"With the sound of firecrackers, one year old is removed, and the spring breeze sends warmth into Tu Su. Thousands of families always change new peaches for old ones every day. " Spring Festival is the most important traditional festival in China. On this day, every family will get together to celebrate the last night at the end of the year and welcome the arrival of the New Year. For thousands of years, people have continuously integrated their spiritual blessings into the Spring Festival, making it gradually become a symbol of China culture.
So, what are the customs and stresses from the first day to the seventh day of the Lunar New Year?
The folk custom song of Lunar New Year is circulated: "On the first day, one person worships God, on the second day, the third day is poor, and on the fourth day, four people beg for rice. On the fifth day, the sixth day is the year, and the seventh day goes for spring. On the eighth day, eight people don't return, and the ninth day is empty. On the tenth day, they go for spring, eleven dozen children go back, twelve people set up a light shed, thirteen people turn on the lights, fourteen lights are on, fifteen people pray for the lights, and then
set off firecrackers on the first day of the new year
. On the morning of the first day of the lunar new year, when the door is opened, firecrackers are set off first, that is, "opening the door for firecrackers." After the sound of firecrackers, the ground is full of broken red, which is called "full house red" According to "The Chronicle of Jingchu's Years Old" written by the Southern Liang Dynasty, "The first day of the first month is also the day of three yuan, and the spring and autumn period is the end day, when the cock crows, firecrackers are set off before the court to avoid the evil spirits." It can be seen that firecrackers were set off in ancient times to ward off evil spirits and drive away animals. Poets in the Tang Dynasty came to the poem cloud, "The new calendar will only be half-opened, and the small court will still gather dust"; In the Song Dynasty, Zhao Shixia also wrote in the word "Partridge Day Ding has New Year's Eve" that "the firecrackers are removed in the middle of the year, and the atmosphere is full of enthusiasm"; Fan Chengda, a poet in the Song Dynasty, described in detail the process of setting off firecrackers in a family in Suzhou and Hangzhou during the Spring Festival, expressing the poet's happy mood in the New Year, and pinning his good wishes for home safety: firecrackers were passed down in the past, and five days before Wu Nong's political use, he swept away the dust by eating residual bean porridge and cut off the tube for five feet to make a salary. Intermittent sweat and fire, the healthy servant will still run away. Children, on the other hand, stand aloof from the front and thunder and roar when the steps strike.
welcome XiShen. After sunrise in the morning, it is time to welcome XiShen. As for its arrival direction and time, it is specified by the almanac. People travel in the direction of XiShen arrival. Some ride animals, some walk, set off firecrackers after walking far away, burn incense and return. After welcoming XiShen, it's lucky to go out at any time, and there's no need to choose a good day.
happy new year. During the Spring Festival, people go to new friends' homes or neighbors to congratulate the Spring Festival, commonly known as New Year greetings. The wind of Han people's New Year greetings has existed in the Han Dynasty, and it was very popular after the Tang and Song Dynasties. According to Lu Rong's Miscellaneous Notes on the Garden in the Ming Dynasty, people should worship each other regardless of whether they know each other or not, while people worship their relatives and friends. In the Qing Dynasty, a "box of worship" was sent, that is, New Year's greeting cards were given to relatives and friends in exquisite and beautiful decorative boxes to show solemnity. Of course, some don't have to go in person, you can send congratulations with famous cards. According to Zhao Yi's textual research in Qing Dynasty, there was no paper in the Western Han Dynasty, and bamboo and wood were cut into thorns, and the title of the book was named "famous thorn"; Later, the words "business card" were embroidered on the brocade with red wool; After the Eastern Han Dynasty, paper was used instead of wood, which was called "famous paper". In the Six Dynasties, it was called "Ming" for short, and in the Tang Dynasty it was called "Door-shaped". In the Song Dynasty, it was nicknamed "hand thorn" and "door thorn". In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was called "Inch Chu" and "Red Sheet".
aged. In ancient times, people calculated the calendar by the movement of the Jupiter. "Lu's Spring and Autumn Period Don't Bow": "xi he occupied the day, Shang Yi occupied the moon, and later he benefited from it." After that, the folk gradually evolved into a year of sunny weather in the first few days of the new government. Records of the Historian Tianguanshu: "The husband is the number of days from Han, the star is Tang Dou, the gas is Wang Shuo, and the age is Wei Xian." Song Wang Anshi's "Send a message to Yang Defeng": "When you are old, you will know your son, and you will eat after diligence."
paste a picture of a chicken. In ancient times, people painted chickens on doors and windows to drive away ghosts and evil spirits during the Spring Festival. According to the Jin Dynasty's "Xuanzhong Ji", when it was too late to rise and the first sunshine shone on the tree, the pheasant on Dushuo Mountain crowed, so the chickens in the world began to crow. Later, people used paper-cut chicken to symbolize the pheasant.
Chinese New Year's Day
Sacrifice to the God of Wealth. On this day, both commercial shops and ordinary people will hold activities to worship the god of wealth, hoping for a wide range of financial resources this year. However, there are different opinions about who the God of Wealth is: Zhao Gongming, the true God of Wealth, Liu Hai (or Fan Li), Wu Caishen, who blessed the town house, and Guan Yu, of course, was indispensable in Wu Caishen. Legend has it that Guan Yunchang managed the military and horses station, was good at counting, invented the daily clearing book, and stressed credit and loyalty, so he was worshipped by merchants. Generally, merchants regarded Guan Gong as the patron saint and regarded him as the god of wealth. Eat wonton at noon, commonly known as "Yuanbao soup".
