Chinese Spring Festival Customs
Sacrificing the Stove
The Chinese Spring Festival usually kicks off with the sacrifice of the Stove. In the folk song "Twenty-three, Tanggua Guan" refers to the sacrifice to the stove on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month every year. There is a saying of "officials, three people, four boatmen and five", which means that on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the government, Generally, people hold sacrifices to the stove on the 24th, while people on the water hold sacrifices to the stove on the 25th.
Sacrificing stoves is a custom that has great influence among Chinese people and is widely spread. In the old days, almost every kitchen had a "Kitchen Lord" statue in the kitchen. People call this god "Si Ming Bodhisattva" or "Zao Lord Siming". Legend has it that he is the "Jiutian East Chef Siming Zao Wangfu Lord" conferred by the Jade Emperor. He is responsible for managing the kitchen fires of each family and is regarded as the protector of the family. worship. Most of the Kitchen King's niches are located on the north or east side of the kitchen room, with the statue of the Kitchen King in the middle. Some people who don't have a niche for the Kitchen King stick the statue of the god directly on the wall. Some statues depict only the Kitchen God, while others include two men and women. The goddess is called "Grandma Kitchen God". This is probably an imitation of the image of a human couple. Most of the statues of the Kitchen God also have a calendar for that year printed on them, with words such as "Master of the East Chef", "God of Human Supervision", "Head of the Family" and other words written on them to indicate the status of the Kitchen God. The couplets "God says good things, and the lower realms keep you safe" are pasted on both sides to bless the whole family.
The Kitchen God has been staying at home since the last New Year's Eve to protect and supervise the family; on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God will go to heaven to report the family's good deeds to the Jade Emperor in heaven. Or evil deeds, the ceremony of sending off the Kitchen God is called "Sending the Stove" or "Citing the Stove". Based on the report of the Kitchen God, the Jade Emperor handed over the good and bad fortunes that the family should receive in the new year to the hands of the Kitchen God. Therefore, for the family, the Stove Lord's report is indeed of great interest.
Sending stoves is usually held at dusk and into night. The family goes to the kitchen first, sets the table, offers incense to the Kitchen God in the shrine on the kitchen wall, and offers sugar melons made with malt sugar and noodles. Then tie bamboo strips into paper horses and fodder for livestock. Offering caramel to the Stove Lord is to sweeten his mouth. In some places, sugar is spread around the Stove Lord's mouth, and while applying it, he says: "Say more good things, but don't say bad things." This is to stuff the Stove Lord's mouth with sugar to prevent him from saying bad things. In the Tang Dynasty work "The Chronicles of the Year under the Chariot", there is a record of "smearing wine dregs on the stove to make the commander (Kitchen Lord) drunk". After people coated Stove Lord's mouth with sugar, they took off the statue and went up to heaven with the paper and cigarettes. In some places, sesame straw and pine branches are piled in the yard at night, and then the Kitchen God statue that has been kept for a year is taken out of the shrine, along with the paper horse and straw, and set on fire. The yard was brightly illuminated by the fire. At this time, the family kowtowed around the fire and prayed while burning: This year is the 23rd again, and I send the Stove King off to the west. There are strong horses, there is fodder, and the journey is smooth and safe. The sugar melon offered is sweet. Please say good things to the Jade Emperor.
When giving gifts to the Kitchen God, in some places there are still several beggars who dress up and go from house to house singing songs and dancing to the Kitchen God, called "giving the Kitchen God a gift", in exchange for food.
The custom of giving away stoves is very common in the north and south of my country. Mr. Lu Xun once wrote the poem "The Gengzi Sends Stoves to Him": Chickens are given glue and candies, and clothes are offered for petals and incense. If there is nothing growing in the house, there are only a few yellow sheep.
He said in the article "Sends to the Kitchen God": "On the day when the Lord Kitchen God ascended to heaven, a kind of candy was sold on the street, the size of an orange. We also have this kind of thing, but Bian It's like a thick little pancake. It's called "glue teeth". It's intended to stick to Zao Lord's teeth so that he can't talk bad things to the Jade Emperor. The allusion to "Yellow Sheep" in the poem comes from "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty·Yin Shi Zhuan": "During the reign of Emperor Xuan, those in Yinzi Fang were extremely filial and benevolent. In the morning of the twelfth lunar month, when the kitchen god appeared, Zifang worshiped and received the food. Qing: The family had a yellow sheep, so they worshiped it. Since then, they have become extremely rich, and have prospered since then. Therefore, they often worship the yellow sheep on the stove during the twelfth lunar month. "Yinzi Fang saw the kitchen god. , killed the yellow sheep as a sacrifice, and later got good luck. From then on, the custom of killing yellow sheep to offer sacrifices to the stove has been passed down.
