Customs of the Spring Festival and the meaning behind it in written form

Customs of the Spring Festival and the meaning behind it in written form:

Sweeping dust

"On the 24th day of the Lunar New Year, dusting and sweeping the house," according to "Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals," our country in the Yao and Shun era there is a Spring Festival sweeping dust custom. According to folklore: because the "dust" and "Chen" consonant, dust sweeping in the New Year has "in addition to the meaning of Chen Bu Xin", the intention is to all the poor luck, bad luck, swept out the door. 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.

Posting 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 flourish in the Ming Dynasty, to the Qing Dynasty, the Spring Festival couplets of ideology and artistry have greatly improved, Liang Zhangrui prepared 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 the discourse.

The types of spring couplets are more, according to its use of the place, can be divided into the door heart, frame pair, horizontal cape, spring strips, doufang and so on. "Door" in the upper center of the door panel; "frame" on the left and right door frame; "Phi" on the horizontal wood of the door winks; "Chunzhi "According to different contents, posted in the corresponding place;" bucket catty "also known as" door leaf "for the square diamond-shaped, mostly posted in the furniture, shadow wall.

Pasted window and upside down "Fu" character

In folklore, people also like to put all kinds of paper cuttings 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 decoration with its unique generalization and exaggeration of the auspicious events, good wishes expressed in the best way, will be decorated with festivals red hot and rich.

At the same time in the paste of the Spring Festival couplets, some people have to be in the house door, wall, lintel pasted on the large and small "Fu" character. The Spring Festival sticker "Fu" word, is China's folk custom from a long time ago. 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 the star, longevity, carp jump Dragon Gate, the five valleys, the dragon and phoenix, and so on.

New Year's Paintings

Spring Festival hanging stickers 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 limited to monotonous themes such as the God of the Door, become colorful, in some of the New Year's paintings workshop produced the "Three Stars of Fortune, Lust 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; forming three major schools of Chinese New Year paintings, each with its own characteristics.

China's collection of the earliest Chinese New Year paintings is the Southern Song Dynasty "with the fair presenting the face of the country" woodcut New Year paintings, the painting is Wang Zhaojun, Zhao Feiyan, Ban Ji 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. After 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 the New Year's Eve, every family posted red spring couplets, firecrackers, to drive away the beasts of the night. In order to seek peace in the new year. This custom has been passed down since then, and the night of New Year's Eve is called New Year's Eve.

Watch the New Year's Eve

The New Year's Eve watch 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 Chu's "Land and Customs": New Year's Eve night, each with the gift, known as "feed the year"; wine and food invited, known as "another year"; young and old get together to drink, wishing to complete, known as the "share the year! "

The first time I saw the movie was when I was a kid, and it was the first time I saw the movie.

"One night even double the year, five more divided into two days", New Year's Eve night, the whole family gathered together, ate the New Year's Eve dinner, light up candles or oil lamps, sitting around the stove chatting, waiting for the old to welcome the new moment, all-night vigil, symbolizing all the evil plagues and epidemics according to the run to 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.

In ancient times, 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 parents. Since the Han Dynasty, the time of the transition between the old and the new year is usually the middle of the night.

Firecrackers

Chinese folk "open door firecrackers". That is, at the dawn of the 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 needed for curing preserved meat, it must be prepared as early as possible. Many provinces in China have the custom of curing preserved meat, among which the preserved meat of Guangdong Province is the most famous.

Steamed rice cakes, rice cakes because of the harmonic "year high", coupled with a variety of flavors, almost become a must-have seasonal food. There are square yellow and white rice cakes, symbolizing gold and silver, which means a prosperous new year.

The flavor of rice cake varies from place to place. Beijing people like to eat red dates made of rice or yellow rice rice cakes, fruit rice cakes and white rice cakes. Hebei people like to add jujube, small red beans and mung beans in the rice cake steamed together. Northwestern Shanxi, northern Shaanxi, 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, etc. They are very well made and can be steamed directly or deep-fried with egg whites.

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 and make dumplings for New Year's Eve. The dumpling method is to make dumpling skins out of flour first, and then use the skins to wrap up the fillings, and the fillings are all kinds of different things, such as various kinds of meats, eggs, seafood, and seasonal vegetables, etc., all of which can be put into the fillings, and the orthodox method of eating dumplings is to boil them with clear water, and then fish them out to be accompanied by soy sauce with vinegar, garlic, and sesame oil. 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 with firecrackers

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

Welcome to the New Year

An important activity in the Spring Festival, is to new friends and neighbors to congratulate the New Year, the old name of the New Year. Han Chinese New Year's style, the Han Dynasty has. After the Tang and Song dynasties are very prevalent, some do not have to go in person, can be used in the name of the posters to throw 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 laborious door-to-door New Year's greetings, some of the later upper-class people and the scholarly elite will use the stickers to throw congratulations to each other, which developed the later "New Year's card".

