What are the customs and traditions of Foshan?

The 16th day of the 12th month of the lunar calendar is the "last tooth", a ritual that represents the preparation for the end of the year and kicks off a series of New Year's Eve customs. Traditional "tail tooth" worship ceremony, the offerings are symbolizing the good intentions of food, such as hairy vegetables oyster sauce (Fazai good market) fish (Year Year-round), pomelo (Year-round), bananas (fortune), and so on. According to tradition, bosses will treat their employees to "merciless chicken" during the "tailgate", i.e., the head or tail of the chicken points to the employee, or the boss personally pinches the chicken to the employee to eat, which means that he is invited to find another job. This day is appropriate to eat shrimp, because of the hard work of the whole year, eat shrimp side smile.

Thanks to Zaojun on the 24th day of the New Year - two long canes as a ladder to the sky

Chinese people celebrate the 24th day of the Lunar New Year as the New Year's Eve, which is called the "New Year's Eve". This day is also the day to thank Zaojun. The reason for thanking Zaojun is that on this day, he will return to Heaven to report to the Jade Emperor on the good deeds of the families under his watch over the past year, so all the worker bees will be able to eat Zaojun. The most special feature of Zaosai is the offering of sweets, which consists of two long canes, a quantity of sugar and a pair of mandarin oranges with branches and leaves. The purpose of the two sticks of cane is to serve as a ladder for Zaojun to go up to heaven; the sugar pieces represent sweets; in the old days, people did not have sweets as desserts, so sugar pieces were used; and the mandarin orange, which is taken from its Cantonese harmonic "jin", is of course used for Zaojun to meet the God of the Hearth. It is said that Zaojun is the Jade Emperor's "two-fifths", and the people want to make Zaojun's mouth sweet in order for him to speak well in front of the Jade Emperor; there is also another saying that they want to stick to his mouth to prevent him from talking nonsense.

On the 25th day of the Lunar New Year, there are rules for deep-frying and steaming rice cakes

After thanking the God of the Snake, families start to get busy with Lunar New Year celebrations. Few families make their own oil horns, fried rice piles and rice cakes nowadays, as a poorly made cake could drive away good luck in the coming year, and so it is a good idea to buy them from outsiders.

"On the 24th of the year 'open frying', on the 25th of the year steamed cake, on the 28th of the year wrapped rice dumplings" was the schedule for families to make Lunar New Year food in the past. "Open frying" that is, "open the frying pan", and steaming cake, a series of procedures is very critical, a little careless to say an unlucky word, may make a family all year round bad luck, so the housewife responsible for this step, in order not to lose, strictly prohibit children to participate, so as to avoid them to speak unlucky words. They are not allowed to speak unlucky words.

The New Year's Eve sweeping - clearing away the old and exchanging it for the red of the golden flower

The sweeping (or "washing the dirt" in Cantonese) is a symbol of getting rid of the old and welcoming the new, and praying that this year will be better than the last. The broom, which is responsible for cleaning, is considered unclean and may have the same significance as the "broom star", so it is important to put the broom away after the cleaning on the 28th day of the New Year. In addition, sweeping should be done from the front door to the inside of the house, otherwise the wealth will be swept outward. What should we do if there is a mess on the floor on New Year's Day? Then, you can only clean up the mess and not throw it out on the street until after the fourth day of the Chinese New Year. In addition, it is also a good idea to replace the "Golden Flower" and "Divine Red" for the shrines and signboards, which is known as "Hairpin Hanging Red". The "Golden Flower" and "Divine Red" are the guardians of the gods and serve the small or very large deities. As for the gold lacquer signboard "hairpin flower hanging red", also means great luck, business prosperity.

New Year's Eve - pangolin, spring onions, celery and garlic for good luck

In the olden days, all walks of life valued New Year's Eve so much that they closed their ovens at the end of the year, and the markets were closed, so what did they eat for the days afterward? The people will buy and prepare to put the food, commonly known as "blame year", ready to enjoy during the New Year. The preparation of these foods starts on the 29th day of the Lunar New Year, and it is inevitable that the selection of foods for the Lunar New Year is based on the meaning of the food. Scallions, celery, garlic and pangolin are just a few of them. Scallions, celery and garlic should be left rooted, symbolizing the head and the tail. These three vegetables are synonymous with the words "smart", "hardworking", and "meticulous", while the fish symbolizes the meaning of "surplus". The fish is for the meaning of "yearly surplus". The pangolin is chosen as the fish of the year because of its silver coloring, which makes it look like gold. If you want to use pangolins for New Year's Eve, don't use big scales, but have a head and a tail, and fry them in a golden brown color, which is a good idea. To save the pangolin for the New Year, the most important thing is to sprinkle salt salted before frying, according to the custom, put a red envelope and a pair of mandarin or orange in the fish, and then put it into the rice jar to symbolize the abundance of food and clothing until the beginning of the New Year to take it out of the turn to cook and eat.

Thirty years to celebrate the reunion of the year - line twenty night, eat New Year's Eve rice, watch the year sell lazy

Year 30 is the most lively, line "New Year's Eve", a family reunion to eat "reunion rice", after the meal to the night sleepless, around the left up! "Year-keeping", we are happy to enter the new year. According to the legend, the people should buy New Year's flowers and oranges on this day. Nearly late by the New Year, the form of eating reunion dinner is the most important, to the whole family neat and tidy, the dish should be good intentions. After dinner, the family should observe the New Year's Eve until midnight, but how should we spend the long night? In the old days, Cantonese people would send children out on the streets to "sell their laziness", holding small red lanterns in one hand and bowls of steamed eggs and mushrooms in the other, and then walk in groups, shouting: "Sell your laziness, sell your laziness, buy until the evening of the 30th day of the New Year, and I will not be lazy if I am not lazy". This is the most enjoyable night, when the whole family observes the New Year's Eve together, keeping the lights on in the whole house according to tradition, until midnight, when the god of wealth is received and the children's New Year's money is placed under their pillows, so that the family can welcome the New Year in peace and security.