Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a small village under the beautiful Dingyang Mountain. On the hillside at the head of the village, there is a small stone house where a young man named Wannian lives. He was born in poverty and made a living by collecting firewood and digging for medicine. At that time, festivals were chaotic and farmers could not farm. Wan nian is a young man with calculation. He wants to set the festival accurately, but he doesn't know where to start.
One day, Wannian went up the mountain to collect firewood and sat under a tree to rest. The movement of the shadow inspired him, so he made a sundial and measured the shadow to calculate the length of the day. However, cloudy, cloudy, foggy and rainy days affect the measurement. He wants to make another timer to make up for the sundial. That day, he went up the mountain to dig medicine and came to the spring to drink water. The spring on the cliff was ticking rhythmically, which caught his attention. He looked at the spring, thought for a while and then lost his mind. I went home, drew a picture, tried it, and made a five-story leaky pot. From then on, he measured the shadow of the sun, looked for loopholes and worked hard. Slowly, he found that every 360 days, the length of a day would be repeated from the beginning. The solstice in winter is the shortest day.
At that time, the son of heaven was called Zu Ti. The chaos of the festival made him very anxious. Just call a hundred officials. Discuss the difficulties of chaos in Korean festivals. The name of the festival official is Aheng. If you don't know the laws of the sun and the moon, you can say that people are careless and have sinned against God. Only by kneeling devoutly can you get God's forgiveness. Zuyi took a vegetarian bath. Take officials to the Temple of Heaven to worship heaven, send a message to the whole country, and build a platform to worship heaven.
But the sacrifices come and go, with no effect, and the season is still very chaotic; People all over the country must serve and donate to build altars. It's really bile mixed with coptis chinensis. Bitter is worse than bitter. Ten thousand years can't help it. He took the sundial and the clepsydra to see the son of heaven.
I met the son of heaven, talked about the winter solstice, talked about the cycle of the sun and the moon. Zu Ti was overjoyed at this. Even if he built a large-scale building, he built the Sun and Moon Pavilion, the sundial platform and the Leaky Pot Pavilion in front of the Temple of Heaven. And left 12 boys to serve for 10 thousand years. Let six boys watch the sundial and six boys watch leaky cauldron for ten thousand years, carefully record and report on time.
One day, Zuyi asked Ah Heng to go to Riyuege to inquire about calendar making. Wannian pointed to the calendar and said, "Sunrise and Sunset 360, start all over again. The vegetation is divided into four seasons and there are twelve laps a year. " Ah Heng was deeply sensible when he heard this, but his heart was uneasy. He thought to himself: If the festival is set at 10,000 years, and the son of heaven is happy, who will listen to me? Ah Heng thought and thought, bent on getting rid of Wan Nian.
On that day, Aheng found that he was a good shooter, so he sent someone to invite him home, held a wine feast, explained the reason, and promised him a heavy gift. The assassin promised to assassinate him that night. On the second drum of the day, the assassin left Aheng drunk and ran to Riyuege. But around the Temple of Heaven, Sun Moon's adult was guarded by guards, so the assassin couldn't get close, so he pulled out his bow and arrow and shot at Wannian who was watching the stars on the Sun Moon Pavilion. Who knows that the assassin drank too much, his eyes were dim, and the arrow only hit Wan Nian's arm. Ten thousand years fell to the ground with a sigh, and all the teenagers cried for the thief. Hearing the shouts, the guards went out together, caught the assassin and leaned forward to see the son of heaven.