In the Tang and Song Dynasties, the offerings to the stove were quite abundant. Fan Chengda, a poet of the Song Dynasty, gave a very vivid description of folk sacrifices to the stove in his "Ci of Sacrifice to the Stove": According to ancient legend, on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Stove Lord looked up to the sky and wanted to say something. The clouds, the carriages, the wind, the horses, the little ones linger, and there are cups and plates in the house for the feast. The pig's head is overcooked, the fish is fresh, and the rice bait is round with sweetened bean paste and sweet pineapple. The man offers his daughter a drink to escape, and the king is happy to drink wine and burn money. Don't listen to your servants' fights, don't get angry when cats and dogs touch you.
I will send you drunk and full to the gate of heaven. If you have a long spoon or a short spoon, don't repeat the cloud. I will beg for profit and return points.
The sacrifice to the stove on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month is closely related to the Chinese New Year. Because, on the eve of the New Year’s Eve a week later, the Kitchen God came to the world together with other gods with the good and bad luck that the family should receive. The Kitchen God is believed to lead the way for the gods in the sky. Other gods will go to heaven again after the New Year, but only the Kitchen God will stay in people's kitchens for a long time. The ceremony to welcome the gods is called "receiving the gods", and for the Kitchen God, it is called "receiving the stove". The ceremony of taking over the stove is usually on New Year's Eve, and the ceremony is much simpler. At that time, you only need to put on a new stove lamp and burn incense in front of the stove niche.
There is a saying that "men do not worship the moon, and women do not worship the stove". In some places, women do not offer sacrifices to the stove. It is said that the Stove Lord looks like a pretty boy and is afraid of women offering sacrifices to the stove. As for the origin of Stove Lord, it has a long history. Among the Chinese folk gods, the Kitchen God is considered to be very old. As early as the Xia Dynasty, he was already a great god respected by the people. According to Kong Yingda Shu in the ancient book "Book of Rites·Etiquette": "The Zhuanxu family had a son, Rili, who was Zhurong and was worshiped as the Kitchen God." "Zhuangzi. Dasheng" records: "The stove has a bun." Sima Biao commented: "The bun, The Kitchen God is dressed in red and looks like a beautiful woman. "Baopuzi. Wei Zhi" also records: "On a dark night, the Kitchen God also goes to heaven to commit crimes." These records are probably the source of worshiping the Kitchen God. Also, it may be said that the Kitchen God is the "Suiren clan" who drills wood to make fire; or it is said to be the "Fire Officer" of the Shennong clan; or it is said to be "Sujili" who "the Yellow Emperor makes the stove"; or it is said that the Kitchen God's surname is Zhang, list, name Ziguo; opinions vary. There is a rather interesting story circulating among the people.
It is said that in ancient times there was a family named Zhang, two brothers, the elder brother was a plasterer and the younger brother was a painter. My brother's specialty is cooking pots. He invites guests from East Street and West Street, and they all praise him for his skill in setting up the stove. He became famous for a long time, and people from thousands of miles around called him "King Zhang Zao". It's strange that the Kitchen King Zhang always likes to meddle in other people's affairs no matter whose house he goes to build a stove. When he meets a noisy wife, he tries to persuade her. When he meets a fierce mother-in-law, he also tries to persuade her. He seems to be an elder. From now on, the neighbors would come to him if anything happened, and everyone respected him. King Zhang Zao lived for seventy years and died late at night on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. After the death of King Zhang Zao, the Zhang family was in chaos. It turned out that King Zhang Zao was the head of the family, and everything in the house was obeyed by his orders. Now that the eldest brother has passed away, the younger brother only knows poetry, calligraphy and painting. Although he is already sixty years old, he has never taken care of it. housework. The daughters-in-law of several houses were clamoring for separation, and the painter was helpless and looked sad all day long. One day, he finally came up with a good idea. On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the first anniversary of the death of King Zhang Zao, late at night, the painter suddenly called out to wake up the whole family, saying that the eldest brother had appeared. He led his son, daughter-in-law, and the whole family to the kitchen, where they saw the faces of Stove King Zhang and his late wife looming on the dark stove wall, and the flickering candlelight. The whole family was shocked. The painter said: "When I was sleeping, I dreamed that my eldest brother and sister-in-law had become immortals, and the Jade Emperor named him the 'Nine Heavens East Chef, Mingzao Wangfu Lord'. You guys are always good at eating and lazy in cooking, and your sisters-in-law are at odds, disrespectful and unfilial, which makes the family gods uneasy." The eldest brother is very angry when he knows that you are splitting up the family. He