When is New Year’s Eve?
New Year's Eve refers to the night of the last day of the lunar year, which is the night before the Spring Festival. Because it often falls on the 30th or 29th of the twelfth lunar month, it is also called New Year's Eve. New Year's Eve is an extremely important day for Chinese people all over the world. On this day, people prepare to get rid of the old and welcome the new, and have a reunion dinner. They often stay up all night that night, which is called staying up all night. There is an interesting story circulating among the people about the origin of the custom of keeping the year old:
In ancient times, there was a ferocious monster that lived scattered in the deep mountains and dense forests. People called them "Nian". It has a ferocious appearance and a ferocious nature. It specializes in eating birds, animals, and scale insects. It changes its taste every day, ranging from kowtowing insects to living people, making people talk about the "New Year". Later, people gradually grasped the activity pattern of "Nian". It rushes to places where people gather every three hundred and sixty-five days, and the time it appears is after dark.
Having calculated the date when the "New Year" would be rampant, the people regarded this terrible night as a critical moment, called it "New Year's Eve", and came up with a whole set of ways to celebrate the New Year's Eve: every day. On this night, every household has prepared dinner in advance, turned off the fire and cleaned the stove, fastened all the chicken pens and cattle pens, sealed the front and back doors of the house, and ate the "New Year's Eve dinner" hiding in the house. The dinner has an unlucky meaning, so it is very sumptuous. In addition to having the whole family gather together to dine together to express harmony and reunion, one must also offer sacrifices to the ancestors before eating, pray for the blessings of the ancestors' gods, and spend the time in peace. That night, after dinner, no one dared to go to sleep. They huddled together and chatted to strengthen their courage. Gradually, we formed the habit of staying up late on New Year's Eve.
Why celebrate the New Year?
In addition to legends, according to historical records, keeping up the year on New Year's Eve began in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The word "Sui" is used interchangeably with the word "Nian" in ancient China. Sui means year, and Nian means year. According to "Shuowen Jiezi", "year" means "grains are ripe". "Gu Liang Zhuan" also said that "ripe grains mean a prosperous year". Even the word "year" in oracle bone inscriptions represents the appearance of ripe ears of grain. Therefore, it can be inferred that "Nian" is a day of harvest and celebration, while Chinese New Year is a celebration and prayer for a good harvest.
In addition, on New Year's Eve, there is also a New Year's Eve activity, that is, in the courtyard, sesame straw is glued with ingot shapes rolled up with yellow paper, and is piled into a bundle, which is called a "treasure basin." Then, the whole family would crush it with their feet, using the word "broken" to mean "year". They also borrowed the auspicious meaning of sesame seeds blooming day by day to wish the family prosperity and express their blessings and wishes for the new year.