What are the customs of Chinese New Year?

Small New Year, that is, the twenty-third or twenty-fourth day of the Lunar New Year in the lunar calendar, is the beginning of the entire Spring Festival celebrations and ambush, and there are two main activities: sweeping the New Year and sacrificing to the stove. Sweeping, that is, sweeping the dust, in fact, is a big family environmental health. Northern people to Lunar New Year for the 23rd, called "sweeping"; Southern people to Lunar New Year for the 24th, called "dusting". On this day, every family will get up at dawn, sweeping and cleaning windows, washing clothes, scrubbing pots and pans, the implementation of clean and thorough health cleaning. According to "Gleanings" records this custom can be traced back to more than three thousand years ago, when it Han ancestors to drive away epidemics and ghosts, praying for the well-being of the religious ceremony. After the "dust" and "Chen" resonance, so sweeping the dust is also the old things swept away, which refers to both the courtyard of the old dirt, but also refers to the old year encountered in the unhappy.

Sacrificing the stove, that is, sacrificing to send the God of the stove to heaven. In ancient times, technology is not developed, people worship Zaoshen in charge of the family diet of the gods, that Zaoshen to the Jade Emperor on the night of the New Year to report to the Jade Emperor, the Jade Emperor's rewards and punishments for this family all in the Zaoshen report. The most folkloric of the offerings for Zaos is the "Sugar Melon", which is said to be sweet to make the God of Zaos speak only sweet words in front of the Jade Emperor, and is said to be sticky to stick to the teeth of the God of Zaos, so that he can't say bad things out of his mouth. During the festival, the image of the God of the Zaos, which has been worshipped for one year, will be removed and incinerated, which is considered to be a sacrifice to heaven. To this day, the folk still have "sugar melon sacrificial stove, the New Year came" said.

New Year's Eve is the last day of the lunar month (February 6 this year), which is the first and last day of the Spring Festival (the first day of the first month). 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 old year is removed here, and the new year begins in the morning". "Therefore, the activities during this period are all centered on getting rid of the old and praying for good luck. There are three main activities on New Year's Eve: having a reunion dinner, making sacrifices, and observing the New Year's Eve. Among them, the most distinctive is the New Year's Eve celebration.

The New Year's Eve vigil is commonly known as "staying up all night", i.e., on New Year's Eve, staying up all night. Legend has it that in ancient times there was a ferocious monster called "Nian", which came out at night on the last day of the lunar month to devour people and animals and endanger the people. Later, people found that its weakness is afraid of fire, afraid of sound, so people will be in the night of New Year's Eve, sleepless all night, lit a fire, burning bamboo, so that it makes a bang, the monster will not dare to come out for wrongdoing. Since then the custom of staying up all night and setting off firecrackers on New Year's Eve has been left behind. However, there is another important task in the New Year's Eve vigil: making dumplings, and they must be filled with vegetarian dumplings, in the hope that in the new year "vegetarian clean, safe and smooth". Some people put sugar and peanuts in the dumplings, which means a sweet life for those who eat the sugar and a long life for those who eat the peanuts.

Note, there are many taboos, such as the prohibition of sweeping, over the small year, it is usually difficult to reach the corners should be cleaned up, and into the New Year's Eve to the first morning of the New Year, even if the ground is messy can not be swept, it is customary to believe that it will be "broken". Another example, the ban on scissors, forbidden to say "no more" All these are people looking forward to auspicious psychological reflection.

The Spring Festival five days

The first five days of the New Year is the general sense of the Spring Festival Festival, a variety of folk festivals and activities in the full expression of these five days. We'll break it down into a few areas below. See what our country's grandest traditional festival looks like and what the evolution and palimpsests are.

Diet

The diet of the Spring Festival, however, is very elaborate, and the northern folk proverb says, "The first dumplings, the first two noodles, the first three together, the first four pancakes rolled in eggs. Dumplings is one of the important food of the Spring Festival, in addition to New Year's Eve (the last day of the lunar month) to eat dumplings, the first day of the first month, the first five days to eat dumplings, but these three days to eat dumplings on the law is very different. The dumplings eaten on New Year's Eve must be filled with veggies to take the meaning of peace and security in the coming year, and the dumplings can't be boiled all at once; the dumplings eaten on the first day of the first month must be the ones left over from New Year's Eve (i.e., from last night), to take the meaning of auspiciousness and prosperity; and the dumplings eaten on the first day of the first five days of the first month must be made into a lace-shaped dumpling, which is commonly known as the "pinching of a small person's mouth". "

The purpose of the dumplings is to prevent the next year, the villain to make right and wrong, to figure a good luck.

The Spring Festival is another tradition is the rice cake, rice cake made of glutinous rice, North and South two kinds of rice cakes, northern rice cakes are steamed and fried two kinds of sweet, southern rice cakes in addition to steamed and fried, there are still pieces of fried, soup cooking and other methods, the taste is sweet and salty, due to the year and sticky resonance, high and cake resonance, so eat sticky cake that contains the year high, that is, the people's expectations of the new year, over time, sticky cake has also turned into a rice cake.

Departmental arrangement

Traditionally, the Chinese New Year's room layout to four stickers, stickers, stickers, stickers, stickers, stickers, stickers, stickers, stickers, stickers, stickers, stickers, stickers, stickers, stickers, stickers, stickers, stickers.

