New Year greetings usually begin at home. On the morning of the first day, after getting up, the younger generation should first pay a New Year call to their elders, wishing them a long and healthy life and all the best. After the elders worship, they should distribute the "lucky money" prepared in advance to the younger generation. After paying New Year greetings to the elders at home, people should greet each other with smiles when they go out to meet, and exchange auspicious words such as "Congratulations on getting rich", "Best wishes in the four seasons" and "Happy New Year". Neighbors or relatives and friends also pay New Year greetings to each other or treat them to drinks and entertainment. In the sixth volume of Chinese Dream in Tokyo, the veteran Meng described the time of Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty and said, "On October 1st, Kaifeng Prefecture was opened for three days, and scholars celebrated each other early." In the mid-Ming Dynasty, Lu Rong said in Volume V of Miscellaneous Notes on Gardens: "On New Year's Day in the capital, people who travel to Shu Ren for several days from court officials are called' New Year greetings'. However, Shu Ren worships his relatives and friends. " When dealing with North Korean officials, they are more caring than experts ... "... Gu Tieqing, a native, described in Lu:" Men and women pay homage to their parents, and the Lord leads them to humble their children, or stop sending their children congratulations, which is called' New Year greetings'. "Even people who don't meet for a lifetime, at this time, they also worship each other at the door ..."
In ancient times, if neighbors had too many relatives and friends, it was difficult to walk around the whole house. People call it "flying mail", and let servants take their business cards to pay New Year's greetings. There is a red paper bag in front of every house with the word "Fu Jie" written on it, which is the purpose of airmail. This custom began in the upper class of the Song Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, Yantai's Order of Last Month described the Beijing New Year Festival: "It's the moon, the film flies, and the car goes empty." Become fashionable. "A large family has a special" door book "to record the guests' contacts and flying photos. There are four virtual "relatives" on the front page of the door: one is a centenarian who lives in centenarian lane; One said he was rich and lived in Yuanbao Street. One is your infinite adult, living in the university archway; One day, Fu Zhao visited his master and lived in Five Blessingg Building. For good luck. So far, the gift of New Year cards and greeting cards during the Spring Festival is the legacy of this ancient exchange of flying cards.
Scholars in the upper class have the custom of greeting each other with famous cards. Hui Zhou, a poet of the Song Dynasty, said in Qingbo magazine: "During the reign of Emperor Yuanyou of the Song Dynasty, people were often stabbed with servants in the name of Chinese New Year." . At that time, the scholar-officials had a wide circle of friends, and it took time and energy to pay New Year greetings everywhere. Therefore, some close friends did not go in person, but sent their servants to take a card cut with plum blossom stationery, two inches wide and three inches long, with the recipient's name, address and congratulations written on it. In the Ming dynasty, people visited instead of paying New Year's greetings. Wen Zhiming, an outstanding painter and poet in the Ming Dynasty, described this in his poem "New Year": "I don't want to meet each other, but I want to talk, and my famous articles are full; I also throw a few pieces of paper at people. The world is too simple and empty. " The "famous thorn" and "famous divination" mentioned here are the origins of today's New Year cards. New Year cards are used to connect feelings and exchange greetings, which are convenient and practical and still popular today.
Writing II. New Year greeting is a traditional folk custom in China, and it is a way for people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and express their blessings to each other. In ancient times, the original meaning of the word "Happy New Year" was to pay New Year greetings to the elderly, including kowtowing to the elderly, congratulating them on a happy New Year and greeting their lives. In case of friends and relatives of the same generation, you should also salute and congratulate.
New Year greetings usually begin at home. On the morning of the first day, after getting up, the younger generation should first pay a New Year call to their elders, wishing them a long and healthy life and all the best. After the elders worship, they should distribute the "lucky money" prepared in advance to the younger generation. After paying New Year greetings to the elders at home, people should greet each other with smiles when they go out to meet, and exchange auspicious words such as "Congratulations on getting rich", "Best wishes in the four seasons" and "Happy New Year". Neighbors or relatives and friends also pay New Year greetings to each other or treat them to drinks and entertainment. In the sixth volume of Chinese Dream in Tokyo, the veteran Meng described the time of Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty and said, "On October 1st, Kaifeng Prefecture was opened for three days, and scholars celebrated each other early." In the mid-Ming Dynasty, Lu Rong said in Volume V of Miscellaneous Notes on Gardens: "On New Year's Day in the capital, people who travel to Shu Ren for several days from court officials are called' New Year greetings'. However, Shu Ren worships his relatives and friends. " When dealing with North Korean officials, they are more caring than experts ... "... Gu Tieqing, a native, described in Lu:" Men and women pay homage to their parents, and the Lord leads them to humble their children, or stop sending their children congratulations, which is called' New Year greetings'. "Even people who don't meet for a lifetime, at this time, they also worship each other at the door ..."
