The Spring Festival is the most important festival for the Han people, but more than a dozen ethnic minorities such as Manchu, Mongolian, Yao, Zhuang, Bai, Gaoshan, Hezhe, Hani, Daur, Dong and Li also have the custom of celebrating the Spring Festival. The form of the festival has its own national characteristics and is full of meaning.
The Spring Festival is a day to get rid of the old and introduce the new. Although the Spring Festival is scheduled on the first day of the first lunar month, the activities of the Spring Festival do not end on the first day of the first lunar month. Starting from the end of the year, people begin to "busy the New Year". All these activities have a common theme, which is "saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new."
Spring Festival customs: prepare New Year’s goods, post New Year’s red, worship stoves, dust, stay up late, wash your hair and bathe, decorate with lanterns, post blessing characters upside down, New Year’s Eve dinner, take New Year’s money, eat glutinous rice dumplings, open the door, and pay New Year’s greetings , watching social fire, walking on stilts, making lanterns, lion dance and other customs.
I think there are 4 customs worth mentioning among the many customs of the Chinese Spring Festival. Let’s take a look with me:
?One of the Spring Festival customs: sticky sugar melon?< /p>
On the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month, sugar melons are sticky. This day is what people call the Little New Year. As the name suggests, it is the day when the New Year officially begins. On this day, people will buy candies, peanuts, melon seeds and other foods needed for the New Year. , children are the happiest from this day on, because they have enough sugar.
According to folklore, the Kitchen God was originally a star in the sky. Because of his mistakes, he was demoted to the human world by the Jade Emperor and became the "East Chef". It sits in the middle of the kitchens of each household, watching how people live and behave, and records in detail all the good and bad things. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, it returns to heaven and reports the good and evil of each household to the Jade Emperor. Condition. On the 30th night of the twelfth lunar month, he returned to the human world and punished evil and promoted good according to the Jade Emperor's will.
So on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, people have to offer sacrifices to the Stove God, and offer sticky and sweet sugar melons to the Stove God, so that they stick to the Stove God's mouth and ask him to "speak good things to heaven and keep peace to the earth." ". Children regard this day as the prelude and "rehearsal" of the Spring Festival. As soon as it gets dark, firecrackers are set off. Amidst the sound of firecrackers, the male host of the family offers a plate of sugar melons and a bowl of tea in front of the statue of the Stove King, lights candles and incense, prays and salutes, and then places the Stove God in front of the statue. Like peeling it off the wall and burning it, then pouring tea on the paper ashes, and the children would grab the sugar melons and eat them.
On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, sugar melons are sacrificed to the stove. The form is lively, grand and humorous, so this day is called "Celebrating the Small New Year".
?Spring Festival Custom No. 2: Pasting the word "福" upside down?
Pasting blessing (also called "福来") upside down is a traditional Chinese custom. During the Spring Festival, every household will paste the word "福" upside down on their doors, walls, and lintels, which means that blessings have arrived. Posting the word "福" during the Spring Festival is a long-standing custom among Han Chinese people.
During the Spring Festival, on the doors and windows of many family courtyards, you will often see some big red characters "福" stuck upside down. This can be regarded as a traditional custom of the Chinese people. According to "Mengliang Lu" records: "No matter how big or small, all families of scholars and common people would sweep their doors, remove dust and filth, clean their courtyards, change door gods, hang bells and kui, nail peach charms, put up spring signs, and worship their ancestors." In the article, "Spring Festival" "Pai" is the word "福" written on red paper.
There is also a legend among Chinese folk that the word "福" is stuck upside down. Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, used the word "福" as a secret sign to prepare for murder. The kind-hearted Empress Ma decided to avoid the tragedy of killing, so she ordered everyone in the city to put a label with the character "福" on their doors before dawn.
Of course no one dared to disobey Queen Ma's will, so every door had the word "福" posted on it. One of the families was illiterate and actually pasted the word "福" upside down. On the next day, the emperor sent someone to check the streets and found that every family had pasted the stickers with the character "福", and one family had the character "福" upside down. The emperor was furious after hearing the report, and immediately ordered the imperial guards to kill the entire family. Empress Ma realized what happened and hurriedly said to Zhu Yuanzhang, "that family knew you are coming today, so had purposely turned the label with the character "福" upside down. Doesn't that mean "luck arrives"?" As soon as the emperor heard that it made sense, he ordered his release. , a catastrophe was finally eliminated. From then on, people began to paste the character "福" upside down, firstly to seek good luck, and secondly to commemorate Queen Ma. This is the style of blessing.
?The third Spring Festival custom: New Year's Eve dinner?
New Year's Eve dinner: a set of auspicious oral colors. The end of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar is New Year's Eve, also known as "New Year's Eve". In addition to paying attention to the "good taste" of the dishes during the New Year's Eve dinner, it is particularly important to "please enjoy the good taste". That is to say, Ningbo people like to place their hopes for the coming year in their dishes.