Zu Ti asked the truth, sent a command to put Ah Heng into prison, and made a meditation to visit the Sun Moon Pavilion for ten thousand years. Wan Nian was very moved and pointed to Shen Xing and said, "Shen Xing has caught up with silkworms and astrology has been restored. Giving children in the evening, the old year has passed, and it is spring again. Let's hope that the emperor will make a festival. "
Zu Ti said, "Spring is the first year of a year, so let's call it Spring Festival. Ai Qing has been in the cabinet for three years, and she has the courage to make the lunar calendar based on the full moon. This is really a great achievement. Ai Qing was assassinated by a traitor today. Come with me to the palace to recuperate. "
Wannian said: "Although the lunar calendar was originally created, it is still not accurate, and there are still a few hours at the end of the year. If you don't decorate the end of the year, the sun and the moon will fly, and it will be wrong to come and go. I failed to live up to the expectations of all beings, and I am deeply grateful to the emperor. I am willing to break my heart, be careful and make a calendar. "
In this way, in the Sun Moon Pavilion for 10,000 years, carefully observe the ups and downs of vegetation and wheat bran, carefully calculate and moisten the end of the year. In May of that year, Zu Ti went to the Temple of Heaven to offer sacrifices to the gods, and then boarded the Sun and Moon Pavilion to present the May Peach to the God of Ten Thousand Years. The lunar calendar is ten thousand years, and Zu Ti looks forward to ten thousand years of hard work day and night. His eyebrows are white and his beard is white. He was deeply moved, so he named the lunar calendar the perpetual calendar and the birthday star of the sun, the moon and the moon. Therefore, people later called the Spring Festival "Year". Every Spring Festival, Shou Xingtu is hung in the house, symbolizing the longevity of the new year and paying tribute to the great achievements of that year.
The origin of the Spring Festival (2)
In Guanzhong area of Shaanxi Province, there are magical legends about the Spring Festival.
According to legend, the Jade Emperor sent Maitreya from Heaven to earth in order to rule the world. When the Tathagata knew this, he thought: I am the Buddha, why not let me go? So, I went to the Jade Emperor Theory. The Jade Emperor was speechless and had to say, "Let's discuss it." Taking advantage of the discussion, the Jade Emperor thought of a solution.
He invited Maitreya Buddha and Tathagata Buddha, put two pots of flowers in front of them, and said, "You two should each handle one pot of these two pots of flowers. Whoever blooms first will come down to earth to rule the world." Tathagata is thoughtful and thoughtful, knowing that the Jade Emperor must be partial to Maitreya, because he guessed that the Jade Emperor was afraid that what he said was unacceptable, so he used offering flowers as an excuse to do it. I'm afraid the jade emperor secretly arranged these two pots of flowers, so he also came up with a subtotal. He took the opportunity of Maitreya's closing his eyes to thank him and quietly changed the position of the two pots of flowers. The next day, the Tathagata bloomed, so Maitreya took care of the world for one day, which was the first day of the first month. Legend has it that Maitreya has a kind heart. On this day, he told people to eat, dress and sleep well, so on the first day of the first month, people spent the day happily. Later, in order to commemorate Maitreya, people called the moment when the two Buddhas handed over in early spring "Spring Festival". Some people say that because the Tathagata was deceived by stealing flowerpots, until now, there are still thieves in the world.
The origin of the Spring Festival (3)
In Fujian Province, there are wonderful legends about China New Year.
According to legend, there was a fierce monster in ancient times, with a huge body and horns on its head. Eyes are round. Like two lanterns. A big mouth can swallow a person. The name of this monster is Nian.
Living in a cave in 2008, he is the overlord in the mountain. Tigers, lions and black bears run for their lives when they see it; Goats, monkeys and rabbits heard its roar and collapsed to the ground. I hunted animals in the mountains in 2008, and when I was full, I snored and slept in the cave. Whenever the cold is getting better and the Spring Festival is coming, I will run down the mountain and eat people in the village in 2008. So humans are also afraid of it, and children cry. As soon as the mother says "the year is over", the children will cry with fear.
It is said that there were two children herding cattle, one named Ashan and the other named Ashui. They are good partners and very brave. They often drive cattle to the mountains to eat grass. The family said to them, "Son, it's been years on the mountain, so I can't go!" " "
"Not afraid!" A Shan and A Shui have a plan, saying, "We will carry bows and arrows on our backs. If the new year comes, we will climb trees and shoot! " "
Speaking of which, they went up the mountain several times, but fortunately they didn't meet Nian. In a blink of an eye, it is already the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, and it is already dusk. A Shan and A Shui are driving the cows home. Strangely, the cow screamed in panic and curled up into a ball. What's going on here?