is planning to go to heaven and report to the Jade Emperor that he will punish you from the lower realms on New Year's Eve. "After hearing this, the children, nieces and nephews were horrified, and immediately knelt down and kowtowed, and hurriedly got Zhang. The Stove King’s favorite sweets were offered on the stove, and he begged the Stove Lord to forgive him. From then on, the often noisy uncles, brothers and wives no longer dared to act out, the whole family lived in peace, and young and old lived peacefully. After this incident was known to the neighbors, they spread the news to tens of thousands, and they all came to Zhang's house to find out the truth. In fact, the Stove King on the kitchen wall on the night of the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month was drawn in advance by the painter. He pretended that his eldest brother appeared as a ghost to scare his children, niece and daughter-in-law. Unexpectedly, this method was really effective. So when the villagers came to the painter to inquire about the situation, he had no choice but to fake it and give the painted Stove King portraits to his neighbors. As a result, it spread along the countryside, and every household's kitchen was pasted with a statue of the Kitchen King. As time went by, the custom of making offerings to the Stove Lord on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month to pray for the safety of the family was formed. After the custom of worshiping stoves spread, starting from the Zhou Dynasty, the imperial palace also included it in sacrifice ceremonies, and the rules for worshiping stoves were established across the country, and it became a fixed ritual.
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Sweep the dust
After the Stove Ceremony is held, preparations for the New Year begin formally. Every year from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to New Year's Eve, Chinese folk call this period "Spring Day", also called "Dust Sweeping Day". Sweeping dust means year-end cleaning. It is called "house sweeping" in the north and "dust dusting" in the south. Sweeping dust before the Spring Festival is a traditional habit of our people.
Every Spring Festival comes, every household has to clean the environment, wash all kinds of utensils, remove and wash bedding and curtains, sweep the Liulv courtyard, dust away dirt and cobwebs, and dredge open ditches and ditches. From north to south, everywhere is filled with the atmosphere of joyful hygiene and cleanliness to welcome the New Year.
Interestingly, there is a rather strange story about the origin of sweeping dust in ancient times. Legend has it that the ancients believed that there was a three-corpse god attached to each person's body. Like a shadow, he followed the person's whereabouts and was inseparable. The Three Corpse God is a guy who likes to flatter and gossip. He often spreads rumors and causes trouble in front of the Jade Emperor, describing the human world as ugly. Over time, in the Jade Emperor's impression, the human world was simply a dirty world full of sin. once. The three corpse gods secretly reported that the world was cursing the Emperor of Heaven and wanted to rebel against the Heavenly Court. The Jade Emperor was furious and issued an edict to quickly find out the chaos in the world. Anyone who resented the gods or despised the gods would have their crimes written under the eaves. Then let the spider build a web to cover it as a mark. The Jade Emperor also ordered Wang Lingguan to go down to the realm on New Year's Eve. Anyone who met a marked family would be killed and no one would be spared. Seeing that this plan was about to succeed, the three corpse gods took the opportunity to fly down to the mortal world. Regardless of the crime, they viciously marked the eaves and corners of each house so that Wang Ling Palace would kill them all. While the Three Corpse Gods were doing evil, the Kitchen Lord discovered his whereabouts and was shocked. He hurriedly found the Kitchen Lords of various families to discuss countermeasures. So, they came up with a good idea. From the day when the stove is delivered on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month to the New Year's Eve, every household must clean the house. If the household is not clean, the Stove Lord will refuse to enter. Home. Everyone followed the Stove Lord's instructions before he ascended to heaven, sweeping away the dust, dusting away the cobwebs, cleaning the doors and windows, and making their homes look brand new. When Wang Lingguan went down to inspect the world on New Year's Eve, he found that the windows of every house were bright and clean, the lights were bright, people were reunited and happy, and the world was extremely beautiful. Wang Lingguan couldn't find any sign of bad deeds, and felt very strange. He rushed back to heaven and reported to the Jade Emperor about the peace and happiness in the world and praying for a happy new year. The Jade Emperor was greatly shocked after hearing this, and issued an edict to imprison the three corpse gods. He ordered that they should be slapped three hundred times and imprisoned forever in the heavenly prison. This human disaster was saved thanks to the Kitchen God's rescue. In order to express gratitude to the Stove Lord for helping people eliminate disasters and blessing Zhang Xiang, the people always start sweeping the dust after delivering the stove, and they are busy until New Year's Eve.
