Chinese New Year Folk Customs

After the Zaosi festival, the formal preparations for the New Year began. Every year from the 23rd day of the lunar month to New Year's Eve, China's folk called this period of time, "Spring Festival", also known as "dust sweeping day". Sweeping is the end of the year cleaning, the north called "sweeping room", the south called "dusting". Sweeping dust before the Spring Festival is a traditional habit of our people. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, every household has to clean up the environment, cleaning all kinds of appliances, unwashing bedding curtains, sweeping the courtyard, dusting dust cobwebs, dredge the nullahs and ditches. The company's main goal is to provide the best possible service to its customers, and the company's goal is to provide the best possible service to its customers, and to provide the best possible service to its customers, and to provide the best possible service to its customers.

Interestingly, the origin of the ancient dust, but there is a rather bizarre story. Legend has it that the ancients believed that people are attached to a three corpses god, he is like a shadow, follow the person's whereabouts, inseparable. The God of Three Corpses is a guy who likes flattery and loves to make a fuss. He often spread rumors in front of the Jade Emperor, describing the earth as ugly and unappealing. Over time, in the Jade Emperor's impression, the earth was simply a dirty world full of sin. Once. The Three Corpses God secretly reported that the earth was cursing the Heavenly Emperor and wanted to plot against the Heavenly Court. The Jade Emperor was furious and sent down a decree to quickly find out what was going on on earth. Anyone who complained about the gods and blasphemed against them would have their crimes written under the eaves of their houses. The Jade Emperor also ordered Wang Ling Ling to cover them up with a web to mark them. The Jade Emperor also ordered Wang Linguan to go down to the world on New Year's Eve, and wherever he met a family with a mark, he would kill all the family members and leave no one behind. Three corpses of God see this plan is about to succeed, take advantage of the opportunity to fly down to the mortal world, regardless of the green and black and white, viciously in the eaves and corners of each house to do the mark, so that the king of the Ling Palace to come to a cut down to the last one. Just when the three corpses of God in the evil, Zaojun found his whereabouts, alarmed, hastened to find each family Zaowang master to discuss countermeasures. So, came up with a good way, on the twenty-third day of the waxing moon to send the stove from the date, to the New Year's Eve to receive the stove before, each family must clean the house clean, which household is not clean, the Zaosheng master refused to enter the house. We follow the instructions before the ascension of the King Zaowang, sweeping dust, dusting off cobwebs, wiping clean doors and windows, to clean their own homes to a new look. When Wang Lingguan was ordered to go down to the world to check on New Year's Eve, he found that the windows of every house were clear, the lights were brilliant, and the people were reunited with each other, which made the earth a beautiful place to live in. Wang Lingguan couldn't find any marks indicating the bad deeds, so he was very surprised and rushed back to heaven to report the peaceful and happy situation on earth and pray for a happy new year to the Jade Emperor. After hearing this, the Jade Emperor was greatly shocked, and sent down an order to detain the three corpses of the God, ordered to slap his mouth 300 times, and detained him in the heavenly prison forever. This time, the earthly calamity was spared thanks to the rescue of the God of Zao. In order to thank the king of the stove for people in addition to the disaster, blessing Zhangxiang, so the folk sweeping always in the send stove after the start, until the busy New Year's Eve.

"Lunar New Year's Eve 24, dust sweeping the house" custom, has a long history. According to "Lv's Spring and Autumn Annals" records, our country in the era of Yao and Shun on the 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 all "poor luck", "bad luck" are swept out the door. This custom is the wish of the people to break up the old and make a new one, and the prayers of the old and welcome the new.

2, Spring Festival couplets

Spring Festival couplets as a unique form of literature, has a long history in China. It began in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and has been developed for more than a thousand years today.

As early as before the Qin and Han Dynasties, China's folk every New Year's Eve, there is the custom of hanging peach symbols on the left and right sides of the door. Peach talisman is made of peach wood, two large boards, respectively, written on the top of the legendary ghost-subduing gods "Shentian (tu)" and "Yu Shi" name, to drive away the ghosts and suppress the evil spirits. This custom continued for more than a thousand years. It was only in the Fifth Dynasty that people began to inscribe couplets on mahogany boards in place of the names of the gods and goddesses. According to historical records, after the Lord of Shu Meng Chang (chang) in 964 AD New Year's Eve on the bedroom door couplet "New Year's Day, Jiajie number of spring" is China's earliest pair of spring couplets.