"Hey, let's go!" A Shan and A Shui waved their bullwhip and fanned them a few times. Suddenly I heard a strange cry. A monster ran towards the road in front of the village.
Ashan said, "Ah Shui, look, a year has passed!"
"It is strange that Nian is a fierce beast. Why did you see us and run away in fear? " The water feels strange.
"Well," said Yashan decisively, "let's go after it."
These two little shepherd boys are really bold. They kept waving bullwhip to urge the cattle to leave. The bullwhip crackled and Nian escaped even faster. "Oh, yes!" Ashan suddenly realized: "I am afraid of the sound of bullwhip!" "
Ashan and Ashui drove the cattle into the village and saw Nian running to Wu Gonggong's house from a distance. There is a bright red dress in front of Wu Gonggong's house. He turned his head in fear and ran towards the back of the village.
There is also a village over there. At this time, as night fell, I saw bright lights flashing in the windows of every household, which made it dizzy and turned away. At this time, Ashan and Ashui have driven the cows into the shed and started to catch up. They whipped the whip on purpose and ran up the hill screaming in horror.
Ashan and Ashui saw all this clearly and returned to the village. They said to the villagers. "In the original afraid of ring, afraid of red, afraid of fire. We know its weakness and can resist it in the future. "
Hearing this, the villagers quickly came up with a good idea. Everyone lit a bonfire in front of the village. Ashan and Ashui threw bamboo, and there was a crackling sound in the fire. Run down the mountain for a few years. Seeing the bonfire and hearing the noise, I ran back. In this way, the night passed and the villagers were safe. The next day, on the first day of the first month, the villagers took out red oranges, peanuts and other delicious things to eat together and congratulated each other: "Congratulations!" "
Since then, people have called the first day of the first month "Spring Festival". On this day, every household sticks red couplets, sets off firecrackers, lights red candles and wears red clothes, taking "red" as a symbol of good luck. It is said that these customs gradually evolved by boycotting the Year.
The origin of the Spring Festival (4)
There are fairy tales about celebrating the Spring Festival in Handan, Hebei Province.
Celebrating the Spring Festival, commonly known as the Chinese New Year, is a traditional folk festival that people attach importance to. People paste Spring Festival couplets on the Spring Festival, and the words "Go to Xia Zhishi" are often written on the couplets. The lunar calendar in China began in the Xia Dynasty, so it is also called the Xia calendar.
Legend has it that Wang Xia rules the world, the weather is favorable, the country is prosperous and the people are safe, the people have ample food and clothing, live and work in peace and contentment, and have a good life! But later, I don't know how many years passed, and I don't know which dynasty it was. The world was in chaos. Sometimes it is dry, sometimes it is waterlogged, sometimes it is windy, and sometimes it rains heavily. Some people are poor, some are rich, some are rich, and some are slaves.
At that time, there was a rich man in the village, and his family hired several people looking for Han (that is, long-term workers). One day, after dinner, people offered sacrifices to the kitchen god. When Xiaomi saw the cold, he quietly knelt in front of the kitchen god and prayed: "The kitchen god has appeared. Don't be sunny on cloudy days, and don't be bright when it is dark; Don't commit suicide if you are sick. " No, that's just what the rich hear. After Xiaomi left cold, the rich man knelt in front of the kitchen king and prayed, "The kitchen king shows his spirit, when it is dark, when it is dark, it is bright." If you want to get sick, tell him to get sick when he is free, and don't make a living when he is busy. "
Kitchen God was dozing off. Didn't hear clearly; In a daze, I remembered "Cloudy, sunny, rainy, windy, sick, painful …", so I kept them firmly in mind.