The custom of "dusting and sweeping the house on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month" has a long history. According to "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals", my country had the custom of sweeping dust during the Spring Festival in the era of Yao and Shun. According to folklore: since "dust" and "chen" are homophones, sweeping dust in the New Year has the meaning of "removing the old and spreading the new", and its purpose is to sweep away all "poor luck" and "bad luck". This custom entrusts people with their desire to destroy the old and establish the new and their prayers to say goodbye to the old and usher in the new.
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Spring Festival Couplets
As a unique literary form, Spring Festival Couplets have a long history in our country. It began during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, was particularly prosperous during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and has been developed for more than a thousand years.
Early before the Qin and Han dynasties, Chinese folk had the custom of hanging peach charms on the left and right sides of the door during the Chinese New Year. Taofu are two large boards made of peach wood, on which the names of the legendary ghost-conquering gods "Tu" and "Yu Lei" are written respectively, which are used to drive away ghosts and suppress evil spirits. This custom has lasted for more than a thousand years. It was not until the Five Dynasties that people began to inscribe couplets on peach boards to replace the names of the ghost-conquering gods. According to historical records, the couplet "New Year Na Yuqing, Jiajie Changchun" written by Meng Chang, the lord of Later Shu, on his bedroom door on New Year's Eve in 964 AD is the earliest Spring Festival couplet in my country.
After the Song Dynasty, it has become quite common for folk to hang Spring Festival couplets during the New Year. Therefore, in Wang Anshi's poem "Yuan Ri", "Thousands of households are as bright as the sun, and new peaches are always replaced by old charms." It is the Spring Festival couplets at that time. A true portrayal of the grand occasion. Since the appearance of Spring Festival couplets is closely related to Taofu, the ancients also called Spring Festival couplets "Taofu".
In the Ming Dynasty, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang vigorously advocated couplets. After he established his capital in Jinling (now Nanjing), he ordered ministers, officials and ordinary people to write a couplet on their door before New Year's Eve. He personally wore casual clothes and went on tour, going door to door to watch and entertain himself. The literati at that time also regarded composing couplets as an elegant pleasure, and writing Spring Festival couplets became a temporary social fashion.
After entering the Qing Dynasty, during the Qianlong, Jiaqing, and Daoguang dynasties, couplets flourished just like the rhythmic poetry of the Tang Dynasty, and many famous couplets appeared.
With the development of cultural exchanges between countries, couplets were introduced to Vietnam, North Korea, Japan, Singapore and other countries. These countries still retain the custom of posting couplets.
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New Year Pictures
During the New Year, in addition to pasting Spring Festival couplets and cutting window grilles, people also like to hang New Year pictures in the living room and bedroom. The New Year paintings add a joyful festive atmosphere to every household.
New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in my country. They reflect the customs and beliefs of the people and express people's hopes for the future. New Year pictures, like Spring Festival couplets, originated from the "door god". Spring couplets developed from the names of Shen Tu and Yu Lei to text, while New Year pictures still developed along the direction of painting.
With the rise of woodblock printing, the content of New Year pictures is no longer limited to the door god, but gradually invites the God of Wealth to the home, and then in some New Year painting workshops, "The Picture of Three Stars of Fortune, Luxu and Shou" and " Colorful New Year pictures such as "Blessings from Heavenly Officials", "Abundance of Grains", "Prosperity of Animals", "Welcoming Spring and Receiving Blessings" can satisfy people's good wishes of celebrating the good year.
Because Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, advocated posting Spring Festival couplets during the Spring Festival, New Year paintings were also influenced by it and became popular. Three important production areas of New Year paintings appeared in the country: Taohuawu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong; forming the formation of our country There are three major schools of New Year pictures.
The earliest New Year pictures collected in our country are the woodcut New Year pictures of the Southern Song Dynasty, "The Slenderness of the Dynasty Presents the Beauty of the Country", which depicts four ancient beauties: Wang Zhaojun, Zhao Feiyan, Ban Ji and Luzhu. However, the most widely spread folk painting in my country is a New Year painting of "The Mouse Marriage". This painting depicts an interesting scene of a mouse marrying a bride according to human customs. The composition of his paintings is lively and lively. This painting left an indelible impression on Mr. Lu Xun. As he said, this entertaining and educational "Mouse Marriage" not only arouses the interest of adults, but also has a stronger artistic impact on children.
