The Origin and Customs of Spring Festival

As for the origin of the Spring Festival, in the old society, due to the lack of ancient documents (Qin Shihuang burned books, or other reasons), it is impossible to directly verify its origin, so many legends have emerged in the process of inheritance and development.

Among them, there are several popular sayings. The Spring Festival originated from the ancient La Worship theory, witchcraft ceremony theory, Ghost Festival theory, ancient harvest sacrifice theory, and the leader position theory of Shunzhi tribal alliance (it is said that the title of "Emperor" originated in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period and was only popular in the Han Dynasty), and originated from the theory that a perpetual calendar was created in the year of eternal youth.

(1) Building a perpetual calendar in ten thousand years:

According to legend, in ancient times, there was a young man named Wannian. Seeing that the festivals were chaotic at that time, he had an accurate plan. But he couldn't find a way to calculate the time. One day, he was tired of chopping wood up the mountain and sat in the shade to rest. The movement of the shadow inspired him. He designed a sundial to measure the time of the day.

Later, inspired by the dripping spring water on the cliff, he began to make a five-layer clepsydra to calculate the time. Over time, he found that every 360 days, the four seasons would cycle once, and the length of the weather would be repeated.

At that time, the monarch was called Zu Ti, who was often troubled by the unpredictable weather. After ten thousand years of knowledge, he went to see the monarch with a sundial and a clepsydra, and explained to Zu Ti why the sun and the moon moved. Zu Ti rejoiced and felt right. So I left for ten thousand years and built the Sun and Moon Pavilion in front of the Temple of Heaven, as well as the sundial platform and the Leaky Pot Pavilion.

I hope I can accurately measure the laws of the sun and the moon, calculate the exact time in the morning and evening, and create a calendar to benefit people all over the world. After the calendar was made, Wannian pointed to the astronomical phenomena and said to Zu Ti, "Now it is twelve months, the old year has passed and the new year has begun. Please make a festival for you. " Zu Ti said, "Spring is the first year of a year, so let's call it Spring Festival". It is said that this is the origin of the Spring Festival.

(2) Shun Ji tribal leaders:

Legend has it that one day more than 2000 BC, Shun (the leader of the ancient tribal alliance) followed the leader of the tribal alliance and led his men to worship heaven and earth. Since then, people have regarded this day as the first day of the first month. It is said that this is the origin of the Lunar New Year, which was later called the Spring Festival.

(3) Legend of Nian beast:

There is a legend about the origin of the Spring Festival. In ancient China, there was a monster called Nian. Its tentacles were very long and fierce. Nian lived on the seabed for many years, and climbed ashore every New Year's Eve, devouring livestock and killing people. Therefore, every New Year's Eve, people in the village fled to the deep mountains to avoid the harm of the "Nian" beast.

Then one year on New Year's Eve, an old beggar came from outside the village and told people how to drive away Nian beast. It turns out that Nian was most afraid of red, fire and explosion. 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.

2, the custom of the Spring Festival:

(1) Handling New Year's Goods:

China's annual custom culture has a long history, and various Chinese New Year customs originate from all parts of the country, with great differences between the north and the south, each with its own characteristics. Although customs vary from place to place, it is almost a "must-have" for Chinese New Year to prepare new year's goods and send new year's gifts all over the country.

Buying new year's goods, including food, clothing, clothes, use, stickers (New Year's Eve) and gifts, are collectively called "New Year's Goods", and the process of buying new year's goods is called "Buying New Year's Goods". Celebrating the Spring Festival is an important activity for China people.

(2) Paste the year red:

On the 28th, 29th or 30th of each year, every household hangs "Year Red" (Year Red refers to the red festive elements such as Spring Festival couplets, door gods, banners, New Year pictures and blessings). Sticking New Year Red (waving spring) is a traditional Chinese New Year custom in China, which adds a festive atmosphere and places people's good expectations for the new year and new life.