While speaking, a year passed, and on the 23rd night of the twelfth lunar month, all the immortals went to heaven to appear before the Jade Emperor, and of course the Kitchen God also went. He went earlier than anyone else, because he kept thinking about the prayers of the rich man and Xiaomi Han. When the Jade Emperor saw it, he said without a word, "Your Majesty, the little god has something to say. At present, the world is in disorder of yin and yang, and people can't survive because of wind and rain. You should send a great god to treat as soon as possible ... "
Hearing this, the Jade Emperor was surprised: "Is this true?" "Really." "Really?" "Really." Therefore, the Jade Emperor soon issued an imperial decree: to appoint a great god to take charge of the people's food, clothing, housing and transportation. Imperial edict, you all look at me, I look at you, no one will accept the imperial edict.
At this time. Suddenly, outside the worse gate, he shouted, "The gods stand back and I'll do it!" " "I looked up and saw a bald, chubby, paunchy, grinning god-Maitreya. This Maitreya Buddha is broad-minded and generous. He looked at the scenery outside the worse gate all day. He just wanted to do something good for people, so he automatically took on this important task.
It is said that the first thing Maitreya did when he came to earth was to let people live a good year, eat well, dress well and not have to work. As a result, at every party, people will obey his wishes and hold new year's goods, which is really lively. Maitreya also made special provisions: 24. Sweep the house; Twenty-five, grinding bean curd; Twenty-six, steamed bread; Twenty-seven, shopping; Twenty-eight, killing pigs; Twenty-nine, playing yellow wine; Thirty, eat flat food. At the same time, all the immortals should be invited and the preparations should be complete. On the first day of the first year, that is, the first day of the new year, every household will set up five watches, set off firecrackers, dress neatly, congratulate each other and have fun. At the same time, we have to visit relatives and friends and visit the graves to worship our ancestors. ...
In this way, the world is truly peaceful. The Jade Emperor brushed aside the clouds and looked down at the world. This is a happy scene, and he is naturally happy. A few days later, on the fifth day, it was just dawn and suddenly there was a noise. It turned out to be Jiang Taigong's wife (people called her a dirty god, who specializes in toilets and dirt), and she was quarreling with Maitreya with a big belly.
It turns out that on New Year's Eve, when people invite God, they forget the dirty God. She was angry and went to Maitreya to make trouble. Maitreya smiled, but did not answer. This foul air is so uncomfortable that I'm going to explode. Maitreya saw that the situation was about to get serious and said, "Let's do it! Today is the fifth day, let people put more guns on you and pack a jiaozi, which costs a lot of money! " -this is the origin of "breaking five".
I don't want to. These guns arrived at the Heavenly Palace, where the Jade Emperor was playing chess. When he heard the gunshot, he thought something had happened in the world. He sent the God of Wealth to travel around the world. The god of wealth is the god in charge of gold and silver treasures in heaven. When I came to the world, I forgot to go back when I saw incense, foil and paper everywhere.
The Jade Emperor also sent Guan Cang to the world. He was the god in charge of the warehouse. He saw that every household was filled with fragrant steamed buns, and he didn't want to return to heaven.
The Jade Emperor sent several immortals to earth, but there was still no reply. It's been half a month, and the jade emperor's chess game is over. It suddenly occurred to him that several immortals who had been sent down didn't come back, so he went to the world to see for himself. When he saw people wearing new clothes; Eating rice, white flour and meat dishes, doing nothing and being very angry, I called Maitreya to drink: "I told you to take care of people's affairs, but who told you to let people eat and dress well and not live?" Maitreya smiled and said, "Your Majesty, calm down. You asked me to take care of people's food, clothing, housing and transportation, but you didn't let me let people work! " In a word, the Jade Emperor was silent. The jade emperor thought about it, and he was right. Now that he has done it, he can only do it once a year. After the spring, he will go to work in the fields. So since then, the old convention has been left, and there is a Spring Festival once a year.
After that, Maitreya can't go back to the worse gate. To this day, there are still statues of him in some temples. People say that Maitreya can't be blamed. After all, he wants to do good for people. So people burned incense for him as usual.
/epublish/GB/paper 1 13/345/class 0 1 1300006/hwz 1084549 . htm
The Origin of the Spring Festival
According to legend, there was a monster named Nian in ancient China, with long tentacles and a ferocious face. Nian lived on the seabed for many years, and climbed ashore every New Year's Eve, devouring livestock and killing people. Therefore, every New Year's Eve, people in the village fled to the deep mountains to avoid the harm of the "Nian" beast.