It is said that New Year's Eve is an auspicious day for rats to get married. People should put some food under the bed or in the stove as a gift to the rat groom to pray for a good harvest in the coming year. Some old ladies often tease their children before going to bed: "Hide your shoes quickly, don't let the mice steal them and use them as a sedan chair." This is where the saying comes from. Therefore, the New Year painting "Mouse Marriage" can particularly arouse the excitement of children.
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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, and have a reunion dinner. In ancient China, some prison officials even let prisoners go home to reunite with their families for the New Year. This shows how important the "New Year's Eve dinner" was to the ancient Chinese.
The annual reunion dinner fully demonstrates the mutual respect and love among Chinese family members. This mutual respect and love makes the relationship between the family closer. The reunion of the family often brings spiritual comfort and satisfaction to the head of the family. The old man sees his children and grandchildren in the house, and the whole family talks about their family life. The past care and efforts in raising the children are finally not in vain. What a happiness. The younger generation can also take this opportunity to express their gratitude to their parents for their upbringing.
When the children are playing and setting off firecrackers, it is also the busiest time for the housewives in the kitchen. The New Year’s dishes have been prepared a few days ago, and the New Year’s Eve dinner is always cooked on New Year’s Eve. Make it. In the north, dumplings for the New Year's Day are also made on the 30th night. At this time, every chopping board was busy chopping meat and chopping vegetables. At this time, the sound of chopping boards came from every house, the sound of firecrackers came from the streets and alleys, the sound of "crackling" abacus and the mellow sound of accounts coming from the small shops, mixed with the chatter and laughter everywhere, one after another. , filled with ears, intertwined into a cheerful New Year's Eve movement.
Speaking of the sound of knives and anvils on New Year's Eve, "Yanjing Local Records" written by Deng Yunxiang records a very desolate story on New Year's Eve: The poor in the old society lived in difficulty, and thirty nights was a barrier. There is a family where the husband has not come back with money until late at night. "The house has already run out of bottles of millet and there is nothing for the New Year. The woman has put her child to sleep at home and is helpless. She hears the chopping sound of the neighbor's chopping board and is in extreme pain. She doesn't know what to do." Can the husband come back with some money or things? I don’t know how to spend the new year tomorrow, and I am afraid that there is no chopping board in my house to make people laugh, so I take a knife and chop the chopping board empty, and while chopping, tears fall down..., this The story makes people feel sad indeed.
Eating New Year’s Eve dinner is the most lively and joyful time for every family. ***After the reunion dinner, the sense of fulfillment in my heart is really indescribable.
People not only enjoy the table full of delicacies, but also enjoy the happy atmosphere. There are big dishes, cold basins, hot stir-fries, and snacks on the table. Generally, two things are indispensable, one is hot pot. One is fish. The hot pot is boiling, steaming, warm and sultry, indicating that it is booming; "fish" and "yu" are homophonic, which symbolizes "abundance in auspicious celebrations" and also means "abundance every year". There are also radish, commonly known as cabbage, which is used to wish good luck; lobster, fried fish and other fried foods are used to wish prosperity for the family, just like "fire cooking oil". The last part is usually a sweet dish, wishing you a sweet life in the future. On this day, even if you don’t know how to drink, you can drink a little. In ancient times, when drinking during the New Year, great attention was paid to the quality of the wine. Some wines are no longer available now, leaving only many touching wine names, such as "Grape Fermented Fermented Rice", "Lanwei Wine", "Yichun Wine", "Plum Blossom Wine", " "Peach Blossom Wine", "Tusu Wine" and so on. Among these wines, Tusu wine has the longest history and is the most common. But where did Tusu wine get its name? And what is it made of? There are always different legends.