In ancient times, if neighbors had too many relatives and friends, it was difficult to walk around the whole house. People call it "flying mail", and let servants take their business cards to pay New Year's greetings. There is a red paper bag in front of every house with the word "Fu Jie" written on it, which is the purpose of airmail. This custom began in the upper class of the Song Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, Yantai's Order of Last Month described the Beijing New Year Festival: "It's the moon, the film flies, and the car goes empty." Become fashionable. "A large family has a special" door book "to record the guests' contacts and flying photos. There are four virtual "relatives" on the front page of the door: one is a centenarian who lives in centenarian lane; One said he was rich and lived in Yuanbao Street. One is your infinite adult, living in the university archway; One day, Fu Zhao visited his master and lived in Five Blessingg Building. For good luck. So far, the gift of New Year cards and greeting cards during the Spring Festival is the legacy of this ancient exchange of flying cards.
Scholars in the upper class have the custom of greeting each other with famous cards. Hui Zhou, a poet of the Song Dynasty, said in Qingbo magazine: "During the reign of Emperor Yuanyou of the Song Dynasty, people were often stabbed with servants in the name of Chinese New Year." . At that time, the scholar-officials had a wide circle of friends, and it took time and energy to pay New Year greetings everywhere. Therefore, some close friends did not go in person, but sent their servants to take a card cut with plum blossom stationery, two inches wide and three inches long, with the recipient's name, address and congratulations written on it. In the Ming dynasty, people visited instead of paying New Year's greetings. Wen Zhiming, an outstanding painter and poet in the Ming Dynasty, described this in his poem "New Year": "I don't want to meet each other, but I want to talk, and my famous articles are full; I also throw a few pieces of paper at people. The world is too simple and empty. " The "famous thorn" and "famous divination" mentioned here are the origins of today's New Year cards. New Year cards are used to connect feelings and exchange greetings, which are convenient and practical and still popular today.
The Origin of the Spring Festival
The origin of the Spring Festival has three meanings.
Time unit: 365 days, and the cycle of spring, summer, autumn and winter is one year;
Harvest status: spring is spring, summer is long, autumn is winter, and the number of grains is good or bad;
The name of the festival: "Hundred Festivals First" is a joyous occasion to celebrate, which is called Chinese New Year.
Since the year is a time unit, it is naturally related to the calendar, and the formation of the calendar is the product of celestial movement and the growth law of all things. This process develops with the progress of society and the improvement of people's knowledge.
During the period of primitive agricultural society in China, in the long-term farming practice, the cycle of alternating seasons was discovered, and at the same time, the law between the movement of celestial bodies and the growth of crops on the ground was observed, which was called "observing the image and observing the time". In the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties two or three thousand years ago, there was a method to record the year, month and day with the change of the astrological orientation referred to by Beidou bucket handle. This is the prototype of the calendar. The first month of each year is called the first month, which is the beginning of the year. Because the calendars used in different dynasties are different, the beginning of a year is different. The first month of the summer calendar is the lunar (agricultural) month we are using now, which is also called "the lunar month on the floor"; In Shang Dynasty, the December of the lunar calendar is now the beginning of a year, which is the so-called "ugly winter moon". The weekly calendar begins in November of the current lunar calendar, which is the so-called "mid-winter month"; The Zhuan Xu calendar was used in the Qin Dynasty, with October of the current lunar calendar as the beginning of the year, which was called the "Moon of Building and Winter". Han dynasty (reprinted from the first model network, please keep this mark. ) At the beginning, the Qin calendar shall prevail. It was not until Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty organized a special team to change the Zhuan Xu calendar to taichu calendar and bring the 24 solar terms into the calendar. The first month of the summer calendar is still the beginning of the year. This is why we still call the lunar calendar (agriculture) the summer calendar.
