On the eve of New Year's Eve, the traditional way of saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming the new year, how to place offerings on the Eight Immortals' Table, layout and details

Invite the God of Wealth, set up offerings the first half of the night respectfully

Thirty children evening to the early morning of the first day of the year, the gods down to the world to examine the good and evil on earth. Therefore, a "heaven and earth table" must be set up in the courtyard, with five offerings, incense and candles burning, in order to seek the blessings of the gods of the past in the new year.

In the evening, as soon as it gets dark, children from poor families go from house to house to deliver the "God of Wealth" (paper statues). This paper statue is the most crude, is a woodcut, watercolor printing, printed on the upper side of the word "Zengfu God of Fortune", printed in the middle of a God of Fortune wearing a hat. Generally, people are to take a good luck, at a price higher than the cost of several times the price to receive into the God of Fortune statue.

The main hall is set up with a table of eight Immortals, hung with red embroidered table surroundings, placed on the incense burner, wax skewer, inserted red wax. Wax cuttings were also pressed under the yellow money, Yuanbao, thousand chapters, called "honoring the god of money and grain". The gods offered by the family varies, roughly speaking, there are no more than: First, "a hundred copies", that is, heaven and earth and all the gods of the album of woodblock prints, the first one is a yellow paper color "Jade Emperor", half-loaded, half-exposed inserted in a red lantern paper pocket, and then clamped on a wooden folder. Second, a large yellow burlap woodcut watercolor printing "heaven and earth, three worlds, eighteen Buddhas and gods" of the whole God code. Pictures or porcelain images of the three stars of fortune, wealth and longevity. Fourth, to receive in the God of Fortune code. This is an altar prepared for receiving the gods at night. Set up in the courtyard of pig iron casting of a large "money basin," a relaxation of wood branches, sesame straw, each side of a hanging to several hanging firecrackers.

If the family has a Buddha Hall, God plug, all to offerings, offerings are usually:

One, into a set of cakes. That is, five moon cakes of varying sizes stacked up, the upper side of the face with a red birthday word peach, this is a bowl, **** five bowls. Each bowl insert a flower offering.

Two, into the hall honey for. With a small strip of noodles over oil, rolled on the honey, stacked into a small tower, several feet high, small only a few inches, in addition to the king of the three bowls, the rest are five bowls of a hall.

Three, into the hall face fresh. That is, made of flour, a variety of fruit-shaped snacks, also five bowls, each bowl is also inserted a flower.

Four, into the Hall fresh fruit. Such as mandarin oranges, apples and so on (but pear does not make offerings), also five bowls, each bowl is also inserted a flower.

Fifth, other dried fruit or fried dishes (mostly vegetarian food). The number of offerings is not confined, there is a hall, three halls, five halls and even nine halls.

In addition, to make a bowl of New Year's Eve, with Gui Yuan, lychee, raw chestnuts, jujubes and other New Year's Eve fruit, in the middle of a large persimmon cake inserted with a branch of pine wood beans (dyed red) of the pine branches, with a red rope tied to the five small copper coins, hanging on the upper side, known as the "tree of money". Then use yellow and white rice cakes, a piece of jujube, a piece of jujube face up, a piece of jujube face down, placed in a bowl, inserted a Liu Hai sprinkled with money on the Yuan Bao. These two bowls of offerings are placed symmetrically on both sides of the offering table, with five offerings of sacrificial vessels in front of them, and a large red wax is lit to render the atmosphere of the New Year's Eve.

The dinner on New Year's Eve is called the "reunion dinner". The family should have all its members together, and the food should be rich, so as to give people a sense of fulfillment and to herald a happy life in the coming year. Because this meal is the first taste of the New Year's food, it can be meat and vegetables together.

The year-end to receive God, bowing to pay homage to the New Year, the second half of the night "serious and lively"

After the meal to receive God can not go to bed before the time for free entertainment, known as the "year-end", there is the meaning of the cherished years. The young ones are keeping the year-end for their parents who are old enough to have a good time. When the time comes, it is time to receive the gods. Beforehand, mushrooms, fungus, yellow flowers, fried goods, carrots, cabbage, etc. are chopped up, mixed with vegetarian stuffing, and wrapped into dumplings. Only three bowls of five dumplings each are served on the table. Immediately after the dumplings are served, incense and candles are lit to announce the start of the ceremony.

The ceremony is presided over by the eldest. First of all, they check the gazetteer for the directions of the gods of joy, wealth, and good fortune, as well as the gods of yang and yin, and then the officiating priest formally carries the incense to the courtyard and kowtows to each of the directions to show that he has received the invitation. After the ceremony, the incense is carried back to the hall, inserted into the incense burner, and kowtowed again. The whole family kowtows in order of seniority and stands in silence for ten minutes. Candles want to end, so the officiating person to lead the whole family again in turn three kowtow, after the ceremony, that is, please incense root, the statue of the gods and the yellow money, Yuanbao, thousands of chapters and please down to the courtyard has long been prepared in the money and food pots with pine branches, sesame stalks together with the incineration, and at the same time, lighting firecrackers. After the ceremony, the whole family at the incineration site to say "New Year".

Then, the elders sit in the hall, accept the younger generation of the New Year's greetings, are three kowtow ritual. After the ceremony, the elders give the younger generation some "New Year's money" as usual. After the New Year ceremony, the whole family gathers together to eat vegetarian dumplings, also known as "Wujing Dumplings". A small copper coin is placed in the dumpling, and it is said that the person who eats the coin will have good luck in the new year. At this point, the New Year's Eve celebration is over.