Tusu is a grass name. Some people say that Tusu is a kind of house in ancient times. Because the wine is brewed in this kind of house, it is called Tusu wine. It is said that Tusu wine was created by Hua Tuo, a famous doctor in the late Han Dynasty. Its formula is made by soaking traditional Chinese medicines such as rhubarb, atractylodes, cinnamon twigs, fang, pepper, aconite, and aconite into wine. This medicine has the effects of replenishing temperature and yang, dispelling wind and cold, and avoiding evils caused by epidemic diseases. It was later spread by Sun Simiao, a famous doctor in the Tang Dynasty. Every year in the twelfth lunar month, Sun Simiao always distributed a packet of medicine to his neighbors and told everyone that they could make wine with the medicine and drink it on New Year's Eve to prevent the plague. Sun Simiao also named his house "Tusu House". Later, passed down from generation to generation, drinking Tusu wine became a New Year custom. In ancient times, the way to drink Tusu wine was very unique. Most people always start drinking from the oldest ones; but when drinking Tusu wine, it is just the opposite, starting from the youngest ones. That is to say, when the whole family gets together to drink Tusu wine, the younger ones start first, followed by the older ones, and each person drinks a little bit. The Song Dynasty writer Su Che's poem "Chu Ri" said: "I drink Tusu at the end of the year, and I am more than seventy years old before I know it." This is the custom. Some people don't understand the meaning of this habit. Dong Xun explained: "The younger ones get older, so they are celebrated; the older ones lose their years, so they are punished." This custom was still very popular in the Song Dynasty. The poem "Outside" said: "But if you are poor and sad, you will grow strong, and you will drink Tusu wine in the end." Although Su Shi was poor in his later years, his spirit was very optimistic. He believed that as long as he was healthy, he did not care even if he was old, so he drank Tusu wine as a penalty in the end. Of course there is no need to refuse. This unique drinking order often evoked various emotions in ancient times, so it left a deep impression on people. Until the Qing Dynasty, this custom still persisted. Although this custom is no longer prevalent among people today, the custom of drinking these medicinal wines during festivals or ordinary times still exists.
There are many famous New Year’s Eve dinners, which vary from north to south, including dumplings, wontons, long noodles, yuanxiao, etc., and each has its own specialties. Northerners are accustomed to eating dumplings during the Chinese New Year, which means "Geng Sui Jiao Zi" (Geng Sui Jiao Zi), the alternation between the old and the new. And because the white flour dumplings are shaped like silver ingots, serving them on the table symbolizes "making a fortune in the new year, and the ingots rolling in". When making dumplings, some people also wrap a few coins that have been sterilized in boiling water, saying that whoever eats them first will make more money. The custom of eating dumplings was passed down from the Han Dynasty. According to legend, the medical sage Zhang Zhongjing saw that the ears of the poor were rotten by the frost during the twelfth lunar month of winter, so he made a "Quhan Jiao Er Decoction" to treat frostbite for the poor. He used mutton, chili peppers and some cold-warming medicinal materials, wrapped them in dough to make ear-shaped "Jiao Er", cooked them in a pot, and distributed them to the poor. After eating, people felt their whole body warm and their ears warm. Later, people followed suit and it has been passed down to this day. Eating wontons during the New Year means taking the beginning of the new year. Legend has it that the world was in a state of chaos before it was created. Pangu created the world, and then there were four directions in the universe and long noodles, also called longevity noodles. Eating noodles in the New Year is a wish for a hundred years of longevity.
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Keeping the New Year’s Eve
Chinese people have the habit of keeping the New Year’s Eve up on New Year’s Eve. The New Year's Eve dinner starts with the New Year's Eve dinner. This New Year's Eve dinner should be eaten slowly, starting from the time when the lanterns are turned on. Some people have to eat until late at night. According to Zong Mao's "Jingchu Years' Records", the custom of eating New Year's Eve dinner has existed at least in the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
The custom of staying up late on the New Year's Eve not only expresses a feeling of nostalgia for the passing years, but also expresses good hope for the coming New Year. The ancients wrote in a poem "Shou Sui": "Invite the Ajong family to keep the year old, and the wax torch is passed on to the blue gauze. Thirty and sixty years have been wasted, but I cherish my years from this night."
"It is human nature to cherish the years, so the great poet Su Shi wrote the famous line "Shou Sui": "There will be no years next year, and worries will be wasted; if you work hard today, you can still be proud of your youth! "This shows the positive significance of staying up late on New Year's Eve.