On New Year's Eve this year, people in Taohua Village were taking refuge in the mountains when an old beggar came from outside the village. He was leaning on crutches, carrying a bag on his arm, with elegant silver whiskers and staring at Matthew. Some villagers sealed windows and locked doors, some packed their bags, some herded cattle and drove sheep, and people shouted boo everywhere, which was a scene of panic. At this time, who still has the mind to take care of this begging old man?
Only an old woman in the east of the village gave the old man some food and suggested that he go up the mountain quickly to avoid Nian beast. The old man smiled and said, "If my mother-in-law lets me stay at home for one night, I will definitely drive Nian beast away.
When the old woman looked at him carefully, she found that he was young, healthy, energetic and had an extraordinary world outlook. But she continued to persuade and begged the old man to laugh without saying a word. My mother-in-law had no choice but to leave home and take refuge in the mountains.
At midnight, Nian beast broke into the village. It found that the atmosphere in the village was different from previous years: the old woman at the east end of the village had red paper on her door and the room was brightly lit. The beast Nian trembled and let out a long whistle. Nian stared at her mother-in-law's house for a while, then screamed and rushed over. As we approached the door, there was a sudden explosion in the yard, and Nian trembled and dared not go any further.
It turns out that Nian was most afraid of red, fire and explosion. At this time, my mother-in-law's door was wide open, and I saw an old man in a red robe laughing in the hospital. "Nian" was frightened to disgrace and fled in confusion.
The next day was the first day of the first month, and the people who came back from refuge were very surprised to see that the village was safe and sound. At this time, the old woman suddenly realized and quickly told the villagers the promise of begging for the elderly. The villagers flocked to the old woman's house, only to find red paper on the door of her mother-in-law's house, a pile of unburned bamboo still exploding in the yard, and several red candles still glowing in the house. ...
In order to celebrate the auspicious arrival, ecstatic villagers put on new clothes and hats one after another and went to their relatives and friends' homes to congratulate and say hello. The story soon spread in the surrounding villages, and people all knew the way to drive away the "Nian" beast.
Since then, every year on New Year's Eve, every family has posted red couplets and set off firecrackers. Every household has a bright candlelight, so it is better to wait for the New Year. In the early morning of the first day, I want to say hello to my relatives and friends. This custom has spread more and more widely, and has become the most solemn traditional festival among the people in China.
The customs of the Spring Festival
Spring Festival is an ancient festival in China, and it is also the most important festival in a year. How to celebrate this festival has formed some relatively fixed customs and habits in thousands of years of historical development, and many of them have been passed down to this day.
sweep the dust
"On the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, dust sweeps the house". According to Lv Chunqiu, China had the custom of sweeping dust during the Spring Festival in the Yao and Shun era. According to the folk saying: Because of the homonym of "dust" and "Chen", sweeping dust in the Spring Festival means "getting rid of the old and not being new", and its original intention is to sweep away all bad luck and bad luck. This custom has placed people's desire to break the old and create new ones and their prayers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, every household should clean the environment, clean all kinds of electrical appliances, remove and wash bedding curtains, sweep six yards, dust cobwebs and dredge culverts in open channels. Everywhere is filled with the joyful atmosphere of cleaning and welcoming the Spring Festival cleanly.
paste up Spring Festival couplets
Spring Festival couplets are also called door couplets, spring stickers, couplets, couplets and peach symbols. They depict the background of the times and express good wishes with neat, dual, concise and delicate words, which are unique literary forms in China. Every Spring Festival, no matter in urban or rural areas, every household should choose a pair of red Spring Festival couplets and stick them on the door to add festive atmosphere to the festival. This custom began in the Song Dynasty and was popular in the Ming Dynasty. By the Qing Dynasty, the ideological and artistic quality of Spring Festival couplets had been greatly improved. Liang Zhangju's monograph Poetry of Spring Festival couplets discusses the origin of couplets and the characteristics of various works.