When the Spring Festival to pay homage to the New Year, the younger generation should first pay homage to the elders, wishing the elders a long life and well-being, the elders can be prepared beforehand the New Year's Eve money to the elders, it is said that the New Year's Eve money can be pressed to stop the evil spirits, because the "age of" and the "Sneaky" harmonic, the elders to get New Year's Eve 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 the 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 statue, 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 master of the Department of the same generation is only required to arch a bow, such as older than themselves, should still take the initiative to kneel, the master should walk down the seat to do to support the shape of the even said that 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, thank you for the 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, said thank you pillow.

Fourth, the string of visits. For the left and right neighbors of the neighborhood, not much interaction in the past, but meet 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 Hundred Shun," in the house to sit for a while only, not very much etiquette.

In ancient times, there are New Year's Eve and New Year's Day: New Year's Eve is to 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 Eve 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 word "New Year's Eve" was to greet the elders for the New Year, including kowtowing to the elders, congratulating them on the New Year, and greeting them for a good life. The first thing you need to do is to ask your friends and family to come to your house and to pay their respects.

In ancient times, if or neighborhood friends and relatives are too many, it is difficult to visit all over the door, so that 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, to bear 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 the month when the pieces fly and the empty cars go away." 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 master, 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, this is the legacy of the ancient mutual fly post.

The custom of the upper echelon of the scholars to throw congratulations to each other with a famous post. 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 to". 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 present 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 still prevails.

From about the time of the Qing Dynasty, New Year's greetings and add the form of "reunion", the Qing Yi Lan master in the "Side Hat Yu Tan", said: "the capital in the first of the year, routine reunion, in order to unite the friendship of the year, in order to Township," "Every year, by the New Year's book red booking guest, the year of the 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 constantly adding new content and form. Now people in addition to the inheritance of the past New Year's Eve, and the rise of ceremonial 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 New Year's visits, and 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. In the evening to pay homage to the New Year is called "night festival", after the first ten is called "Festival of Lights", so there is a "intention to pay homage to the New Year, the cold food is not late" joke.

If for some reason you do not have the customary salute, make up for it later, it is called "Worship the New Year".

To account for the year

In the old days, the folk to enter the new first few days of the weather to account for the success of the current year. It began with the Han Dongfang Shuo's "years accounted for", said the year after eight days, 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 of the Weiman, the eighth day for the valley. If the day is sunny, then the host of things prosperous, when the day is cloudy, the host of the day is not prosperous. Later generations followed their habits, that the first day to the tenth, all clear weather, 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 chickens

In ancient times, the Spring Festival painted chickens on the windows and doors to drive away the ghosts and monsters. In "Xuanzhongji", a book written by the Jin Dynasty, it is told about this heavenly chicken on Doushuo Mountain, which was mentioned earlier, saying 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 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 affixed to the windows and doors, that is, become the source of the art of paper-cutting in 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; feet after the distance can fight, is Wude; enemy in front of the dare to fight, is courageous; 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

It is said that the first day of the first month of the broom birthday, this day can not move the broom, otherwise it will sweep away the luck, broke the fortune, and the "broom star" to attract, 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, in order to Sheng wastewater, the day is not outside the splash.

Sacrifice the God of Wealth

Southern people on the fifth day of the first month of the God of Wealth. Folk legend has it that the God of Wealth is the God of the Five Roads. The so-called five roads, referring to the east-west, south-north, meaning that out of the five roads, all can get money.

Qing Dynasty Gu Lu "Qing Jia Records" cloud: "the fifth day of the first month, for the birth of the head of the road god. 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 the 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 to receive, called "grab the head of the road", also known as "receive the God of Fortune".

The five sacrifices are 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, the five sacrifices in the God. Where the God of Fortune shall be for the sheep's head and carp, for the sheep's head with "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.

Therefore, 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. After receiving 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 fifth day 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 to the door outside the firecracker bombing. 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.

Opening

The old custom of the Spring Festival during the size of the store from the first day of the year closed, and in the first five days of the market. Commonly known as the fifth day of the first month for the sacred day of wealth, that the choice of this day to open the market will attract wealth and treasure.