Children's Day: Married daughters will bring their husbands and children back to their parents' home to pay New Year's greetings. They must also bring some gifts and red envelopes to their children and have lunch at their parents' home.
on the third day of lunar new year's day
burn door god paper. Door-keeper is a Taoist and folk deity who guards the portal. Generally, door gods are pasted on doors to ward off evil spirits and ghosts, defend the house, keep peace, help utility and bring good luck. "The Book of Rites Sacrifice Law" contains: "Wang Weiqun's surname is seven sacrifices, the vassal is the national five sacrifices, the doctor is three sacrifices, and the suitable scholar is two sacrifices (both have' doors'); Shu Ren set up a temple, or set up a household, or set up a stove. " It can be seen that since the pre-Qin period, both the emperor and the common people worshipped the door gods. On the third day of the first month, the pine and cypress branches at the festival and the doorkeeper's note hanging on the festival will be incinerated together, indicating that the year has passed and it is necessary to make a living.
hungry ghost day. It is said that there is a custom of avoiding visiting relatives and friends on this day, but with the progress of the times, people have diluted this custom.
red dog day. The red dog is the god of anger, and when it comes to it, there are fierce things. Therefore, people in ancient times stayed at home on this day, so as not to encounter evil spirits.
millet birthday. On this day, we wish sacrifices and pray for the New Year, and do not eat rice.
Xiao nian Chao. That is, tianqing festival. In the first year of Xiangfu in Dazhong, Song Zhenzong, due to the spread of a heavenly book, Zhenzong issued an imperial edict and designated the third day of the first month as Tianqing Festival, so officials could have five days off. After that, the folk evolved into a small festival that did not sweep the floor, beg for fire or draw water.
on the fourth day of the lunar new year
meet the gods. It is said that this day is the day when immortals from all walks of life come to earth from heaven, so it is necessary to "send God early and receive God late". Send god early, but receive god in the afternoon. Prepare offerings such as three animals, fruits, dining tables, etc., and burn incense and candles to burn gold clothes.
New Year's Eve
The fifth day of the first month, commonly known as "Breaking Five", is also called "Sending the Poor Festival".
send the poor god. Commonly known as "breaking five", there are also called "sending the poor". It is said that before dawn, the gods will die. At this time, to send the poor god, every household should sweep some garbage and dust from the corner of the kang or the corner of the house and dump it on the street outside the door, burn incense paper, set off firecrackers and send away the foul gas. Poor God is the title of Jiang Ziya's wife, named "Five Poor Daughters-in-law", that is, life, health, wealth, virtue and dying a good death are five poor. She was disrespectful of poverty and snobbery, and was demoted as "Poor God" by Jiang Ziya.
open the market. In ancient times, large and small shops closed from the first day of the lunar new year to the fifth day of the lunar new year, because people thought that this day was the birthday of the god of wealth, and when they opened the market on this day, they could make a fortune.
grab the road. In Wudi, I believe in the Road God of Wealth. It is said that this day is his birthday, and it is quite spectacular to greet him in the sun. And people think that the first one to receive is the true god, especially effective, so it is called "grabbing the road."
After this day, all taboos began to be lifted during the Spring Festival, and then people began to be busy with their livelihood, and the atmosphere of the New Year began to dissipate, that is, "five days under the New Year".
on the sixth day of the lunar new year's eve
it's called horse day, which is called fat in ancient times, and people really start working or doing business on this day. Since entering the first month, it has been impossible to clean until the fifth day, and the feces in the toilet have accumulated. So this day, I did a big cleaning and worshipped the toilet gods to clean up the dirty toilets on weekdays. Therefore, it is called "fat". When you are old, you can remember people's day, quoting Song Luyuan-ming's Miscellaneous Notes when you are old: "The day before yesterday, people gather dung brooms. When they are not walking, they cover them with seven pancakes and discard them to send them to the poor." In fact, it means that farmers begin to go to the fields to prepare for spring ploughing.
In addition, this day is also the day when the store opens, and firecrackers should be set off, which symbolizes that the business will be prosperous, safe and prosperous this year.
People's Day on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year's Eve is also called "People Victory Day", "People Celebration Day", "Population Day" and "People Seven Days". Legend has it that the female snail first created the world, and after she created animals such as chickens, dogs, pigs, cows and horses, she created people on the seventh day, so this day is the birthday of mankind. Some people began to observe daily customs in the Han dynasty, and they began to pay attention to it after the Wei and Jin Dynasties. In ancient times, there was a custom of wearing "Man wins" and the custom of climbing high to compose poems. After the Tang Dynasty, more attention was paid to this festival. Every human day, the emperor gave his ministers a colorful victory, and they climbed to a big banquet. If the weather is fine on the seventh day of the first month, the population will be safe and smooth in the first year. On this day, people who spread pancakes will eat spring pancake rolls "box dishes" and spread pancakes in the courtyard.
eat seven treasures soup. Soup made of seven kinds of vegetables is eaten when people are alive, which is a good omen, and it is said that it can remove evil spirits and cure all diseases. Different places have different products, different fruits and vegetables, and different meanings. Such as mustard, kale, leek, spring vegetables, celery, garlic and thick-petaled vegetables used in Chaoshan, Guangdong; Hakka use celery, garlic, onion, coriander and leek with fish and meat. Spinach, celery, onion, garlic, leek, mustard, shepherd's purse, cabbage and so on are used in Taiwan Province and Fujian, China. The celery and onion in it are metaphors of cleverness, garlic metaphor of calculation, mustard metaphor of longevity and so on.
vegetarian noodles: in Taiwan Province, China, vegetarian noodles are required on this day. The long noodles represent wealth and longevity, so eating noodles also means celebrating your birthday.
mending the sky: it is said that it is cloudy day by day, just like the sky has pierced a hole, so we should mend it to avoid hardrain. So the rice cake is sacrificed to the gods, that is, it fills the sky.