Staying up late on New Year's Eve is commonly known as "staying up". Why is it called "staying up"? There is such an interesting story passed down from generation to generation among the people: According to legend In the ancient times, there was a ferocious monster, people called him "Nian". Every New Year's Eve, the Nian beast would crawl out of the sea to harm people and animals, destroy farmlands, and bring disasters to those who had worked hard for a year. People. In order to avoid the Nian beast, people close their doors early on the 30th night of the twelfth lunar month before it gets dark. They don't dare to sleep and wait for dawn. In order to kill time and to strengthen their courage, they drink until the Nian beast stops coming out in the morning of the first day of the lunar month. , dared to go out. When people met, they bowed to each other, congratulated each other, and were glad that they were not eaten by the Nian beast. After many years, nothing happened, and people relaxed their vigilance against the Nian beast. The beast suddenly rushed to a village in the south of the Yangtze River. Almost all the people in the village were eaten by the Nian beast. Only a newlywed couple wearing red curtains and a few children were safe in the courtyard. They were playing with a bunch of bamboos, the fire was bright red, and the bamboos made a "pop" sound when they burned. The Nian beast turned around and was frightened by the fire and ran away. After that, people knew that the Nian beast was afraid of red, light, and noise. At the end of each year, every household would put up red paper, wear red robes, hang red lanterns, beat gongs and drums, and set off firecrackers, so that the Nian beast would not dare to come again. There are records of "Ting Liao Light". The so-called "Ting Liao" is a torch made of bamboo poles. After the bamboo poles burn, the air in the bamboo joints expands and the bamboo cavity bursts, making a crackling sound. The origin of "firecrackers". However, in some places, villagers did not know that the Nian beast was afraid of red, and they were often eaten by the Nian beast. This incident later spread to Ziweixing in the sky, who decided to destroy the Nian beast in order to save people. When the Nian beast comes out, they knock it down with a fireball and lock it on the stone pillar with a thick iron chain. From then on, people always burn incense during the New Year and ask Ziweixing to come down to the world to keep them safe.
< p>On this night of "two years in one night, two years in the fifth hour", the whole family reunites and gathers together. The table is filled with refreshments and fruits, and a large plate of apples is indispensable. Yes, this is called "peace and peace". In the north, some people also provide a bowl of rice, which is cooked before the new year. It is called "every other year's meal". , this year means to still eat the old year's grain. This pot of rice and millet is usually mixed and cooked. In Beijing, it is called "two rice rice", which is to have yellow and white, which is called "gold and silver, gold and silver". Pots full of "gold and silver rice". In many places, the cakes, fruits and pastries prepared during the New Year's Eve are all intended to bring good luck: eating dates (spring comes early), persimmons (everything goes well) and almonds ( Happy people), eat Changsheng fruit (immortality), and eat rice cakes (which get taller every year). On New Year's Eve, the whole family has fun while eating, talking and laughing, and some ordinary families play Pai Gow and play dice. , betting on stud, playing mahjong, and the noise and laughter form the climax of New Year's Eve joy.Return
Firecrackers
When midnight comes, the New Year comes. The bell rang, and the sound of firecrackers shook the sky over the entire land of China. In this "Three Yuan" moment of "the Yuan of Year, the Yuan of Moon, and the Yuan of Time", in some places, a "vigorous fire" is built in the courtyard to show that the energy is strong and prosperous. Around the blazing fire, the children set off firecrackers and jumped happily. At this time, there were bright lights inside the house, brilliant sparks in front of the court, and loud noises outside, pushing the lively atmosphere of New Year's Eve to its climax. . Poets and writers of all ages have always praised the coming of the New Year with their most beautiful verses. Wang Anshi's poem "Yuan Ri": The sound of firecrackers marks the end of the year, and the spring breeze brings warmth to people. Thousands of households are as bright as the sun. Always replace old talismans with new ones.
Depicting the festive scene of the Chinese people celebrating the Spring Festival, Pan Rongbi of the Qing Dynasty recorded the following about the New Year's Eve firecrackers in his book "Historical Events in the Imperial Capital": "After New Year's Eve, at midnight As they intersect, the torches outside the door compete with each other, while the firecrackers are like waves and thunder, all over the court and the countryside, all night long. "A Dream of Red Mansions" also describes: "A screen frame is set up in the yard, and fireworks are set up." All the fireworks are from various places. Although they are not very big, they are very exquisite and have various stories. They are being set off again and again while talking.
There are also many sporadic small firecrackers such as 'sky full of stars', 'nine dragons entering the clouds', 'a thunder on the ground', and 'ten booms in the sky'. "From here you can also see the grand fireworks display in the old days and the New Year.
The sound of firecrackers is a symbol of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, and an expression of festive mood. For businessmen, setting off firecrackers has another meaning: they set off firecrackers on New Year's Eve. Firecrackers are set off at night to make a fortune in the new year.
