The culture of the year (origin, customs, knowledge of Spring Festival)

"On the 24th day of the Lunar New Year, dusting and sweeping the house", according to "Lv's Spring and Autumn Annals", China in the Yao and Shun era, there is a Spring Festival dust sweeping custom. According to folklore: because of "dust" and "Chen" homophonic, dust sweeping in the New Year has the meaning of "get rid of Chen Bu Xin", and its intention is to sweep out all the poor luck and bad luck. This custom is a symbol of people's desire to break away from the old and bring in the new and their prayers for the old and the new. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, every household has to clean up the environment, wash all kinds of appliances, dismantle the bedding curtains, sprinkle clean the courtyard, dust dust cobwebs, dredge the nullahs and ditches. Everywhere overflowing with joyful health, clean and welcome the new year's happy atmosphere.

Spring Festival couplets

Spring Festival couplets, also known as door-to-door, spring stickers, couplets, couplets, peach symbols, etc., it is neat, couplets, concise, sophisticated text depicting the background of the times, expressing the best wishes, is China's unique form of literature. Every Spring Festival, whether urban or rural, every family should select a pair of big red spring couplets posted on the door, for the festival to increase the festive atmosphere. This custom began in the Song Dynasty, began to prevail in the Ming Dynasty, to the Qing Dynasty, the Spring Festival couplets of ideological and artistic have been greatly improved, Liang Zhangzhu prepared by the Spring Festival couplets monograph "Threshold Lian series of words" on the origins of the couplets and various types of works of the characteristics of all made a discussion.

There are many types of spring couplets, which, according to their place of use, can be divided into door centers, frame pairs, horizontal phi, spring strips, doufang, etc. "Door centers" are the most common type of couplets. "Door" in the upper center of the door panel; "frame" on the left and right door frames; "Phi" on the horizontal wood of the door winks; "Chunzhi "according to different contents, posted in the corresponding place;" bucket catty "also called" door leaf "for the square diamond, more in furniture, shadow wall.

Pasted window and upside down "Fu" word

In folklore people also like to put a variety of paper cutouts on the window - window flowers. Window flowers not only set a festive atmosphere, but also decorative, appreciative and practical in one. Paper cutting in China is a very popular folk art, for thousands of years by the people's favorite, because it is mostly affixed to the window, so it is also known as "window flowers". Window flowers with its unique generalization and exaggeration of the auspicious events, good wishes expressed in the best possible way, will be decorated with festivals red hot and rich.

At the same time as the Spring Festival couplets, some people have to put large and small "Fu" characters on the doors, walls and lintels of their houses. The Spring Festival sticker "Fu" character, is China's folk custom for a long time. The character "福" refers to good fortune and good luck, and it expresses people's desire for a happy life and their wish for a better future. In order to more fully reflect this yearning and wishes, some people simply stick the word "Fu" upside down, indicating that "happiness has arrived" and "good fortune has arrived". Folk will also be "Fu" word fine as a variety of patterns, patterns have longevity, longevity peach, carp jump Dragon Gate, five grains, dragon and phoenix, and so on.

New Year's paintings

The Spring Festival hanging stickers New Year's paintings in urban and rural areas is also very common, thick black colorful New Year's paintings to thousands of families added a lot of prosperity and joy of the festive atmosphere. New Year's paintings are an ancient folk art in China, reflecting the people's simple customs and beliefs, and holding their hopes for the future. New Year's paintings, like spring scrolls, originated as "door gods". With the rise of woodblock printing, the content of the New Year's paintings has not only been limited to monotonous themes such as the God of the Door, become colorful, in some of the New Year's paintings in the workshop produced the "Three Stars of Fortune and Longevity," "Heavenly Officials Provide Blessings," "Five Grains and Plenty of Fortune," "Six Animals Prosperity," "Welcoming the Spring Receiving Blessings," and other classic colorful New Year's paintings, in order to satisfy people's wishes for a happy and prayerful New Year. There are three important production areas of Chinese New Year paintings in China: Taohuayu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong Province; three major schools of Chinese New Year paintings have been formed, each with its own characteristics.