Spring Festival couplets: According to records such as Jade Candle Collection and Yanjing Year. The original form of Spring Festival couplets is what people call "Fu Tao". Another source of Spring Festival couplets is spring stickers. The ancients posted the word "Yichun" every day when they were in beginning of spring, and later they gradually developed into Spring Festival couplets.

Sticking Spring Festival couplets is also called sticking couplets, Spring Festival couplets, couplets and peach symbols. It depicts the background of the times and expresses good wishes with neat, dual, concise and exquisite words, which is a unique literary form in China. Every Spring Festival, no matter in urban or rural areas, every household should choose a pair of red Spring Festival couplets and stick them on the door to add festive atmosphere to the festival.

New Year pictures: Hanging New Year pictures during the Spring Festival is also very common in urban and rural areas. Thick black and colorful New Year pictures add a lot of prosperous and happy holiday atmosphere to thousands of families. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China, which reflects people's simple customs and beliefs and places their hopes on the future. With the rise of block printing, the content of New Year pictures is not limited to monotonous themes such as door gods, but has become rich and colorful.

Window grilles and the word "Fu": In the folk, people also like to stick various paper-cuts on the windows-window grilles. Window grilles not only set off the festive atmosphere, but also integrate decoration, appreciation and practicality. At the same time, some people have to write "Fu" on doors, walls and lintels. Others elaborate the word "Fu" into various patterns, such as longevity, longevity peach, carp yue longmen, abundant grains, dragons and phoenixes, and so on.

(3) New Year's Eve:

New Year's Eve, also known as New Year's Eve, reunion dinner, reunion dinner and so on. , especially the family dinner on New Year's Eve at the end of the year. The New Year's Eve dinner originated from the ancient ritual vessels at the end of the year, and it is a reunion dinner after offering sacrifices to the gods and ancestors. New Year's Eve is the highlight of the year, which is not only colorful, but also very interesting. Worship the gods and ancestors before the reunion dinner, and eat after the worship ceremony.

Generally, there are chicken (meaning to have a plan), fish (meaning to have more than one year), oyster sauce (meaning to have a good market), Nostoc flagelliforme (meaning to get rich), yuba (meaning to get rich), lotus root (meaning to be smart), lettuce (meaning to make money), raw garlic (meaning to be able to count) and sausage (meaning to be long-lasting) for good luck. China people's New Year's Eve dinner is a family reunion dinner, which is the most abundant and important dinner in a year.

(4) New Year greetings:

Paying New Year's greetings is one of the traditional activities. Welcome the new year on the morning of the first day of the year and worship the "Year God". "Sui", also known as "country" and "Tai Sui", is an ancient star name. Tai sui is also a god of folk beliefs. At the age of 60, with the chronology of cadres and branches of 60 Jiazi as the running cycle, there are 60 people. There are old gods on duty every year. In those days, the traditional duty was called "traditional duty", which was the master of the year and was in charge of good and bad luck in the world.

For example, in the Three Commandments, it is said that "the man who is too old, the one-year-old Lord, and the head of the gods". Paying New Year greetings is the oldest traditional Chinese New Year custom, which is still popular in Guangdong, especially Wuchuan. On the first day of the new year, the traditional customs of greeting the new year, offering sacrifices to God and receiving blessings have been passed down from generation to generation.

(5) Happy New Year:

Paying New Year greetings during the Spring Festival is one of the traditional customs of New Year's festivals, and it is a way for people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new and express their best wishes to each other. On the third day of the second day of junior high school, I began to visit relatives and friends, pay New Year greetings to each other, congratulate each other, bless each other, and say something like congratulations on getting rich and happy New Year.

The significance of New Year's greetings lies in visiting relatives and friends, congratulating each other on the New Year, expressing feelings for relatives and friends and good wishes for the new year's life.

With the development of the times, the custom of New Year greetings is constantly adding new contents and forms. New Year greeting cards, which are popular in modern society, have been implemented in ancient China. As early as the Song Dynasty, New Year cards were called "famous thorns" or "famous stickers", which were used between royal families and relatives.