Local Customs

Bai Cha: On the morning of the first day of the first month, Dongtou Island still retains a custom called Bai Cha. The tea is made of jujubes, cinnamon balls, rice cakes, etc. The sweet tea is called "jujube tea", which takes its auspicious meaning: jujubes - more and more prosperous days, cinnamon balls - family reunion, safe and smooth, rice cakes - step by step to get higher. Worship tea" is divided into two parts: one is to worship the ancestors, a small bowl, offered to the God of the stove in front of the statue; the second is to worship the God of the stove, are to burn incense and candles, burn gold paper, firecrackers. After worshiping the tea, each member of the family will have a bowl to drink. Because the first meal of the New Year is to drink soup, so, in the days to come, or go out, or work at home, if the rain is blocked, people will be "the first day of the first month of the soup," this self-deprecating. After drinking tea, and then burn the line noodles to eat, commonly known as "longevity noodles", both for luck, wishing the whole family a long life, but also because the tea is not enough to fill, as an addition to the food, can be harvested in one fell swoop.

Breakfast: the first day of the first month of breakfast, Wenzhou people like to eat cake (a kind of cooking and steamed into a sweet rice cake). Eat, cut the cake into thin slices, and then the soy sauce meat in the fat meat is also cut into thin slices, embedded in the two slices of cake between, eat up sweet with salt, a unique flavor. Some people also eat dumplings, or cook a bowl of vermicelli with a hard-boiled egg on top. These foods contain "year high", "reunion" symbolism. Some people cook New Year's Eve rice and eat pounded cake and muffin at the same time. In Pingyang, eat rice cakes and dumplings, some first drink brown sugar soup, after adding noodles and eggs; in Taishun, the housewife to make sugar tea, steamed sugar cake, end out of the vegetable head (salted radish) to the family "sweet mouth, good luck". But Yueqing Yandang area, then eat brown. New Year's Eve, each family to cook a pot of rice dumplings, such as the first day of the year early, the whole family to eat. It is said to eat rice dumplings have two meanings, one is because of rice dumplings and "Zong" homophonic, take the meaning of nostalgia for the ancestors; two is because of rice dumplings and "in" the word homophonic, take the meaning of fame in. In Yueqing, people generally use red dates, persimmons, dumplings. In Yueqing Baishi Town, the first day of dinner to eat soup dumplings, mushy soup, the first cake. When going to sleep, shoes are placed in front of the bed to seek blessings from the Heavenly Palace. In the city during the Spring Festival, guests have offered Yuanbao tea custom, that is, put two fresh olives in the tea, not only the tea flavor fragrance, Dan see in the yellowish-green tea broth floating olives, shaped like a Yuanbao, commonly known as the "Yuanbao tea", containing New Year's good luck, the colorful head of wealth. Dim sum useful round eyes meat or lotus seeds, red dates, but also meatballs, eggs with vermicelli.

During the Spring Festival in the city, guests have the custom of offering Yuanbao tea

New Year's greetings: from the morning of the first day of the year, first at home, the younger generation in the order of the elders bowing to the salute, "New Year's greetings". From the second day, neighbors and friends and relatives, to and from the festival. If you meet in the road, long bow to congratulate (now nodding and shaking hands to say hello), there are also each other's palm chest said "New Year's Day". To each family door to congratulate each other on the new year, also known as the "New Year", "worship". First, the next generation went out to the elders to pay homage to the New Year, and then the generation back to pay homage, it is called "back to the New Year". Newlyweds first to the in-laws to pay homage to the New Year, said "worship the first year", after the generation to the funeral home to pay homage to the New Year, said "worship the New Year".

According to old habits, Wenzhou people do not go to relatives on the first day of the first month. Worship time is generally the second to the tenth or extended to the fifteenth. In Cangnan, called "visit the first month", to the general relatives to go home, have to bring gifts. 50 years ago, agricultural products are relatively simple, mostly cinnamon, lychee, jujube, jujube, brown sugar, persimmons, etc., with special straw paper wrapped in red paper sealed on the top (some of the printed congratulations to the New Year's lace lettering), it is known as the "paper pong package", also known as the "high packet," "red packet". Each package of gifts about half a catty, how many packages need to be sent, according to the relatives of the situation set. In the old days, the South Shop, every Chinese New Year, to buy red packets of people in particular. From December 20, every night after 9:00 pm, the shopkeepers are busy wrapping red envelopes late into the night, each person can also eat a bowl of mustard fried rice cakes as a night meal. If business is good, they are wrapped until after the Lantern Festival. Some stores only pack twenty or so red dates in a red envelope. It is ridiculous to say that after the east sends the west, the west then sends the south ......, and finally, the bag is broken, the red dates in the bag are dug a hole by the children to touch and eat, and sometimes there is only one left, and it is still being sent to and fro.