After the Song Dynasty, it has been quite common for folk to hang spring couplets on New Year's Day, so Wang Anshi's poem "New Year's Day", which reads, "Thousands of doors and ten thousand pupils of the pupils of the day, and always change the new peaches for the old ones," is a true reflection of the spring couplet scene at that time. Because the appearance of spring couplets and peach symbols have a close relationship, so the ancients also called spring couplets "peach symbols".

In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, strongly advocated couplets. After he settled in Jinling (now Nanjing), he ordered the ministers, officials and ordinary people before New Year's Eve must write a pair of couplets pasted on the door, and he personally wore civilian clothes on patrol, door to door viewing for fun. At that time, the literati also took the question of couplets as an elegant fun, write the spring couplets will become a social trend.

After the Qing Dynasty, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang Dynasty, the couplets are as prosperous as the poetry of the Tang Dynasty, and there are many popular couplets.

With the development of cultural exchanges between countries, couplets were introduced to Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Singapore and other countries. These countries still retain the custom of posting couplets.

3, New Year's paintings

On New Year's Eve, people in addition to posting Spring Festival couplets, cut window clings, but also favorite in the living room, bedroom hanging stickers New Year's paintings. A new year paintings to the family added to the joy of the festive atmosphere.

New Year's paintings are an ancient folk art in China, which reflects the customs and beliefs of the people and holds the hope of people for the future. New Year paintings, like spring scrolls, originated from the "door god". The Spring Festival couplets were developed from the names of Shentian and Yubi to words, while the New Year paintings are still developed along the direction of painting.

With the rise of woodblock printing, the content of the New Year's paintings has not only limited to the God of the Door and so on, and gradually invited the God of Wealth to the home, and then 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," "Welcome to the Spring to receive the blessings of" and other colorful New Year's paintings, in order to satisfy the people's desire to pray for a happy New Year.

Because of the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang advocated the Spring Festival sticker Spring Festival, New Year's paintings are also affected by its influence and then prevailed, the country appeared in the New Year's paintings of three important places of origin: Peach Blossom Dock, Suzhou, Tianjin, Yangliuqing, and Weifang, Shandong; the formation of China's New Year's paintings of the three major genres.

China's earliest collection of New Year's paintings is the Southern Song Dynasty "with the fair presenting the face of the country" woodcut New Year's paintings, the painting is Wang Zhaojun, Zhao Feiyan, Ban Ji and green beads of four ancient beauties. However, the most widely circulated folk painting in China is the one of "The Mouse Marrying Her Marriage". This painting depicts an interesting scene of a mouse marrying a bride in accordance with the customs of the earth. The composition of the painting is vivid and lively. This painting left an indelible impression on Mr. Lu Xun. As he said, this educational and entertaining "The Mouse Marries the Bride" not only arouses the interest of adults, but also has a stronger artistic impact on children.

Folklore has it that on New Year's Eve, the night of the rat's marriage is an auspicious time for people to put some food under the bed, between the stoves, as a gift to the rat bridegroom, in order to pray for a bumper crop in the coming year. Some grandmothers before going to bed often teased the child said: "quickly hide the shoes, do not let the rats steal when the sedan chair." This is the origin of this saying. Therefore, the yearbook "mice marrying" can especially cause children's **** Ming.

4, New Year's Eve dinner

New Year's Eve is an extremely important day for the Chinese. On this day people prepare to get rid of the old and welcome the new by having a reunion dinner. In ancient China, some prison officials even let prisoners go home to spend the New Year's Eve with their families, which shows how important the "New Year's Eve dinner" was to the ancient Chinese.

The annual New Year's Eve dinner fully demonstrates the mutual respect and love of the Chinese family members, which makes the relationship between the family closer. Family reunion often makes the head of the family in the spirit of comfort and fulfillment, the elderly see children and grandchildren, family size *** to talk about the family, the past care and raising children to pay the effort is not in vain, this is how happy. And the younger generation, but also can take this opportunity to express gratitude to the parents of the grace of parenting.