China's earliest collection of Chinese New Year paintings is the Southern Song Dynasty "with the fairness of the country's face" woodcut New Year paintings, the painting is Wang Zhaojun, Zhao Feiyan, Banji and green beads of the four ancient beauties. The most widely circulated folk painting is the one of "The Mouse Marrying Her Marriage". It depicts an interesting scene of a mouse marrying a bride in accordance with the customs of the earth. In the early years of the Republic of China, Zheng Mantuo of Shanghai combined the lunar calendar and New Year's paintings. This is a new form of New Year's paintings. This combination of two and one of the New Year's paintings, later developed into a wall calendar, and is still popular throughout the country.

New Year's Eve

The evening of the last day of the lunar year. The last day of the year is called "New Year's Eve". The last day of the year is called "New Year's Eve", and that night is called "New Year's Eve". People often stay up all night on New Year's Eve, called the New Year's Eve. Su Shi wrote "Keeping New Year's Eve": "Children are strong enough not to sleep, and they keep vigil all night long." There is a legend about the origin of New Year's Eve: there was a vicious beast called Xi in ancient times, our ancestors had suffered from the threat of this most ferocious beast, which came out at the end of the year to harm people, and later, people found that Xi was afraid of three things, the color red, the light of the fire, the sound. So in the winter people hang red-colored mahogany boards on their doors, burning fires in front of the door, and staying up all night, knocking and banging. On that night, "Yu" broke into the village, saw the red color and firelight in every house, and heard the loud noise, so scared that he ran back to the mountains and never dared to come out again. When the night was over, people congratulated each other and celebrated their victory with lanterns and colorful decorations, and wine and banquets. So later on the night of New Year's Eve, families stick red spring couplets, firecrackers, to drive away the beast of the night. In order to seek peace and quiet in the new year, this custom has been passed down since then, the night of the 30th of the year will be called New Year's Eve.

Watch the New Year's Eve

Watch the New Year's Eve is one of the most important New Year's activities, the custom of watching the New Year's Eve has a long history. The earliest records are found in the Western Jin Dynasty, Zhou Zhi's "Land and Customs": New Year's Eve night, each with the gift, known as "feed the year"; wine and food invited, known as the "other year"; the elders and children get together to drink, wishing to complete, known as the "sub-year"; all night, everyone is the most important activity. "

The first time I saw this is when I was a young man and I had to wait for the day to dawn, so I called it the "New Year's Eve".

"One night even double the year, five nights divided into two days", New Year's Eve, the whole family gathered together, ate the New Year's Eve dinner, light up candles or oil lamps, sitting around the fireplace chatting, waiting for the time to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new, the all-night vigil, symbolizing all the evil plague and epidemic according to the run drive away, looking forward to a new year of good luck. This custom gradually prevailed, to the early Tang Dynasty, Tang Taizong Li Shimin wrote a "year-keeping" poem: "cold resignation from the winter snow, the warmth of the spring wind". Until today, people are still accustomed to the New Year's Eve to welcome the new year.

Anciently, there are two meanings of year-end vigil: the elderly year-end vigil for the "resignation of the old year", there is the meaning of the treasure of time and light; young people year-end vigil is to extend the life of their parents. Since the Han Dynasty, the moment of transition between the old and the new year is usually the middle of the night.

Various places are not the same: in rural Yunnan there is such a legend: on the thirtieth day of the year, children, adults can not sleep, that is, everyone stays awake all night to wait for the daybreak, called the "year-end vigil". The difference is that why can't they sleep? Adults usually tell children that if they fall asleep, the stalks in their fields will fall down the next year. If it falls down, let the one who sleeps fix it! It seems that if no one sleeps, the stalks will not fall down! (Yunnan custom)

Crackers

Chinese folk "open door firecrackers". That is, at the dawn of a new year, the first thing that families do when they open the door is to set off firecrackers, to beep and blare the sound of firecrackers to get rid of the old and welcome the new. Firecrackers is a Chinese specialty, also known as "firecrackers", "cannonballs", "firecrackers". Its origin is very early, so far has a history of more than two thousand years. Firecrackers can create a festive and lively atmosphere, is a kind of festival entertainment, can bring people joy and good luck. With the passage of time, the application of firecrackers is more and more widely used, varieties and colors are also increasingly numerous, every major holiday and festivals, and marriage, building, opening, etc., are to set off firecrackers in order to show the celebration, Figure a good luck. Now, Hunan Liuyang, Guangdong Foshan and Dongyao, Jiangxi Yichun and Pingxiang, Wenzhou, Zhejiang and other areas is China's famous hometown of firecrackers, the production of firecrackers colorful, high-quality, not only sells well across the country, but also exported to the world.