The word "nian" appeared in the Zhou Dynasty. Before this, Yao and Shun called it "carrying", which means that celestial bodies and stars carry a week. In the Xia Dynasty, it was called "Nian", which means that people are one year older and the Spring Festival is coming. Shang dynasty called it "sacrifice", which means it's past four o'clock. It's time to make history books and worship the ancestors of the gods. Although the word "year" was once changed to "year" in Tang Suzong, the period is very short, also called "year". Year is a unit of time, which has been used until now. A cycle of spring, summer, autumn and winter is called a year. The word "zai" appears from time to time in written language, which is obviously influenced by ancient appellations.
Another meaning of "year" is harvest. There are four seasons in a year, which is gradually recognized according to the cyclic law of crop growth, growth, harvest and storage. Therefore, in ancient records, the interpretation of "year" is "ancient book leaves" The harvest of grain is called "one year", and the harvest is called "big year", also called "bumper year". The emperor prayed for the "Hall of Prayer for the New Year" with abundant grain. When singing the praises of the emperor in the traditional Chinese opera, there are lyrics of "the monarch and the minister are all happy, the people are all happy, and the grain is abundant".
The word "nian" was originally the original word of the word "barnyard grass", which means that the crops are ripe and abundant. The word "nian" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions is the image of a bumper harvest of fruits, so it is not difficult to understand the close relationship between "nian" and crops.
Another meaning of "Year" is the name of the festival. This is a day that everyone should celebrate. After the collection, the farm work in the field is over, and the first thing that comes to mind is to repay the blessing of the gods and the shade of the ancestors. Cook rice, make wine, and offer sacrifices to the gods and ancestors, hoping for another bumper harvest in the coming year. Over time, it has formed an annual law. However, in ancient times, when the sacrificial ceremony was held was uncertain, but it was limited to the period when the old and new years alternated.
As a festival, Nian was formed in the Han Dynasty. The people suffered from the disintegration of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Although the Qin Dynasty unified China, the corvee taxes were extremely harsh and the people lived in poverty. It was not until the Han Dynasty that the society was relatively stable and the economy became increasingly prosperous that the people had the opportunity to recuperate, creating conditions for year-end celebrations and New Year greetings.
When is a year called "Year"? Nature is the first day of the year. However, due to the different calendars and the feudal consciousness of emperors, it was difficult to determine the first day of the first year at first. The feudal emperor of China claimed to be the son of heaven. In order to show their purpose of "serving the sky", the order of months changed many times with the change of dynasties. The first month is not fixed, and the first day is naturally not fixed. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty changed Zhuan Xu Calendar to taichu calendar, although Wang Mang, Wei Mingdi, Wu Zetian, Tang Suzong, etc. all used the weekly calendar, the time was short. Therefore, the people always take the summer calendar as the standard, and the first day of the first month is the New Year.
There are many changes in the name of the New Year. In ancient times, it was called Shangri-La, Yuanri, Shuodan, Jacky, Zhengri, Zheng Dan, Zheng Chao, Sanyuan (the yuan of the year, month and day) and Three Dynasties (the dynasty of the year, month and day). Later generations gradually called New Year's Day.
After the Republic of China, China used both lunar and solar calendars, and the Gregorian calendar 1 day was also New Year's Day. China folk customs don't pay much attention to the solar calendar. Although institutions and schools have holidays on New Year's Day in the solar calendar as usual, people do not regard this day as a holiday. Nevertheless, there can't be two "years" in a country, so New Year's Day in the lunar calendar is called "Spring Festival". The name of the Spring Festival has existed since ancient times, referring to "beginning of spring". Because people call the Lunar New Year Spring Festival and recognize it, they no longer call beginning of spring Spring Festival.
After the founding of New China, the Gregorian calendar was adopted, but the lunar calendar existed at the same time. Because the twenty-four solar terms of the lunar calendar are directly related to the growth of crops, "farming time" can not be delayed, so we now call the lunar calendar. The first day of the first lunar month is called the Spring Festival. According to the custom of our country, we have a three-day holiday during the Spring Festival, and everyone will spend the holidays together.