The first thing everyone did after setting off firecrackers was to worship heaven and earth, welcome gods, and worship ancestors. This custom is very popular. Due to the different customs in different places, the forms of ancestor worship are also different. Some go to visit the ancestor tombs in the wild, some go to the ancestral hall to worship the ancestors, and most of them place the ancestor tablets in the main hall in order, display the offerings, and then Worshipers offer incense and kneel down in order of age. After worshiping their ancestors, southerners check the auspicious directions of the year recorded in the almanac, light lanterns and torches, carry pots of wine, burn incense and firecrackers, and open doors to welcome the God of Joy. It is called "Chu Tian Fang" or "Travel", it is called "Chu Xun" in Zhejiang, and it is called "Dou Xi Shen Fang" in Shanghai. This is a custom to stay up all night on New Year's Eve to pray for good luck from the gods. On the morning of the Spring Festival, firecrackers are set off first, which is called "opening the firecrackers." During the Spring Festival, the streets and alleys are decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations on the houses of wealthy people. Various arts and crafts are displayed everywhere, and many opera troupes are invited to the countryside. There are also performances, Taoist performances, Yangko singing, flower drum singing and various entertainment activities, as well as various cultural and sports activities such as lion dancing and dragon lantern dancing. People celebrate the New Year happily.
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p>New Year's greetings
New Year's greetings are a traditional custom among Chinese people. It is a way for people to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year, and express their best wishes to each other. In ancient times, the original meaning of "New Year's greetings" was for longevity. New Year greetings include kowtowing to the elders, wishing you a happy New Year, and wishing you a happy life.
New Year greetings usually start at home on the first morning of the Lunar New Year. After getting up, you should first pay New Year greetings to your elders, wishing them good health and longevity, and all the best. After the elders receive the greetings, they should give the "New Year's money" prepared in advance to the younger ones. After paying New Year greetings to the elders at home, people should also go out to meet each other. They congratulated each other on the New Year with smiles on their faces, and said auspicious words to each other such as "Gong Xi Fa Cai", "Good luck to the four seasons", "Happy New Year", etc. Neighbors, relatives and friends also visited each other to pay New Year greetings or invite them to drink and have fun. "Volume 6" describes the time of Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty: "On October 1, the New Year's Day, Kaifeng Mansion closed the gate for three days, and the scholars and common people celebrated each other since early in the morning. "In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Lu Rong said in the fifth volume of Shuyuan Miscellaneous Notes, "On New Year's Day in the capital, people from the imperial court to the common people would cross the roads for several days, which is called 'New Year's greetings'. However, scholars and common people worship their relatives and friends more sincerely. In the interactions between court officials, there is more general love than speciality...". Gu Tieqing, a native of the Qing Dynasty, described in "Qing Jia Lu", "Men and women pay homage to their parents in order of precedence. Children send congratulations and call them 'New Year's greetings'. Even if there are those who do not meet each other for the whole year, they will also go to each other's door to worship... "
In ancient times, if there were too many relatives and friends in the neighborhood and it was difficult to visit them all, servants would be sent to bring business cards to pay New Year greetings. This was called "flying invitations". A red paper bag was posted in front of each house with the words The word "receiving blessings" is used to express blessings. This custom began in the upper class of the Song Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty's "Yantai Moon Order" describes the Beijing New Year: "It is the moon, and the pictures are flying and the carriages are empty." "It has become fashionable." A large family has a special "door book" to record the comings and goings of guests. The first page of the door book contains four virtual "visitors": one is an old man who lives a hundred years old and lives in Baisui Fang Lane; One is Mr. Yu, who is rich, and lives on Yuanbao Street; the other is Mr. Gui Wuji, who lives in the Grand Scholar Archway; the other is Mr. Fu Zhaolin, who lives in Wufu Tower. In order to seek good fortune and seek luck. To this day, giving out New Year's cards and greeting cards during the Spring Festival is a legacy of the ancient tradition of sending flying messages to each other.
It is a custom for upper-class scholar-bureaucrats to congratulate each other with name cards. Zhou Hui, a native of the Song Dynasty, said in "Qingbo Magazine": "During the Yuanyou years of the Song Dynasty, servants were often used to carry famous thorns to celebrate the New Year." At that time, the scholar-bureaucrats had many contacts, and it would take time and energy to visit people from all over the world to pay New Year greetings. Therefore, some friends who were not close to each other did not go there in person. Instead, they sent servants to bring them a two-inch wide, three-inch paper cut from plum blossom paper. An inch-long card with the name, address and congratulatory words of the congratulatory person written on it is sent to express New Year greetings on your behalf. In the Ming Dynasty, people paid homage instead of paying New Year greetings.
Wen Zhengming, an outstanding painter and poet of the Ming Dynasty, described it in his poem "New Year's Greetings": "I don't ask for a meeting, but for a visit. Famous papers come from the dynasty and fill the house. I also throw in a few papers with others. The world hates them for being simple but not too empty." The "names" and "names" mentioned here are the origins of today's New Year's cards. New Year's cards are used to communicate feelings and exchange greetings/td>