp bowl" with a diameter of about an inch, or 49 lamps, or 108 lamps, and light them up. Cooked Lanterns and tea are then served. After dusk, the Big Dipper is used as the target for worship. After the sacrifice, when the remaining lamps will be extinguished, the sacred code and incense root will be incinerated together with sesame stalks and pine and cypress branches, and the ritual will be completed.

15The ninth day of the first month of the lunar calendar

The day of the ninth day of the first month of the lunar calendar

The ninth day of the first month of the lunar calendar is the day of heaven, which, according to legend, is the birthday of the Jade Emperor. The main customs are sacrifices to the Jade Emperor, Taoist temple fasting, etc. In some places, the day of the day, women prepared incense and candles, fasting bowls, placed in the open air at the entrance of the Tianjing alley to worship the heavens, and ask for blessings from the God of Heaven.

16 first ten

Stone Birthday

This day, where the mill, milling and other stone tools can not be moved, and even set up sacrifices to enjoy the stone, for fear of injury to crops. Also known as the "stone does not move" "ten does not move". Henan custom this day, the family to the stone incense to pay tribute. Lunch must eat bun cake, that eating cake within a year will be prosperous. In Shandong Yuncheng and other places to lift the stone God's move. The first nine nights, people will be a tile jar frozen in a smooth stone, by ten young men or ten young girls take turns carrying the tile jar away. If the stone doesn't fall to the ground, it predicts a good harvest that year.

He rat marriage

Old folk beliefs. In the first month of the ritual rat activities, also known as the "rat married daughter" "rat married". The specific date varies from place to place, some in the first month of the seventh, some in the first month of the twenty-fifth, many areas are the first ten. Pingyao County, Shanxi, the tenth day of the cake will be placed at the root of the wall, the name is "congratulations on the rat marriage". Ningyuan, Hunan Province, the seventeenth for the "mouse wedding" this day to avoid opening the cabinet, for fear of alarming the rats. The night before, children will be candy, peanuts, etc. placed in a dark place, and will be pots and pans and other big things knocking and beating, for the rat Cui makeup, the next morning, will be closed to the rat's hole, that from now on the rat can be forever extinct. There are also areas in the rat to marry a woman day very early to go to bed, but also not to disturb the rats, it is said that you disturb it a day, it disturbed you a year.

17 first month 15

Lantern Festival

Lantern Festival is a major traditional Chinese festival, also known as the first night, also known as Yuanxi, Yuanyi, also known as the festival of the first full moon of the New Year, because it is the first night of the New Year. This festival is also known as the Festival of Lights because of the custom of viewing lanterns throughout the ages. The formation of the Lantern Festival has a long process, according to general information and folklore, the fifteenth day of the first month in the Western Han Dynasty has been attached importance to the first month of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty on the night of the Sin in the Ganquan Palace to sacrifice "too one" activities, by later generations as the first day of the first month of the fifteenth day of the gods of the precursor. However, the fifteenth day of the first month of the year was really a folk festival after the Han Dynasty and Wei Dynasty. The introduction of Buddhist culture in the Eastern Han Dynasty was an important impetus to the formation of the Lantern Festival.

During the reign of Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty (58-75 A.D.), when Emperor Ming advocated Buddhism, Cai Chuan, who had returned from India with the Buddhist teachings, claimed that on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the country of Magadha, monks gathered to venerate the Buddha's relics, which was an auspicious time to attend the Buddha's service. Han Mingdi in order to promote Buddhism, ordered the night of the 15th of the first month in the palace and the temple "lighted table Buddha". Therefore, the custom of burning lanterns on the night of the 15th day of the first lunar month gradually expanded in China with the expansion of the influence of Buddhist culture and the addition of Taoist culture. The real impetus for the Lantern Festival is that it is at a new point in time, and people take full advantage of this special time period to express their aspirations for life.

Lantern Festival

The custom of releasing lanterns at the Lantern Festival developed into an unprecedented lantern market during the Tang Dynasty, and after the Middle Tang Dynasty, it has developed into a national carnival. Tang Xuanzong (A.D. 685-762), the beginning of the heyday,, Chang'an lantern market is very large, burning lamps 50,000, lanterns, lanterns, the emperor ordered to make a giant lantern building, as wide as 20 rooms, 150 feet high, bright gold, extremely spectacular.

Following generations of Lantern Festival continues to develop, the time of the festival is also longer and longer. Tang Dynasty lantern festival is "one day before and after the first yuan", the Song Dynasty and in the sixteen days after the addition of two days, the Ming Dynasty is extended to the eight to eighteen by the whole ten days.

To the Qing Dynasty, the Manchus dominated the Central Plains, the court no longer run the Lantern Festival, the folk Lantern Festival is still spectacular. The date was shortened to five days.

Eating Lanterns

The 15th day of the first month to eat Lanterns, "Lanterns" as a food, has a long history in China. Song Dynasty, the folk that is popular a Lantern Festival to eat novelty food. This kind of food, the earliest called "floating yuanzi" after the name "Lantern", businessmen also beautifully called "Yuanbao". Lantern that is "dumplings" to sugar, rose, sesame, bean paste, yellow cinnamon, walnuts, nuts, jujube paste, etc. for the filling, wrapped in glutinous rice flour into a round, meat can be vegetarian, different flavors. It can be boiled in soup, deep-fried or steamed, and has the meaning of reunion. Shaanxi dumplings are not wrapped, but in the glutinous rice flour "roll" into, or cook Division or deep-fried, hot, hot, reunion.

Performing social fires

In some places in the north, several villages gather on the 15th day of the first month to perform social fires. In some places in the north, several villages come together to perform social fires on the 15th day of the first month. The social fires include stilt walkers, Zhong Kui jumpers and floats.

Changes in Chinese New Year customs

Nowadays, there are many ways to pay tribute to the New Year, some of which are led by the head of the same clan to pay tribute to a number of people from door to door; some of which are invited by colleagues to pay tribute to the New Year; and some of which are gathered together to congratulate each other, known as the "reunion worship". Because of the time-consuming and labor-intensive door-to-door New Year's greetings, some of the upper-class people and the scholarly community used the posters to congratulate each other, which developed into the "New Year's card".

You only need to copy some of it!