In the folk, the traditional Spring Festival lasts from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to the 15th day of the first month, with New Year's Eve and the first day of the first month as its climax. During the Spring Festival, people hold various activities to celebrate. The main contents of these activities are offering sacrifices to gods and buddhas, offering sacrifices to ancestors, saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, welcoming the new and receiving the blessings, and praying for a bumper harvest.
On the morning of the first day, firecrackers are set off first, which is called "opening the door and setting off firecrackers". After firecrackers, the ground is broken red, which is the "full house" after breakfast, which is an important activity of the Spring Festival. Go to a new friend's house and a neighbor's house to congratulate the Spring Festival and pay a New Year call. The wind of New Year greetings has existed in the Han Dynasty.
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. If there are too many relatives and friends in the neighborhood, it is difficult to visit the whole house, so we will send a servant to bring a business card to pay a New Year call, which is called a "flying post". There is a red paper bag with the words "Fu Jie" written on it in front of every house, which is the purpose of airmail.
A large family set up a "door book" to record the guests' communication and flight photos. There are four virtual "relatives" on the front page of the door book: the centenarian who lives in centenarian lane; Rich grandfather, living in Yuanbao Street; You are an infinite adult and live in a university archway; Master fu lives in the 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.
In ancient times, from the first day of the first month to the fifth day of the first month, most families did not receive women, which was called "taboo". It's just that men want to go out to pay New Year greetings, and women can't go out to visit until after the sixth day of the first month.
New Year greetings will last for a long time until the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month. Paying New Year greetings to others at night is called "Night Worship Festival", and it is called "Lantern Festival" after the tenth day of the tenth lunar month. If you don't follow the routine ceremony for some reason, it will be called "worshipping the old".