The children are playing with firecrackers, but also the housewives in the kitchen the busiest time, New Year's dishes are done a few days before, and the New Year's Eve dinner is always in the New Year's Eve on the day of the kitchen to do out. In the north, the dumplings on the first day of the New Year are also wrapped up on the evening of the thirtieth. At this time the cutting boards of the families are thumping and busy chopping meat and vegetables. At this time, every household out of the cutting board sound, the streets and alleys out of the sound of firecrackers, small stores and stores out of the "chopping and popping" sound of the abacus and the rhythmic sound of the report, mixed with the sound of laughter everywhere, one after another, the ocean full of ears, interwoven into the New Year's Eve joyful music.

Speaking of the knife and anvil sound of New Year's Eve, Deng Yunxiang wrote the "Yanjing Native Records" but recorded a very bleak story of New Year's Eve: the poor people in the old society have a hard time living, thirty nights is a pass. There was a family whose husband had not yet returned with money by the late evening of the 30th, "the family had run out of bottles and corn, and there were no New Year's goods. Woman at home to put the children to bed, at a loss, heard the neighbor's anvil sound, pain to the extreme, do not know whether the husband can take some money or something back, do not know how to live tomorrow this year, but also afraid of their own home no anvil sound to make people laugh, then take a knife to chop empty anvil, while thumping the chopping, while the tears weeping down ......, this story makes people listen to it. This story makes people listen to it.

Eat New Year's Eve dinner, is the Spring Festival families the most lively and enjoyable time. New Year's Eve. Abundant New Year's Eve dishes on the table, the whole family reunion, sitting around the table, *** eat a reunion dinner, the heart of the fullness is really difficult to describe. People are enjoying the table full of delicacies, but also to enjoy the happy atmosphere, the table has a big dish, cold pots, hot fried, snacks, generally less than two things, one is the hot pot, the other is the fish. One is fish. Hot pot boiling, steaming, warm and inviting, indicating that the red hot; "fish" and "Yu" resonance, is a symbol of "auspicious celebrations", but also a metaphor for "year after year". There are also turnips, commonly known as "choy tau", wishing good luck; lobster, popping fish and other fried food, wishing prosperity for the family, such as "blazing fire cooking oil". Finally, more for a sweet food, wishing sweet days ahead, this day, even if you do not drink alcohol, but also more or less drink a little. In ancient times, New Year's Eve drinking, pay close attention to the quality of wine, some wine is no longer available, leaving only many moving wine names, such as "grape spirits", "orchid cocktails", "Yichun wine", "plum blossom wine", "peach blossom wine", "Tusu wine", etc. Among these wines, the most popular is the "Tusu wine". Among these wines, the one that has been passed down for the longest time and is the most popular is Tusu Wine. But how did Tusu Wine get its name? And what was it made of? Never legend varies.

Tu Su is the name of a kind of grass, and some people say that Tu Su is an ancient kind of house tail because the wine brewed in this kind of house, so it is called Tu Su wine. It is said that Tu Su wine was created by Hua Tuo, a famous doctor at the end of the Han Dynasty, and its formula is rhubarb, atractylodes, cinnamon sticks, windproof, peppercorns, aconite, epiphyllum, and other traditional Chinese medicines into the wine soaked and made. This kind of medicine has the efficacy of benefiting qi and warming yang, dispelling wind and dispersing cold, and avoiding the evil of epidemic. Later by the Tang Dynasty famous doctor Sun Simiao spread. Sun Simiao every year in the waxing moon, always give a packet of medicine to the neighbors, telling everyone to medicine brew wine, New Year's Eve into drink, can prevent the plague. Sun Simiao also named his house "Tu Su House". Afterwards, through generations, drinking tusu wine became a New Year's custom. In ancient times, the method of drinking Tusu Wine was very unique. Generally speaking, people always start drinking from the oldest person, but drinking Tusu Wine is just the opposite, starting from the youngest person. That is to say, when a family gathers to drink Tusu Wine, they start from the youngest children first, and the older ones come after them, drinking a little bit of wine one by one. The Song Dynasty writer Su Zhe's poem "New Year's Day" says: "Drinking Tusu at the end of the year, I don't realize that I am more than seventy years old." It is this custom that is spoken of. Some people did not understand the significance of this custom, and Dong Xun explained, "The young get the year, so they are congratulated; the old lose the year, so they are punished." This custom was still prevalent in the Song Dynasty. For example, Su Shi said in his poem "Outside Changzhou City on New Year's Eve", "But I will put my poverty and sorrows on a long and healthy life, and I will not quit drinking tusu at the end of the day." Su Shi in his later years, although poor and downtrodden, but the spirit is very optimistic, he believes that as long as the body is healthy, although old age does not care, the last penalty to drink Tusu wine naturally do not have to excuse. This unique order of drinking, in ancient times, every time people have all kinds of feelings, so people have a deep impression. Until the Qing Dynasty, this custom is still unfailing. Today, although people are no longer large-scale prevalence of this custom, but in the festival or the usual custom of drinking these medicinal wines still exists.