Eating rice cakes and dumplings

In the ancient agricultural society, about since the eighth day of the first month of the Lunar New Year, housewives will be busy opening the New Year's food. Because of the long time it takes to pickle the preserved meat, it must be prepared as early as possible. Many provinces in China have the custom of pickling preserved meat, and the preserved meat in Guangdong Province is the most famous.

Steaming rice cakes has become a must-have for almost every family because of its resonance with the word "nian gao" and its varied flavors. There are square-shaped yellow and white rice cakes, symbolizing gold and silver, which are meant to bring wealth in the New Year.

The flavor of rice cakes varies from place to place. Beijingers like red date rice cake, white rice cake and white rice cake made of river rice or yellow rice. Hebei people like to add jujubes, small red beans and mung beans to the rice cakes and steam them together. Northwestern Shanxi in Inner Mongolia and other places, New Year's Eve used to eat yellow rice flour fried rice cakes, some also wrapped with bean paste, date paste and other fillings, Shandong people use yellow rice, red dates steamed rice cakes. Northern rice cakes are mainly sweet, or steamed or fried, some people simply dip sugar to eat. In the south, rice cakes are both sweet and salty, such as those in Suzhou and Ningbo, which are made of round-grained rice and have a light flavor. In addition to steaming and deep-frying, they can also be sliced and stir-fried or boiled in soup. Sweet rice cakes are made from glutinous rice flour with sugar, lard, roses, osmanthus, mint and veggie paste, and are so well made that they can be steamed or dipped in egg white and deep-fried.

The night before the real New Year is called the Night of Reunion, when people who are away from home have to travel thousands of miles to come back home, and the whole family has to sit together to make dumplings for the New Year. The dumpling method is to make dumpling skin with flour, and then use the skin to wrap the filling, which is a variety of contents, including various kinds of meat, eggs, seafood, seasonal vegetables, etc., and can be put into the filling, and the orthodox way of eating dumplings is to boil it with water, and then fish it up to be accompanied by vinegar, garlic, and soy sauce. The orthodox way of eating dumplings is to boil them in water and then dip them in soy sauce flavored with vinegar, garlic, and sesame oil. Dumplings can also be deep-fried and cooked (potstickers). This is because the word "he" (和) means "to merge" (合), and the words "饺子" (饺子) and "交" (交), which mean "to merge" and "to merge" (合), harmonize with each other. The words "合" and "交" have the meaning of getting together, so dumplings are used to symbolize reunion and happiness; they are also taken as the meaning of a new year's handover, which is very auspicious; in addition, dumplings resemble a Yuanbao (元宝), so eating dumplings on New Year's Day carries the auspicious meaning of "inviting wealth and prosperity" (招财進宝). In addition, eating dumplings on New Year's Day also carries the auspicious meaning of "inviting wealth and prosperity". Families get together to make dumplings and talk about the New Year in a happy way.

Opening the door

On the morning of the Chinese New Year, the door is opened and firecrackers are set off first, which is called "opening the door to 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.

New Year's greetings

An important activity in the Spring Festival is to new friends and neighbors to congratulate the New Year, the old term for New Year's greetings. Han Chinese New Year's Eve style, the Han Dynasty has. After the Tang and Song dynasties are very popular, some do not have to go in person, can be used in the name of the invitation 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 in front of the door, specializing in name badges, called "door book".

On the first day of the New Year, people get up early, put on the most beautiful clothes, dressed neatly, go out to visit friends and relatives, pay respect to each other, wishing good luck in the coming year. Worship a variety of ways, some of them are the same patriarch led a number of people to go door to door to pay tribute to the New Year; some colleagues invited a few people to pay tribute to the New Year; there are also get together to congratulate each other, known as the "group worship". Because of the time-consuming and labor-intensive door-to-door New Year's greetings, some of the upper class and the scholarly community used the posters to congratulate each other, which developed into the "New Year's Pieces" later on.