Posted Spring Festival couplets:

Originally from the folk in order to drive away the ghosts and evil spirits hanging on both sides of the door of the peach board, (the ancients believe that the peach wood has the effect of driving away the evil spirits), after the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang unification of the whole world, the world's people in the Spring Festival is required to post couplets to praise the world's unity and national prosperity and people's peace, it is this custom. Song Shi * Shu Shijia" recorded the history of the earliest one of the Spring Festival couplets "New Year's Day, Jiajie No. Spring"

Posted New Year's Eve paintings:

From the content, more to cater to the masses of people seeking auspicious psychological, to a good harvest, more children, more blessings, more life as the subject matter of a common "Magu Xianshou," "Goddess of the flowers," "Kirin sends a son," "Zhong Kui Weifu," and so on. China's famous production of New Year's paintings are: Tianjin Yangliuqing, Suzhou Taohuayu, Hebei Wuqiang, Shandong Weifang and other places.

Pasted Fuzi:

Commonly known as the Spring Fuzi, is to pray for a new year of good weather and good luck, life and prosperity, and to paste Fuzi inverted, harmonic "Fuzi inverted (Road)". This custom is still alive and well today.

Window Decorations:

Window Decorations to decorate the room, the form is usually "window", "door paper", "wall flowers", "lamps", etc., in different shapes, the creation of free, and its subject matter is also very rich, common "fat pig arch" "mice marrying", "LianYuYouYu". But the materials used are very uniform, red paper with a small amount of gold and platinum, colored paper, this custom in the vast rural areas through the centuries, and still not bad ......

The Spring Festival worship activities:

Traditional habits of the Spring Festival reunion there is a certain order of the first day of the New Year is usually between neighbors or relatives to pay tribute to each other, the second day of the wedding Children with their husbands and sons-in-law back to their families to pay tribute to the New Year, the third is aunts and cousins below the children and nephews to pay tribute to each other, for those who are not in the local or difficult to meet friends and relatives, you can also send a piece of New Year's greetings, the custom started in the Han Dynasty, to the Qing dynasty during the Kangxi years customized, known as the "year sticker, the year piece," on the written festive greetings, sent to friends and relatives, to enhance friendship. When friends and relatives walk around each other, the long rely on the underage and not working children but also to give the New Year's money, usually the New Year's money is every five and ten, in order to take good luck.

◆◇New Year's Customs Around the World

People all over the world like to welcome the New Year in an original and unique way.

*Germans climb up to pray for good luck before the New Year's bells ring, many Germans will climb up to a chair, and when the bells ring, they jump down and run behind the chair to show that they are shaking off calamities. In the German countryside is also spreading such a custom - tree climbing contest, it is said that the higher the climb the better luck, every year the highest climber will be likened to "New Year's hero". Germans will also put a few fish scales in the money clip on New Year's Day, because fish scales are New Year's mascot, heralding the prosperity; many people also put horseshoes nailed to the wall, used to "drive away demons and evil spirits"; on this day, the bread and baklava is also made into a round, figure of eight, the heart or braid shape, it is said that these shapes can ward off evil.

*French people binge-drinking the old French New Year's Day was originally April 1 each year, until 1564, King Charles IX changed it to January 1st. The night before New Year's Day, the French family reunion, around the table drinking champagne. According to tradition, this night every family should drink all the hidden wine, in order to avoid bad luck in the coming year; all people should get drunk, so that the new year will have a new start. The French believe that the weather on New Year's Day foretells the new year. Early in the morning on New Year's Day they went out on the street to look at the wind to divine. If the wind is from the south, the year will be peaceful and hot with good weather; if the wind is from the west, there will be a good year of fishing and milking; if the wind is from the east, there will be a high yield of fruits; and if the wind is from the north, it will be a year of poor harvest.

＊Belgians pay tribute to animalsIn Belgium, one of the first things people do early on New Year's Day morning is to pay tribute to livestock, and Belgians will walk up to cows, sheep and their pet dogs and cats and greet them with a fervent, "Happy New Year!"

＊Bulgarians sneeze on the eve of New Year's Day, the Bulgarians eat around the table most wish they could sneeze, because whoever sneezes brings happiness to the whole family, and the owner of the house gives him a sheep, cow or pony to thank him for bringing happiness to the whole family. After the New Year's bell has rung 12 times, the Bulgarians turn out the lights for 3 minutes, and when the lights come on, they start to eat a special New Year's cake, into which all kinds of small gifts have been put.

＊Hungarians grab the horn in Hungary, the New Year's bells ringing, Hungarians took to the streets with horn toys in hand, held an all-night carnival parade, people grab each other in the hands of the horn, while grabbing the side of the horn, blowing, lively and unusual. After the dawn, friends and relatives began to visit each other, exchanging New Year's coins.

*Brazilians pull each other's ears after the New Year's bells ring, Brazilians held high torches, swarming mountaineering, they scrambled to find a symbol of happiness of the Golden Birch, an activity known as the "search for happiness". It is said that only those who defy the odds can find this rare fruit. In rural areas, there is another unique custom during the New Year - pulling each other's ears. When people meet on New Year's Day, they make a point of grabbing each other's ears to show their blessings.

＊Australia eat pie to choose the king of beans every year on New Year's Day, Australia has the custom of choosing the king of beans, country towns or urban communities in the residents gathered together to eat pie, who can eat the beans in the pie, who will become the local king of beans, it is said that the next year the king of the beans will be particularly good luck.

＊Japanese people eat vegetarian for good luck New Year's Day in Japan called the "day", the morning of that day, people have to eat sugar taro, buckwheat noodles and other traditional "day breakfast". After the next three days in a row, the Japanese people should eat vegetarian to pray for blessings. But nowadays, Japanese townspeople have given up the tradition of vegetarianism on New Year's Eve, and only eat a meal of vegetarian noodles on New Year's Eve in the hope of living a long and healthy life.

◆◇Picture Gallery: New Year's Customs Around the World

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◆◇New Year's Customs Around the World

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