The New Year's Eve dinner has a lot of names, north and south of different places, there are dumplings, wontons, long noodles, snacks, and so on, and each has its own instructions. Northern people are accustomed to eating dumplings on New Year's Eve, is to take the old and the new, "change of year," the meaning of the child. And because the white dumplings are shaped like silver dollars, a pot of dumplings on the table to symbolize the "New Year's fortune, Yuanbao rolled in" meaning. When some dumplings are wrapped, several coins sterilized in boiling water are wrapped into them, saying that whoever eats them first will earn more money. The custom of eating dumplings was passed down from the Han Dynasty. According to legend, Zhang Zhongjing, the sage of medicine, saw that the ears of the poor were frostbitten in the winter months, so he made a kind of "Cold-removing Ear Soup" for the poor to cure frostbite. He used mutton, chili peppers and some cold and warm herbs, wrapped in dough into an ear like "Jiao Er", boiled in a pot, distributed to the poor to eat, people ate, feel warm, two ear heat. Afterwards, people followed suit and the tradition has been passed down to this day. Eating wontons in the New Year is to take the meaning of the beginning. Legend has it that the world was chaotic before the creation of the world, Pangu opened up the sky and the earth, so that there is a universe of four sides, long noodles, also known as longevity noodles. Eating noodles in the New Year is a wish for a long life of 100 years.

5, keep the year

China's folk in the New Year's Eve has the habit of year-end vigil. The New Year's Eve vigil starts with the New Year's Eve dinner, which should be eaten slowly, from the time of the lantern to the table, and some people have to eat late into the night. According to the record of "Jing Chu Yearly Records", there was a custom of having New Year's Eve dinner at least in the North and South Dynasties.

The custom of New Year's Eve celebration is both a farewell to the passing years and an expression of hope for the coming New Year. Ancient people wrote in a poem, "The year-end vigil": "We invite each other to watch the year-end A Rong home, wax torch red to the blue yarn; thirty-six years have wasted, preferring to cherish the years from this night." Cherishing years is a common human feeling, so Su Shi, a great poet, wrote the famous lines of the New Year's Eve: "Will there be no year next year, and I am afraid of wasting my time; I will make every effort to do my best this evening, and the youths can still be boasted!" This shows the positive significance of New Year's Eve.