The Chinese New Year, the late generation should first pay tribute to the elders, wishing the elders a long life and well-being, the elders can be prepared beforehand the New Year's money to the elders, it is said that the New Year's money can be pressed to stop the evil spirits, because the "age" and the "spirit" consonant, the elders get the New Year's money can be a year of peace and security. It is said that New Year's money can keep evil spirits at bay, because "year" and "spirit" sound alike. There are two kinds of New Year's money, one is a colorful rope threaded and braided into the shape of a dragon, placed at the foot of the bed, which is recorded in the "Yanjing Yearly Record"; the other is the most common, that is, wrapped in red paper by the parents of the money given to the children. New Year's money can be rewarded in the evening after the New Year's greetings in public, can also be in the New Year's Eve when the child is asleep, by the parents secretly placed under the child's pillow. Now the elders for the younger generation to send the custom of New Year's money is still prevalent.

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. The first day must go to the father-in-law, shall bring gifts. After entering the door first to the Buddha statues, ancestral images, pagodas each line three kowtow salute, and then to the elders in turn kneeling. You can stay to eat and play.

The second is a courtesy visit. Such as to colleagues, friends to pay tribute to the New Year, a door into the house, only to the Buddha three kowtow, such as with the host 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 host should be down the seat to do to help the shape of the even said free to show humility. This situation is generally not appropriate to sit for a long time, pleasantries two polite words to say goodbye. After the master was worshiped, should choose a day to return to worship.

Third is a thank-you visit. Where a year to people owe love (such as lawyers, doctors, etc.) to buy some gifts to send, take the opportunity to pay tribute to the New Year, to express gratitude pillow.

The fourth is a series of visits. For the left and right neighbors of the neighborhood, not much interaction in the past, but meet all can say, to the New Year's Jubilee, just to the yard, meet with each other a fist, said: "Gong Xi Fa Cai", "a Shun Bashun", in the house to sit down 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. Now, some organizations, groups rest, enterprises, schools, we get together to congratulate each other, called "reunion".

New Year's greeting is a traditional Chinese folk custom, is a way for people to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new, and express their good wishes to each other. In ancient times, the original meaning of the term "New Year's greeting" was to pay respects to the elders, including kowtowing to the elders, congratulating them on a happy New Year, and greeting them on a good life, etc. When there were relatives and friends of the same generation, they were also invited to pay respects to the elders. When there are relatives and friends of the same generation, they should also bow to congratulate.

Anciently, if or neighborhood friends and relatives too much, it is difficult to visit all over the door, the servants to bring business cards to pay tribute to the New Year, known as the "fly post", the door of each house to paste a red paper bag, written on the "receive the blessing of the two words, that is, for the bearer to put the fly post with. This custom began in the Song Dynasty upper class. The Qing Dynasty's "Yan Tai Yue Ling" described the Beijing New Year's Festival as follows: "This is also the month when pieces fly and empty cars go." It became fashionable. Large families ad hoc "door book" to remember the guests and fly piece of correspondence, the door book of the first page of the virtual "pro-arrivals" four people: one said the life of a hundred years old master, live in a hundred years of the Square Lane; one said the rich Yu masters, live in Yuanbao Street; one said that you have no great people, live in the university scholar's house; One said the blessing of the old master, live in the five blessings building. In order to try to auspicious to curry favor. To date, the Chinese New Year gift of New Year's tablets, New Year's cards, is the legacy of this ancient send each other fly post.

The upper class scholarly men had the custom of throwing congratulations to each other with famous posters. Song Zhou Hui in the "Qingbo Magazine" said: "Song Yuanyou years, New Year's greetings, often using servants to hold the name of the thorn on behalf of the go". At that time, the scholars traveled widely, if around the door to pay tribute to the New Year, both time-consuming, but also exhausting energy, so some of the relationship is not close to the friends do not go in person, but to send a servant to take a kind of paper with plum blossom paper cut into two inches wide, three inches long, written on the top of the name of the recipient of the congratulations, address and congratulations on the words of the card to go to on behalf of the New Year's greeting. People in the Ming Dynasty to visit instead of New Year's greeting. Ming Dynasty distinguished painter, poet Wen Zhengming in the "New Year" poem described: "do not seek to meet but through the visit, the name of the paper towards the full sheltered hut; I also cast a number of paper with the people, the world hate Jane not suspected of false". Here the "famous prick" and "famous visit" is the origin of the current New Year's card. New Year's cards are used for contacting and greeting each other, which is both convenient and practical, and even today they are still popular.