For example, "chicken" and "ji" have the same pronunciation, which means auspiciousness; "eel" means "the tank is full, the food is full", which means plenty of food and clothing; Ningbo businessmen seem to have a special liking for "red paste crab", which means "red paste crab". The crab means "Business is booming, the world is prosperous, and wealth is coming from all directions"; the lotus root festival means "every day is high and all roads are open". In Ningbo people's New Year's Eve dinner, whole fish is an indispensable New Year dish, and later it gradually became smoked fish, which means "more than auspiciousness"; "Shepherd's purse spring rolls" used to be served in queues, and "Shepherd's purse" and "Jucai" have similar sounds. , "Eat a spring roll to welcome the spring" is to welcome the arrival of spring. Soybean sprouts have the same shape as "Ruyi" and are called "Ruyi dishes", which means "good luck in life" and "all the best"; golden cakes serve as "gold bricks"; leeks are homophonic to "leeks" and "long"; sausages are homophonic to "fragrant and long". ",
Eating New Year's Eve dinner is a day for family reunion, and there must be a steaming hot pot that symbolizes reunion. Ningbo people call hot pot "hot pot", and "hot pot" gives people the feeling of " Life is perfect and prosperous.” In the old days, there was a riddle with local characteristics in Shipu: "Meat dishes mixed with vegetarian dishes, Ningbo is separated by the Dinghai Sea, and Zhaobaoshan Mountain is in the middle. They are all covered by the sea." The answer is "hot pot". The big old families use a copper hot pot, which takes up a large part of the table, and is filled with egg dumplings, meatballs, fishballs, vermicelli, fried pork skin, rice cakes, etc., fishballs, meatballs and shrimp balls. It takes the meaning of "Three Yuan Ji Di" and "Family Reunion", and adds soup stock; the staple food is juice, vegetable and rice cake soup, which means "rice cake and rice cake are high every year" and there will be more oil and water in the coming year.
The New Year’s Eve dinner should be served by the whole family together, and no one should be left behind, which means reunion. If a family member cannot make it to New Year's Eve or does not go home to celebrate the New Year, bowls, chopsticks and wine glasses should be prepared for him or her on the table, filled with wine and rice, so that everyone is present and the whole family is reunited. On this day, our children in other places have to rush home to reunite with each other no matter how far away they are. In the past, after the New Year's Eve dinner, children carried lanterns and went to the ancestral hall to watch plays. After 1983, I usually watched CCTV’s “Spring Festival Gala” program at home.
?The fourth Spring Festival custom: taking New Year’s money?
New Year’s money (called “Bilishi” in Guangdong) is one of the New Year customs. Its true origin is unknown and legend has it. It is to suppress evil spirits. After the New Year's Eve dinner on New Year's Eve, the elders give lucky money to the younger ones to wish them a safe New Year's Eve. New Year's money is the gift that children look forward to most in the New Year. It is said that lucky money originated earlier, but it really became popular nationwide during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In ancient times, there were two types of lucky money: special money and general money. Special New Year's money is an imitation. Its material may be copper or iron, and its shape may be square or long. The money is usually engraved with "good luck", "good fortune, longevity and joy", "long life", etc. New Year's money is either given directly to the younger generation, or placed at the foot of the bed or beside the pillow after the younger generation goes to bed. New Year's money is originally meant to be a blessing. In folk culture, New Year's money means warding off evil spirits and exorcising ghosts, and bless peace. The original purpose of New Year's money was to suppress evil spirits and drive away evil spirits. Because people thought that children were vulnerable to evil spirits, they used New Year's money to ward off evil spirits.
Eliminate disasters: Han Chinese people believe that giving New Year's money to children, when evil spirits, monsters or "Nian" harm the children, the children can use the money to bribe them and turn evil into good luck. "New Year's Money" written by Wu Manyun of the Qing Dynasty said: "A hundred and ten pieces of money are worn with long colorful threads. If you divide them and put them on pillows, you can keep them for yourself, discuss the price of firecrackers and flutes, and make Jiaoer busy all night."? From this point of view, New Year's money has a lot to do with it. They are full of childlike innocence, and the children's New Year's money is mainly used to buy firecrackers, toys, candies and other things needed for the festival. Nowadays, the custom of elders distributing lucky money to younger generations is still popular. The amount of lucky money ranges from tens to hundreds. Most of the lucky money is used by children to buy books and school supplies. New fashion has given new content to new year's money.
New Year's money, also known as money to suppress evil spirits ("祟" means something unlucky. The ancients used this custom to express that nothing unlucky will happen in the coming year). After the New Year's dinner, the elders will distribute the New Year's money prepared in advance to the younger generations. It is said that the New Year's money can suppress evil spirits, and the younger generation can spend the first year of life peacefully after receiving the New Year's money. In folk culture, New Year's money means warding off evil spirits and exorcising ghosts, and bless peace. The original purpose of lucky money was to suppress evil and drive away evil spirits. Because people think that children are vulnerable to evil spirits, they use lucky money to ward off evil spirits. On the morning of the first day of the first lunar month, the younger generation pays New Year greetings to their elders, and the elders give lucky money to the younger generation. Usually, on New Year's Eve, the mother puts the lucky money sealed in red paper under the child's pillow. When giving out new year's money, mothers will naturally say something like wishing their children a safe and healthy growth. Giving new year's money to children comes from a long-standing legend.
Historically, there are many types of New Year's money, which are usually distributed by the elders to the younger ones during the countdown to the New Year, as a sign of support and containing the elders' concern and sincere blessings for the younger ones; the other is The "sui" in this new year's money given to the elderly by the younger generation refers to the age, and is intended to wish the elderly a long life. The earliest written record of New Year's money that can be traced back to the Han Dynasty was also called lucky money. It was not circulated in the market, but was cast into coins as ornaments and had the function of warding off evil spirits.
Led by the Hundred Years, the Spring Festival is the most solemn traditional festival of the Chinese nation. Influenced by Chinese culture, some countries and regions in the world also have the custom of celebrating the New Year. The meaning of the Spring Festival customs is reunion, gathering to pray for blessings and ward off disasters, and to celebrate and entertain.