The New Year's Eve vigil, commonly known as the "New Year's Eve". Why do you call it "boiling the year"? There is an interesting story that has been passed down from generation to generation in the folklore: according to legend, in the ancient flood era, there was a vicious monster, people called him "year". Every New Year's Eve, the beast will crawl out of the sea to hurt people and animals, destroy the fields, disaster in the people who have worked hard for a year. People in order to avoid the beast of the year, the night of Lunar New Year's Eve, the sky is not dark on the early close the door, do not dare to sleep, sit and wait for dawn, in order to kill time, but also for the courage, they drink. Waiting for the first morning of the year the beast no longer come out, only dare to go out. People meet each other, congratulations, congratulations, congratulations, thankful not to be eaten by the beast of the year, so after many years, nothing happened, people on the beast of the year to relax the vigilance. On the night of the 30th of one year, the beast suddenly scurried to a village in Jiangnan, a village of people almost eaten up by the beast, only one family hanging red curtains, wearing red clothes of the newlyweds are safe and sound. There are a few children, in the yard lit a pile of bamboo at play, the fire red, bamboo burning "pop" burst, the beast turned here, saw the fire scared to turn their heads and fled. Since then, people know that the beast is afraid of red, afraid of light, afraid of the sound, every year-end, every family will stick red paper, wear red robes, hanging red lanterns, banging gongs and drums, firecrackers, so that the beast will not dare to come back. In the poem "Shijing-Xiaoya. Tingliao", there is a record of "Tingliao Zhiguang" (Light of Tingliao). The so-called "Tingliao" is made of bamboo poles and other torches, bamboo poles burn, the air in the bamboo expansion, bamboo cavity burst, emitting crackling sound, which is also the "firecrackers" origin. However, in some places, the villagers do not know the New Year beast afraid of red, often eaten by the New Year beast. This matter later spread to the sky of the purple star, he in order to save the people, determined to eliminate the beast of the year. One year, he waited for the beast to come out, he used a fireball to knock it down, and then used a thick iron chain to lock it on a stone pillar. From then on, every New Year, people always burn incense and ask Zi Wei Xing to come down to the world to keep the peace.

In this "one night even two years, five nights divided into two years" night, family reunion, get together. The whole family sits together, refreshments and fruits on a table. On New Year's Day, a big plate of apples is indispensable, which is called "peace and security". In the north, some people also want to provide a pot of rice, burned before, to provide for the New Year, called the "New Year's Eve rice", is leftover rice year after year, year-round food, this year also ate the meaning of the food of the past year. This pot of next year's rice is generally mixed with rice and millet to cook, Beijing slang called "two rice", in order to have yellow and white, which is called "gold and silver, gold and silver pot full of" "gold and silver rice". Many places in the New Year's Eve prepared cakes and fruits, are trying to get a lucky mouth: eat jujube (early spring), eat persimmon cakes (everything is as good as it can be), eat almonds (happy people), eat long-life fruit (immortality), eat rice cakes (a year higher than a year). On New Year's Eve, the family, while eating and having fun, talk and laugh. There are also popular families push pai gow, roll dice, betting on pokies, playing mahjong, the sound of noise and laughter into the climax of the New Year's Eve joy.

6, firecrackers

When the midnight cross positive son, the New Year's bell ringing, the whole of China over the land, firecrackers resonate in the sky. In this "year of the yuan, the month of the yuan, the time of the yuan" of the "three yuan" moment, some places are still in the courtyard of the base of the "fire", to show that the prosperous gas through the sky, prosperous and prosperous. In the burning fire around the fire, the children set off firecrackers, joyfully jumping around, at this time, the house is bright lights, in front of the court is brilliant sparks, outside the house is the sound of the sky, the New Year's Eve atmosphere pushed to the climax of the bustling. Poets and ink masters throughout the ages have always praised the coming of the New Year with the most beautiful poems. Wang Anshi's poem "New Year's Day" reads: "The sound of firecrackers marks the end of the year, and the spring breeze sends warmth to the people. A thousand doors and tens of thousands of households are filled with pupils on the New Year's Day. I always change the new peach for the old one.

Depicts the people of China to celebrate the Spring Festival grand festive scene, the Qing Dynasty, Pan Rong ah in the "Imperial Capital Years and Years of Jisheng" book, the New Year's Eve firecrackers at that time made the following record: "New Year's Eve of the second, the night of the intersection of the door of the treasure torches competing for the light, the jade Ko competing sound. And firecrackers such as waves of thunder, all over the countryside, non-stop all night." The Dream of the Red Chamber" is also depicted: "the yard under the screen frame, will be set up fireworks hanging ready, the fireworks are all tribute from various places, although not very large. But very delicate. All colors of the story is complete, sandwiched between the various colors of the fireworks. Between words. Outside a colorful put and put. And there are many 'stars in the sky', 'nine dragons into the clouds', 'a sound of thunder on the ground', 'flying ten ringing' and so on the sporadic small cannonballs." From this can also be seen in the old days of the New Year fireworks spectacle.