There are many kinds of Spring Festival couplets, which can be divided into door heart, frame pair, cross string, spring strip and bucket square according to the place of use. The "door core" is attached to the center of the upper end of the door panel; The "door frame pair" is attached to the left and right door frames; "Cross-dressing" is posted on the crossbar of the door; "Spring strips" are posted in corresponding places according to different contents; "Dou Jin", also known as "door leaf", is a square diamond, often attached to furniture and screen walls.
Stick the window grilles and the word "fu" upside down.
In the folk, people also like to stick various paper-cuts on the windows-window grilles. Window grilles not only set off the festive atmosphere, but also integrate decoration, appreciation and practicality. Paper-cutting is a very popular folk art in China, which has been loved by people for thousands of years. Because it is often pasted on the window, it is also called "window grilles". With its unique generalization and exaggeration, window grilles show auspicious things and good wishes incisively and vividly, and decorate festivals with colorful colors.
While putting up Spring Festival couplets, some people have to put large and small "Fu" characters on doors, walls and lintels. Sticking the word "Fu" during the Spring Festival is a long-standing folk custom in China. The word "Fu" symbolizes good luck and wishes for a happy life and a bright future. In order to fully reflect this yearning and wish, some people simply put the word "Fu" upside down, indicating that "Fu has arrived" and "Fu has arrived". Others elaborate the word "Fu" into various patterns, such as longevity, longevity peach, carp yue longmen, abundant grains, dragons and phoenixes, and so on.
New Year picture
Hanging New Year pictures during the Spring Festival is also very common in urban and rural areas. Thick black and colorful New Year pictures add a lot of prosperity and festive atmosphere to thousands of families. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China, which reflects people's simple customs and beliefs and places their hopes on the future. New Year pictures, like Spring Festival couplets, originated from "door gods". With the rise of block printing, the content of New Year pictures is not limited to monotonous themes such as door gods, but has become rich and colorful. Some New Year pictures workshops have produced classic color New Year pictures, such as Fu Lushou's Samsung, God bless the people, abundant crops, prosperous livestock and welcoming the New Year, to meet people's good wishes of celebrating and praying for the New Year. There are three important producing areas of Chinese New Year pictures: Taohuawu in Suzhou, Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Weifang in Shandong; Three schools of New Year pictures have been formed, each with its own characteristics.
The earliest existing collection of New Year pictures in China is the woodcut New Year pictures of the Southern Song Dynasty, which depict four ancient beauties: Wang Zhaojun, Zhao, Ban Ji and Lvzhu. The most popular folk painting is the Year of Marrying the Rat. It depicts an interesting scene in which a mouse marries a bride according to human custom. In the early years of the Republic of China, Zheng of Shanghai combined the monthly calendar with the New Year pictures. This is a new form of New Year pictures. This new year's picture, which was combined into one, later developed into a calendar and has been popular all over the country.
stay up late or all night on New Year's Eve
Keeping the Lunar New Year's Eve is one of the most important activities, and the custom of keeping the Lunar New Year's Eve has a long history. The earliest record can be found in the Local Records of the Western Jin Dynasty: on New Year's Eve, all parties give gifts to each other, which is called "the year of giving back"; Wine and food are invited, which is called "not old"; Young and old get together to drink and wish a complete song called "age division"; Everyone stays up all night, waiting for dawn. This is the so-called "shou sui".
On New Year's Eve, the whole family get together, eat New Year's Eve, light candles or oil lamps, sit around the stove and chat, wait for the time to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year, and keep vigil all night, which symbolizes driving away all evil diseases and epidemics and expecting good luck in the new year. This custom gradually became popular. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, wrote a poem "Shou Sui": "Cold words and winter snow, warm with spring breeze". To this day, people are used to celebrating the New Year's Eve.