Exploding bamboo
At midnight, the New Year bell rang and firecrackers shook the whole sky of China. In this "three yuan" moment of "year yuan, month yuan and time yuan", some places still set up "flourishing fire" in the yard to show the take-off and prosperity of Wang Qi. Around the blazing fire, the children set off firecrackers and danced happily. At this time, the bright lights in the house, the sparks in front of the court and the deafening noise outside the house pushed the lively atmosphere of New Year's Eve to a climax. Poets of all ages always praise the arrival of the New Year with the most beautiful poems. Wang Anshi's poem "January Day" says: firecrackers make one year old, and the spring breeze warms Tu Su. Every family has a primary school birthday. Always trade new peaches for old ones. It depicts the grand festival scene of China people celebrating the Spring Festival. In the book Jing Di Ji Sheng at the age of four in the Qing Dynasty, Pan Rongbi recorded the firecrackers on New Year's Eve at that time: "On New Year's Eve, we meet at midnight, and the treasures and fires outside the door compete for glory. The firecrackers are like thunder, all over the government and the people, all night." There is also a description in A Dream of Red Mansions: "There are screen frames and fireworks in the yard. These fireworks are tributes from all over the world. Although it is not very big, it is extremely exquisite. There are all kinds of stories and fireworks. During the talk, the color outside was put and put. " There are also a lot of sporadic firecrackers, such as "the sky is full of stars", "Kowloon enters the clouds", "the ground thunders" and "flying to ten ring". "From this, we can also see the grand occasion of setting off fireworks in the old Spring Festival.
Firecrackers are a sign of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, and also an expression of festive atmosphere. Businessman. Setting off firecrackers has another meaning: they set off firecrackers on New Year's Eve to make a fortune in the new year.
After setting off firecrackers and returning home, the first thing everyone does is to worship heaven and earth, god and ancestors. In ancient times, this custom was very popular. Due to different local customs and habits, the forms of ancestor worship are also different. Some go to the wild to sweep graves, and some go to the ancestral temple to worship their ancestors. Most of them put their ancestral tablets in the main hall in turn at home to show their worship, and then worshippers worship them in order of age. After paying homage to their ancestors, southerners looked at the auspicious trend of this year recorded in the almanac, lit lanterns and torches, carried pots and wine, incense and set off firecrackers, and opened the door to travel to meet the Western gods, called "going out" or "going out", called "going out to seek happiness" in Zhejiang and "going out to seek happiness" in Shanghai. This custom is to get good luck and pray to God for a smooth year. On New Year's Eve, you stay up all night.
When the door is opened in the morning of the Spring Festival, firecrackers are set off first, which is called "opening the door to set off firecrackers". After the firecrackers, the ground is broken red, which is called "full house". At this time, the streets were full of anger and joy.
During the Spring Festival, in the streets and alleys, large families hang lanterns and tie the knot. In the streets and alleys, all kinds of arts and crafts in the village offer their high skills. In busy rural areas, theatrical troupes are invited to perform, and all kinds of entertainment and play are also carried out, such as listening to Taoist feelings, dancing yangko, singing flower drums, dancing lions, playing dragon lanterns and so on. People are happy to celebrate the Spring Festival.
Baojiaozi
Jiaozi is a folk food with a long history and is deeply loved by people. There is a folk saying "delicious but not as good as jiaozi". During the Spring Festival, jiaozi has become an indispensable delicacy.
According to "Guangya" written by Zhang Yi, wei ren of the Three Kingdoms, there was a crescent-shaped food called "Wonton" at that time, which was basically similar to the shape of jiaozi now. By the time of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, wonton had been "shaped like a crescent moon, and it was delicious all over the world". Presumably, when jiaozi cooked it, he didn't take it out and eat it alone, but put it in a bowl with the soup, so people called jiaozi "wonton" at that time. This way of eating is still popular in some areas of our country. For example, when people from Henan and Shaanxi eat jiaozi, they should put some small ingredients such as coriander, chopped green onion, shrimp skin and leek in the soup.
By about the Tang Dynasty, jiaozi had become exactly the same as jiaozi now, so it was fished out and put on a plate to eat by itself.
Jiaozi was called "Joule" in Song Dynasty, which is the etymology of the word "Jiaozi" in later generations. This kind of writing can still be seen in the following Yuan, Ming, Qing and Republic of China.
Jiaozi was called a "flat food" in the Yuan Dynasty. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Shen Bang's Miscellaneous Notes on Ten Thousand Parts recorded: "New Year's Day, New Year's Day ...... as a patch food". Liu Ruoyu's "Proceedings" records: "Eat fruit snacks on New Year's Day and eat a plaque immediately." The "plaque" of the "plaque food" in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties is now commonly used as "ping". A kind of "flat food" may come from Mongolian.
Some new names about jiaozi appeared in Qing Dynasty, such as "jiaozi", "Water Snack" and "Boiled Bean". The increase of Jiaozi's names shows that its geographical spread is expanding.