The sound of firecrackers is the sign of the old and welcome the new, the flow of the festive mood. The businessman's family. There is another meaning of firecrackers: they are in the New Year's Eve night firecrackers is for the new year Dafa Dali.

After the firecrackers back to the house after the first thing, is to worship heaven and earth, welcome the gods, ancestors. In ancient times, this ritual was very prevalent. Because of the different rituals and customs of different places, the form of ancestor worship also varies, some to the field to visit the ancestral tomb, some to the ancestral ancestral worship, and most of the ancestors at home will be placed in the main hall, display offerings, and then worshippers according to the order of the youngest and oldest on the incense and kneeling. Southerners also after ancestor worship, check the calendar contained in this year's auspicious direction, burning lanterns and torches, pots of wine, incense ringing firecrackers, open the door to travel to meet the God of joy, said "out of the sky" or "travel", Zhejiang called "out of the search", Shanghai, called "Tou Hei Shen Fang". This custom is to tend to good luck, praying to the gods to bless a year of everything goes smoothly. The New Year's Eve vigil is to stay up all night, all night long.

On the morning of the Spring Festival, open the door for good luck, the first firecrackers, called "open the door cannonball". After the sound of firecrackers, broken red all over the ground, brilliant as a cloud of brocade, known as "full of red". At this time, the street is full of gas, joyful.

During the Spring Festival, the streets and alleys of the thoroughfares, large families hanging lights and colors. The streets, alleys, townships, material society, everywhere in the arts, each presenting high technology, lively and extraordinary countryside more than invited troupe troupe play, but also to carry out listening to the Taoist love, twisting rice-planting songs, singing flower drums and all kinds of varieties of recreation and play, but also the lion dance, play dragon lanterns and other cultural and sports activities. People are happy, **** celebration of the New Year.

7, pay tribute to the year

The New Year 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 "pay respects" 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. When there are relatives and friends of the same generation, they also have to bow to congratulate.

The New Year's greetings generally begin at home. On the morning of the first day of the new year, the younger generation to get up, the first to the elders to pay tribute to the New Year, blessing the elders a long and healthy life, all the best. After the elders to be worshiped, to be prepared in advance of the "new year's money" to the younger generation. After paying New Year's greetings to the elders in the family, people should also congratulate the New Year with a big smile when they meet each other outside, saying "congratulations on wealth", "four seasons as you wish", "Happy New Year" and other auspicious words, and the left and right neighbors or friends and relatives also pay New Year's greetings to each other or invite each other to have a drink and have fun. Meng Yuanlao of the Song Dynasty described Bianjing of the Northern Song Dynasty in the sixth volume of Tokyo Dreaming Records: "On October 1, the New Year's Day, Kaifeng Province puts off pouncing for three days, and the public and the common people celebrate with each other since the early morning." Lu Rong in the middle of the Ming Dynasty in the "Beans Garden Miscellany" Volume 5, said "the capital on New Year's Day, from the court officials, down to the common people, to and from the staggering road for days, called 'New Year's Day'. However, the common people worship their friends and relatives out of the heart. Dynasty officials to and from, is more general love is not special ...... ". Qing Gu Tieqing in the "Qing Jia Record" described, "men and women in order to worship parents after the main rate of young, out of the neighboring relatives and friends, or only sent his son or daughter on behalf of the congratulations, so-called 'New Year's Eve'. To the end of the year do not meet, this time also to worship each other in the door ......."

In ancient times, if or neighborhood friends and relatives are too many, it is difficult to visit the door, so that the servants with 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 the use of the fly post. This custom began in the Song Dynasty upper class. The Qing Dynasty's "Monthly Order of Yantai" describes Beijing's New Year's Festival: "This is also the month when pieces fly and 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 Fangxiang lane; one said the rich Yu master, live in Yuanbao Street; one said that no one is very big, live in the University of the University of the Tower; one said that the Fuzhulin master, live in the Five Fortunes 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 class scholarly men to throw 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 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 to contact feelings and mutual greetings.