In Yongjia Nanxi River in the middle and lower reaches of the area, in the first Spring Festival just married, son-in-law to his parents-in-law home to pay tribute to the New Year, to do the rice cake, commonly known as the "door cake". Cooked with white rice flour, put in a stone mortar pounded mushy, kneaded into a rice block, and then placed in a wooden mold, printed into a round and flat rice cakes, the front has a pattern, such as the double immortal and cooperation, Liu Hai dedication of money, Scholarship Elephant and other characters. The quantity to be made is one quart, about 50 pairs to 100 pairs. In addition to this, there should be pork, muffins, and longevity noodles (somen).

In Wencheng, paying homage to the New Year is called "Maungnyeon". In the old days, such as bringing children over the age of one year to "look" grandma and grandpa, generally choose three, six, nine days, called "three, six, nine, no taboo". Going out, in the child's brow and the tip of the nose painted with red or black ink, meaning to avoid "brats" offenders. On the fourth day of the first month, most of the folk do not travel, do not work, because with the "dead" resonance, the people who speak southern Fujianese, on the ninth day of the first month of the taboo. Because the "nine" and "dog" harmonics.

In Yueqing, the first day of the year not out of the local to visit friends and relatives. Baixi and other places even the second day is also listed as a taboo day, such as into the countryside do not ask the customary people rush to the door, will be accused of face to face. From the third day of the year, did not look forward to the "New Year's Eve" picking the gold box to look at parents-in-law, aunt and uncle, godparents, and also line to pay tribute to the New Year, commonly known as "look forward to the first month". Gifts to muffin or pounded cake, followed by fish, meat and lychee, kuiyuan, etc., red seal Yuanbao paper package, customary provisions of the old relatives four, new relatives six. The above are looked forward to (including looking forward to the night of the elder relatives, generally in the light of the beginning of the period before the return to worship, if the son-in-law, nephews, godchildren's grandparents, parents have died, then you can send the son to go. Where the first visit to friends and relatives in the first month of January, regardless of seniority, are required to carry two red envelopes; the person being visited must make tea, cooking snacks, or set up a banquet, otherwise, the custom is considered rude. In Pingyang, when a nephew returns to his grandmother's house for the first time to pay a New Year's visit, there is a gift of a calf from his grandmother's house.

In Dongtou, the same is a daughter to return to her mother's home, it is necessary to carry a "red bucket" to the parents, as a sign of filial piety. The so-called "red bucket" is a carved or red lacquered small wooden bucket filled with cooked food, and noodles or glutinous rice made with large fish and meat as condiments, usually around 2.5-5 kilograms. As the saying goes, "Give birth to a son with a soul streamer pole, and give birth to a daughter with a red bucket of treasure". The meaning is that the birth of a son, after the death of someone wearing mourning, mourning the soul flag; birth of a daughter, the first month of the "red bucket" filial piety. 70 years later, the custom of carrying a red bucket basically disappeared, the "paper pong package" is also extinct, and instead of sending wine, meat and canned food.

During the Spring Festival, to come to the New Year's friends and relatives, most of the host family to stay and drink wine hospitality, commonly known as "called New Year's wine", that is, the spring feast, there are also specialized in setting up wine banquets to invite friends and relatives to drink. General food and wine are more sumptuous. If friends and relatives with children under 16 years old (virtual age) to, then, to give these children the New Year's money, known as "pressure belly pocket". When friends and relatives leave, there should be a return gift, usually sweets, pastries, water chestnuts and so on. The old custom, if you do not go to the New Year's Eve, is a sign of broken relatives, so some of the old relatives (relatives of the previous generation) the next generation to take turns to go to the New Year's Eve, four seasons and eight sections of the old relatives did not have to deal with, but the Spring Festival must go to the New Year's Eve.