The folk custom of eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival has been quite popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Generally, jiaozi should wrap it up before New Year's Eve 12, and eat it at midnight. At this time, it is the beginning of the first day of the first lunar month. Eating jiaozi means "making friends when you are young", and "Zi" is homophonic with "jiaozi", which means "reunion" and "good luck".
There are many legends about eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival. One is to commemorate the creation of Pangu and end the mixed state. The other is to use it as a homonym of "wonton", which means "five grains are abundant" In addition, it is said that eating jiaozi's folk language is related to Nu Wa's making people. When Nuwa soil caused people, the ears of loess people were easily frozen off because of the cold weather. In order to prevent the ear from being fixed, Nuwa put a small eye on the ear, tied it with a thin thread, and put the other end of the thread in the mouth of the loess man to bite, so that the ear would be fine. In order to commemorate the achievements of Nu Wa, ordinary people wrapped jiaozi, molded adult ears with flour, wrapped them with stuffing (thread) and ate them with their mouths.
Jiaozi has become an indispensable program food for the Spring Festival. The reasons are as follows: First, jiaozi is shaped like an ingot. People eat jiaozi in the Spring Festival and get the voice of "the way to make money". Secondly, jiaozi has stuffing, which is convenient for people to put all kinds of auspicious things into stuffing and place people's hopes for the new year.
When wrapping jiaozi, people usually wrap Jin Ruyi, sugar, peanuts, dates and chestnuts into stuffing. Eat the best and sugar, life will be sweeter in the coming year, eat peanuts, live a long and healthy life, eat dates and chestnuts, and have a baby early.
In some areas, when people eat jiaozi, they have to match some non-staple food to show their good luck. If you eat tofu, it symbolizes the happiness of the whole family; Eating persimmons symbolizes all the best; Eat three fresh vegetables. It symbolizes that Sanyang opens Thailand. People in Taiwan Province Province eat fish balls, meatballs and seaweed, symbolizing reunion and wealth. Jiaozi has various fillings and making methods. Even the same kind of jiaozi has different ways of eating: Daur people in Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang want to cook jiaozi with vermicelli broth. Then even the soup with jiaozi to eat; In some areas of Henan, jiaozi is cooked with noodles, which is called "gold thread penetrates gold ingot".
Jiaozi cuisine not only brings joy to people, but also becomes an important part of China's food culture.
Prepare for the new year
Jumping the kitchen god on the first day of the twelfth lunar month originated from the ancient activities of exorcising ghosts in the twelfth lunar month, and later developed into a beggar jumping the kitchen god, dressed as the kitchen god and the grandmother of the kitchen god, and jumping from door to door until the kitchen god ascended to heaven (23). When approaching 23, you should sell kitchen firewood, using pine and cypress branches and brown and green branches.
Laba Festival, known as Taoist Festival in Buddhism, originated in ancient La Worship. After the introduction of Buddhism, the two became one, eating Laba porridge and giving porridge to benefit others. The most famous food in Beijing is Laba porridge in Esther. Laba garlic is used in jiaozi for Chinese New Year, and the new year's goods are not started until Laba.
On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the sacrificial stove is called off-year. Sacrificing stoves is a man's business, 23 in the north and 24 in the south. Some people say that officials, three people, four eggs and five households take down the gods of the old year, dust them off, dry them in the sun, and offer them candy, fruit and firewood for cooking. At the same time, they burned some pigs, dogs and horses with sticks, smeared sugar on the stove and the edge of the pot, and greeted the kitchen god on the first day of the first month.
In the past, stoves were sacrificed in summer, because the kitchen king was a Vulcan. In the later Han Dynasty, there was a man named Yin Zifang who made breakfast in the twelfth lunar month, and when he saw that the God of the Kitchen God appeared, he sacrificed the antelope. Since then, he has sacrificed the stove in winter.
On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, God sent someone to reward and punish the Jade Emperor. Everyone should be careful what they say, eat a few mouthfuls of porridge, cook a bowl of porridge for each person (including chickens, ducks, dogs and pigs, and people who travel far away), and use red bean porridge to avoid epidemics and disasters.
On New Year's Eve, we put up Spring Festival couplets, change the door gods, cook new year's dishes and make jiaozi. You won't sleep, you will keep your birthday and prolong your parents' life. Shops must finish this year's accounts, three times a year, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and New Year's Eve.