From about the time of the Qing Dynasty, New Year's Day and add the form of "reunion worship", the Qing Yi Lan master in the "side hat Yu Tan" said: "the capital in the first of the year, routine reunion worship, in order to unite the friendship of the year, in order to Dunhuang feelings", "every year! By the year book red booking guests, food and drink banquets, for the whole day happy".

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

But from the first to the fifth day of the first month, most families do not receive women, called "taboo door". Only men go out to pay their respects, while women have to wait until after the sixth day of the first month before they can go out to visit. The New Year's visit extends for a long time, until around the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month. When you go to someone's house in the evening, it is called the "Night Festival", and after the tenth day of the first month, it is called the "Festival of Lights", which is why there is a joke that "if you want to pay respect to the New Year, it is not too late to have a cold meal".

If, for any reason, you don't get to do the customary rituals, you can make up for it later, and it's called "paying homage to the New Year".

Occupy the year

Old folk to enter the new first few days of the weather to account for the success of the year. It began with the Han Dongfang Shuo's "year occupation", that after eight days of age, one day for the chicken day, the second day for the dog, the third day for the pig, the fourth day for the sheep, the fifth day for the cow, the sixth day for the horse, the seventh day for the Weiman, the eighth day for the valley. If the day is sunny, then the main thing flourishes, when the day is cloudy, the main day does not prosper. Later generations followed their habits, that the first day to the tenth, the weather is clear, no wind and no snow as auspicious. 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 first seven do not execute the custom.

Painted chicken Zhu Xianzhen woodblock New Year's Eve

Anciently, the Spring Festival painted chickens on the windows and doors to drive away the ghosts and monsters and evil spirits. In Xuanzhongji, a book written by a man from the Jin Dynasty, it talks about this heavenly chicken on Dushuo Mountain, which was mentioned earlier, and says that the heavenly chicken crowed when it was just rising and the first sunlight shone on this big tree. When it crowed, all the chickens in the world followed. 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 Ming bird similar to chicken, and then gradually changed to painting chicken or cut window flowers pasted on the windows and doors, that is, become the source of the art of paper-cutting later generations. China's ancient especially valued the chicken, called it "five virtues of the bird". Han Shi Wai Zhuan" said, it has a crown on the head, is Wen De; foot distance after the fight, is the martial arts; the enemy in front of the courage to fight, is the courage of virtue; food to greet the same kind of benevolence; 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 is said to be the birthday of the broom, this day can not move the broom, otherwise it will sweep away the luck, broke the fortune, and the "broomstar" 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 to Sheng wastewater, the day is not outside the splash.

Sacrifice God of Wealth

Southern people in the first five days of the first month of the God of Wealth. 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 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 it is 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 first in the first four pick up, called "grab the head of the road", also known as "pick up the God of Fortune".

Five sacrifices that is sacrificed to 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 hour zero minutes, open the door and windows, burning incense and firecrackers, fireworks, to the God of Fortune to welcome. Received the God of Fortune, we have to eat road head wine, often eat until dawn. Everyone is filled with the hope of getting rich, wishing that the God of Wealth will bring gold and silver treasures to their homes and make them rich in the new year.

Send poor

The first five days of the first month of the "send poor", is a very distinctive ancient folk custom of the year. On this day, each family made of paper woman, known as "sweeping clear mother", "five poor women", "five poor mother", carrying a paper bag, the house will be swept to the bag of dirt, sent outside the door of the firecrackers to blow up. This custom is also known as "send poor soil", "send poor daughter-in-law out". Shaanxi Hancheng area, the day of the fifth taboo out, and to put fresh meat in the pot roast, but also fried beans, so that it crumbles sound, that can collapse the poor gas, seeking wealth. In addition, the old New Year's Eve or the fifth day of the first month to eat especially full, commonly known as "fill poor pit". Widely popular folk send poor customs, reflecting the people of our country generally hope that the old and welcome the new, send away the old poverty and misery, to meet the new year's good life of the traditional psychology.