A brief introduction to the origin and customs of the Spring Festival

Spring Festival is the biggest traditional folk festival in China. It is a folk festival integrating blessing, entertainment and food.

The Spring Festival has a long history, which evolved from the sacrificial rites of praying for the New Year at the beginning of ancient times, and bears rich historical and cultural connotations in its inheritance and development. New Year's greeting activities are centered on offering wishes and praying for blessings, and are carried out in the form of eliminating the old, worshipping ancestors, exorcising evil spirits and praying for a bumper harvest. The content is rich and colorful, lively and festive, and the annual flavor is rich, which embodies the essence of traditional culture of Chinese civilization.

The Spring Festival refers to the traditional Lunar New Year in the cultural circle of Chinese characters, commonly known as the "Chinese New Year Festival". The traditional names are New Year, New Year and New Year, but they are also verbally called New Year, Celebrating New Year and New Year. This is the most solemn traditional festival of the Chinese nation.

The Spring Festival begins in Yu Shun. One day more than 2000 BC, Shun became emperor and led his men to worship heaven and earth. Since then, people have regarded this day as the beginning of a year. It is said that this is the origin of the Lunar New Year, which was later called the Spring Festival.

The Origin of the Spring Festival

So how did the year come from? There are mainly two kinds of folk sayings: one is that there was a fierce monster called Nian in ancient times, which went door to door on the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, foraging for human flesh and killing creatures. On the night of the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, Nian came to a village. It happened that two cowboys were fighting for a whip. Nian suddenly heard the sound of whipping in mid-air and ran away in fear. It fled to another village and saw a bright red dress drying in front of the door. It didn't know what it was, so it turned around and ran away. Later, he came to a village, looked into the door of a family, and saw that the lights were brightly lit and dizzy, so he had to slip away again, with his tail between his legs. From this, people realized that Nian has the weakness of being afraid of noise, red and light, so they thought of many ways to resist it and gradually evolved into the custom of celebrating the New Year today.

Another way of saying this is that ancient calligraphy books in China put the word "Nian" in the Ministry of Grain, which means good weather and good harvest. Because cereal crops are usually harvested once a year. "Year" is extended to the name of the year.

The origin of "year-end"

In ancient times, people depended on the weather for food. If the harvest is not good, you must borrow food from the landlord and pay it back years ago. The deadline was a few years ago. If they don't pay it back, it means borrowing it for two years. Therefore, for some poor people, Chinese New Year is like going through customs. If they pass, they will be lucky. If they fail, they will have to sell their children or flee the country.

Today, the meaning of "Nianguan" has been enriched a lot, and there is even a saying of "Nianguan syndrome". For people in the workplace, the original planned goal has not been achieved in this year, or the work is not satisfactory. "Year-end" has become the season for them to change jobs.

The custom of the Spring Festival

Traditionally, the Spring Festival refers to the 23rd to 19th of the twelfth lunar month. Dure this period, people all over that country will hold colorful celebration. Before New Year's Eve, people mainly clean houses and buy new year's goods. On New Year's Eve, people will put on dishes, pour wine and hold a grand ceremony to pay homage to their ancestors. On New Year's Eve, after the reunion dinner, the whole family will get together to celebrate the New Year. From the first day of the first month, people will hold lion dances, set off firecrackers, pay New Year greetings and other activities. On the15th day of the first month of each year, there are also celebrations such as Lantern Festival, solve riddles on the lanterns and Lantern Festival.

Spring Festival couplets and New Year pictures

Both Spring Festival couplets and New Year pictures originated from the ancient custom of exorcising ghosts. During the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties, every household stood in front of the door to draw Shen Tu and Lei Yu to exorcise ghosts during the Spring Festival. Later, it developed into a door god New Year picture. Woodblock New Year pictures became popular in Song Dynasty, and the content of New Year pictures also expanded. Simitu, which is still preserved today, is the New Year picture at that time.

Spring Festival couplets appeared in the Tang Dynasty. Writing Spring Festival couplets was more popular in the Song Dynasty. Spring Festival couplets posted in the Ming Dynasty have spread all over the country. Spring Festival couplets are a unique language art form and calligraphy art form in China, and spread to South Korea and other places. Spring Festival couplets not only express people's wishes, but also add a festive atmosphere.

firecracker

The original purpose of firecrackers is to exorcise ghosts or welcome gods. Later, it developed into a symbol of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, and became a folk symbol that best represents the arrival time of the new year.

The earliest reliable record of firecrackers can be found in the Chronicle of Jingchu written by Zongba in the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty: "The first day of the first month, which is also the third day, is called the end of the month. When the cock crows, set off firecrackers in front of the court to avoid evil spirits. " At that time, firecrackers burned bamboo in the fire, making a crackling sound. The first thing to get up in the New Year is to set off firecrackers.

Rice Cake and jiaozi

Rice cakes, also known as sticky cakes, are homophonic "high every year" and contain people's hopes for a happy life in the future. Rice cakes are usually made of sticky particles. There are rice cakes in the north, rice cakes in the south of the Yangtze River, and glutinous rice Baba in the southwest.

The most popular New Year food in northern China is jiaozi, also known as jiaozi, trough and flat food. In the 5th century, jiaozi, shaped like a crescent moon, has become a popular food for the Spring Festival. Before the Song Dynasty, jiaozi was called "the horn" or "the water horn". The name of "flat food" began in the Yuan Dynasty. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the word "jiaozi" has been widely used.

Pay new year's call

It is an important activity to strengthen social relations and family relations during the New Year to worship and celebrate the New Year with ancient national etiquette.

At home, the younger generation kowtows to their elders when they get up in the morning, wishing them health and longevity. Then go to relatives and friends' homes in turn to pay New Year greetings to their elders. The elders give New Year's money to wish him a healthy growth. Friends will also visit each other to express their New Year wishes. If there are many relatives and friends, New Year greetings will last for many days.

lucky money

Lucky money is a custom of the New Year and a good wish. Although the currency has changed, the custom of the elders giving lucky money to the younger generation during the Chinese New Year is still circulating, and they have placed their good wishes on the children's growth and wished them healthy growth.

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

For the elderly, there is a feeling that the years are flying and there is a feeling of cherishing the years. For teenagers, there is a feeling of budding and exuberance, and a feeling of striving for progress. Longevity is a post of life and a yearning for the New Year. Keeping the old age also embodies the beautiful vision of family reunion, family reunion and farewell to the old and welcome the new.

Since ancient times, many customs, such as ancestor worship, lucky money, reunion dinner, making jiaozi, stepping on New Year's Eve, setting off firecrackers, chatting around the stove, having fun, solve riddles on the lanterns, playing cards, playing promotional pictures and so on, have been passed down.

The significance of traditional festivals in the Spring Festival

Where there are Chinese children, there is the Spring Festival. Look at the land of China and the world. During the Spring Festival, fireworks are blooming, dragons are dancing and laughter is rippling. The Spring Festival is lively in China, and it is also going to the world. The Spring Festival is not only the Spring Festival of China people, but also the Spring Festival of the world. The Spring Festival in China is a contribution to world civilization and a gift to all mankind.

The Spring Festival is a festival that pays attention to traditional culture. Celebrating the Spring Festival is a review and encouragement of peace, friendship and affection, and a blessing and prayer for a better life in the future. Spring Festival culture is a long-standing China culture and oriental culture, which is deeply loved by people and deeply rooted in people's hearts. Spring Festival is deeply rooted in the hearts of China people, and what people value in this festival is affection and affection. The charm of the Spring Festival is the charm of China, the charm of the East and the charm of world civilization.