In ancient times, observing the age has two meanings: the old man's observing the age means "resigning from the old", which means cherishing time; Young people keep their age in order to prolong the life of their parents. Since the Han Dynasty, the time for the alternation of the old and new years is generally at midnight.
firecracker
There is a folk saying in China that "open the door and set off firecrackers". That is, when the new year comes, the first thing for every household to open the door is to set off firecrackers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Firecracker is a specialty of China, also known as "Firecracker", "Firecracker" and "Firecracker". Its origin is very early, and it has a history of more than two thousand years. Setting off firecrackers can create a festive and lively atmosphere, which is a kind of entertainment in festivals and can bring happiness and good luck to people. With the passage of time, firecrackers are more and more widely used, and there are more and more varieties and colors. Every major festival and happy celebration, as well as marriage, building, opening, etc. We should set off firecrackers to celebrate and make good luck. At present, Liuyang, Hunan, Foshan and Dongyao, Yichun and Pingxiang, Jiangxi, Wenzhou, Zhejiang and other regions are famous fireworks towns in China. The firecrackers produced have many colors and high quality, which are not only sold well all over the country, but also exported to all parts of the world.
Pay new year's call
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". Because it takes time and effort to pay New Year greetings at home, some elites and scholars later congratulated each other with stickers, thus developing the later "New Year cards".
When paying New Year greetings during the Spring Festival, the younger generation should first pay New Year greetings to their elders and wish them health and longevity. 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. There are two kinds of lucky money, one is to put colored rope in the shape of Jackie Chan at the foot of the bed, which was recorded in Yanjing year; The other is the most common, that is, parents wrap the money distributed to their children in red paper. Lucky money can be given in public after the younger generation pays New Year's greetings, or it can be secretly put under the child's pillow by parents when the child falls asleep on New Year's Eve. It is still very popular for elders to give lucky money to younger generations.
Eating custom in Spring Festival
In ancient agricultural society, housewives began to prepare food for the New Year from the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Because curing bacon takes a long time, it must be prepared as soon as possible. Many provinces in China have the custom of curing bacon, among which Guangdong is the most famous.
Steamed rice cake, because of its homophonic "high year" and diverse tastes, has almost become a must-have food for every household. The styles of rice cakes are square yellow and white rice cakes, which symbolize gold and silver and express the meaning of making a fortune in the New Year.
The taste of rice cakes varies from place to place. Beijingers like to eat jujube rice cakes, 100-fruit rice cakes and white rice cakes made of glutinous rice or yellow rice. Hebei people like to add jujube, red beans and mung beans to rice cakes and steam them together. In northern Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and other places, it is customary to eat yellow wheat fried rice cakes during the New Year, and some people will also stuff them with bean paste and jujube paste, while Shandong people steam rice cakes with yellow rice and red dates. The rice cakes in the north are mainly sweet, steamed or fried, and some people simply eat them with sugar. There are sweet and salty rice cakes in the south, such as those in Suzhou and Ningbo, which are made of japonica rice and have a light taste. In addition to steaming and frying, you can also slice and fry or cook soup. Sweet rice cake is made of glutinous rice flour with sugar, lard, rose, osmanthus, mint, vegetable paste and other ingredients. They are fine in workmanship and can be steamed directly or fried with egg white.
The night before the real Chinese New Year is called Reunion Night. A wanderer who has left his hometown has to go home from thousands of miles away. During the Spring Festival, the whole family will sit around and wrap jiaozi. Jiaozi's practice is to use flour to make dumpling wrappers first, and then use leather bags to fill them. The contents of stuffing are varied, and all kinds of meat, eggs, seafood and seasonal vegetables can be stuffed. The orthodox practice in jiaozi is to cook it with clear water, remove it and mix it with vinegar, minced garlic and vegetables. There are also methods of frying jiaozi and baking jiaozi (fried dumpling). Because the word "he" in dough mixing means "he"; Jiaozi's "jiao" and "glue" are homophonic, and "harmony" and "glue" have the meaning of reunion, so jiaozi is used to symbolize the reunion of acacia; It is very auspicious to make friends with older people; In addition, jiaozi, which is shaped like an ingot, has the auspicious meaning of "making a fortune" when eating jiaozi in the New Year. All the families get together to pack jiaozi, so it's fun to celebrate the Spring Festival.