Legend has it that in ancient times there was a monster with a unicorn on his head and a mouth like a blood basin. People call it the year. On the thirtieth night of the twelfth lunar month, it jumped out of the mountain and preyed on people. People have to prepare some meat and put it outside the door, then close the door and hide at home. It was not until the first morning that Nian left after a big meal that people opened the door to meet each other and bowed to congratulate each other. One year, Nian came to the village again, and people found it afraid of red things and noise. So another year passed. Before that, people put red paper on their doors and hung red lanterns. Over the years, people have thrown firecrackers made of hollow bamboo on the ground and made a loud noise. Finally, nian was driven away. As a result, people later had the custom of putting up couplets, hanging lanterns and setting off firecrackers.
Mr. Meng described the cloud of Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty in Volume 6 of Dream of China in Tokyo: "On October 1st, Kaifeng House was released for three days, and scholars celebrated each other early." In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Lu Rong said in Volume V of Miscellanies in the Garden that "on New Year's Day in Beijing, those who cross the road for a few days from the official to Shu Ren are called' Happy New Year'. However, everyone in Shu Ren worships his relatives and friends. The more official contact, the more universal love is not specialized ... ". Gu Tieqing, a Qing man, described in Jia Qinglu that "men and women pay homage to their parents, and the master leads them to visit their neighbors or send their children to congratulate them, which is called' New Year greetings'. It is also this time to say goodbye to those who have never seen each other for a lifetime.
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. On the first day of the new year, people get up early, put on the most beautiful clothes, dress neatly, go out to visit relatives and friends, and wish each other good luck in the coming year. There are many ways to pay New Year's greetings, some of which are led by the same patriarch from door to door. Some colleagues invited several people to pay New Year greetings; Others get together to congratulate each other. This is called "group worship". In the Song Dynasty, friends and relatives would greet each other, which was an early New Year card. In the Ming Dynasty, the design of New Year cards was more perfect and exquisite. The e-mail is not only printed with the name and address of the sender, but also with the messages of "Happy New Year" and "Good Luck". When paying a New Year call, the younger generation should first pay a New Year call to their elders and wish them a long and healthy life. The elders can distribute the lucky money prepared in advance to the younger generation. It is said that lucky money can kill evil spirits, because "old" and "special" are homophonic, and the younger generation can spend a year safely with lucky money.
In ancient times, the literati in the upper class used 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, the servants were often stabbed with famous names." 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 in the poem "New Year": "I don't want to meet each other, but I want to be fluent, and my famous articles are full; I also throw a few pieces of paper at people. The world hates being too simple and not too 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.
From about the Qing Dynasty, the form of "group worship" was added to the New Year greetings. In "Jade Tan with a Side Hat", the Lord of the Qing Dynasty said: "At the beginning of the year, the capital must make regular group worship to unite the friendship of the New Year and show the nostalgia", and "book guests, have a banquet and enjoy the day every year".
Thousands of winds saluted for the first time since Qin and Han Dynasties. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the order of New Year greetings is: first, worship the gods of heaven and earth, then worship the true shadow of ancestors, then worship the elders of Gaotang, and finally the whole family pays New Year greetings to each other in turn. Gifts should be given to elders, rewards to children, and words to peers. The order of worshipping relatives and friends is: the first day of worshipping family members; The next day, the third day, I visited my mother's uncle, uncle, father-in-law and so on. Until 16. Modern multi-line group worship, mailing new year cards and new year letters at the end of the year.