Hall layout: New Year's Day, the rich family in the hall, hanging high red gold life screen (family longevity of the elderly only) or large paintings and calligraphy, screen in front of a long table, the left end of the Nianqing, adorned with safflower, the right end of a finely carved screen, the center or pendulum clocks, or pendulum large treasure. Around a pair of large tin table (some weighing more than a hundred pounds, high and people), inserted with large candles. Long table arranged in front of two square tables, both sides in addition to the same display of large tin table, large candles, there is a pair of bright corner lamps (commonly known as "Hall Light"), the middle of the two tables and a large yuanbao (made of a bucket of glutinous rice and brown sugar), inserted silver flowers, wrapped with colorful red, on the top of a few horizontal citrus, symbolizing the source of wealth into the door. In addition, the display of a number of Jiangxi kiln pots, planting a variety of flowers, such as plum blossoms, lilacs, daffodils, Buddha nails, and so on, in the pots affixed to the red paper with the word "auspicious", in front of the long table and the square table, hung with embroidered red satin table surroundings, the left and right corners of the configuration of the finely carved gold-lacquer railing, the two sides of the narthex is full of paintings and drawings. On both sides of the arrangement of large chairs and coffee table, draped in large red satin embroidered chair cape, placed on a few dishes of refreshments. Such as guests, divided into guests and hosts seated, in addition to refreshments, there are lacquer-painted wooden tray tray jiangxi tea into the tea or lotus seeds, cinnamon and other snacks, there are also dumplings, red dates. This day, even the room of the bed curtains, bed amount, bedding and so on, are washed and replaced, even the dressing table and mirror, are draped in satin embroidered mirror cover, all the beams, eaves on the edge of the steps above, are hung up beautiful lanterns, only the front beam hanging two pairs of red gauze lamps, to show the grandeur.

New Year's Pen: readers with large red paper, writing auspicious words, or "four seasons of the year, read the great fortune," such as this, this is called "New Year's Pen", there are also written longer, such as "New Year's Pen, great fortune. All seasons of the year, all the best. Business is booming, the source of wealth. The six animals are thriving, and the five grains are plentiful. The family Qingji, the population is healthy. The wind and rain are favorable, and the country is at peace." After they are written, they are pasted on the wall. The people who know how to write poems, then touch the scene, do a few new self-exciting poems.

Set Yuanbao: each family with brown sugar and glutinous rice, indica rice made of large and small Yuanbao, take the meaning of fortune, where the home for storage objects, such as barns, rice tanks, bookcases, boxes and cages, closets, drawers, altar jars, etc., are put on a small Yuanbao.

Wearing new clothes: the first day, people have to wear new clothes, also contains the old and welcome the new meaning. In the old days, the rich gentry, rich family tweed and silk wear a new; poor families wear even if it is coarse old clothes, but also neat and clean, different from the weekdays, in order to be the lucky day of the New Year. Children wear big red clothes, young women of course, full of red, even the old woman also tied a big red skirt, because the folk to red symbolizes good luck. Children are usually forbidden to wear brightly colored clothes, today is the exception, there are in the red coat over the net, wearing a tiger's claw, some people are still in the children's belts, hanging on the small knife and sword, shells, wood or copper engraving of the gossip, is to "ward off evil" means. Now people are wearing has been a big change, color, style, texture more bright and colorful, and to a high level of development. But the point of wearing new clothes to welcome the New Year remains the same.

Travel: the first day of the first month to go out, to choose the direction. First burn incense in front of the God of the stove, and then take an empty pot, put a spoon in the middle, spinning hard, according to the last stop of the handle pointed in the direction of the head, by a person with a shear to go, and then heard and remembered to meet the first person to cut the words (virtual action), meaning that half of it, return to divination, which is called the "incense divination", commonly known as the "divination shear listening.

Hi mouth color: every New Year, Wenzhou area folk like to discuss the mouth color, only allowed to speak auspicious words, avoid speaking inauspicious words." Relatives entertaining, auspicious words Sheng Xin, that is, the year gifts must be added to the Taiping money, Mannianqing cypress and other things, or else refers to a good luck." (Qing Sun Tongyuan, "Yongjia Wenshi Records")